So many people were excited about Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the Kansas City Chiefs. But the narrative has now changed coming into the 2021 season.
Fresh off winning a Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs were riding high when they went into the 2020 NFL Draft. And considering they won their ring on the strength of their offense, it wasn’t a surprise that they chose to keep a strength as strong as possible. Specifically, they used their first-round pick to grab Patrick Mahomes another weapon as they drafted running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The dynamic running back out of LSU seemed to be the perfect fit for an Andy Reid offense with Mahomes at the helm, particularly with his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. But while he did produce well enough, he wasn’t the explosive force many expected. In fact, he still split carries in the Kansas City offense, ending the year with 181 rushes for 803 yards and four touchdowns while catching 36 of 54 targets for only 297 yards and one score.
Part of that was certainly due to injuries as he was banged up, including late in the year when he had a real chance to prove himself. Now, it feels as if Edwards-Helaire’s hype is all but nonexistent. That, however, gives the second-year back something to prove as he occupies the Chiefs backfield.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire isn’t riding the gravy train with the Kansas City Chiefs anymore.
Much like the way the Chiefs were humbled in the Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay, Edwards-Helaire had to have a similar experience with his foray into the NFL. He wasn’t able to just dominate immediately because he’s talented and playing for Kansas City. There was a clear learning curve that he didn’t fully clear.
Now, it should be noted that he’s fully healthy at this point in the offseason, which could be as big of a factor as anything. Edwards-Helaire being able to shift and cut at full capacity is critical to his success and, in his less than stellar run in the playoffs, it was clear he was unable to do that. With time to recover, that will hopefully come back.
The biggest hope, though, is that the running back has taken his modest success as a rookie personally. To be clear, he wasn’t bad but he didn’t take the league by storm immediately as some projected him to. And now that his public perception is lessened, that can light a fire under him to be the player people thought he’d be coming out of college.
With the Chiefs offensive line revamped and the team as a whole seemingly inspired by what happened to end their season last year, this could be Edwards-Helaire’s time. He has all the tools, now he should have the motivation to make good on Kansas City’s investment in him.