Fantasy Football Week 17 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Kareem Hunt vs. Isiah Pacheco

Evaluating who to play in fantasy football in week 17 between Kansas City Chiefs RBs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt.

Nov 16, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) carries the ball in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs' backfield has been a hard one to judge in fantasy football this season, in deciding who to play between RBs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. Here is a breakdown of who to play between the two in fantasy football in week 17.

Kareem Hunt

Nov 23, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

After logging 30 carries in a week 12 game against the Indianapolis Colts, Kareem Hunt’s volume has been going down. Over the past two games, he has been used at an especially low rate in the run game, with only nine combined carries.  He will look to break this trend against the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day.

The Broncos this season have been one of the best rush defenses the NFL has had to offer in 2025. In the year, they are allowing the second fewest rushing yards per game. In their last three games, the most rushing yards an opposing RB has gotten were 72 yards. Opposing RBs over this stretch of games did find a way to strike paydirt as they combined for three TDs against the Broncos. This certainly is an area that Hunt could capitalize on in fantasy. In the year he has had eight touchdowns, one of which came against Denver. Back in week 11, Hunt against the Broncos had 13 carries for 59 yards to go with his score.

Isiah Pacheco

Dec 21, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco (10) runs with the ball against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Isiah Pacheco, compared to Hunt’s nine carries over the Chiefs’ last two games, has 19 carries; granite, he hasn't done a lot of damage with them, getting just 59 yards and no scores. With this larger volume, though, he could be primed for a big game. Kansas City is down to its QB3 with star QB Patrick Mahomes out for the year and backup QB Gardner Minshew suffering a knee injury that put him on the injured reserve last week against the Titans. This inserts Chris Oladokun, a former 2023 seventh-round pick, to make his first start against one of the best passing defenses in the NFL. 

The Broncos this season are allowing the 10th fewest passing yards per game. In two of their last games two QBs they played threw for just one TD pass against them. Oladokun looked solid against Tennessee, throwing for 111 yards on 11-16 passing, but with it being his first start, his usage in the pass game could be limited, which could then increase the usage of the RBs for Kansas City.

Pacheco was inactive in the Chiefs’ week 11 game against the Broncos. He was still recovering from a knee injury.

Final Verdict

When it comes to who to start and who to sit in fantasy football in week 17 between Pacheco and Hunt, Pacheco should start, and Hunt should sit. The main reason for this is that Pacheco has had more volume leading up to the game against Denver. Both are risky plays in fantasy football in general, but Hunt’s low volume in his last two games is far too risky to slate him into a fantasy lineup for this game.