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When is Isiah Pacheco coming back? Will Isiah Pacheco play again this season? Read about Isiah Pacheco's return date and injury updates for 2025 as of Week 12.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco (knee) sprained his MCL near the end of his Week 8 contest against the Washington Commanders. Since then, a Week 9 game, a bye week, and a Week 11 contest have passed without his return.
Pacheco is the RB1 on the team's depth chart, and they've struggled in their games without him. Despite his smaller role in the offense than in previous seasons, he's important to their ability to keep the chains moving. That's why he typically gets over 50 percent of snaps.
The Chiefs lost to both the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos in their last two games, so they're likely itching to have Pacheco back. Having a little more juice in the run game would help them massively. But when will he return? Let's dive into an injury update and fantasy football outlook for the Chiefs No. 1 RB.
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Isiah Pacheco Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Pacheco wasn't able to practice at all last week. But players tend to return from MCL sprains within three or four weeks. Last season, wide receiver DK Metcalf missed three weeks with his MCL sprain. However, when he returned, he didn't seem to be 100 percent.
It's unclear whether the Chiefs will afford Pacheco extra time to heal. Generally, with teams that aren't dealing with a ton of injuries, it's a good sign when a player isn't placed on injured reserve -- it typically means that player won't miss more than four weeks.
You can see a video of the injury here. Pacheco had his right leg planted into the ground as he was being tackled by one defender, and another went low on him and hit him in the leg, causing his foot to remain planted and his knee to bend inwards.
Luckily for him, it doesn't look like his leg was planted into the ground for long, as his weight from that angle could have plausibly caused a worse injury. San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) suffered an MCL and ACL tear and severe meniscus damage, and recent reporting suggests he tore his LCL, too, on a similar type of hit.
Isiah Pacheco Fantasy Football Outlook
Pacheco already wasn't very relevant for fantasy football, unfortunately. Though he's an important piece of his team, his snap share hovered right around 50 percent, he didn't handle a lot of pass-catching duties, he wasn't the goal-line back, and he rarely had more than 15 touches in a game.
He started to get a bit more volume as the season wore on after a miserable start, though. He had 12, 15, and 12 carries in the last three games he played after having zero games with more than 10 carries in the previous five contests. And he had a season-high 16 touches on 17 total opportunities in Week 8.
Pacheco still has excellent athleticism. The problem is that his vision is severely lacking. There are plenty of film examples you can see of him charging into the first hole he sees with reckless abandon and not following his blockers properly. On this play, you can see him forego a potential touchdown because he sees a gap in front of him.
He should have followed his blocker, left tackle Josh Simmons, down the sideline on what could have been a potential touchdown. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid likely has to scheme up his plays differently to account for Pacheco's lack of vision.
While that doesn't mean he's a worthless fantasy option, keep in mind that he has just two games with double-digit PPR fantasy points, and there is clear evidence that he's unlikely to take on a much bigger role in the offense moving forward. If you're making a playoff push, you don't want him in your starting lineups anywhere.
He's a roster clogger for now. Maybe Hunt and rookie RB Brashard Smith will both get injured and Pacheco will be startable. Maybe a Hunt injury makes No. 10 a decent flex option. But it's a scary prospect having him in your starting lineup even once healthy, so I don't recommend it.
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 12 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Parker Washington, Wan'Dale Robinson, Tre Tucker, Jameson Williams, Rachaad White, Jauan Jennings. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 12. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
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Popular Week 12 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 12 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Parker Washington, Wan'Dale Robinson, Tre Tucker, Jameson Williams, Rachaad White, Jauan Jennings compared to others:
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