Isiah Pacheco hype is real, Dick Vermeil to HOF | KCSN Daily 8.5
Top Chiefs stories while the team gets a day off from training camp
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The Chiefs took a day off from their training camp practice on Friday, Aug. 5 after hosting three consecutive days of padded practices and a lighter 10-10-10 practice. They’ll pick things up again this weekend, closing out on Sunday, Aug. 7 with the ever-popular “Family Fun Day” at Missouri Western State University ($5 admission).
KCSN Update:
Who made the cut in Kent Swanson’s latest 53-man roster prediction? Find out here.
Isiah Pacheco turning heads at training camp
When Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach addressed the media ahead of the 2022 NFL draft, he made a prediction about the running back class.
“The running back class this year, it’s really crazy,” Veach said, via Chiefs Wire. “When you factor in that COVID year last year, and some of the guys that stayed in school. I’ve never seen such a large group of fifth-, sixth-, seventh-round running backs. It’s like the names go from the top of the ceiling down to the bottom. I told the guys that there is going to be a 1,000-yard rusher that is a seventh-round pick, just by the sheer volume of numbers.”
Sure enough, the Chiefs waited until the seventh round to draft a running back. That player — former Rutgers RB Isiah Pacheco — is now turning heads after eight full training camp practices. It begs the question — could he be the 1000-yard rusher that Veach was talking about?
It’s hardly a guarantee that you’ll make the 53-man roster as a seventh-round draft pick, but Pacheco appears to be on a collision course for a big role in Kansas City. Dave Toub recently named him the team’s starting kick returner, at least for the first week of the preseason against the Bears. Pacheco has also earned an increasing number of first-team repetitions during camp, in part because he prides himself on being a complete football player.
“You know, definitely being a guy that can compete on all three downs, pass protection, being able to catch the ball, being able to run the ball on first and second down whenever we need to gain the short yardage,” Pacheco told reporters after the draft. “And being able to compete on special teams, more specifically, coming in the door, giving 120 percent, competing and (being) willing to take another grown man’s job.”
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For Pacheco, it seems all there is left to do is to carry his momentum into the preseason. He still must prove that he can do it all in a live game scenario against actual opponents.
“Yeah he’s got a little juice, he’s got good speed, toughness, all of that,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said of Pacheco on Wednesday. “Look forward to getting him into a game and see how he does there. He’s working hard on picking everything up and doing a nice job there.”
Dick Vermeil’s Hall of Fame Enshrinement
Vermeil will become the 24th overall member and third head coach of the Chiefs to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In 2001, Vermeil first became head coach in Kansas City, bringing with him a Super Bowl pedigree after having led the St. Louis Rams to an improbable title in 1999. He’d go on to coach 80 regular season games with the Chiefs over the course of five seasons, finishing with a 44-36 overall record during that span. His lone playoff appearance came in 2003 when he coached K.C. to a 13-3 overall record and first place finish in the AFC West.
While Vermeil’s tenure didn’t result in any playoff wins, he brought a winning culture and a sense of family back to Chiefs football.
“Well coached and tough,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said of Vermeil’s teams. “You can’t survive in this thing like he did for all those years without that. And then that fact that he took a hiatus in between, not really a hiatus I mean he was working his tail off, the fact that he got out of the game and was able to come back in and be as productive and continue to grow just says volumes for him. That’s why he’s going to the Hall of Fame. He’s phenomenal, a phenomenal mentor too. A great human being.”
Listen to former Chiefs OL Jeff Allen and DT Mike DeVito as they speak with former Chiefs DE Eric Hicks about Dick Vermeil in the latest episode of One on One.
Vermeil will be presented for enshrinement by former Chiefs GM Carl Peterson. The ceremony is set to take place on Saturday, Aug. 6 beginning at Noon E.T., and Vermeil will be the last of the eight new Hall of Famers enshrined.
Transactions:
8/5 - The Chiefs waived DT Cortez Broughton from the reserve/PUP list with an injury settlement. This move doesn’t create a roster spot.
Important dates ahead:
Saturday, Aug. 13 - Preseason Week 1: Chiefs @ Bears - Noon CT - Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field
Tuesday, Aug. 16 - Roster cuts wave 1 - 90 to 85 players
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