While the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Isiah Pacheco heads into Year 3 as the established starter at running back, Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane enters his second season still sharing time with veteran Raheem Mostert.
Still, is Achane’s production in a limited role enough to be a better option at running back over Pacheco for fantasy football managers? Let’s take a look at the fantasy outlook for each running back for the 2024 season.
2024 Fantasy Outlook for Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco is the RB10 in Pro Football Network’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings as of Aug. 27.
After initially sharing time with Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the backfield, Pacheco has a firm grip on the starting running back spot for the Chiefs. And with Kansas City’s weapons on offense, most notably quarterback Patrick Mahomes, having the Chiefs’ No. 1 running back on your fantasy team seems like a solid play.
Although he has not reached 1,000 rushing yards in either of his first two seasons, Pacheco saw his rushing yards per game increase by nearly 20 yards a game in 2023, from 48.8 YPG to 66.8 YPG.
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But where Pacheco really saw improvement in his second season, and why he is likely one of the highest-ranked running backs in fantasy, is his receiving skills. After catching just 13 passes as a rookie in 2022, Pacheco had 44 receptions last season. Considering that he seems to catch nearly everything thrown his way (career 90.5% catch percentage), Pacheco’s receiving numbers should only increase in the upcoming season.
Although he was outside the top 10 in fantasy impact, with 213.9 total fantasy points last season (15th-most among RBs), keep in mind that Pacheco missed three games last season.
2024 Fantasy Outlook for De’Von Achane
Achane is the RB9 in Pro Football Network’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings as of Aug. 27. This is an impressive ranking for a player who was a backup as a rookie last season and still figures to split time with Mostert this season.
Although he only played in 11 games last season because of injury, Achane produced enough in his time on the field to become a potential fantasy star in his second season.
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Achane proved to be a home-run threat whenever he touched the ball in 2023. He rushed for 800 yards on just 103 carries (7.8 yards per carry) and scored 11 total touchdowns in just 11 games.
His big-play threat is what made Achane stand out last season. Despite missing six games, Achane was top five in runs of 20 or more yards (eight, tied for fourth), and no player had more runs of 40+ yards than Achane (five).
From a fantasy standpoint, Achane had the fifth-highest fantasy points per game average at 17.3.
Who Should I Draft in 2024?
There is a lot to like about both Pacheco and Achane. But while the biggest concern about Pacheco’s fantasy value may be whether or not he can become a 1,200- to 1,400-yard rusher in Year 3, the biggest questions surrounding Achane are if he can stay healthy and if his touches increase despite playing behind the league’s top TD-run producer from last season?
It may be a bit of a risk, but I’d rather take Achane, cross my fingers that he can stay healthy, and watch him light up the fantasy scoreboard.
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