Who Should I Start? Isiah Pacheco or Jaleel McLaughlin

Wednesday, October 22, 11:37 AM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco has had an underwhelming season so far in 2025, recording 314 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 77 total touches through his first seven games. However, there may be reason to believe that the 26-year-old is trending upwards. Pacheco has at least 12 carries and 51 rushing yards in each of his last two games. Additionally, the Chiefs' offense is getting healthier and has averaged 31.5 points per game over the last four weeks, which means Pacheco should see more red zone opportunities going forward. Kansas City will likely continue to split backfield work between Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, and Brashard Smith, which limits Pacheco's upside. Still, Pacheco has been stealing early-down work away from Hunt in recent weeks and has a higher upside in both real life and fantasy. Pacheco could be a good buy-low candidate for fantasy managers and profiles as a low-end RB2 heading into a Week 8 matchup against the Washington Commanders.

Sunday, September 14, 2:40 PM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin is a healthy scratch for his team's Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts. McLaughlin was also inactive in Week 1, so this decision from the team does not necessarily come as a surprise. Without McLaughlin, Denver will roll with the running back trio of J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, and Tyler Badie.