The Kansas City Chiefs will be shorthanded in the backfield when they square off against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon. Isiah Pacheco has been ruled out of the contest with a knee injury he sustained during the team's Week 8 victory over the Washington Commanders.
This leaves veteran Kareem Hunt and rookie Brashard Smith as the top options to shoulder the load in the rushing game for Kansas City against its AFC rival. Those two will not be alone in the backfield, though, as the Chiefs elevated a veteran rusher to the active roster on Saturday. It just wasn't the running back, Elijah Mitchell, that fans had expected.
The team's official X account announced Saturday afternoon that Clyde Edwards-Helaire had been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster. Despite the history Edwards-Helaire has in Kansas City, the fan base had mixed reactions to the news he'd be suiting up on Sunday.
KC Elevating Clyde Edwards-Helaire Over Elijah Mitchell a Puzzling Call
Edwards-Helaire was a fan-favorite among Chiefs supporters at one point in time. Those days seem to have come and gone, though, as most of the responses to Kansas City's official announcement about his elevation were met with skepticism by some and outright anger by others.
While continuing to not play Mitchell despite having signed him to a $2.5 million contract with over $1.3 million guaranteed makes no sense whatsoever, given the struggles the Chiefs have had rushing the ball. Playing Edwards-Helaire over him only makes having Mitchell on the roster in any capacity seem like a waste of space and money.
The former LSU Tigers standout most recently suited up for the New Orleans Saints, playing two games for them during the 2024 campaign, but nothing he did was overly impressive. In those two appearances, Edwards-Helaire carried the ball 14 times for 46 total yards. Outside of nostalgia, there is nothing present to lead anyone to believe Edwards-Helaire can be a contributor on any level for this team.
The nostalgia aspect isn't an overly strong one, either. While the rusher had a solid four-year run in Kansas City, his usage and effectiveness dipped every year. In his final season with the Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire only received 70 carries over 15 games and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry, giving him a total of 223 yards on the season.
If this is the best option Andy Reid and company can come up with following Pacheco's injury, it says a whole lot more about how unconvinced the staff is about the stable of backs they have on the roster. Whether that ultimately leads to a trade before Tuesday afternoon's deadline is anyone's guess, but there will be options out there for Kansas City should Edwards-Helaire, predictably, not impress this Sunday.