The Kansas City Chiefs‘ backfield has belonged to Isiah Pacheco for the majority of the season. The former Rutgers RB played all but two games, averaged 58% of the snaps, and handled about 76% of the carries.
Meanwhile, Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been a supportive RB2 and stepped up in Weeks 14 and 15, as he finished those two weeks as the RB31 and RB9 in fantasy football when Pacheco was out with a shoulder injury. Kansas City will need all hands on deck as they settle in for the playoff push, but will Edwards-Helaire be available to help out?
Is Clyde Edwards-Helaire Going To Play Week 17?
It is late December, and people across the nation are battling the cold and the flu. And hey, NFL players are just like us! It seems like Edwards-Helaire is the latest victim to some sort of bug, as he is officially listed as questionable due to an illness heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Bengals.
He missed both Thursday and Friday practices, and it is up in the air at the time of writing whether he will feel well enough to play on Sunday. Head coach Andy Reid is optimistic and believes he will be healthy enough to suit up.
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When asked if Edwards-Helaire will play, Reid responded, “I think so. We just got to get him through this. He’s not feeling very good. He’s getting better.” On Saturday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Edwards-Helaire is expected to play.
Going into Week 17, with Pacheco’s unclear workload due to missing the majority of practice, Edwards-Helaire is RB30 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings this week.
Potential Fantasy Options If Edwards-Helaire Is Out Include Isiah Pacheco and La’Mical Perine
There are a lot of moving parts in reference to the Kansas City backfield this week. First of all, the matchup is a good one for RBs against the Cincinnati Bengals. They give up the 13th-most fantasy points to opposing RBs and have given up at least one TD to RBs in six out of the last seven games.
If Edwards-Helaire is sidelined, the best fantasy option is Pacheco, who is usually the starter. However, Pacheco has been in concussion protocol this week, putting his availability in jeopardy. In a late-week positive turn, it was reported that Pacheco had cleared protocol on Saturday and looks ready to play this weekend.
Fantasy managers who happened to snag Edwards-Helaire off the waiver wire prior to Week 14, when Pacheco was sidelined with a shoulder issue, were hoping for CEH to carry them to the championship. But it now seems uncertain that the dominos will fall in that direction.
Fantasy-wise, managers should steer clear of any RBs past Pacheco, such as La’Mical Perine or the recently elevated Keaontay Ingram. If both Edwards-Helaire and Pacheco are sidelined this week, fantasy managers should try to look in a different direction.
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