The Detroit Lions are hoping to replace some of the lost production from David Montgomery with free agent addition Isiah Pacheco. However, Warren Sharp of SharpFootballAnalysis suggests this is a poor idea.
Sharp notes that Pacheco was well below starting caliber in most important rushing metrics, and this is despite being in a situation that should have been primed for him to have success.
Detroit has a good offensive environment, but it will be hard to match what the Chiefs gave Pacheco last season. The Lions are going to have to either hope that Pacheco plays better, put too much on the plate of Jahmyr Gibbs, or look for someone behind him to step into the role.
The Detroit Lions Plan to Replace David Montgomery Might Not Be Good Enough
GettyLions running back Isaiah Pacheco.
Montgomery already saw his rushing attempts per year go down, which is why the trade made sense. Still, he had 158 carries, and that is a lot to fill. The Lions made it clear that Gibbs is going to be a bell-cow and will eat into a lot of that work.
Still, Gibbs was already top ten in rushing attempts, and is only 80 attempts away from leading the NFL. That does not even include the added involvement in the passing game that he has to take on. So, unless the plans are to run Gibbs into the ground next year, there will still be close to 100 extra carries available.
Pacheco is in line to fill them, but if he is not healthy or efficient enough, the team is going to run into trouble.
As it stands, Sione Vaki is the Lions’ third-string running back. He is entering his third NFL season but has seven rushing attempts for 18 yards. To be fair, he played defense in college and last year he ran into some injury questions.
Beyond that, head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that he is optimistic about his progression. Still, that is a lot to ask for. The team needs a healthier version of Pacheco.
The Lions Are Relying on Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco had 170 rushing attempts during his rookie season, then improved to 205 attempts by his second year. So, he has shown he can handle that workload, and that 100 carries is doable.
However, he had just 83 carries in 2024 and suffered a broken leg. Pacheco only played in six games. Despite the injury being early into the 2024 season, it clearly impacted his effectiveness in the following season.
Pacheco returned for 13 games after his leg injury, but his stats declined dramatically. He also only had 118 carries. So, it was not too much work that was being done for him.
The Lions are going to need him to take a similar number of carries as the number he took in 2025. However, he has to be much more efficient on those carries if the team wants to avoid a major drop-off at that position. To say this is a big year for Pacheco and the Lions is a bit of an understatement.
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