If you like contract-year players, a nice new option just showed up for Week 14. Clyde Edwards-Helaire has a month left on his rookie deal, and he’s going to get the opportunity to show what he can do on a big stage. Kansas City has ruled out Isiah Pacheco for the Buffalo game.
If you’re looking for a stopgap running back this week, Edwards-Helaire might be the best available option on the waiver wire.
I think he’ll be pretty good. Kansas City’s running game has been trending upwards recently. Pacheco ran for 89 yards against Philadelphia and 110 against the Packers. Those are two of his three highest totals of the season.
And there will be some receiving production. Pacheco’s caught 33 passes, and I think Edwards-Helaire is probably pretty similar in that regard. I think his over-under on receptions can fairly be set at 3 for this week. (Combined, CEH & Pacheco have caught 40 passes in 12 games this season.)
While Edwards-Helaire has had a disappointing career, that’s largely because he was a first-round pick. He’s had some success, with four games with 100-plus rushing yards. He’ll be coming in with fresh legs, and knowing that he’s auditioning for employment in 2024.
He's also facing what I think is a below-average run defense (maybe even bottom 10). Buffalo has allowed an average of 117 rushing yards in its 12 games, with 8 rushing touchdowns. They lost a couple of their key run defenders in October, Matt Milano and DaQuan Jones.
In general, I would be comfortable rolling with Edwards-Helaire as a starter in Week 14.
| RUSHING AGAINST BUFFALO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| at N.Y. Jets | L 16-22 | 28 | 172 | 6.1 | 0 |
| Las Vegas | W 38-10 | 15 | 55 | 3.7 | 0 |
| at Washington | W 37-3 | 13 | 105 | 8.1 | 0 |
| Miami | W 48-20 | 19 | 142 | 7.5 | 2 |
| Jacksonville (U.K.) | L 20-25 | 40 | 196 | 4.9 | 2 |
| N.Y. Giants | W 14-9 | 34 | 132 | 3.9 | 0 |
| at New England | L 25-29 | 24 | 96 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay | W 24-18 | 17 | 78 | 4.6 | 0 |
| at Cincinnati | L 18-24 | 22 | 54 | 2.5 | 1 |
| Denver | L 22-24 | 38 | 122 | 3.2 | 0 |
| N.Y. Jets | W 32-6 | 18 | 63 | 3.5 | 0 |
| at Philadelphia | L 34-37 | 32 | 185 | 5.8 | 2 |
—Ian Allan