Where Should You Draft Clyde Edwards-Helaire In Your Fantasy Draft?

Covid-19 has given us a major blow in the football world as the NFL opt-out date has come and gone and some of our favorite NFL players have decided to sit out this season. One of the bigger names that have rocked the fantasy football world is Damien Williams when he decided to sit this year out amid the pandemic. Why is this important you ask? Well, the Chiefs with the last pick in the first round decided to draft star running back from LSU Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Before Damien decided to opt-out you were able to obtain Clyde end of the second round, sometimes even in the third round depending on your draft board. Now that Clyde is set to be the workhorse back for the Chiefs where should we be drafting him in fantasy drafts? 

Clyde Edward-Helaire 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (CEH) is the only player in SEC history to have 1,000+ rushing yards and 50+ catches in a single season. In a full PPR league, this type of back in fantasy gold. In standard leagues, he still gets enough touches for him to be a significant back in your draft. 

However, let’s break him down a little more to fully understand Clyde as a player. The first question you should ask yourself is “Do the Chiefs run the type of offense that fits for Clyde’s skillset?” Well, the Chiefs run the zone run packages 70% of the time when running. That’s 15% higher than the NFL average for teams. Clyde himself sports a zone run grade of 90.7, which is the highest amongst RB’s.

So far we know he can handle the workload according to his SEC accomplishment and he fits the Chiefs run scheme as well. Next, we have to see the history of running backs with Andy Reid.

Andy Reid

Andy Reid is a seasoned vet when it comes to coaching in the NFL, but he has quite a track record of orchestrating productive NFL offenses. To take it one step further he has an amazing track record of working with running backs who dominate in fantasy football.

Andy Reid has had a Fantasy Football RB1 in 12 of his 20 seasons as Head Coach. Those running backs were:

• Duce Staley ‘99
• Brian Westbrook ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, ‘08 
• LeSean McCoy ‘10, ‘11,
• Jamaal Charles ‘13, ‘14
• Kareem Hunt ‘17, ‘18

As you can see running backs in the Andy Reid season produce very well, especially Brian Westbrook, who was the player comp attached to Clyde during the draft process.

With the coach being a positive for Helaire, we now tie in the team and how the gameplay will work out in the favor of Clyde in fantasy. It’s not much of a secret but the Kansas City Chiefs are a prolific offense who just cruised through last season and won the Super Bowl. However, the last big thing that plays in Clyde’s favor, is the defense.

Chief Defense

This defense is underrated(hard to outshine the offense) but they are the 6th ranked defense in our consensus charts. This means more turnovers, and 3 & outs for the opposing team. This will allow Patrick Mahomes, Clyde Edwards, and the rest of the Chiefs to have maximum total play potential.

Where should I draft Clyde Edward-Helaire?

**Quick Link: Get FantasyData’s Cheat Sheet for your Fantasy Draft

Clyde Edwards-Helaire is a talented back, in an amazing system which means he belongs in the first round regardless of set up (Full PPR/Half PPR/ Standard). However, the difference comes within your league set up so let’s break it down:

Standard

This will be Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s least productive system as a lot of his points will come from catching the ball. I have him 14th with the main backs ahead of him being(This will not show the wide receivers I would pick ahead of him:

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Saquon Barkley
3. Derrick Henry
4. Ezekiel Elliot
5. Dalvin Cook
6. Josh Jacobs
7. Nick Chubb
8. Alvin Kamara
9. Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Half PPR

In this system, Clyde will be able to produce a few more points due to his pass-catching abilities and this has moved him up to 11th overall with the running backs ahead of him here being:

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Saquon Barkley
3. Ezekiel Elliot
4. Alvin Kamara
5. Dalvin Cook
6. Derrick Henry
7. Clyde Edwards-Helaire 

Full PPR

This is where Clyde Edwards-Helaire can do maximum damage for your fantasy team as every catch equals one point. In this system, Clyde is ranked as 8th overall in the draft. The only players ahead of him are:

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Saaquon Barkley
3. Alvin Kamara
4. Ezekiel Elliot
5. Michael Thomas
6. Dalvin Cook
7. Derrick Henry
8. Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Clyde has a very high ceiling, regardless of system, due to the high powered offense he was placed within the NFL draft. I believe he is Tier 2 of the running backs and will only get better as the season progresses. Make sure when his ADP(stated above) comes up in the draft that you take your share of Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

No one on defense could stop Clyde Edwards-Helaire 😳

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— ESPN (@espn) November 24, 2019

Photo Credit: Chiefs.com