Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Whether it was Brian Westbrook or LeSean McCoy, Andy Reid always loved to have a versatile back in his Eagles backfields when he was the team’s head coach from 1999 through 2012. Reid has long been one of the NFL’s best teachers and play-designers of the screen game, and both Westbrook and McCoy benefited heavily from that during Reid’s tenure.
Ideally, Kareem Hunt would have been Reid’s new-wave weapon in Kansas City, but off-field issues took that idea away. Damien Williams was decent in that role last season, and Reid brought McCoy to the roster for a reunion, but neither back was able to work in that milieu as Reid would prefer. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes and an array of ridiculously athletic and explosive targets, but that doesn’t mean Reid is willing to throw his ideal running back paradigm to the side.
That’s why the Chiefs took Edwards-Helaire with the last pick in the first round. Yes, the “running backs don’t matter” guys will scream about this, but the LSU alum, who gained 1,867 yards from scrimmage and scored 17 total touchdowns last season, made it easy for Reid to make this call. He is an outstanding receiver, a surprisingly tough runner for his size (5-foot-8, 207 pounds), and because he’s worked a lot on his pass-protection, he projects well as a third-down back.
“About three or four weeks ago, when we were working through the final wave of this process – and at that point I usually give Coach a couple guys to take a peek at – I told him that once he finishes looking at him, he’ll remind him of Brian Westbrook,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said of Edwards-Helaire, via the team’s official site. “Coach called me back later and said he was better than Brian. That’s no slight to Brian either, because I got to play against him at the University of Delaware and he was a Ring of Fame player in Philadelphia.
“Edwards-Helaire is just a unique talent. He’s explosive, he has the ability to make something out of nothing and that’s what you look at with these running backs. This guy can consistently make plays when there is really nothing to be made, and now throwing him in there with [wide receiver] Tyreek Hill, [wide receiver] Sammy Watkins, [tight end] Travis Kelce, [wide receiver Mecole Hardman] and [tailback] Damien Williams, we think it’ll be really exciting.”
Exciting, indeed. If Reid rates Edwards-Helaire higher than Westbrook, you can bet he’ll see a ton of time on the field in 2020. And in that offense? Watch out. The Chiefs just became even more impossible to defend.