2020 POTENTIAL BREAKOUT STARS: AFC WEST PART 1

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s the AFC West’s time to shine as we give it our full attention and pick out potential break out stars that will impact their own teams’ fortunes as well as fantasy football rosters all over the country.

DENVER BRONCOS

Outside Linebacker Bradley Chubb

(2019: 21 tackles, five for a loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one pass defense)

If Chubb had a played a full season in 2019, he likely would not be on this list. As a rookie out of NC State he had an incredible (and mostly ignored) season, racking up 60 tackles, 12 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and a pass defense for the Broncos. The problem, of course, is that Denver was terrible, finishing 6-10, and Chubb missed out on pretty much every bit of attention he deserved.

Not much was going to change in 2019 for the second-year edge rusher, but back-to-back double digit sack seasons would have at least earned a Pro Bowl nod and a highlight montage on NFL Gameday. Instead, Chubb and the team got off to a slow start and he tore his ACL and missed the final 12 games of the season.

While injuries are never great to come back from, the earlier they happen in the previous season the better. Chubb should be 100 percent as the real games start this fall and ready to build on a pretty terrific 2018 campaign while staying off lists like this for good.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire

(Rookie)

You could argue that Edwards-Helaire wasn’t supposed to start before Damien Williams took the NFL’s COVID-19 opt out, but Williams was never more than a stop-gap and placeholder, even with some pretty terrific performances under his belt. Andy Reid didn’t draft CEH out of LSU to keep him on the bench.

The last time Reid picked a rookie as his starting tailback, he got a Pro Bowl season out of Kareem Hunt. Hunt led the NFL in rushing in 2017 with 272 carries for 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 53 catches for 455 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

Edwards-Helaire is a similar back to Hunt, minus a few inches and pounds, and I’m sure that’s why Reid pulled the trigger on adding him to his backfield. His college production in 2019 didn’t hurt as he carried the ball 215 times for 1,414 yards and 16 touchdowns for the National Champion Tigers while catching 55 passes for 453 yards and a score.

Every week Edwards-Helaire will face a defense scared to death of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, his deep strike weapon Tyreek Hill and the best tight end in the sport, Travis Kelce. He’ll never see a loaded box because any defensive coordinator that would call that against the Chiefs should be fired on the spot. With his skills as a runner and receiver, he should not only thrive, but end up another rookie addition to the Pro Bowl at year’s end. Not that he’ll be playing in it a week before the Super Bowl.

To be continued in Part 2.

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