Three Chiefs starters who could be benched with a bad camp
With training camp now underway in Saint Joseph, the Kansas City Chiefs have many questions, ranging from how long it will take Orlando Brown Jr. to get up to speed after finally signing his franchise tag to how the rebuilt wide receiver room will work with Patrick Mahomes. There are also questions about which current starters on the depth chart need to have a strong camp to ensure that they don’t lose snaps once the regular season rolls around.
Veterans in need of a strong training camp range from young players who haven’t quite established themselves at the professional level to veterans who have young competition behind them. Let’s review three current Chiefs players whose starting positions are not set in stone and need a strong performance in training camp.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Running Back
Edwards-Helaire has been a lightning rod for criticism since the day he arrived in Kansas City, including from yours truly. The Chiefs did overdraft him, in my opinion, due to the position he plays but his production also has not quite reached expectations. But to be fair to him, after the rookie season that Kareem Hunt had in 2017, it was unreasonable for Chiefs fans to assume that Clyde would also flirt with the rushing title in 2020.
Edwards-Helaire has also been the victim of injuries for most of his NFL career. His 2020 regular season ended due to hip and ankle injuries suffered in Week 15 against New Orleans. His 2021 offseason was also compromised because of a gall bladder procedure. Then in 2022, he was injured in the regular season matchups against Buffalo and Pittsburgh, in which the former forced him to miss five games and missed three games due to the latter.
Though I do not believe that he is in a lot of danger of losing his job, it is on the table as he does not lack competition. The Chiefs brought in Ronald Jones, drafted Isiah Pacheco, signed Ronald Jones, and brought Jerick McKinnon back. I do believe that CEH is the best of the bunch but it wouldn’t shock me if one of the aforementioned backs took the starting job from him.