The biggest difference on the offensive side of the ball for the Kansas City Chiefs when they open the 2020 NFL season against the Houston Texans will be the addition of rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Edwards-Helaire is expected to take up the mantle of former starting RB Damien Williams, who opted out of the 2020 NFL season. Despite the lack of a traditional preseason, Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy feels comfortable and confident with Edwards-Helaire making his starting debut on the biggest stage.
“You know what, we’ve put him through a lot of different tests this training camp,” Bieniemy told reporters on Monday. “He’s had an opportunity to get out there, work with the ones. Obviously, our training camps are tough, we want to make it tough, just because of the way we practice. We practice with a high volume of reps. We practice at game speed. On top of that, it’s OK if he makes a mistake. The thing that we want to do is see how he handles those mistakes. Now, everything that we do in practice obviously cannot simulate a game as far as game speed and all the collisions that will be made. One thing that we do know, the kid has mentally and physically prepared himself for this point. But he does understand that ‘Hey when those lights turn on, it’s time to go.’ He’ll be ready to go.”
Bieniemy and the rest of the coaching staff know they’ve prepared Edwards-Helaire as best they can for the spotlight with the work they’ve done through training camp. This isn’t the first time that this staff has worked to get a rookie running back ready for a debut on the national stage.
Chiefs fans might recall a debut of a former rookie running back in Kansas City when Kareem Hunt faced off against the Patriots in New England in 2017. The first carry went poorly for Hunt, as he fumbled the ball. He’d bounce back, finishing the game with 17 attempts for 148 yards and a touchdown, adding five receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Bieniemy has addressed the issue of turnovers with Edwards-Helaire, but he hasn’t yet evoked Hunt’s debut as a learning moment for the rookie. He doesn’t anticipate that he’ll need to do so either.
“As a former running back and as a former running back coach, you address the issues of turnovers,” Bieniemy said. “We’ve hit that with our guys since we started preparing for this team. One thing that we do know, in the league, the first game is always the highest number of fumbles or turnovers in the game. The thing that we focus on is making sure the guys understand, ‘Hey, ball security is the utmost importance.’ We do know if we protect the football our chances of winning increases. There’s a number of drills that we can do. But also too, just making sure that guys are focused in on just protecting the ball and guys are running to the ball. Because sometimes things happen and guys have got to put themselves in the position to make sure they’re being accountable and being there in the right place at the right time. But you never go and talk to a guy and say, ‘Hey, you know on Kareem’s first carry, he fumbled the ball.’ No, that’s not the deal. As a former running back coach and Coach Deland [McCullough] has addressed it with him, two hands in traffic, high and tight in the open field, make sure you’re securing it going down to the ground. At the end of the day, you want to make sure you’re handing the ball back to the ref.”
Bieniemy was asked to compare Edwards-Helaire’s debut to his own debut as a rookie running back with the San Diego Chargers in 1991. There wasn’t much to compare in Bieniemy’s eyes, but as someone who had the spotlight as the Nation’s No. 2 rusher in 1990 with the Colorado Buffaloes, Bieniemy knows that Edwards-Helaire’s time at LSU has helped prepare him for this moment.
“Obviously, we’re living in a different day and age,” Bieniemy said. “I had an opportunity to have six weeks of training camp and you know the stone age days when you went two-a-days every single day. But I will say this, the kid has worked his tail off. He helped LSU — he helped his team win a national championship. He had to grind and claw to get to that spotlight, to that position, to help him to be the No. 1 back on that particular team. So he understands what competition is. He understands what it takes to play underneath the big lights. Now, he’s got to make sure that he’s ready to transfer it over once we kick off on Thursday. The biggest thing that I’ve told him, I think the hardest thing will probably be that first drive because his emotions are going to be high. He’s going to be hyperventilating and he’s just going to be so excited about being out there. Once he gets tackled the first time, you know what, it’s all football. He’s lining up between the hashes, he’s doing what he does best and that’s why we drafted him.”
Bieniemy is going to let the work that Edwards-Helaire has done speak for itself come Thursday night. After Edwards-Helaire gets the early-game jitters out of the way, all he has to remember is that he’s playing football — something that he’s done at a high level for a very long time.
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