Isiah Pacheco Player Props: Expert Pick for Titans vs Chiefs

Isiah Pacheco Rushing Yards

The Sunday night matchup for Week 9 features two AFC teams that couldn’t be more different stylistically. The ground-and-pound Titans come into Kansas City to face the high-flying Chiefs.

Despite the Chiefs' aerial antics, I’m honing in on their rookie running back’s yardage total.

Isiah Pacheco was announced as the starter before the Chiefs’ Week 7 game against the 49ers. While he still operated in a timeshare, Pacheco did pace the Chiefs with eight carries for 43 yards. Coming out of a bye week, Kansas City has been afforded more time to get the seventh-rounder up to speed with the first-team offense.

The Titans have a formidable rush defense, ranking first in Football Outsider’s DVOA metric. While that normally would be a concern, I see a few avenues of opportunity for Pacheco.

Firstly, to guard against the pass, the Titans won’t be able to stack the box as much to protect against the run.

And secondly, with the uncertainty at quarterback for the Titans, this game should play into the Chiefs' favor from a game-script perspective. A very real possibility exists that Pacheco can pad his production late in the fourth quarter.

It’s always tricky navigating the waters of a running back timeshare, but I’m counting on the proverbial bump for rookies after a bye week. I have Pacheco slotted for at least 40 rushing yards tonight.