Laddie Morse
As of this writing on Thursday evening, the Kansas City Chiefs #1 draft pick in 2020, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire has yet to be activated.
HC Andy Reid will likely keep Clyde Edwards-Helaire — CEH — on ice for another week, thereby giving him and extra two weeks since the BYE Week is coming right up after the Cowboys game this Sunday in Arrowhead. The big question is: what role should CEH hold upon his return. His backup, Darrel Williams has played well, well enough to be considered for the starting role, permanently.
Some speculate that since CEH was a 1st round pick just a year ago, that the Chiefs see him in that way and figure to keep him in that role, as the starter, until he proves he can’t do the job. I’m just not so sure that he should be given that role immediately upon his return. Obviously, what I think means nothing and what the Chiefs think means everything. However, just because a player was drafted in the first round, doesn’t mean he should forever get a pass, every time you get injured. CEH has been injured twice in his first season and a half, and that should be taken into consideration.
What brings me to this question more than anything is: the catch by Darrel Williams in the end zone versus the Raiders. Ask yourself, self, if that was Clyde Edwards-Helaire going up to make that grab, would he have been able to fight off the defender to make that catch? I don’t think so. Darrel Williams is 5-foot-11 and weighs 219 pounds while CEH is 5-foot-9 and comes in at 207. Williams had to fight the defender off to make that catch, barely. Take a look and pay attention to the end of this video:
It looks like there are things Darrel Williams can do, while it looks like there are things Clyde Edwards-Helaire can’t. DWill clearly provides his QB with another big target. CEH was supposed to be this extra target out of the backfield when he came out of LSU. Last year, CEH had 2.7 catches per game but this year that’s down to 1.6 catches per game.
Some will argue that the YPC (Yards Per Carry) rate outweighs the long catch ability. CEH has averaged 4.5 YPC in his year and a half in the league while Darrel Williams has averaged 3.7 YPC over his 3 1/2 year career. However, in the past four games, DWill has averaged 3.8 YPC and his rate should improve as a starter. Plus, CEH coming off the bench would provide a lot of punch and better variation than Williams’ straight ahead approach. Yes, I’m suggesting that a RB with a darting style following a downhill running RB would be more effective.
It’s also hard to believe: CEH, DWill and JMcKinnon is a better trio of RBs than… DWill, JMcKinnon and Derrick Gore have been. Besides, benching CEH, in a sense, could prove as motivation for him to rise up and take his job back.
First Round Running Backs
Aside from CEH, ten of the most recent 1st Round Running Backs in the NFL draft include:
- Najee Harris
- Travis Etienne
- Josh Jacobs
- Saquon Barkley
- Rashaad Penny
- Sony Michel
- Leonard Fournette
- Christian McCaffrey
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Todd Gurley
Each of these RBs were selected higher than CEH, but I’m not sure I’d take CEH over any of these choices, They each seem to be much, much better RBs, at this point.
Draft Value
Clyde Edwards-Helaire was drafted in the first round and hopefully the Chiefs have learned that this was a mistake. Not the drafting of CEH, but drafting a RB in the first round. When a team takes a RB in the first round, they should expect that RB to be so special that they will stack up multiple Pro Bowl berths and have a shot at a Hall of Fame jacket. Is that written somewhere? No. It just makes sense based on the current valuation of talent coming out into this aerial age of the game.
Overall Value
I’m pretty sure CEH was drafted because Andy Reid wanted him to do for the Chiefs what he did for the LSU 2019 Division-I Champions. That year, in 2019, CEH racked up 1,414 rushing yards but added 453 yards on receptions at LSU. That added up to 1,867 yards from scrimmage. Last year, for the Chiefs, CEH had 1,100 yards from scrimmage. I know what my friend David Bell would say, “Part of that is due to Andy Reid’s play calling deficiencies.” That may be true, but CEH has not nearly been all we thought he would be for this offense.
Also, I don’t see him ever making a Pro Bowl, much less vying for a Gold Jacket. I hope I’m wrong, but I’ve lost the vision for that potential. So far.
It’s not like that’s me expressing my own limitations because I can see that potential for: Willie Gay Jr., Nick Bolton, L’Jarius Sneed, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, and others. I just haven’t seen that kind of pop from CEH since his first game of the Chiefs 2020 season against the Texans.
Out-dated Comparisons
When CEH came out of LSU he was compared to: Maurice Jones-Drew, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram and Devonta Freeman. I recall Andy Reid mentioning Brin Westbrook. Two thoughts: 1) maybe we should hold back on the comparison thingy, and 2), the Chiefs will be fortunate if CEH lives up the level of a Brian Westbrook (BW had five straight seasons of more than 1,200 yards from scrimmage), even if it’s just for one season.
What do you think?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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