When we last spoke of running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, he was placed on the Chefs’ Active/PUP list. At the same time, the team’s veterans initially reported to training camp at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Missouri. The third-year running back was removed from the list the following day and has been practicing with his teammates since.
Following the first week of training camp, the Kansas City Chiefs have high hopes that the former first-round pick from LSU will have a bounce-back season in 2022. Clyde Edwards-Helaire played well when healthy, but injuries shortened both of his first two campaigns since entering the NFL in 2020.
This year, the Chiefs added some insurance to the backfield in case he gets bit by the injury bug again, crowding the backfield with the additions of veteran Ronald Jones II and rookie Isiah Pacheco and welcoming the return of Jerick McKinnon. But Edwards-Heliare welcomes the competition and holds himself as a team player.
“I’m not one of those guys who’s like, you know, throw me the ball,” said Edwards-Helaire on Thursday. “Whoever can get the ball, I mean, it’s Pat (Mahomes), bro, he might be looking this way and throw it behind his back like you don’t know where the ball is going. So it’s like, you can’t complain about targets and everything else. I’m here, but it’s 11 guys on the field. And if the ball is flying my way, my job is to catch it and go make a play.”
Pass-catching is an area Edwards-Helaire considers one of his strengths, but he had just 19 receptions on 23 targets and 119 rushing attempts in ten starts. When speaking to reporters following the Chiefs’ training camp practice on Saturday, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy chalked it up to the team failing to target the running back more often.
“We just have to make sure that we’re emphasizing it more and putting him in a position to have an opportunity to make plays on the perimeter,” he said.
Bieniemy noted that CEH had done an excellent job staying healthy over the offseason and loved the swagger the running back brought to practice on Thursday when he said he is the NFL’s best pass-catching running back.
“I’m 1,010% confident in my hands,” Edwards-Helaire declared to reporters. “I feel like I’m one of the best pass catchers as far as running backs in the league; I’ll completely stand on that.”
But Bieniemy chimed in on his running back’s bold statement.
“We’ll debate that here a little later,” smiled Bieniemy. “But I love his confidence. [But] I will say this: Clyde is a unique football player,” he started. “Let me make sure I say this the right way: Clyde is a very good football player who happens to play the running back position. So we have to make sure that we can maximize all the gifts that he gives us by putting him in those situations where he can go out there and be as effective [in] helping us to win.”
But at the end of the day, Edwards-Helaire doesn’t care who gets the ball as long as his team is successful.
“I’m not a selfish guy — far from it,” said Edwards-Helaire. “I could care less whoever’s getting the ball. But it’s like, man, if we get the ball, and we get down the field, and we’re winning games, like, why complain about it? Some people would be like, ‘I want the ball.’ But if that’s what’s working at that time, the next two weeks just might be my weeks. So it’s like, you can’t sit there and dwell on something that’s not benefiting you personally or your ego. It’s more important to me, like, I put on a helmet that says ‘Chiefs,’ not, you know, ‘Edwards-Helaire’ posted on everything I have. So it’s always about the brand, but it’s also about those guys in the organization.”
Many fans have already thrown in the towel on Edwards-Helaire due to his lack of production, which is understandable. But it should also be considered that the Chiefs have not used him in a way that would utilize his skill set. With Tyreek Hill out of the picture and a new-look Chiefs offense beginning to take shape, CEH could slide into a new role in 2022.
