The Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense didn’t live up to the hype last season for a multitude of reasons. A lack of punch at running back was one of them, and that can be tied directly to the year Isiah Pacheco had.

Now on the other side of his worst campaign to date, Pacheco is looking to bounce back for Kansas City in 2025. One NFL writer is actively hoping that will be the case.

In his list of one player to root for from each AFC club in 2025, NFL Media’s Dan Parr has Pacheco making the cut for the Chiefs.

In order to outline expectations for Pacheco’s future, Parr took a trip to the past. It wasn’t too long ago that the former seventh-round pick endeared himself to football fans with his constant energy on offense.

That didn’t manage to shine through last season, largely because of a broken fibula Pacheco suffered early in the year. Parr desires a healthy year from Pacheco and, thus, a return to form.

“I want to see one of the NFL’s angriest runners get back to his pre-injury form,” Parr wrote. “Pacheco made a habit of bulldozing through walls of defenders with aplomb in his first two years, but he suffered a fractured fibula in Week 2 of last season, which kept him out of nine games. When he returned in late November, he just wasn’t the same guy and finished the season with an average of 3.7 yards per carry, a full yard below his mark through the first two seasons. He has bulked up this offseason in an effort to bounce back, with Andy Reid saying he ‘looks tremendous.’ Here’s hoping Pacheco can recapture his spark in a contract year. When he’s on, few running backs are a more enjoyable watch.”

It isn’t too much of a stretch. Take Pacheco’s first two seasons, for instance. In year one on the job, he averaged 4.9 yards per carry and posted a 57.1% success rate on rushing attempts. While those figures fell to 4.6 and 50.7, respectively, in the next season, the former Rutgers standout became a receiving threat. Pacheco’s 2023 campaign saw him haul in 44 passes for 244 yards and a pair of scores.

Pacheco looked like his normal self before getting hurt. In the aforementioned Week 2 contest, he had 19 carries for 90 yards and five receptions.