In the 2025 NFL season, the Chiefs have struggled to establish a consistent running game. Isiah Pacheco and Patrick Mahomes — yes, the quarterback — are currently the team’s rushing leaders, but they’ve now faced a major setback.

The Chiefs have confirmed that Pacheco will miss Week 9. This loss has prompted the club to make changes to its running back depth chart, as an old friend will return to the team this Sunday.

Chiefs add Clyde Edwards-Helaire to the 53-man roster

Isiah Pacheco is listed as the Chiefs’ starting running back. Unfortunately, injuries have had a big impact on him recently, and he couldn’t avoid another one in the 2025 season.

The former Rutgers standout is out for the Week 9 game against the Bills due to a knee issue. It’s a significant loss for Kansas City, but head coach Andy Reid has activated an emergency plan.

On Saturday, the Chiefs announced that Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Still, Kareem Hunt is expected to step up as RB1 during Pacheco’s absence.

Edwards-Helaire, a first-round pick in 2020, helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowl titles. He signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2024 as a free agent but played only two games there before returning to Kansas City last August.

How does the Chiefs’ depth chart at running back look for Week 9?

With Isiah Pacheco out, Kareem Hunt is expected to take most of the snaps as the lead running back. His numbers haven’t been great, as he has rushed for 245 yards — 35 fewer than Patrick Mahomes.

Behind Hunt are Brashard Smith, Elijah Mitchell, and now Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The latter is currently listed as the team’s RB4, but his experience could quickly elevate him in the rotation on Sunday.

There are times when a first-round selection could be a luxury pick instead of filling a need if the team has already a complete roster. That’s what happened in the 2020 Draft, with the Kansas City Chiefs holding the 32^nd pick because they had won the Super Bowl a few months before.

They had a very solid roster back then that led to them winning the title, so they took a running back despite having an offense that leans towards the pass way more than the run. Their choice was Clyde Edwards-Helaire, trying to add yet another offensive weapon for Patrick Mahomes.

He was coming off a fantastic season with the Joe Burrow-led LSU Tigers winning the NCAA championship without any doubts. However, Edwards-Helaire has never been a reliable piece for the Chiefs. To the point where they won the title with him out the whole playoffs.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire gets real on being inactive in the Super Bowl

His contributions to the team were supposed to be huge because he has the skill set required by Andy Reid in a running back. Especially what he can do receiving the ball, but injuries were a big part of why he couldn’t be the clear starter at any point.

Several players were dealing with injuries before the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, although all of them were eventually good to go. That left him outside of the team as inactive for the whole playoffs. But he shared an interesting story about how he learned he wasn’t going to play.

“Getting off the bus for this Super Bowl. When I got in [the locker room], I didn’t have my uniform. ‘OK cool, roll with it’. Roll with the punches. That’s what I was raised on. Talked to Travis, cause he was the guy walking behind me and he saw I didn’t have my uniform. Talked to Frank, to Kadarius Toney. And after that, we went out there and handled business”, Edwards-Helaire explained.

The running back also mentioned the week prior to the game. “I played receiver that week. I started practicing, coach told me to keep things going smoothly. So, why not have you go out there and play receiver and keep everything rolling? I also did scout team. I was DeVonta Smith in the scout team for the defense,” he said per Charles Goldman of the Chiefs Wire.