KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With a quick smile before his statement, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire confirmed his optimism about what he can for the Chiefs this upcoming season.

“I feel great,” Edwards-Helaire said last month, knowing he has several reasons.

When Edwards-Helaire entered the NFL in 2020, he had just competed in the longest football season in his life, a journey that ended his college career with him winning a national championship with LSU. His entire rookie season in the NFL was unusual. He began learning the Chiefs’ offense through virtual meeting as a result of the coronavirus pandemic — his first practice was in training camp — yet he earned the starting nod for the opener. He finished the season — after admitting that he returned from injuries to his left hip and ankle sooner than he should have — touching the ball just 11 times in the team’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.

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Less than a month following the game, Edwards-Helaire had gallbladder surgery. His sophomore year, by any measure, was a disappointment, a season disrupted by an MCL sprain in his left knee and an injury to his left collarbone.

“This offseason, it was pretty much getting back to the basics, being able to have a full offseason,” Edwards-Helaire told The Athletic. “That was one of the things Coach (Andy) Reid and I talked about. He said, ‘This is really your first real offseason in the NFL.’ Really, health was the biggest thing.”

Edwards-Helaire, 23, has accomplished everything he wanted before the Chiefs have their first practice in front of fans next week to open their training camp at Missouri Western State’s campus in St. Joseph, Mo. In Fort Worth, Texas, Edwards-Helaire spent time catching passes from superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes alongside new and familiar teammates. He was a full participant during the team’s offseason program. And yes, Edwards-Helaire explained last month that this is the best his body has felt since he joined Chiefs.

With a conventional spring and summer, Edwards-Helaire hopes his return to a normal training regime leads to a breakout performance, a third-year leap in production that will be more in line with the skills and potential he possesses that led to him being the Chiefs’ first-round pick.

“There’s always a sense of urgency for me,” Edwards-Helaire said. “I feel I bring that intensity. I never really was injured in college. It’s just one of those things.”

Respect the training. Honor the commitment. Cherish the results.

Explosive steps are key to becoming a better football player. My guy @clyde_22 has been crushing it at Elite. Can’t wait to turn more heads this season!#football #developmentoverhype #chiefskingdom #nfl #skillz

— Skillz Evolution SOUTH – Craig Brodie (@coach_brodie) July 12, 2022

Edwards-Helaire understands he is entering a pivotal season. He is the projected starter, and his touches should increase as part of the Chiefs’ revamped offense, a unit that will operate, for the first time in Mahomes’ six-year career, without star receiver Tyreek Hill, the league’s fastest player.

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The Chiefs, though, are expected to have one of their most intriguing battles in camp at the running back position. Behind Edwards-Helaire on the depth chart are two capable rotational players in Ronald Jones, a five-year veteran, and Jerick McKinnon, a nine-year veteran. If the Chiefs keep just four players at the position for their initial 53-man roster, the final roster spot will be a competition between Derrick Gore, a second-year player, and rookies Isaih Pacheco and Jerrion Ealy.

Jones, listed at 5-foot-11 and 208 pounds, is a legit candidate to earn the starting spot over Edwards-Helaire if he has an exceptional camp and preseason.

“I tell the whole team this: We’re going to bring as much competition — that’s what (general manager) Brett (Veach) does — and that makes you better,” Reid said last month of Edwards-Helaire’s role in the offense. “You don’t look over your shoulder, man. Just work on your game, but there’s going to be competition. Maximize what you can do, and then you don’t have to worry about anything else.”

In four years with the Buccaneers, Jones had his best season in 2020, producing 1,143 all-purpose yards, eight total touchdowns and earning a Super Bowl ring. The Chiefs hope that Jones, who could potentially serve as a third-down back, can help share part of the team’s rushing attempts with Edwards-Helaire.

“It’s a long season, so it’s going to take more than one guy,” Jones said last month, stressing that he is learning all the nuances of the playbook. “I think that’s what (the team) is looking forward to. I just thought they were the most Super Bowl-ready team to get back there and get my second ring. That played a big factor, too.”

Listed at 5-foot-10, Edwards-Helaire said he intends to play this season weighing 210 pounds, confident that his weight will not fluctuate, which occurred at times last season. Earlier this month, Edwards-Helaire has had several workout sessions in Baton Rouge, La., his hometown, with trainer Craig Brodie. Edwards-Helaire has focused on refining his footwork, his route-running skills and his timing with Mahomes when running routes.

Am•bi•tion:
a strong desire to do or to achieve something, requiring determination and hard work.@Clydro_22 and @D_Hilliard26 putting in some solid work before OTAs kick off. #DevelopmentOverHype #Skillz #EliteTraining #NFL #ChiefsKingdom #TitanUp #Titans #SkillzSouth

— Skillz Evolution SOUTH – Craig Brodie (@coach_brodie) July 15, 2022

One indicator of a successful season for Edwards-Helaire is if he records more than 36 receptions, his career high that occurred as a rookie. Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy believe Edwards-Helaire can be a dual-threat weapon.

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“The great thing about this offense is that you can stick anybody anywhere,” Edwards-Helaire said. “As long as we know what we’re doing and executing, it can be unmatched depending on our matchups. I can line up from the 1, 2, 3 or 4-spot (at the line of scrimmage) and run any route.

“(Star tight end) Travis (Kelce) can do the same thing, from (receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling) to JuJu (Smith-Schuster) to Mecole (Hardman). It just shows you that we can be as versatile as we want. It’s not the same thing that (opposing defenses) have been seeing the last six years.”

Remaining healthy, Edwards-Helaire knows, could lead to more consistent performances and enhance his statistics.

In 23 career games, Edwards-Helaire has gained at least 100 rushing yards just four times. He produced 517 rushing yards on 119 attempts last season despite not having a single attempt that was 20 yards or more.

Among his peers at the position, Edwards-Helaire ranked 33rd in the league with minus-19 rushing yards over expected — the difference between actual rushing yards and expected rushing yards on an individual play — according to the NFL Next Gen Stats. As opposing defenses often presented two deep safeties to the Chiefs’ offense last season in hopes of preventing a long completion, Edwards-Helaire faced eight or more defenders in the box on just 8.4 percent of his rushing attempts, the lowest percentage in the league.

Even without Hill, the Chiefs’ offense could be just as difficult for opponents to defend this season if Edwards-Helaire improves his rushing yards over expected and the offensive line maintains its stellar run block win rate (winning 74 percent of the time, ranking second in the league according to player tracking data from NFL Next Gen Stats). The Chiefs also had the league’s lowest percentage of rushing attempts (32 percent) in which the ball carrier was contacted by a defender in the backfield, according to Sharp Football Analysis.

Edwards-Helaire was at his best last season when inside the red zone, as he recorded 60 rushing yards on 12 attempts, including all four of his touchdowns. His most impressive highlight was when he ran through two different defenders before entering the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run in the Chiefs’ blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire MY GOODNESS 💪

📺: #PITvsKC on CBS
📱: NFL app

— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2021

In addition to his improved health, Edwards-Helaire believes his career is ascending because he has learned from his experiences the past two seasons and has a greater knowledge of the Chiefs’ offense through his many repetitions this offseason, the most he has had in his young career.

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“I remember I got scrutinized (during camp as a rookie) for saying that the playbook wasn’t that hard to learn,” Edwards-Helaire told The Athletic, laughing. “It was three years in college where I needed to learn three different playbooks. But this is Year 3, and now I understand more the fine-tuned, pinpoint details of those little things (within each play).

“Coach Reid will tell us every other week that he’s still learning stuff about the offense, so you’ll never really become a master at it. You can only get as good as you want yourself to. That’s really what it’s been, just trying to learn everything and help where I can.”

(Photo of Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Denny Medley / USA Today)