As expected, the Detroit Lions moved on from David Montgomery early in the offseason. They sent the former divisional rival to the Houston Texans, opening the door for Jahmyr Gibbs to reaffirm his spot as their workhorse back.
Of course, they still needed a backup to keep their superstar running back fresh, so they signed Isiah Pacheco. The former seventh-round pick was coming off a down year with the Kansas City Chiefs, so he only landed a one-year, $1.8 milllion deal.
Nevertheless, it seems that Dan Campbell hasn't been that impressed by what he's seen from him so far in OTAs. Instead of hyping him up, he doubled down on the notion that Gibbs would be their bell cow, so Pacheco might not be in Detroit for much longer:
"I mean, he is, he's going to be our bell cow now," Campbell said of Gibbs. "He really became more of that last year, but we're going to hang our hat on him quite a bit. We're going to do a lot of things we feel like he does well."
Isiah Pacheco might be one-and-done with the Detroit Lions
Pacheco became a fan favorite in Kansas City as soon as he entered the league. He ran with violence and aggressiveness, and he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Missouri. However, injuries weren't that kind to him, and he hasn't been much of a factor in recent years.
He missed four games last season and turned 118 carries into just 462 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 3.9 yards per carry and just 35.5 rushing yards per game, marking the second consecutive season he failed to average at least 4.0 yards per carry or top 500 rushing yards.
He has never been much of a factor in the passing game, either. In his four years in Kansas City, he hauled in a grand total of 88 receptions on 105 targets for 554 yards and 3 touchdowns. So, the Lions might still need someone else for obvious passing situations when Gibbs is taking a breather.
Of course, Gibbs is a true superstar, so it only makes sense that this team is finally ready to unleash him and get him on the field as early and often as possible, regardless of his backup. Nevertheless, Gibbs has been so efficient in a committee, and that may not be the case when his sidekick can't get anything going on the ground.
Campbell's words may have been a compliment to his star running back and not much more. Even so, the lack of an endorsement for his offseason addition raises questions about his fit on the offense or his current level.
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