Fantasy Football: Should Clyde Edwards-Helaire be a top-5 pick?
Should fantasy football managers take Clyde Edwards-Helaire with a top-five pick?
The Kansas City Chiefs using their first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft (No. 32 overall) on a running back shocked many people. However, the selection of Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU highlighted just how much head coach Andy Reid and the organization thought of the player to use that high of a pick on him. As such, fantasy football owners took notice.
Yet, there was always one massively lingering cause for trepidation with Edwards-Helaire in the fantasy community. No, it wasn’t the fact that he was a rookie. Kareem Hunt was an absolute star under Reid in Kansas City in his first NFL season. Instead, it was veteran Damien Williams sitting on the depth chart with Edwards-Helaire that was cause for concern.
On July 29, Williams announced his decision to opt out of the 2020 NFL season due to COVID-19 concerns. That paves the way for Edwards-Helaire to be the clear-cut No. 1 option in the backfield for possibly the best offense in the league and a system that has traditionally utilized running backs frequently.
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So with the Chiefs now having their first-round pick, a talented young player, in position to be the guy in the backfield, how should fantasy football owners react? Obviously his value is going way up from where it was with fewer concerns about sharing time. But should Edwards-Helaire be taken with a top-five pick?
Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s fantasy football stock is on a meteoric rise.
We’re not going to debate the merits of Edwards-Helaire as a player. Beyond his spot on the Chiefs offense, the youngster was a stud for LSU last season. He was a prolific pass-catcher out of the backfield for a college running back and a quick, shifty runner who can find his way into space and make big plays consistently. That’s not going anywhere in the Kansas City system.
The question is whether or not a player who has that type of talent but has never played an NFL snap and is entering the league without offseason minicamps and workouts is worth taking over players such as Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry or even Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley.
For me, Elliott and Barkley are in their own tier with Christian McCaffrey. As such, I would have a difficult time putting Edwards-Helaire in that class of player. Subsequently, he’s firmly in the group with Kamara, Henry and maybe Dalvin Cook.
That pans out when you look at Fantasy Football Calculator as Edwards-Helaire’s current ADP in PPR mock draft (July 31-Aug. 2) is No. 7 overall and as RB6. Henry is RB5 and No. 6 overall while Kamara is RB3 and No. 4 overall.
The receiving upside of Edwards-Helaire leads me to believe that he should be valued higher than Henry. The Titans running back is likely the better runner but, in PPR or half-PPR leagues, the rookie’s prowess and usage in that department could vault him ahead.
Then we come to Kamara, who is somewhat of a divisive player. Yes, he’s a receiving threat. Yes, he’s obviously extremely talented and a key cog in the Saints offense. But he’s also never been a 1,000-yard rusher, has a slight injury history and just has never touched his alleged ceiling in fantasy football.
Because of that, there is a case to be made that Edwards-Helaire might be the better pick if you’re in the top five after McCaffrey, Barkley and Elliott have gone off the board. The upside is most certainly there but the risk is that the floor is less defined for a rookie with no track record in the NFL.
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Whether or not using a top-five pick on the Chiefs running back is wise is, in truth, a matter of personal preference. If you subscribe to the belief that you can’t win your league in the first round but can lose it there, then perhaps he’s someone to fade at that spot and take Kamara or Henry. If you’re ready to take a risk with a potentially monstrous payoff, though, a top-five pick might be the price well worth paying.