Patrick Mahomes is just one of several injury concerns for Kansas City Chiefs

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Last spring, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach had a rare opportunity to use a first-round pick to inject impact-level talent at any position on the roster. He chose to do so at running back by taking the first one off the board in LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Edwards-Helaire was projected as a perfect fit for the Chiefs well before Veach ever submitted his name on a draft card and for good reason. The LSU back was such an obvious fit with his skill set for an inventive, pass-heavy offense like Andy Reid’s. The idea was that Edwards-Helaire brought excellent hands, elite vision, key instincts, great contact balance, and an exemplary work ethic to the backfield that would bring further dynamism to an already historic offense.

Fast forward to the end of the year and Edwards-Helaire has unfortunately been sidelined since Week 15 in which he suffered hip and ankle injuries. He sat out both Week 16 and Week 17 and even had the bye week to recuperate but on Sunday, the team sat Edwards-Helaire on the sideline as one of their inactive players.

What’s troubling about this is that Edwards-Helaire was able to return to practice on Wednesday, which seemed like a very positive development. However the team then held him out of practice for the rest of the week, which shows that he was not as ready as trainers thought he was. That could mean something was reaggravated. At the very least, he was not ready for Sunday and no one should assume he will be ready with another week of rest.

The Chiefs have talent in the backfield already as Darrel Williams showcased in Sunday’s win over the Browns. Le’Veon Bell was also barely used but he’s certainly a well-rounded threat as well on offense. However, it would be nice to have the very player that Veach envisioned for such a time as this.