Chiefs: Reason for the Clyde Edwards-Helaire Pick: Building to Strengthen Positions Room by Room – Okay. Admit it. You are surprised. I am surprised but, some pundits are saying “I told you so,” only they didn’t have the right RB for the Kansas City Chiefs slotted at #32.
Something Happened!
What I see is… BEPA/BEPA/BPA at work. Why? Because GM Brett Veach & Co met with Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Henceforth, CEH) at the Combine. They came away from that meeting and it resulted in CEH being placed at the top of the Chiefs Draft Board.
However, I didn’t think he would be the round-one pick and I thought CEH would be gone before pick 31 of Round 2. So what happened? Veach made Edwards-Helaire the Chiefs round one pick but then, CEH was the top pick for KC already… already their BPA.
Of course my view was that the CB and LB groups had to get deeper and stronger in a hurry so I had believed round one would go that way… CB or LB. For the Chiefs, Veach made the round one Pick the BPA of their draft board because Veach had some knowledge about how the prospects would fall off the board in front of his pick. So, the player that Veach and Reid wanted, as it turns out, was CEH. This has been revealed from multiple sources. CEH fit the Chiefs offense, his intelligence won over Reid and Bieniemy at the Combine. His 1867 all purpose yards, 1400+ rushing, 55 catches, and 17 TD’s… was exactly what the doctor ordered. CEH ranked second among all Running Backs in the nation.
The Chiefs were impressed as well, due to the complexity of the Tigers offense and the fact that CEH was the 2019 Team MVP. This is why Brett Veach selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire as their #1 draft pick. It was not what I imagined at all as the run on LB’s and CB’s shifted the pick or that a trade-back was not possible due to the run on QB’s preceding pick 32. Simply put: the Kansas City Chiefs wanted CEH… and they got him. Two of my sources are the Athletic articles published today (Nate Taylor and Brody Miller). Taylor wrote:
“…Brett Veach, Kansas City’s general manager, believes Edwards-Helaire can have the same impact in Reid’s scheme and the Chiefs locker room.”
I am not going to argue against an outfit that just won the Super Bowl in February.
What I Don’t Know, is What I Don’t Know
Choosing CEH demonstrates for all to see that, what I don’t know, is what I don’t know. What I do know is with CEH, the RB room is now a very strong group! It is no longer a kludged together work in progress that it became since the Chiefs bade farewell to the troublesome Kareem Hunt.
Let’s take a look at what Brett Veach a Company have done. They had drafted Hunt and had to release him. I thought getting Carlos Hyde was a good move and it was but, he was traded away and that ended with positive result when the Chiefs went a different direction. In 2020, before the draft, Veach added Texas Tech RB DeAndre Washington. Another move that strengthens the RB group which already boasted the skill and ability of Damien Williams and other potential backs.
Looking deeper, you can see the process that took place over time involved other moves that were going on to improve the RB talent. For example, the Chiefs brought aboard both Darrell Williams, after a lot of promise from Spencer Ware, who departed this spring. Other additions to the roster were made including: drafting Darwin Thompson – DTrain (Utah St) in 2019. In the meantime, the Chiefs added depth. We don’t really know how this works out but, here is the list of RB’s besides CEH and Washington: Marcus Marshall (James Madison), Elijah McGuire (Louisiana-Lafayette), Damien Williams (Oklahoma), Darrell Williams (LSU) and Mike Weber (Ohio State).
The Optics of the Metrics
Looking at film and using Rogue Analytics and its matrices, I see a RB who is a great fit for the Chiefs. I listed all the characteristics of Edwards-“Helaire” elsewhere and relist them below. Edwards-Helaire:
- Fits very well what KC does
- Is agile, elusive, makes cuts, stops, starts and breaks tackles
- Has great vision
- Is a very good receiver.
The knocks on CEH are: he doesn’t have great speed and his pass-blocking needs work (which is coachable). When I look at film? I see a complete player. Okay, so he doesn’t possess 4.0-40 speed but, he shows very good game-speed and a burst of explosiveness that is astounding.
I have been watching films again. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is a great draft pick.
CEH has matching strengths for what the Chiefs need, you can see this from metrics and watching film. I also know his ranking as a running back from multiple sources.
One huge key for me was the fact that he was an early visit of the Chiefs in actual face to face efforts prior to the lockdown and that should well inform any observer.
The Chiefs selection in round one coulda’ been this, or woulda’ been that — but it wasn’t. The Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire as the player they wanted for the 32nd pick because they believed he was the best pick!
I think by the time the Chiefs open spring activities for the 2021 season, you too, will agree, that this was a great draft pick.
Any Logic for Day 2? Uncle, You Bet!
If there is a hope for day two it is that Veach works on two other position groups to build them to room’s of strength. I have been highlighting CB and LB. It’s time we got to it. We will see with round 2 and 3 where Brett Veach leads us. Go Chiefs and…
Where Brett Veach leads, we will follow.
“IVWT“! — In Veach We Trust!
David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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