What fantasy football writers are saying about Chiefs’ Clyde Edwards-Helaire
When the Chiefs drafted running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU in April, it seemed likely that he would get a decent amount of playing time.
But when Damien Williams opted out of the 2020 season, Edwards-Helaire jumped to the top of the depth chart — and caught the attention of people who write/talk about fantasy football.
For anyone who is thinking of drafting Edwards-Helaire, here is what those people are saying.
Cynthia Frelund of the NFL Network predicted seven touchdowns for Edwards-Helaire in the upcoming season.
Here is part of what she wrote: “Looking at ADP (average draft position), Edwards-Helaire is currently trading at around RB5 in PPR leagues. While I am fully on board with a ton of value coming from the Chiefs’ first-round pick, let’s temper expectations a little. My model ranks him as RB10. Not top five, but still a high ranking, especially for a rookie.”
ESPN’s Louis Riddick said Edwards-Helaire should be a first overall pick and made reference to Giants star Saquon Barkley:
Andy Behrens and Scott Pianowksi of Yahoo Sports wrote about the Chiefs having a number of good players for any fantasy team.
Behrens wrote: “As the roster stands, Edwards-Helaire should earn 60 to 65 percent of the backfield touches in Kansas City. And let’s be clear, 60 to 65 percent of the backfield touches in the Chiefs offense is worth far more than such a workload in just about any other ecosystem in the league. It’s as good, if not better, of a setup as when Ezekiel Elliott came into the league as a rookie and was quickly vaulted up into Round 1 of drafts. The Lesson there was don’t let “he never played a down in the NFL” be a guiding point in your analysis. One last note: I don’t see any vagabond veteran still on the market that has the juice left to drastically alter his projections or outlook. Edwards-Helaire is a late Round 1/early Round 2 pick at the turn.”
The NFL Network’s Marcus Grant said Edwards-Helaire could be taken as high as the middle of the first round.
“The juice could be worth the squeeze,” Grant said. “If Edwards-Helaire can approach 250 touches this season in the Chiefs attack, a top-10 fantasy running back finish is a real possibility.”
Terrell Davis talked about Edwards-Helaire’s flexibility and Brian Baldinger called Edwards-Helaire a perfect fit for the Chiefs.
Sean Koerner, Director of Predictive Analytics for the Action Network, is bullish on Edwards-Helaire.
This is part of what he wrote for the Baltimore Sun: “I’ve been high on CEH ever since the Chiefs drafted him at the end of the first round. He’s the perfect fit in the NFL’s most explosive offense. I was less worried about Damien Williams’ presence than most, and felt he was worth being selected as a top-15 RB this season. However, with Damien out of the picture, it shoots CEH up my board even more.
“I now have him projected as the RB9 and part of Tier 4 along with Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon.”
