Kansas City Chiefs: Third quarter rookie report card for 2020 rookies
How have the Kansas City Chiefs rookies performed through 12 games this season?
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted six new players in the 2020 NFL Draft and have also been fortunate to see a few of their undrafted rookies step up and show what they’re capable of. Now that we’re 12 games into the season, let’s take a look at how the rookies graded out for their efforts in Weeks 9 – 13 (the Chiefs had a bye in Week 10, which is why this window is longer than most).
Something to note before we get started is that earlier round picks will be graded tougher than those taken in the later rounds of the draft. This is because we had higher expectations for guys like Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Willie Gay than we did for L’Jarius Sneed and Mike Danna.
C. . RB. Kansas City Chiefs. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE
People might not like this grade, but Clyde Edwards-Helaire hasn’t wowed in the past four games. Well, past three, as he didn’t end up taking the field on Sunday after battling an illness throughout the week.
Here were Edwards-Helaire’s numbers in Weeks 9, 11, and 12:
- Week 9 – 5 carries, 14 yards; 3 receptions, 20 yards
- Week 11 – 14 carries, 69 yards, 2 TD; Rec, 8 yards
- Week 12 – 11 carries, 37 yards; Rec, 2 yards
- Week 13 – Did not play
The Chiefs’ run game has disappointed this season given what they put into trying to improve it. Edwards-Helaire is going to be a good player for this team — that’s the hope at least — but we didn’t see that talent shine through during this stretch.
The only reason I gave him an average grade is because of his two-touchdown performance against the Raiders. It’s also not totally his fault that the rushing attack is lacking, so I felt like a C was the right grade here.