Those who drafted Clyde Edwards-Helaire in fantasy football already weren’t getting the most out of a player they drafted with a high draft pick.
After a monster Week 1 performance against the Houston Texans (138 yards and a touchdown), he never topped 64 yards rushing, and in his past two contests, he only caught three passes each.
Now? Le’Veon Bell is a Kansas City Chief.
If CEH wasn’t living up to the hype before, it’s not going to happen now.
Despite the fact that Bell was pretty awful with the New York Jets before they released him, he’s one year removed from catching 66 passes out of the backfield and totaling 789 yards on the ground. He isn’t the star he was in Pittsburgh, but in the Chiefs’ offense as part of a rotation with Edwards-Helaire, he’ll be a week-to-week Flex or RB2 fill-in when there are byes. And that doesn’t mean CEH suddenly becomes irrelevant. There’s a part of me that wonders if he becomes more of a weapon on passing downs, which could open him up for big plays.
It’s truly unfortunate given that the Chiefs spent a first-round pick on Edwards-Helaire and that we know Andy Reid’s history of making stars out of running backs. But clearly, he wasn’t getting it done, especially near the goal line:
Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been downright awful inside the 10-yard line. He's totaled -1 rushing yard and has earned a PFF rushing grade of 43.8, which ranks 72 out of 73 running backs this season with least 1 carry inside the 10
Time to trade away CEH.https://t.co/oFHl82I769
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) October 14, 2020
Clyde Edwards-Helaire on carries inside the five-yard line:
🔸 7 attempts
🔸 0 TDs pic.twitter.com/k78WHn9dlZ— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) October 15, 2020
All 7 Clyde Edwards-Helaire carries from inside the 5-yard line this season.
Short of flying into the end zone like a prime Reggie Bush, idk what the dude was supposed to do on pretty much all of these. pic.twitter.com/3C9WBZxY7s
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 14, 2020
It’s great news for those of you with Bell, who will turn what was nothing into a part-time role for a player who could thrive in an offense that taps into his dual skill set, and it seems like he could be leaned on at the goal line (see above).
But if you drafted Edwards-Helaire at first-round value, the news couldn’t be worse.
