Clyde Edwards-Helaire is your new 1.01

[FantasyFreak]

When I see a player with so much positivity, across the board, with almost no dissent, I'll do the head-fake and run the other direction. There are so many CEH truthers, that he's bound to fail. Even if it is up to the fantasy Gods, he's bound to be a middling talent or even a bust. Call it the Madden Cover curse of the fantasy community, but there is so much one-way love for this guy, that it's bound to come crashing down.

This might be the worst argument I've seen against any player in my entire time of these boards.

[TheNuts]

CEH landed in the most optimal system for his skillset. That said, I agree. CEH is a nice player, but it's very clear his value is inflated mostly because of landing spot.

That said, pre-draft we compared him in some ways to Devonta Freeman, who is an outlier. Freeman landed in a great scheme with Kyle Shanahan and produced big numbers in Atlanta. It's hard to bank on someone being an outlier like Freeman, but CEH has a optimal script to do it.

Is his value inflated because of landing spot or was his value pre-draft deflated due to questions surrounding proper utilization of his skillset? Any coach can hand the ball off to a guy and ask him to run forward. Not every coach can scheme to get the ball in their playmakers hands through the air.

Are they going to be doing a lot of scheming to get the ball to CEH when they have Kelce & Tyreek though? I think he might even have a fight with Watkins & Hardman.

Watkins? He did absolutely nothing last year after week 1. I would never purposely scheme that guy touches.

[TheNuts]

When I see a player with so much positivity, across the board, with almost no dissent, I'll do the head-fake and run the other direction. There are so many CEH truthers, that he's bound to fail. Even if it is up to the fantasy Gods, he's bound to be a middling talent or even a bust. Call it the Madden Cover curse of the fantasy community, but there is so much one-way love for this guy, that it's bound to come crashing down.

This might be the worst argument I've seen against any player in my entire time of these boards.

Especially when so many consensus top rookie rbs succeed...

[OhCruelestRanter]

That said, pre-draft we compared him in some ways to Devonta Freeman, who is an outlier. Freeman landed in a great scheme with Kyle Shanahan and produced big numbers in Atlanta. It's hard to bank on someone being an outlier like Freeman, but CEH has a optimal script to do it.

I'm really disappointed in myself for not mentioning Freeman in my post referencing similar players with success. I made that comparison a month and a half ago.

Comparing a RB with great size-adjusted speed to a 4.6 guy misses the point of why we do RB comparisons. It’s not useful for anything other than making yourself feel good about CEH.

Devonta Freeman (5’8, 206, 4.58) is a much better comparison, doesn’t completely break the size adjusted athleticism mold, and still illustrates the upside (he had multiple RB1 seasons including one as THE RB1).

Nobody would object to taking “Devonta Freeman, but with Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid” first overall in a rookie draft. There’s no need to draw a bad comparison to a better athlete to make ourselves feel better.

Ugh. Anyways, the three biggest differences between Freeman and CEH were that 1. Freeman went in the 4th round, CEH went in the 1st, and 2. Freeman was good as a freshman and sophomore, while Helaire was not, and 3. while they're similar size-speed comparisons, CEH's jumps were way better.

I think CEH is a better prospect than Freeman. Right now, players like CEH and Freeman are atypical RB1s. It's possible that the NFL is changing in a manner in which guys like CEH and Freeman will find success more often. I'm more conservative with players in CEH's price range, so I'm not going to end up with him in very many places, if at all.

[OhCruelestRanter]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

[Johnny B. Goode]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

Why do CEH truthers always resort to some JT comment or bringing JT into the conversation when they can’t defend an issue about CEH? I know it can be hard for some people, but stay focused. Stop trying to yell squirrel

I have Dobbins ahead of all of them anyways, but sure we can distract from CEHs short comings by trying to bring down JT...

[FantasyFreak]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

Why do CEH truthers always resort to some JT comment or bringing JT into the conversation when they can’t defend an issue about CEH? I know it can be hard for some people, but stay focused. Stop trying to yell squirrel

I have Dobbins ahead of all of them anyways, but sure we can distract from CEHs short comings by trying to bring down JT...

I happen to like all 3 players mentioned, for different reasons, but glossing over the production of JT is a bit much. I have CEH and JT so close in my rankings, as with Dobbins. All players are good, none are perfect. It doesn't have to be one vs the other all the time. I personally think all 3 will find success.

[Sriracha]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

It was all the O-line!

Here's every Wisconsin O-lineman drafted since 2017:
3rd round Michael Dieter (2018)
5th round David Edwards (2018)
4th round Tyler Biadasz (2019)

There are also 0 Wisconsin OL projected to go highly in the 2020 class.

[StripesOfKC]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

It was all the O-line!

Here's every Wisconsin O-lineman drafted since 2017:
3rd round Michael Dieter (2018)
5th round David Edwards (2018)
4th round Tyler Biadasz (2019)

There are also 0 Wisconsin OL projected to go highly in the 2020 class.

Yeah Wisconsin's vaunted OL compared to the "awful" OLs other top RB prospects ran behind at *checks notes* Georgia, LSU and Ohio State?

[ericanadian]

Is his value inflated because of landing spot or was his value pre-draft deflated due to questions surrounding proper utilization of his skillset? Any coach can hand the ball off to a guy and ask him to run forward. Not every coach can scheme to get the ball in their playmakers hands through the air.

Are they going to be doing a lot of scheming to get the ball to CEH when they have Kelce & Tyreek though? I think he might even have a fight with Watkins & Hardman.

Watkins? He did absolutely nothing last year after week 1. I would never purposely scheme that guy touches.

He did alright in the playoffs as well.

[PR0v3]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

As if a RB’s only job is to take handoffs...

Although I can’t blame you for thinking so, watching stone age Wisconsin football for three years would make anyone think such a thing.

[FantasyFreak]

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

It was all the O-line!

Here's every Wisconsin O-lineman drafted since 2017:
3rd round Michael Dieter (2018)
5th round David Edwards (2018)
4th round Tyler Biadasz (2019)

There are also 0 Wisconsin OL projected to go highly in the 2020 class.

Yeah Wisconsin's vaunted OL compared to the "awful" OLs other top RB prospects ran behind at *checks notes* Georgia, LSU and Ohio State?

Their OL still dominated in most games. The level of competition was not great. JT certainly maximized it, but it isn't the SEC. Other than Ohio St., Oregon, and Michigan St. and Michigan to a lesser extent, they face very little that can push back against them. I tried to find games against "good" competition, and it's tough to find. He had 1 good game, and 1 poor game vs Ohio St. Was mediocre vs Oregon and Michigan St, and although Michigan is supposed to be good, their OL dominated, and JT ran wild. I am a big JT fan, but his strength is not creating on his own. He really can maximize good blocking with his size and speed, though. Once he gets going, he's a nightmare. If he's forced to stop or slow down behind the LOS, he can be contained more than some other backs in this class, CEH being one of them.

[OhCruelestRanter]

JT was only viewed as the consensus top talent pre-draft because up until the draft the talent benchmark was the combine.

Jonathan Taylor went over 2000 yards from scrimmage as a true freshman, sophomore, and junior, the only time in history that's ever been done.

But yeah. It was just the combine.

As if a RB’s only job is to take handoffs...

Jesus this is a lame response. Somebody tell my man what “yards from scrimmage” means. But yeah man. You were right. It was all the combine.

[StripesOfKC]

It was all the O-line!

Here's every Wisconsin O-lineman drafted since 2017:
3rd round Michael Dieter (2018)
5th round David Edwards (2018)
4th round Tyler Biadasz (2019)

There are also 0 Wisconsin OL projected to go highly in the 2020 class.

Yeah Wisconsin's vaunted OL compared to the "awful" OLs other top RB prospects ran behind at *checks notes* Georgia, LSU and Ohio State?

Their OL still dominated in most games. The level of competition was not great. JT certainly maximized it, but it isn't the SEC. Other than Ohio St., Oregon, and Michigan St. and Michigan to a lesser extent, they face very little that can push back against them.

And LSU's OL didn't dominate against against the entire SEC besides Alabama, Auburn and Clemson in the playoff?

Or Georgia's against every team besides Florida, Alabama and LSU?

Or Ohio State against every team besides Clemson, Michigan and Wisconsin?

The SEC is better but it has plenty of bad and mediocre teams for LSU and Georgia's 5 star behomoths to mow down as well

[Sriracha]

It was all the O-line!

Here's every Wisconsin O-lineman drafted since 2017:
3rd round Michael Dieter (2018)
5th round David Edwards (2018)
4th round Tyler Biadasz (2019)

There are also 0 Wisconsin OL projected to go highly in the 2020 class.

Yeah Wisconsin's vaunted OL compared to the "awful" OLs other top RB prospects ran behind at *checks notes* Georgia, LSU and Ohio State?

Their OL still dominated in most games. The level of competition was not great. JT certainly maximized it, but it isn't the SEC. Other than Ohio St., Oregon, and Michigan St. and Michigan to a lesser extent, they face very little that can push back against them. I tried to find games against "good" competition, and it's tough to find. He had 1 good game, and 1 poor game vs Ohio St. Was mediocre vs Oregon and Michigan St, and although Michigan is supposed to be good, their OL dominated, and JT ran wild. I am a big JT fan, but his strength is not creating on his own. He really can maximize good blocking with his size and speed, though. Once he gets going, he's a nightmare. If he's forced to stop or slow down behind the LOS, he can be contained more than some other backs in this class, CEH being one of them.

Penn St. #5 rush defense in the nation
Iowa #14 rush defense
Minnesota #23

Are also quality Big 10 Rushing defenses... The Big 10 is probably the 2nd strongest conference in terms of rush defense in NCAAF.

This is a really bad take, that's all I'm going to say here.