Isiah Pacheco's tenure with the Detroit Lions could come to an end before it could even take off. The 27-year-old running back, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason with the hopes of replacing David Montgomery, will have to wait a long time before his Lions debut. In fact, that debut may never come, at least in the regular season.
On Monday, head coach Dan Campbell revealed that Pacheco had back surgery and said he will be out "a significant amount of time." NFL insider Ian Rapoport had more details. He said that Pacheco had surgery to remove a body that was pressing on a nerve in his back and is expected to have a 12-week recovery.
This is a disappointing turn of events for both Pacheco and the Lions. This puts his return timeline at early to mid-December. At that point, there will only be a few games left in the regular season, and it's not clear how much the former Chiefs RB would be able to give the Lions.
Lions shouldn't ignore their clear RB need
This creates an obvious need for the Lions. The lack of depth in the RB room in Detroit was clear in Week 1. Jahmyr Gibbs had 34 touches in total. He had 29 of Detroit's 33 carries. The only other back to touch the ball was Sione Vaki, who had two rushes for seven yards and a reception for 11 yards. Jacob Saylord didn't even get an offensive snap.
While Gibbs is capable of carrying this type of load, it's not a great idea to put so much on him so early in the season. Dan Campbell and the Lions are adamant about making Gibbs the bell cow back, but a better balance can and should be struck.
Vaki's shortcomings were evident in his limited opportunities, especially in the play when he ran into Penei Sewell's back with the ball. Campbell called Vaki's performance inconsistent after the game. He ranked near the bottom among Detroit's offensive players in Pro Football Focus grades.
It's not like Vaki has shown enough flashes in his first two seasons with the Lions. Is there really a good enough argument for him to be on the 53-man roster rather than the practice squad?
The Lions need a more reliable RB they can be more comfortable giving the ball to. Whether that's a free-agent veteran like Kareem Hunt or Austin Ekeler, or a trade candidate, is unclear, but they would be wise to add someone who can take some load off Gibbs.
Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell tend to trust their guys to step up in these moments. But losing the player you replaced David Montgomery with, essentially for the season, should precipitate an RB addition.
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