Should I Drop Clyde-Edwards Helaire? Fantasy Football Outlook

Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire got out to a hot start in fantasy football in 2022, but he's fallen close to off the fantasy radar after several bust performances.

Many fantasy analysts labeled Edwards-Helaire the most obvious sell-high candidate of the season early on, and now it'd be tough to find anyone willing to trade for him.

With Isiah Pacheco emerging, is it time to drop Edwards-Helaire? Let's get into it.

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Clyde Edwards-Helaire Fantasy Recap and Outlook

Averaging 19.5 PPR fantasy points per game, Edwards-Helaire ranked as the RB4 through Week 4 of the season. He had performances of 22.4, 15.8, 14.9, and 22.4 fantasy points as a real X-factor at the RB spot. He scored five total touchdowns on just 54 touches during that stretch, which is the main reason he was trending as a sell-high candidate. The workload didn't point toward high-end RB1 upside, but the touchdowns were seemingly inflating his production.

From Week 5 on, he's averaged just 4.4 fantasy points per game -- good for the RB55 in PPR leagues. In Weeks 5 through 10, he's totaled just 32 touches for 119 yards and one touchdown.

His rock bottom came in Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he was targeted twice, but finished the day with zero touches. Meanwhile, Jerrick McKinnon handled seven touches (six receptions) and Isiah Pacheco handled 16 touches (all rushing attempts). It was a fall from grace for the former first-round pick, and now he's very much on the chopping block of fantasy rosters.

Should I Drop Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Fantasy managers in shallow leagues should feel confident in dropping Edwards-Helaire after his dramatic usage decline. Kansas City likes to switch up the workload in the backfield, but it's difficult to envision a scenario where Edwards-Helaire is ever a weekly start-able option in fantasy football again.

His value is now just a mere handcuff RB to McKinnon and Pacheco because it'd likely take one of those two suffering an injury for him to warrant real fantasy intrigue down the stretch.

The Chiefs publicly said Pacheco was now the starting running back in Kansas City, and it's certainly not a boost of confidence for Edwards-Helaire that Kansas City submitted a claim for Eno Benjamin after he was released by the Arizona Cardinals, either. Deep leaguers can feel free to stash Edwards-Helaire, but it's time to let go in traditional leagues.

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