Vikings, Raiders fumbled running back Isiah Pacheco to the draft-savvy Chiefs

Wanna host five consecutive conference title games while going to three Super Bowls and winning two world championships?

Keep drafting better players than everyone else. And do it while handcuffed in a system designed to make it easier for everyone else to draft better players.

The Chiefs are a decade into that blueprint for success under coach Andy Reid and General Manager Brett Veach.

Their home runs are well-documented. Veach locking in on Patrick Mahomes when Reid wasn't looking for a quarterback, and then trading up to get him when Mahomes wasn't the surefire Hall of Famer he is today is, well, the mother of all NFL grand slams.

But let's examine one of the Chiefs' less-ballyhooed draft picks. We'll call it a solid double that's rounding second and sprinting for third as running back Isiah Pacheco heads into Week 5 at Minnesota coming off career highs in yards rushing (115) and receiving (43) in a 23-20 road win over the Jets on Sunday night.

This is a tale of how three teams — Chiefs, Raiders and Vikings — who went looking for a running back on Day 3 of the 2022 draft found their guys.

It's not a pretty tale for the Vikings. But rest assured it's much more embarrassing for a Raiders team that shares the same division with the Chiefs.

This follow-the-bouncing-ball draft story starts with the Raiders trading up four spots in the fourth round with the Vikings. Las Vegas got the 122^nd pick and the 250^th overall pick in the seventh round. The Vikings got the 126^th pick and the 227^th pick of the seventh round.

With the 122^nd pick, the Raiders selected Georgia running back Zamir White. He has 109 yards rushing in 18 games with no starts and has played only 19 snaps on offense this year.

With the 126^th pick, the Vikings … traded it back to the Raiders for two fifth-rounders (165^th and 169^th). With that 169^th pick, the Vikings took North Carolina running back Ty Chandler. He still has promise, but also has only 47 career yards on 13 carries and couldn't convince the Vikings not to trade for Cam Akers last month.

With that 250^th pick the Raiders got from the Vikings, Vegas doubled down on RBs and took UCLA's Brittain Brown. He has yet to play a snap on offense in the NFL.

And with the 251^st pick, the patient Chiefs said, "Thank you very much" and took Pacheco from Rutgers. All Pacheco did as a rookie was start 14 of 20 games, including the Super Bowl victory, while rushing for 1,027 yards, a 5.0 average and six touchdowns.

And all he's done this year is take his game to the next level. He's a better receiving threat and an even more physical runner who has introduced an extra level of power into the Chiefs' high-octane identity.

So if you think the Chiefs consist of only Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, you might want to keep your head on a swivel for Pacheco blasting up the middle like he did on his 48-yard touchdown run Sunday night.

Pacheco was one of Kansas City's three seventh-round picks last year. All three made the team. Cornerback Jaylen Watson (243^rd) started nine games last year, including the Super Bowl, and had a 99-yard pick-six.

To get the pick they used on Watson, the Chiefs traded offensive tackle Yasir Durant to the Patriots. He lasted seven games in New England and is now in New Orleans.

So, yeah, striking oil with Mahomes is the headliner. But without consistently great draft classes — and the salary cap-friendly contracts that come with them — not even the Chiefs would be riding a streak of hosting five consecutive AFC Championship Games while going to three Super Bowls and raising two Lombardi trophies.