How have the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookies performed through the first half of the season?
Six players joined the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 NFL Draft and the organization was hoping that all six of those players could come in and make an impact at some point in the Run It Back season. Those picks were Clyde Edwards-Helaire (No. 32), Willie Gay (No. 63), Lucas Niang (No. 96), L’Jarius Sneed (No. 138), Mike Danna (No. 177), and BoPete Keyes (No. 237).
Out of those six, two won’t be included here. Niang made the difficult decision to opt out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns and Sneed was injured in the second game of the season. The other four however, we’ve seen at least in some capacity (some more than others though). There have also been two undrafted rookies who have played enough snaps to earn a grade for the second quarter of the season.
This report card reflects how these players did in the past four games, so if they played against against the Raiders, Bills, Broncos, and/or Jets, that’ll be reflected here. If they had poor performances against any of those teams, their grade will indicate that.
So, without further ado, let’s get into the first player and what grade he earned this quarter.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire was supposed to be the missing link in the run game and for a few games this season, he has been. He had an insanely good performance in Buffalo against the Bills, rushing for over 160 yards, but the other three games were just average for the rookie. He had less rushing yards in his other three games combined than he did in that one game against the Bills, so he earns a B+ for this quarter.
I’ll admit I’m grading Edwards-Helaire a little tougher since he was a first round pick and many expected him to be rushing for 100+ yards per game more often, but not all of that is his fault of course. The Chiefs also brought Le’Veon Bell in to the fold, which is going to limit Edwards-Helaire’s carries even more.
For Edwards-Helaire to get an A in the next report card, he’s going to have to put up multiple games of 100+ rushing yards or at least be more consistent in each game.