Pacheco is an explosive running back when healthy, but that acknowledgment has always been made with some amount of trepidation given his cartoonishly violent running style. His motor always visibly runs at 110 percent, which is helpful in some situations but not others. It's sometimes useful and always entertaining when Pacheco simply berserks his way through a collision, but it would be more efficient to do a better job setting up blocks and eluding tacklers, rather than purely relying on his unusual combination of power and straight-line speed. The fibula fracture Pacheco suffered Week 2 basically ended his 2024 season, because he was a shell of his former self when he returned after an 11-week absence, averaging 3.4 YPC on 62 carries in eight games between the end of the regular season and the playoffs. Kareem Hunt is not particularly close to Pacheco's level when both are at full strength, but even the largely expired journeyman was better than Pacheco down the stretch last season. A return to full strength this offseason could allow for the breakout that fantasy investors had hoped for in 2024, but it's also possible Pacheco missed out on his chance to be deployed as a workhorse and/or fails to regain his pre-injury explosiveness.
