The Kansas City Chiefs know they'll have workhorse running back Isiah Pacheco to lead their backfield in the Week 1 NFL season-opener on "Thursday Night Football" against the Baltimore Ravens.
Beyond that, the Chiefs' running back depth was looking dicey in late August with 2020 first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire and undrafted free agent Carson Steele as the only other options following the release of Deneric Prince. Edwards-Helaire revealed over the summer that he's experienced PTSD recently, with a "majority" of the episodes stemming from a self-defense shooting that took place in December 2018 when he was at LSU.
Kansas City addressed its need at the position by signing pass-catching specialist Samaje Perine last week.
Chiefs fans learned on Monday that the team will be without Edwards-Helaire through at least Week 4, which as ESPN's Field Yates pointed out, increases the importance of Perine's role.
Pacheco has led Kansas City in rushing during each of his first two seasons in the NFL, recording 830 yards and five touchdowns on the ground via 170 carries in 2022 and 935 yards and seven scores on 205 attempts in 2023. After adding just 13 catches for 130 scoreless yards on 14 targets as a rookie, Pacheco improved to 44 receptions for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 49 targets last year.
After being selected with the 32nd overall pick in 2020, Edwards-Helaire had his best season as a rookie, posting team bests in rushing attempts (career-high 181), rushing yards (803) and rushing touchdowns (four). He added career highs in targets (54), receptions (36) and receiving yards (297) as well, despite missing three games.
Edwards-Helaire was limited to 10 games in 2021 and 2022 before playing in all 17 last year but producing career-worst numbers. He finished the 2023 campaign with 70 carries for 223 yards and one touchdown as well as 17 catches for 188 yards and one score on 22 looks.
During his days with Washington (2017-18), the Cincinnati Bengals (2019-2022) and Denver Broncos in 2023, Perine has filled in as a change-of-pace back behind the likes of Adrian Peterson, Joe Mixon and Javonte Williams.
Perine played in all 17 games last year with Denver, recording 53 carries for 238 yards and one touchdown plus career highs in targets (56), receptions (50) and receiving yards (455). His 693 yards from scrimmage were his most since his 2017 rookie season and he should play an important role in the Chiefs backfield, especially in the first month of the campaign.
