Who Should I Start? Isiah Pacheco or Jerome Ford

Monday, February 12, 1:16 AM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco (ankle/toe) couldn't get much going in Super Bowl LVIII, but his team still topped the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to come away with their third championship in the past four years. Pacheco carried the ball 18 times for 59 yards and added six receptions for 33 yards, but it was a rough evening all around for the 2022 seventh-rounder. Pacheco lost a fumble with the Chiefs in a goal-to-go to stall a potential scoring drive in the second quarter and nearly coughed it up again on a failed handoff to open the second half. It was a disappointing outcome in the box score, considering the Niners had gotten trampled on the ground during the postseason. The 24-year-old dealt with some tough injury luck down the stretch of the campaign, but Pacheco solidified himself as a fully capable workhorse in 2023 and will enter 2024 as an early-round fantasy pick with top-12 positional expectations in all likelihood.

Friday, July 26, 8:30 AM

Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford (personal) reportedly missed practice on Thursday due to a personal matter. Patrick Warren of clevelandbrowns.com reports that Ford is expected back at practice on Friday as he only needed to tend to the matter on Thursday. The 24-year-old projects to be the starter with Nick Chubb (knee) still on the PUP list and recovering from his gruesome injury last season. The good news for fantasy managers is this is just a temporary absence and Ford should be back on the field taking first-team snaps.