Clyde Edwards-Helaire Fantasy Outlook & Injury Update 2022 (Can the Chiefs' RB1 Stay Healthy?)

Injuries have been a common theme in Clyde Edwards-Helaire's first two NFL seasons, missing 10 of a possible 33 career games. Knee and shoulder injuries limited the former first-round pick to just 10 games in 2021, resulting in his finishing as the RB46 in PPR fantasy football formats.

The Kansas City Chiefs are always one of the top AFC teams and will rely on Edwards-Helaire to bounce back successfully this fall. The only question is whether or not he's a player that fantasy managers should still consider rostering in 2022.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Fantasy Football Outlook

Edwards-Helaire's 2021 performance was largely forgettable. He saw 119 carries for 517 rushing yards and four touchdowns, along with 19 receptions for 129 yards and another two scores. To make matters worse, he averaged 10.1 fewer yards and two carries fewer per game than he did as a rookie.

The Chiefs signed Ronald Jones this offseason to give Edwards-Helaire some competition in the backfield. The veteran rusher has a Super Bowl ring and nearly hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark two years ago, so he's more than capable of challenging CEH for some touches.

Normally, fantasy managers love running backs on elite teams due to the potential of garbage time production. Unfortunately, that seems to rarely pay off for Edwards-Helaire owners and Jones' backfield presence could see the latter as someone that Andy Reid turns to in order to close out games.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Injury Update

Edwards-Helaire opened up training camp on the PUP list for undisclosed reasons, leaving fans concerned about his future. Fortunately, his stay on the list was brief, leading to his return to practice last week.

Chiefs insider Pete Sweeney reported on Tuesday that the third-year rusher has since taken "the first rep almost every series" when it comes to the first team practicing. That shows that even through his struggles, the coaching staff still has faith in CEH to succeed.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Projections

Projections from the NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook aren't anything special as far as CEH is concerned. For example, he only has +5000 odds (T-No. 28) to lead the league in rushing touchdowns. FanDuel also isn't even listing him at all when it comes to the rushing yards leader odds.

For now, Edwards-Helaire's projected rushing yards total sits at 675.5 with -112 odds on both the over and under. Considering that he's averaged 4.4 yards per carry to begin his career, he'd need to see about 154 carries to hit the over on this prop. Provided that he stays healthy, hitting the over shouldn't be an issue.

Is Clyde Edwards-Helaire a Good Fantasy Football Pick?

Edwards-Helaire is the perfect example of someone with solid football skills that just don't translate into fantasy results. Combine that with his health issues and it's easy to see why you should have a few RBs you'd like to roster before you consider spending a pick on the 23-year-old rusher.

For now, Fantasy Pros lists Edwards-Helaire as the RB25 in PPR formats with an average draft position of 63.5. I'd strongly recommend rostering a stronger running back or two before drafting him. It's also smart to grab either Jones or Jerick McKinnon as a handcuff due to CEH's injury history.

Oh, and if you drafted Edwards-Helaire then you might want to check out the best Clyde Edwards-Helaire fantasy football team names for your squad too.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.