The lineage of Andy Reid’s success with running backs dates back to the year Isiah Pacheco was born, when Duce Staley topped 1,000 yards, and continued three years later, when the Eagles won the NFC East in Reid’s third year as coach and Brian Westbrook — a future Pro Bowler and 1,000-yard rusher, too — earned some carries as a rookie. The present and future were set.
This was 1999 and 2002. Pacheco wouldn’t finish his final season at Rutgers for another two decades. In between, there was Westbrook and LeSean McCoy. Jamaal Charles and Spencer Ware. Kareem Hunt and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Even Jerick McKinnon, Charcandrick West and Damien Williams had their moments.
Reid has coached Pro Bowlers and future Hall of Famers at running back, but recently — and especially the past two years — he’s done so without the stars. The Chiefs don’t have Christian McCaffrey, whom the 49ers have featured since acquiring him from the Panthers in 2022 and will do so again in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
Instead, they’ll use the seventh-round draft pick from Vineland, N.J., the one who starred at Rutgers and runs with a trademark ferocious style that’s difficult to tackle, at the center of their offense alongside Patrick Mahomes in their quest for a second consecutive title.
