KC Chiefs rookie review, Week 5: Draft class struggles against Raiders

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

When Kansas City used the team’s first round pick on running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, it was instantly heralded as an overwhelming success, a home run, a match made in heaven.

Then Week 1 happened. It was all of those things and more! As the former LSU Tiger ran the ball all over the Houston Texans, Chiefs fans everywhere had to believe they had the franchise’s next great running back, in a long lineage of excellent ones, to add to the list.

Maybe they still do and/or will, but to say the production has been all downhill from there is, perhaps, an understatement. No one expected CEH to rush for over 130 yards in every game, but they did perhaps believe those totals would be a little closer to the century mark than, say, 40.

That was the rushing effort put up by the first year man on Sunday: 10 carries, 40 yards, a pretty pedestrian 4.0 yards per carry effort.

In the passing game is really where Clyde will pay off for the Chiefs, they told us. But, three receptions in Week 5 tell a different story. With just 17 receptions through five weeks, the 32nd overall pick seems little more than an afterthought or a check down in Andy Reid‘s offense.

We’re far from throwing in the towel on Edwards-Helaire. But between his decreased effectiveness as a rusher and his lack of opportunities in the passing game, we’re a little concerned that he’s not being utilized as hoped.