Who Should I Start? Isiah Pacheco or Ashton Jeanty

Thursday, February 5, 11:28 AM

After an injury-marred campaign in 2024, Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco entered 2025 in need of a bounce-back effort. Unfortunately, the 26-year-old struggled with inefficiency, recording 563 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns on 137 touches across 13 games played. Pacheco averaged just 3.9 yards per carry, his second-straight season under four yards per rush attempt after averaging 4.7 yards per carry over the first two years of his career. Pacheco spent most of the 2025 season splitting backfield work with veteran Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, with Hunt dominating touches in short-yardage situations and around the goal line. Pacheco is now set to hit unrestricted free agency, so he's not guaranteed to be back in Kansas City. Based on his performance over the last two seasons, it's not hard to imagine a scenario where Pacheco finds himself in a committee backfield or even a straight RB2 role for the 2026 season. In dynasty formats, Pacheco's future fantasy value profiles as uncertain at best coming off his shaky 2025 campaign.

Friday, January 30, 3:21 PM

Given his status as the number six overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, expectations were high for Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty coming into his rookie season. Despite having a miserable supporting cast around him in Las Vegas, the 22-year-old managed to rack up 1,321 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 321 touches. Still, he left a lot to be desired from an efficiency perspective. Jeanty averaged just 3.7 yards per carry and 4.1 yards per touch in 2025. Heading into 2026, the Raiders will have a new coaching staff and potentially a new quarterback in place, which could help to maximize Jeanty's talent. However, the team may struggle to completely overhaul its offensive line, which profiled as one of the league's worst this past season. Jeanty remains an ultra-high-upside fantasy running back in dynasty formats, but both he and his organization will enter 2026 with plenty to prove.