Chase Edmonds is an unrestricted free agent running back who has spent his rookie contract playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Coming out of Central Dauphin East High School in Harrisburg, PA, Edmonds was considered too small & too slow for major colleges & ended up at Fordham University in the Bronx.
It didn’t take long for Chase Edmonds to show the recruiters wrong, though. Starting 14 games as a freshman, he rushed for 1,838 yards and 23 scores, winning the 2014 Jerry Rice Award as NCAA FCS Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore 2015 season, he earned Second Team AP All-American honors and won ECAC and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year honors. In 2016, he became a consensus First Team All-American. Edmonds’ career college stats were exemplary - 5,862 rushing yards, most ever in the Patriot League and fifth-most in FCS history. His 67 rushing scores were fourth-most in FCS history.
With great agility, average burst and a modest 4.55 40 time, Edmonds was a fourth-round pick by the Arizona Cadinals in 2018. Spending most of his first two years on Special Teams and backing up David Johnson, he saw less than a 25-percent snap share. His lone 2019 shining moment came Week 7 when, after Johnson was forced out after one carry, Edmonds filled in to the tune of 126 rushing yards and three scores, finishing as that week’s fantasy RB1. In only his second career start the following week, he was lost to a hamstring injury. The next time he saw the field, the starting job belonged to Kenyan Drake; Chase saw two carries the rest of the year.
In 2020, Edmonds’ role grew. Removed from special teams, Chase saw backfield action in every game. With Johnson gone, Chase was Drake’s primary backup and Kyler Murray’s receiving back. On one the league’s more pass-happy teams, Edmonds finished top-12 in routes run, target share, targets, receptions, receiving yards and yards per touch. He had two drops on the season. Only a modest 44-percent snap share kept his 2020 fantasy scoring in check, as he posted the No. 32 RB fantasy ranking with 10.5 points per game.
In 2021, the Cardinals reinvented themselves, becoming of the NFL’s more run-centric teams, led by yet another starting RB, this time James Conner. Although Edmonds snap share and target share increased, his routes run dropped from No. 6 to No. 31 and his targets, receptions and receiving yards all fell outside the top-10. Increased rushing volume and improved efficiency on the ground, though, boosted Edmonds to the No. 24 fantasy ranking, almost exactly in line with his ADP heading into the year. Edmonds signed a 2-year contract with Miami totalling $12.1 million with $6.1 million guaranteed, setting him up to be the Dolphins' primary back in 2022. Miami's suddenly high-octane offense paired with Edmonds' all-purpose skillset makes him a value-pick given his early-season ADP and consensus fantasy ranking.
