How long will Clyde Edwards-Helaire play after the bye week?

After the bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs should be well-rested and ready for the next portion of the regular season after taking an earlier than normal break in 2024. The good news is that they came into the game with a perfect record of 5-20. 0 – one of only two such teams still undefeated in the NFL – and their last appearance was their most complete game yet, a win over the New Orleans Saints.

An interesting aspect of the team’s offense right now is how well the ground game works without lead back Isiah Pacheco. The former seventh-round pick is currently recovering from a broken fibula on injured reserve, but in his absence the Chiefs have assembled a nice group of talented running backs to carry the load (pun intended).

Through the first five games of the season, the Chiefs rushing attack looked good for a unit that was in such disarray early in the year.

Of course, a single metric isn’t enough, and every Chiefs defender would like to surpass the team’s overall average of 3.9 yards per carry on the season. But it shows how impressive the game has been on the ground in the face of injuries and concerns, including the loss of Pacheco and the absence of Clyde Edwards-Helaire early in the season.

The good news is that the unit should reach full strength in time, and that starts with Edwards-Helaire’s return to the field. The team placed Edwards-Helaire off the non-football injured list (NFI) earlier in the year, forcing him to miss the first four games of the season. He was available from then on, but was unable to contribute to the team’s win over the Saints in Week 5, making it clear that the Chiefs were slowly bringing him back.

Now, however, the Chiefs have given him another two weeks to prepare for his on-field debut in 2024, and it looks like it should happen sometime in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers.

How much playing time will Edwards-Helaire get? Last season, when Edwards-Helaire was healthy, the workload was unpredictable. He only had 2 offensive snaps in a game and as many as 40. He played in 22% of all possible offensive snaps for him, which is enough to be a starter for one or two series in every game.

This time, however, the Chiefs are deeper than before. Although Jerick McKinnon is no longer there, the Chiefs replaced him with Samaje Perine. Kareem Hunt plays the lead back role while Pacheco is out, but Carson Steele remains a presence on offense and special teams. It’s possible that Steele will be relegated to return duties as Edwards-Helaire takes on his offensive load, but the Chiefs have focused on Steele too often to think they would make that trade.

Will Edwards-Helaire remain a healthy scratch on the active roster? Will there be a small part in the rotation? Is it even possible that the former first-round pick would ever become the primary ball carrier without Pacheco?

Anything is possible, but if the Chiefs are willing to move forward with a hot hand, Edwards-Helaire might want to settle in as a rarely-played starter who largely provides security while he waits in the wings.