Fantasy football season is in the air and the unique offseason is causing more questions than answers as we enter our fantasy football drafts. Today we focus on Kansas City Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and his fantasy football potential this year.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire Fantasy Football ADP
Edwards-Helaire’s current ADP (average draft position) on MyFantasyLeague.com is 8.63, which is ahead of reigning rushing champion Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry, Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. Five of the six players being drafted ahead of Edwards-Helaire are running backs.
Reasons to draft Clyde Edwards-Helaire
- Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s offenses typically feature running backs heavily in the passing game. Edwards-Helaire was an excellent receiver at LSU and should see at least 30 passes come his way this season.
- The competition behind Edwards-Helaire at running back is minimal. Damien Williams opted out of the 2020 season, leaving DeAndre Washington and Darrel Williams as the rookie’s biggest competitors for snaps.
- The Chiefs ignored other positional needs in the draft to select Edwards-Helaire, which shows how committed they are to incorporating him early and often.
Reasons not to draft Clyde Edwards-Helaire
- He is a rookie, which means he’ll have to make adjustments to the speed of the NFL compared to college.
- He plays in a pass-heavy offense led by reigning Super Bowl LIV MVP Mahomes, who is known to sling it around and push the ball downfield rather than opting for checkdowns.
- Edwards-Helaire missed out on OTAs and minicamp, thus making the learning curve even steeper as he learns the offense.
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Where should I pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire in fantasy football drafts?
Edwards-Helaire is admittedly a somewhat risky pick at the top of fantasy drafts because of the relative unknown surrounding his rookie year. He wasn’t a top-five pick in the draft like Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott and New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley, who had outstanding rookie seasons.
Edwards-Helaire was the 32nd pick in the first round, which is still fairly early but he wasn’t viewed as a blue-chip prospect. That’s partly because he only has one season of strong production on his resume.
Still, he’s absolutely worth a top-10 pick in 2020 fantasy football drafts. Safer options include Adams, Mahomes and even Las Vegas Raiders RB Josh Jacobs, but Edwards-Helaire’s ceiling is extremely high in the Chiefs offense. He could conceivably be the No. 3 target behind TE Travis Kelce and WR Tyreek Hill, which would be huge in PPR leagues.
I would take him ahead of Henry in PPR leagues and possibly even in standard leagues, but be sure to select a safer option at running back in the second or third round to protect against a rookie slump.
That being said, Edwards-Helaire is deserving of being selected between picks No. 7 and 10.