The Lions shipped off David Montgomery to Houston last week and waited a mere 24 hours into the legal tampering period to replace him, signing former Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco on Tuesday. Pacheco will immediately step in as the RB2 in Detroit, and K.C. had no need for Pacheco after signing Kenneth Walker III to a lucrative contract on Monday.
ISIAH PACHECO
- Pacheco flamed out with the Chiefs in 2024 and 2025 after operating as their RB1 during the first two years of his career. He averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and 2.6 yards after contact per carry in 2025 and lost most high-leverage work near the goal line and on third downs to Kareem Hunt. It became obvious that Kansas City was frustrated with his lack of production, and they spent big in free agency on Walker to get a legit RB1.
- Pacheco failed to record a carry inside the 5-yard line in 2025 and likely won’t have the same short-yardage role as the back he’s replacing (Montgomery). That leaves him in an uninviting role for fantasy in which he’s spelling Jahmyr Gibbs on early downs but ceding the touches that matter most for fantasy. Montgomery had 158 carries in 2025, though he only averaged 7.7 carries per game after Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties (Gibbs’ rushing volume jumped to 14.4 carries per game with Campbell calling the shots). Detroit wants to run the football — they had a -4.5% Pass Rate Over Expectation last season — so Pacheco will see the field and see carries, but he’s unlikely to be a fantasy-relevant asset as long as Gibbs stays healthy.
- With that being said, unless the Lions add another RB, Pacheco will still be a viable fantasy draft pick on contingent value. RB3 Jacob Saylors and RB4 Sione Vaki combined for three carries in 2025 (nine carries collectively in their NFL careers). If Gibbs went down, Pacheco would have very little touch competition and would be highly relevant, getting double-digit carries per game on a strong offense.
JAHMYR GIBBS
- Pacheco is capable of handling some early-down work here and there, but this is a pretty ideal outcome for Gibbs. Pacheco decisively lost the short-yardage role in Kansas City to Hunt and recorded zero carries inside the 5-yard line last season. Hunt (and rarely Brashard Smith) played in clear passing situations over Pacheco. In short, Pacheco is capable of eating valueless carries on early downs but doesn’t pose much threat to Gibbs’ high-value touch role.
- Montgomery out-carried Gibbs 14-9 inside the 5-yard line in 2025 and has 20 rushing touchdowns over the last two seasons. Gibbs should get the lion’s share (pun intended) of goal-line work now.
- Tyler Allgeier‘s exit means Bijan Robinson may also get an increased goal-line role in Atlanta. We’ll see who ATL adds at running back this offseason, but Bijan is Gibbs’ only competition for the 1.01 spot in 2026 fantasy drafts.
