KC Chiefs: It appears the Clyde Edwards-Helaire experiment is over

CEH entered the season as the team’s No. 1 running back with Jerick McKinnon being second and exciting rookie Isiah Pacheco being a wildcard of sorts.

After a long time of trying many different running back rotations and experimenting with different roles for each running back in the stable of K.C. Chiefs running backs, it appears the team has finally made a permanent decision on what to do with one of their backs.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire entered the season as the team’s No. 1 running back with Jerick McKinnon being a close second and exciting rookie Isiah Pacheco being a wild card of sorts. He started the year off strong with productive outings against the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Edwards-Helaire recorded 325 yards from scrimmage and 5 touchdowns over the first four games of the season. It was refreshing to see as he really started to produce in a way he simply never did his first couple of years in the NFL and he looked as if he was about to prove all of his doubters wrong. However, Edwards-Helaire has come back down to earth since then, totaling just 119 yards from scrimmage in Kansas City’s last five games and his yards per carry has dropped to just 3.0 YPC over that span.

These frustrating highs and lows aren’t new for Clyde Edwards-Helaire, though. Ever since his rookie year, he’s been inconsistent and has also suffered constant injuries. The Chiefs have made efforts to try and justify the first-round pick they spent on him by feeding him the ball at times that seemed rather inappropriate. The biggest indictment on CEH was probably the fact that many running backs that were brought in after him gave the same or better performance. Players like Darrel Williams, Derrick Gore, and most recently Jerick McKinnon come to mind. In fact. McKinnon stepped up down the stretch last season and into the postseason for Kansas City, giving them the explosiveness and big play ability they had been lacking with Edwards-Helaire being the feature back.

In short, Edwards-Helaire has been a disappointment. Excuses have been made in the past, such as poor run-blocking his rookie season but the Chiefs have undergone a massive offensive line overhaul since then and he still only takes what the blocking gives him. Even this year he hasn’t shown any evidence he’s progressed as a player. People want to argue that the Chiefs don’t use him correctly, but the fact of the matter is that if you have to cater the offense to such a specific style just so one individual player can be anything above average, it is a disservice to the player and the team. The Chiefs’ running game was starting to suffer from his involvement in recent weeks and the Chiefs’ offense was being held back by failed early-down runs that would set them up in second and long.

Now, Edwards-Helaire isn’t necessarily a bad player and he definitely belongs on an NFL roster, but the days of him being a No. 1 running back are evidently over—at least in Kansas City. Edwards-Helaire saw a gradual decrease in snaps and touches over the last few weeks until this past Sunday against Jacksonville when he got zero carries and was targeted twice by Patrick Mahomes and couldn’t corral either pass.

It’s clear that rookie Isiah Pacheco has carved out an expanded role in the offense and Jerick McKinnon is becoming a mainstay in the offense himself. Frankly, the two have outperformed Clyde Edwards-Helaire and provide more speed, explosiveness, and power to the run game. The Chiefs have finally decided to roll with Pacheco and McKinnon and have essentially ended the CEH experiment.

Maybe CEH still has somewhat of a role in the offense at a later time or if someone were to get hurt but zero carries on Sunday and a failed offensive drive in which they tried to get CEH involved seemed to be the nail in the coffin. In other words, Edwards-Helaire got benched.

This development comes after Pacheco was named the starter prior to the San Francisco 49ers game. Since then, Edwards-Helaire has slowly phased out of being part of the offense. It’s disappointing as many fans hoped it would have worked out better for both sides but it’s been more than enough time for CEH to show that he’s the guy and he never seemed to fully grasp the role when he’s had the chance and the Chiefs are showing evolution by opting with athleticism and upside in McKinnon and Pacheco.