After his performance in the second half of the season following his trade from the Miami Dolphins, Kenyan Drake is the clear number one running back on the Arizona Cardinals. However, the team believes it has not only one running back capable of starting in the NFL.
Despite bringing Drake back on the transition tag, head coach Kliff Kingsbury is a big fan of Chase Edmonds. In fact, had it not been for an injury, Edmonds might be the guy this year.
“We all feel like he’s a starting running back in this league and he does, too,” Kingsbury told reporters on Wednesday after practice. “Had he not gotten hurt, I’m not sure if we would have traded for Kenyan.”
Edmonds was coming off a 126-yard, three-touchdown performance against the New York Giants, but the next week against the New Orleans Saints, he injured his hamstring. That, combined with an injury to David Johnson, led to the trade for Drake, who went on to rush for 643 yards and eight touchdowns in the Cardinals’ final eight games.
“We liked Kenyan a lot,” Kingsbury added. “We may have done something after the season, but we felt that confident in what Chase brings. When he had his opportunities, he shined and he continues to shine. He can catch it. He can run it. He can block, splay special teams and he is really bright, football-wise, so he’s everything you want. I couldn’t be more impressed by him as a competitor and just a true pro.”
Edmonds will get opportunities in 2020, and the team’s trust in him is probably a large reason why it only committed to one year of Drake, signing him to a one-year transition tag deal.
The way Kingsbury talks about Edmonds, it is similar to how he talked about center Mason Cole a year ago. Cole had to sit behind A.Q. Shipley for a year and now is the starter.
We might be looking at the same scenario. If things go as planned, Drake will get paid in free agency and the Cardinals will be able to use Edmonds as the starting running back in 2021.
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