That was a really nice rookie season for Isiah Pacheco. He ran for 830 yards, and that kind of production is rare from a rookie selected in the 7th round.
When camp opened, the general assumption was that Clyde Edwards-Helaire would be starting for Kansas City, with Ronald Jones and Jerick McKinnon also contributing. But Pacheco (from Rutgers) moved his way to the top of the depth chart long before CEH ran into injury issues.
Pacheco ended up running for 830 yards. That’s the most by a running back selected in the seventh round since Johnny Johnson in 1990. (I actually saw Johnson in a college – didn’t get enough weight to him running for over 200 yards to help San Jose State nearly pull off an upset at Washington.) And it’s a lot more than any seventh-round pick has run for recently.
Since the move to 32 teams in 2002, 89 other running backs have been selected in the seventh round. Only 13 of them have run for 100 yards in their rookie season. Only 28 have run for even 10 yards.
In the chart below, I'm showing only rushing stats (Pacheco also caught 13 passes for 130 yards). Some of the players are tagged with black dots. Those are ones who later in their career put together notable seasons.
| 7TH-ROUND RUNNING BACKS (2002-22) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2022 | Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 170 | 830 | 4.9 | 5 |
| 2012 | Bryce Brown, Phil. | 115 | 564 | 4.9 | 4 |
| 2012 | Daryl Richardson, St.L. | 98 | 475 | 4.9 | 0 |
| 2008 | • Peyton Hillis, Den. | 68 | 343 | 5.0 | 5 |
| 2016 | Dwayne Washington, Det. | 90 | 265 | 2.9 | 1 |
| 2014 | Kerwynn Williams, Ariz. | 53 | 246 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 2017 | • Chris Carson, Sea. | 49 | 208 | 4.2 | 0 |
| 2018 | Justin Jackson, LAC | 50 | 206 | 4.1 | 2 |
| 2007 | DeShawn Wynn, G.B. | 50 | 203 | 4.1 | 4 |
| 2009 | • Rashad Jennings, Jac. | 39 | 202 | 5.2 | 1 |
| 2007 | • Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG | 23 | 190 | 8.3 | 1 |
| 2019 | • Myles Gaskin, Mia. | 36 | 133 | 3.7 | 1 |
| 2005 | Noah Herron, 2TM | 48 | 123 | 2.6 | 2 |
| 2019 | Kerrith Whyte, Pitt. | 24 | 122 | 5.1 | 0 |
| 2014 | Storm Johnson, Jac. | 29 | 86 | 3.0 | 2 |
| 2021 | Jermar Jefferson, Det. | 15 | 74 | 4.9 | 2 |
| 2013 | Tommy Bohanon, NYJ | 17 | 62 | 3.7 | 0 |
| 2015 | Joey Iosefa, N.E. | 15 | 51 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2009 | Chris Ogbonnaya, St.L. | 11 | 50 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 2013 | Michael Cox, NYG | 22 | 43 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2007 | Jason Snelling, Atl. | 13 | 43 | 3.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | David Williams, Jac. | 8 | 36 | 4.5 | 0 |
| 2016 | Daniel Lasco, N.O. | 11 | 32 | 2.9 | 0 |
| 2004 | A. Echemandu, Cle. | 8 | 25 | 3.1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Kylin Hill, G.B. | 10 | 24 | 2.4 | 0 |
| 2002 | Rock Cartwright, Was. | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 |
| 2011 | Da'Rel Scott, NYG | 5 | 16 | 3.2 | 0 |
| 2009 | LaRod Stephens-Howling, Ariz. | 6 | 15 | 2.5 | 0 |
—Ian Allan