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For 2020 first-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, it truly is a “make-or-break” campaign heading into year four of his rookie contract.
After his fifth-year option was officially declined in May, “CEH” will become a free agent following the 2023 season — barring a mutual extension at a later date. And considering how free agent RBs have been paid the past couple of years, especially ones with an injury history, that’s not a great place to be coming off two sub-600 rushing yard campaigns.
USA Today Chiefs Wire writer Charles Goldman agreed, naming Edwards-Helaire as Kansas City’s top “make-or-break” candidate in 2023.
Chiefs Analyst Explains Clyde Edwards-Helaire Selection for ‘Make-or-Break’ Label in 2023
“Edwards-Helaire hasn’t lived up to the billing when the Chiefs made him a first-round draft pick back in 2020,” Goldman began during the USA Today compilation piece.
“His biggest issue has been his inability to stay on the field through a full 17-game NFL season,” he voiced. “Last year, he lost his starting role to seventh-round draft pick Isiah Pacheco.”
Goldman also noted the fifth-year option being declined, concluding: “If he’s to remain in Kansas City beyond the 2023 NFL season, he’s going to need to contribute frequently and remain healthy over the course of a full season.”
CEH only appeared in 10 games the past two years, with a career-high 13 outings as a rookie. That also led to a career-high in rushing yards, with 803 and five total touchdowns (1,100 scrimmage yards).
So long as Pacheco and veteran Jerick McKinnon are healthy in 2023, it’s unlikely that Edwards-Helaire will get the touches he needs to have a true renaissance season in year four. Without that, it’s hard to know how much of a market the former LSU playmaker would have around the league.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid Says Clyde Edwards-Helaire Is ‘Obviously’ Talented
When Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke at mandatory minicamp on June 15, he was asked about Edwards-Helaire’s return during OTAs and minicamp.
“I thought Clyde came back in good shape,” Big Red replied, adding that it was “great for him to get all of the [extra] reps that he did” with Pacheco and McKinnon either sidelined or absent.
“He did a nice job with it,” Reid went on. “Obviously, he’s talented, so really for all [of] those running backs it’s just a matter of getting out there — when things are flying, especially around their legs, and they got to make sure that they keep that — but he’s proven that he’s good with all that too.”
It was a somewhat cryptic answer from the Chiefs head coach, who first supported CEH before rambling a bit toward the end of his response.
It’s hard to be in someone’s corner 100% when you know they’ve dropped on the depth chart. Edwards-Helaire was once the unquestioned starter, hand-picked by general manager Brett Veach and quarterback Patrick Mahomes II — or so the rumors say.
Now, he’s the team’s clear number three ball-carrier behind Pacheco and McKinnon, with another promising UDFA in Deneric Prince pushing him for that role in training camp.
Edwards-Helaire is well-liked around the locker room — he does and says the right things. On a competitive roster like this one, however, that only gets you so far. At some point, he’s going to have to start impressing on the field once again, reminding both the Chiefs and the NFL why he was drafted at No. 32 overall.
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