The Chiefs' quest for a third straight Super Bowl victory begins on Thursday with a duel against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Andy Reid's side has prided itself on continuity in recent seasons, buoyed by the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones, all of whom have spent their whole careers in Kansas City red-and-white. That's also the case for the Chiefs backup tailback, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has been a relatively solid performer since being selected 32nd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Edwards-Helaire won't be a part of the festivities when the Chiefs and Baltimore rekindle their rivalry in Week 1, however. Kansas City announced that it had placed Edwards-Helaire on the non-football illness list on Monday. He'll summarily miss the first four games of the season before he's eligible to return.
Edwards-Helaire's absence comes on the eve of the start of the NFL season. It figures to shake up a running back room already teeming with talent — and options.
Here's what you need to know about Edwards-Helaire's impending spell on the sidelines, as well as how it could impact the Chiefs' depth in the tailback position.
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Why was Clyde Edwards-Helaire placed on NFI list?
Edwards-Helaire was ruled out for a non-football illness. Although no specific reason was given for his absence, the LSU alum recently revealed that he's been living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He cited his diagnosis as the reason he missed a handful of training camp practices earlier in the offseason.
"Sometimes I'm admitted into the hospital, something like I can't stop throwing up, and it's just, I [don't] know [anything] pretty much to stop it,'' Edwards-Helaire said, per ESPN.
According to Edwards-Helaire, his journey with PTSD began on Dec. 22, 2018. He didn't go into detail about his experiences that day, just saying that he and a friend found themselves embroiled in a "self-defense situation.'' At that point, Edwards-Helaire was in his sophomore season with the Tigers.
Two LSU football players were trying to sell an electronic item on that date when one of them fatally shot an 18-year-old man trying to rob them, according to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police. The police didn't identify the players, but The Associated Press reported that Edwards-Helaire was one of them.
"I would say that's probably where a majority of things stem from,'' Edwards-Helaire said. "I wouldn't necessarily say everything stemmed from that. I have best friends that passed away at young ages from gun violence and just not being in the right places at the right time and just knowing that I have people that are close to me or around me who ... could be in the same spots that I am.''
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Edwards-Helaire took to X, the website formerly known as Twitter, to announce his diagnosis back in July.
"My first couple of years, you just try to block everything out and it's like, 'Oh, at some point I'm going to get over it,'" Edwards-Helaire said. "And you start to realize that that just doesn't happen. You get older and you realize, 'Hey, no matter the age, no matter the person, no matter the situation, everyone needs help at some point.' It takes courage to talk about it and having PTSD and dealing with it once people kind of bring it up, it is not something that I'd always want to talk about. I never really know how my body will react or my mind, it is just something that I can't really pinpoint or know exactly what's going to happen.
"I feel like talking is a big thing, but it is just getting over that hump personally, being able to know that honestly, just everybody goes through things good [and] bad ... It's a steppingstone. I'm just 25 years old and trying to live the rest of my life healthy.''
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How long is Clyde Edwards-Helaire out?
Edwards-Helaire will miss at least four weeks after being placed on the non-football illness list. In the meantime, he won't be counted against Kansas City's 53-man roster, instead being moved to a reserve list. Kansas City isn't required to pay his base salary, although it can choose to do so.
Chiefs RB depth chart
Isiah Pacheco will retain his place atop Kansas City's depth chart heading into the 2024 season. Who joins him on the roster following the team's announcement of Edwards-Helaire's move to the non-football illness list is a bit murkier, although Samaje Perine and Carson Steele are expected to vie for the title for the title of second-stringer with Edwards-Helaire on the mend.
1. Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco is the clear top dog in Reid's rush attack, totaling a total of 935 yards on 4.6 yards per carry in 2023. After arriving from Rutgers in 2022, Pacheco has accumulated 375 carries across two seasons. That's the 21st-most rushes among running backs, with Pacheco outpacing Jamaal Williams, Rhamondre Stevenson, and AJ Dillon, among others. Couple that with his impressive per-carry production — Pacheco's 4.97 yards per carry is tied for the fifth-best mark in the NFL among running backs with at least 300 carries in the past two seasons — and it's easy to see why Kansas City values his contributions so much. He's the unabashed RB1 this season.
2. Samaje Perine
Perine is likely to replace Edwards-Helaire as RB2 in the Chiefs depth chart following Monday's announcement. That could pay off in spades for Reid's side, which already is bursting with color in pass-catching positions.
Perine is one of the league's best receivers out of the backfield, using his soft hands and precise route-running to great acclaim during his eight-year career. He hasn't accumulated more than 394 rushing yards in any season since his rookie year. However, Perine reeled in 50 catches for 455 yards last year in Denver and scored four receiving touchdowns (in addition to 287 receiving yards) on 38 receptions in 2022 with Cincinnati.
Expect Reid and Mahomes to attempt to use Perine's receiving prowess to their advantage during the opening four games of the season.
3. Carson Steele
Rounding out the troops in the backfield is former UCLA standout Carson Steele, who rode a strong preseason showing to a roster spot with Kansas City for the regular season.
Steele is a bruising runner who can dish out punishment on opposition markers as he makes his way down the field. He's not particularly speedy — at least not by NFL standards — but he has decent vision and his willingness to crash into the daunting willows that reside across defensive lines could be helpful for Kansas City, which will hope to keep the likes of Pacheco and Perine as fresh as possible as the season wears on. Steele may not be the most exciting prospect to surface in recent seasons. His running style could make him a useful option in the opening few games of the season, even if he's limited to short-distance gains.