Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 138 yards in Kansas City’s season opener, looking like he’s going to be an impact running back. Typically, when a running back sizzles in his first game, he goes on to have not only a big year, but a good career.
In the Super Bowl era, 25 other rookie running backs have run for 100-plus years in their first games. Almost 70 percent of those guys went on to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons. Only four of those 25 never ran for 1,000 yards in an NFL season (and I’ve got those guys flagged).
With the way that game played out last week, it looks like there might be more games this year where Kansas City is willing to run the ball if they’re not seeing the coverages they like. If defenses are dropping back, taking away the possibility of long bombs to Tyreek Hill, KC will do other things. CEH should be a big part of that (as evidenced by the team finishing its first game with more runs than passes).
| ROOKIES GOING OVER 100 IN SEASON OPENERS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 1979 | Ottis Anderson, St.L. | Dall. | L 21-22 | 21 | 193 | 9.2 | 1 |
| 1979 | William Andrews, Atl. | at N.O. | W 40-34 | 30 | 167 | 5.6 | 1 |
| 1980 | Billy Sims, Det. | at LAR | W 41-20 | 22 | 153 | 7.0 | 3 |
| 2005 | Cadillac Williams, T.B. | at Minn. | W 24-13 | 27 | 148 | 5.5 | 1 |
| 2017 | Kareem Hunt, K.C. | at N.E. | W 42-27 | 17 | 148 | 8.7 | 1 |
| 1981 | • Randy McMillan, Balt. | at N.E. | W 29-28 | 16 | 146 | 9.1 | 2 |
| 1994 | Marshall Faulk, Ind. | Hou. | W 45-21 | 23 | 143 | 6.2 | 3 |
| 2020 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire, K.C. | Hou. | W 34-20 | 25 | 138 | 5.5 | 1 |
| 1978 | Earl Campbell, Hou. | at Atl. | L 14-20 | 15 | 137 | 9.1 | 1 |
| 1973 | Terry Metcalf, St.L. | at Phil. | W 34-23 | 16 | 133 | 8.3 | 0 |
| 2017 | Dalvin Cook, Min. | N.O. | W 29-19 | 22 | 127 | 5.8 | 0 |
| 2008 | Matt Forte, Chi. | at Ind. | W 29-13 | 23 | 123 | 5.4 | 1 |
| 1974 | • Ronnie Coleman, Hou. | S.D. | W 21-14 | 21 | 123 | 5.9 | 0 |
| 1979 | • Jerry Eckwood, T.B. | Det. | W 31-16 | 20 | 121 | 6.1 | 0 |
| 1969 | Ron Johnson, Clev. | at Phil. | W 27-20 | 17 | 118 | 6.9 | 2 |
| 1982 | Marcus Allen, Rdrs. | at S.F. | W 23-17 | 23 | 116 | 5.0 | 1 |
| 1996 | Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Mia. | N.E. | W 24-10 | 26 | 115 | 4.4 | 1 |
| 2001 | LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D. | Was. | W 30-3 | 36 | 113 | 3.1 | 2 |
| 1999 | Edgerrin James, Ind. | Buff. | W 31-14 | 26 | 112 | 4.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Saquon Barkley, NYG | Jac. | L 15-20 | 18 | 106 | 5.9 | 1 |
| 1987 | Christian Okoye, K.C. | S.D. | W 20-13 | 21 | 105 | 5.0 | 1 |
| 2007 | Adrian Peterson, Min. | Atl. | W 24-3 | 19 | 103 | 5.4 | 0 |
| 1995 | Curtis Martin , N.E. | Clev. | W 17-14 | 19 | 102 | 5.4 | 1 |
| 1998 | Ahman Green, Sea. | at Phil. | W 38-0 | 6 | 100 | 16.7 | 1 |
| 2017 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | at Hou. | W 29-7 | 26 | 100 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 2014 | • Terrance West, Clev. | at Pitt. | L 27-30 | 16 | 100 | 6.3 | 0 |
The Pro-Football-Reference site was used to put together the above chart.
—Ian Allan