Kansas City Chiefs Depth Chart Debate: Kareem Hunt vs. Isiah Pacheco
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The Kansas City Chiefs, so far in the 2025 season, have not produced the fantasy football firepower that many thought they would. That rings even more true in the running back room, with RBs Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt. Here is an evaluation on the fantasy lookout of Pacheco and Hunt for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Kareem Hunt Fantasy Outlook
Kareem Hunt had some success last year, when he was the Chiefs' RB1, while Paheco was out with an injury. Now with Pacheco back, his road to fantasy relevancy feels more bumpy than ever.
Through three weeks, Hunt has logged 23 carries for 81 rushing yards. His largest output in a game was against the Giants, where he logged 10 carries for 34 yards. He does not bring much to the passing game that a lot of other RB2s offer. So far, he has just four catches for 23 yards.
Isiah Pacheco Fantasy Outlook
Isiah Pacheco, through three weeks, has done about the same damage in the run game as Hunt. He has a total of 92 rushing yards on 25 carries. In the pass game, he has four receptions for 13 yards. His best game so far this year in fantasy is his latest game against the New York Giants, where he logged 10 carries for 45 rushing yards. The main concern with the former 2022 seventh-round pick is that these performances have continued to stack up.
The hype on Pacheco’s fantasy football future built up after a strong closing to his 2023 season. In two of his last three games of the regular season in 2023, he logged over 100 yards and had a combined 11 catches. Fast forwarding from that, Pacheco is currently on an 11-game streak of not recording over 60 yards rushing. Over those 11 games, he has just 12 receptions.
Final Thoughts
Neither Hunt nor Pacheco are great fantasy start options at the moment, but Pacheco is the more valuable player to have on a fantasy roster. Despite underperforming, he has a higher ceiling at this point in his career compared to Hunt. He is definitely a player to hold on to. If he can string some solid starts together he could see an increase in his role in this offense.
Hunt, on the other hand, should just be seen as a running back handcuff for Pacheco. Nothing more, nothing less. The only relevant fantasy performance he could put together at this moment is him finding the endzone. There are better running back handcuffs out there, with one of them being Houston Texans' Woody Marks.
Woody Marks: Alternative RB Handcuff
The Houston Texans' 2025 fourth-round pick, although at a small volume, has shown some explosiveness in his game. He has 44 rushing on 12 carries and two receptions for 46 yards. He is the current RB2 behind Nick Chubb, and given his big play potential paired with Chubb’s injury history, it makes a great RB handcuff. Dropping him for Hunt straight up on the waivers is a solid idea.
In ESPN fantasy leagues, Marks is currently 25.6% rostered.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops