https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/02/07/se...russell-wilson
I’ve told the Isiah Pacheco draft story before.
The Chiefs went into last year’s draft noticing the glut of running backs. It happened, in large part, thanks to the COVID year of 2020. The fact of the matter is backs need tape, and because of cancellations in 2020, more of them than usual stayed an extra year in school, and that led, as Kansas City saw it, to a list of guys at the position that were intriguing all the way to the end of the draft. And making those late-round backs a focus, the Chiefs did a ton of homework, and plucked Pacheco’s name from the pack.
So, anyway, I figured I’d have Chiefs GM Brett Veach chime in on it when I had him on the phone Saturday morning for our MMQB lead item.
“Typically, with those late-round running backs, you have, whatever, eight, nine of them,” Veach said. “And I remember as we were getting through the combine meetings and the post-combine meetings and the Pro Days, we get to the running back day when we're a few weeks out of the draft and we're still working through these late-round, free-agent type guys and just noticing that there's so many. And I told the guys, there's so many running backs, it just tells you like one of these guys is gonna be really good here and we just have to make sure we get this stack right and hopefully we get the right one.
“I joked with them at some point saying, like, We're gonna run out of time here because we are spending way too much time on running backs. There were so many, but we systematically got through it, and we had him on the board based off his tape. Now, his tape was a little bit different because it wasn't like he had crazy, insane production. It was more of, a big running back that runs hard, has pretty good feel in between the tackles and he was, whatever he was, 5'11", 200 pounds. Just felt like he fit that mold based off tape.
“But there were a ton of guys—and we thought he would run fast but we didn't know how fast. And so when he goes to the combine and runs a 4.3, all of a sudden, it kinda lights up like a neon light, like whoa. We kind of like this guy a little late, but this guy runs 4.3. Let's make sure we're going through this stack, let’s make sure we're aware of all these verified numbers now.
“Then … It's a passing league and we're a passing team. We do so much with our running backs in regards to the passing game and pass [protection]. The one thing that held us up initially was, I don't know if he had four catches. I mean, he had no pass production, and we didn't know, is this gonna be one of those guys that is a really good runner but when you come of the backfield, the guy has like stone hands and it just looks off? I mean, the guy can run 4.3. He can be 220 pounds. He can be a bulldozer. But, I mean, with the way we run our offense, like this guy's got to be able to catch.
“And we’d went to the all-star games and you saw some more and you felt pretty good about it. Then the pro day, just had a phenomenal pro day and caught everything, snagged everything, looked confident, looked comfortable. Now, pro days are different from games, but I think you saw enough, or we got to the point where we didn't want to risk [losing] the guy in [college] free agency. We liked him off tape, but once we got through the combine, the numbers got verified and then you went back and watched the all-star games and then cherry on top was the pro day.”
And the rest, of course, is history.
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