2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU
Career Snapshot
First-year starter who earned First Team All-SEC honors, carried 215 times for 1,414 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 55 passes for 453 yards and one score as a junior in 2019. Rushed 146 times for 658 yards and seven TDs and made 11 receptions for 96 yards as a sophomore.
Positives
Stout, hard-charging running back with a complete game. Instinctive, patient and displays great football intelligence. Grinds it out on the inside and breaks tackles. Carries the pile and falls forward when tackled. Waits for blocks to develop, follows them everywhere on the field and shows a burst through the hole.
Tough to bring down, runs with authority and works to get as much yardage as possible from each carry. Displays tremendous short-area quickness and footwork, bounces around piles and keeps plays alive. Outstanding pass catcher out of the backfield who nicely adjusts to the errant throw and snatches the ball away from his frame to make the reception in stride. Runs with excellent lean and behind his pads.
Negatives
Not truly creative. Lacks the speed to beat defenders into the open field or run to daylight. Does not have the speed or quickness necessary to turn the perimeter.
Analysis
While Joe Burrow was the most celebrated player on the LSU offense, in many ways it was Edwards-Helaire who carried the offense. He’s a hard-charging ball carrier with a complete game and the ability to help an offense at the next level in a variety of ways. Edwards-Helaire will be under-drafted because of his lack of speed and inability to create yardage, but I expect him to have an immediate impact as a rotational back, and he ultimately could be a feature runner.