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Rutgers Star Isiah Pacheco Ready for AFC Title Game

When the AFC Title game kicks off a little after 6:30 eastern, many fans in New Jersey will be rooting for Kansas City. That’s because a star running back wearing…

Isiah Pacheco Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 21: Isiah Pacheco #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs the ball for 39 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 21, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

When the AFC Title game kicks off a little after 6:30 eastern, many fans in New Jersey will be rooting for Kansas City. That's because a star running back wearing number 10 in Chiefs fire engine red once wore another shade of red in New Jersey.

Isiah Pacheco - a native of Vineland, New Jersey -- played four years at Rutgers University, rushing for 2,442 yards and 18 touchdowns, placing him seventh all time among Scarlet Knights running backs.

While a lot of people will be talking about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who was drafted last in the 2022 draft, Pacheco was drafted 11 spots ahead of Purdy in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Chiefs.

Like Purdy in San Fran, Pacheco has taken the NFL by storm, and has done so over the course of an an entire NFL season.

With Clyde Edwards-Helaire on injured reserve, Pacheco took over as Kansas City's number one back and never looked back, leading the team in rushing yards with 830, a 4.9 yards per carry clip. That average yards per carry stat ties Pachecho for 10th in the NFL. His yardage puts him 24th in the NFL among running backs.

Last week against Jacksonville, Pacheco ran for 95 yards in KC's 27-20 win. In short a kid from Jersey went from being a guy wearing Tyreek Hill's old number 10 to being a major weapon out of the backfield for a future Hall of Famer in Patrick Mahomes.

“I’ve been waiting on this moment my whole life,” Pacheco said during Wednesday's AFC Title Game Press Conference.

In a beautiful and powerful feature piece written by Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, Pacheco talks about how the tragic deaths of his brother, Travoise to a stabbing in 2016, and his sister, Celeste to a shooting in 2017 have helped motivate him to play hard and live even harder for their memory.

Now he gets a chance to shine one of the sports grandest stages: the AFC Championship Game. Should Kansas City beat Cincinnati, Pacheco will make it to the biggest stage of all: the Super Bowl.

What are they saying about RU's very own Isiah Pacheco? Read below!

New York Post feature

"Waiting my Whole Life"

NFL Network Talks Pacheco

Vineland Football

Watch Isiah Run

Andy Reid back in November

Brian Baldinger on Pacheco

Isiah Pacheco the Business Man

Fox 4 News on Pacheco

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Michael Cohen is the News and Sports Director at Fox Sports Radio New Jersey and Magic 98.3 FM, as well as a radio production assistant with Fox and Magic in New Jersey. He started his career in Somerset in 2018 initially as a news fill-in at WCTC 1450 AM, and soon moved up to higher responsibilities in the ensuing years, assuming News & Sports Director title in 2021Prior to his time with Fox Sports New Jersey, Michael was play-by-play voice for New Jersey Jackals baseball, and as well as play-by-play and color for the College of Staten Island basketball (men and women), softball and baseball. Michael began his career as a news and sportswriter with the Jersey Journal of Hudson County.