Could Chase Edmonds Carry Flex Value Alongside Kenyan Drake? (2020 Fantasy Football)

To say that Kenyan Drake has underperformed thus far is an understatement. Against a defense that had allowed the fivesome of Josh Jacobs, Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones, Austin Ekeler, and Joshua Kelley to total 321 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in three games, Drake produced only 35 yards on 13 attempts.

Yikes.

With Drake on the down and out, Chase Edmonds has been pretty good so far. Let’s compare the duo through the last two seasons:

Working on some basic Drake/Edmonds comparisons.

The quick notes:
▫️ Arizona's backfield has regressed. A lot.
▫️ Edmonds' passing-down role has expanded dramatically. pic.twitter.com/ZaSIMcfG74

— Isaiah Sirois (@is_sirois) October 6, 2020

Edmonds, a late-round sleeper, is currently just 0.2 PPR points behind Drake, a first-round pick (okay, not really — my quick calculations left out two fumbles, neither of which were lost). That says just as much about Drake’s underperformance as it says about how good Edmonds has looked.

Player Profile

Chase Edmonds is a third-year back out of Fordham. At five-foot-nine and 205 pounds, he’s a relatively small player, but he makes up for his size with quickness. Edmonds boasts 97th-percentile agility. His freakishness out at you in his college tape.

The Cardinals have featured Edmonds in the passing game this season, but he did most of his work on the ground last year. From Weeks 5 to 8 (before Drake came to Arizona), Edmonds carried the ball 40 times for 228 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught seven of his 10 targets for 75 yards and another score.

Edmonds is averaging 4.25 targets and four carries per game. That’s not a lot of volume, and his 4.55 yards per touch isn’t something to write home about, either. So aside from his athletic profile and past performance, why am I recommending Edmonds as a waiver-wire pickup?

State of the Offense

That’s easy — red-zone opportunities. Through four weeks, Edmonds has shined close to the goal line. He’s earned eight red-zone looks, and he’s converted two of them into touchdowns. He has the second-most red-zone targets among all Cardinals players (4), and he’s just two behind DeAndre Hopkins. If the Cardinals can get more efficient on offense, then it’s fair to expect some boom weeks out of Edmonds.

While I wish I had some evidence that head coach Kliff Kingsbury was planning to embrace Edmonds at Drake’s expense, I don’t. I do have an interesting offseason quote from him, however:

Kliff Kingsbury is excited about Chase Edmonds: "We all feel like he’s starting running back in this league."

— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) August 19, 2020

Hmm. There’s a good chance that’s just coachspeak, but it’s a good sign that Kingsbury trusts Edmonds. It’s also a good sign that third-string back Eno Benjamin is yet to touch the ball — this is a two-man backfield, and that reduces the overall competition for volume.

Edmonds’ Outlook

After Drake left last Sunday’s game with an injury, some speculated about his Week 5 availability. But Adam Schefter reported that he just got the wind knocked out of him, so there’s no immediate injury-related path to upside for Edmonds.

That said, Edmonds is still in a great position. Even if he’s playing second-fiddle to Drake, the Cardinals have an incredibly soft schedule coming up. They’ll play the Jets, Cowboys, and Seahawks in consecutive weeks, and they’ll get the Dolphins after their Week 8 bye.

I’m hesitant to call Edmonds more than a high-upside flex option right now. Sure, Drake’s struggles could lead to Kingsbury giving him more looks as the season progresses, but you shouldn’t expect such a shift to take place immediately. Kingsbury doesn’t seem to fault Drake for his underwhelming performance — yet.

Kliff Kingsbury said RB Kenyan Drake (chest) should be OK after taking hard hit against Panthers. Kingsbury blamed Drake's slow start to season on overall offensive woes.

"Kenyan, he’s a dynamic back. We know that. We have to get him opportunities in space."

— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 5, 2020

Regardless, Edmonds is a fantastic add-and-stash, and he won’t be the worst flex option in PPR formats through what should be a stretch of high-scoring games. He also has low-end RB1 upside if anything happens to Drake, and that’s not something you’ll find every day on the waiver wire.

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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.