RB Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs

HT: 5-11, WT: 200, Born: 12-27-1986, College: Texas, Drafted: Round 3

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full ADP list]

Overall: M Lynch (5), T Richardson (6), Jamaal Charles (7), C Johnson (8), L McCoy (9)
Position: M Lynch (5-RB5), T Richardson (6-RB6), Jamaal Charles (7 - RB7), L McCoy (9-RB8), C Spiller (10-RB9)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: D Martin (3), C Johnson (4), Jamaal Charles (5), R Rice (6), T Richardson (7)
Position: A Foster (2-RB2), D Martin (3-RB3), Jamaal Charles (5 - RB4), R Rice (6-RB5), T Richardson (7-RB6)
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Outlook

Jamaal Charles has consistently been a fantasy RB1 when he's been healthy and he's done so on some truly dreadful offensive teams. Charles is a home run hitter in the truest sense of the term and his long runs have led to a 5.8 yard per carry average over his career, the best in NFL history. In 2013 he figures to have a better offense, with Andy Reid and Alex Smith replacing Romeo Crennel and Matt Cassel. Charles should see as many opportunities as he can handle, and with Reid's affinity for the screen game he'll likely be more involved in the passing game than he's ever been. The one negative for Charles has been his lack of success in the red zone. Last season he had just two scores inside the 20, with the closest of those being from twelve yards out. That figure probably won’t hold up as Charles had six such scores in 2010, but he will never be a touchdown machine. Another question mark will be the changes to the offensive line. While the Chiefs' line in 2012 was nothing special, rookie Eric Fisher has some big shoes to fill replacing Eric Winston in the run game. If Fisher is as good in the run game as Winston was, Charles may be in line for a career year.

Latest News

Chiefs | Dwayne Bowe has high expectations for offense (Wed May 15, 04:13 PM) - Kansas City Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe said he expects to lead the NFL in receptions and receiving touchdowns in 2013, and that RB Jamaal Charles will lead the league in rushing this season.

Our View: The Chiefs offense has been energized by new head coach Andy Reid. We'll see what kind of chemistry can be established between Bowe and new QB Alex Smith.
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Chiefs | Can rookie Davis cure his fumbling problems? (Sun May 12, 08:51 PM) - In the Chiefs rookie minicamp RB Knile Davis was constantly seen carrying the ball high and tight to his body. In college Davis had fumbling issues because he runs too high and exposes his midsection to unnecessary hits. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said, "I can't tell you I'm big on fumbling. I don't like it. I don't have a lot of patience for it. I feel like with this kid, we'll have an answer there for that."

Our View: Davis was a surprise pick by the Chiefs. He has serious durability issues after multiple ankle issues, including an injury that cost him the entire 2011 season. Davis fails to generate power and runs tentative, often dancing behind the line of scrimmage and wasting motion. We're not as excited about him as others are. He'll compete with Shaun Draughn and Cyrus Gray to be the primary backup behind Jamaal Charles.
link to story   

2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Charles is back, but he’s not quite 100% back. He showed flashes with a 46 yard scamper up the right side in the second quarter. Only being tripped up by a corner prevented Charles from taking it to the house. Charles had a bounce in his step for the rest of the quarter and looked like his old self, bouncing runs outside at just the right time and cutting on a dime. Still, in the second half after a couple of big hits he became much less decisive and kept getting caught dancing behind the line. Part of that was the Falcons focus on stopping the run, but part of it was Charles getting back into mid season form after a missed year.

Week 2 - Charles got the start against the Bills but found very little room to run and picked up just 3 yards on 6 carries. The Chiefs tried to get him out in space with the passing game, but the Bills were all over him there as well as he added just 19 yards on 3 catches. Charles seemed to lack his trademark burst and wound up leaving the game early after taking a hit on his reconstructed knee, but he was later seen on the sideline riding a bicycle and asking to come back in. With the game quickly turning into a blowout loss, the coaches decided to rest him and hopefully keep him available for next week.

Week 3 - Jamaal Charles is back in a big way. Even though his performance came against the hapless Saints run defense, he exhibited the top end speed he’d yet to show since his ACL injury in 2011. Charles executed the cutback perfectly early in the game and showed good vision to hit the right hole at the right time. He was also active in the passing game early turning a screen pass into a 15 yard gain with great vision. When Charles really cut loose though, was the third quarter after Peyton Hillis left with an injury. With five minutes left in the third quarter Charles took a sweep left 91 yards to the house. The played was blocked extremely well, getting him to the second level but he outran the entire Saints defense to the end zone in an impressive display of burst and top end speed. Four minutes later Charles again broke through a huge hole on the right side but was clearly gassed 40 yards downfield when he tried to juke a safety he could have outrun with fresh legs. Early in the 4th quarter the Chiefs offensive line just dismantled the Saints front seven and Charles took advantage. He did run out of gas at the end of this game, but 39 touches for 288 total yards will do that to a back. He had just enough to left in overtime to hit the hole hard on 4th and one, but not much more.

Week 4 - In the early going, Charles was as much to blame as anyone for Kansas City’s woes, carelessly fumbling the ball away on two occasions. His very first touch of the game was coughed up in the backfield as defenders stripped it away. Soon after that, he ran off tackle and had the football punched out by a defender. Despite the two fumbles, the next rushing attempt by Kansas City did in fact go to Charles. And it’s a good thing that they kept feeding him, because he eventually turned in one of the best touchdown runs so far in 2012. The Charger defense had him bottled up on the right side, so Charles changed directions entirely and went against the grain to take it back to the left side. He read his blocks perfectly and headed for the sideline. While Charles was close to stepping out of bounds near the goal line, he never actually did step out and he lunged at the end of the run to put the football just inside the pylon. In the second half, he again displayed incredible vision and burst in the open field. Charles always knows the angles and seems to recognize instantly just how much he can dart inside versus bursting to the outside in order to pick up maximum yardage. On a crossing route pattern, he snagged a Cassel pass over the middle and then did the rest himself, accelerating toward the sideline and diving into the end zone toward that front left pylon again. With Peyton Hillis out of action, Charles had another 20 total touches in this game and looked just as fresh on the 20th as he did on the first. 


Week 5 - The first half was the Jamaal Charles show as he compiled a full day’s worth of rushing statistics in just two quarters. The Chiefs offensive line had their way with the Ravens up front, and every that carried the ball had some success, but Charles’ success was much greater. The downside, if there was one, was that Charles looked to be out of gas in the second half, and for good reason. Charles carried the ball on seven of the first eleven Chiefs’ plays, finding five yards when there looked to be no hole and huge gains whenever the line did their job. His 25 yard carry in the first quarter was very well blocked at the line of scrimmage, and then Charles did the rest, juking a defensive back out of his shoes before finally being brought down. His Achilles heel reared its head with a first quarter fumble, but he was fortunate that the ball was kicked out of bounds and not recovered. Charles’ final three carries of the quarter totaled 25 yards as he showcased great vision and an excellent ability to cutback at just the right time. Another three carries for 27 yards in the second quarter helped the Chiefs drive into the red zone, but back to back poor decisions from Charles resulted in big losses and the team had to settle for a field goal. Charles finished the half with 21 carries for 125 yards, but slowed greatly in the second half. The Ravens finally found a way to plug the holes and Charles looked noticeably tired. With no threat of a passing game he struggled to get anything positive going in the second half.

Week 6 - On the very first play from scrimmage Charles caught a pass out of the backfield and was swarmed by three tacklers before having his helmet knocked off. This was absolutely a sign of things to come. Charles had a 22 yard run in the third quarter on which he showed great patience behind the line, a burst through the hole and strong cut at the second level. Other than that he had eleven carries for 18 yards. Charles spent too much of the game on the sideline recovering from the vicious hits the Buccaneers kept leveling on him.

Week 8 - The electric halfback, who leads the NFL in rushing yards per game, was shockingly absent from the field of play for no discernible reason at home against the division rival Raiders. In a game where the Chiefs were not down by double digits until midway through the third quarter, Charles carried five times for four yards and caught three passes for six yards. In his inexplicably limited action, Charles featured the same footwork and patience that makes him one of the league’s most dominant playmakers, but he had difficulty finding the edge or any room to run between the tackles. The return of Peyton Hillis no doubt contributed to Charles’ loss of touches, but in a game where the Chiefs were not being blown out, Charles’ lack of involvement in the offense is bizarre, to say the least. While he is likely not a thirty-carry-a-game, three-down back, Charles remains a home run threat on any given carry. Why the Chiefs elected to keep off the field in a match against a division rival is something worth following in the days to come.

Week 9 - One week after being criticized for underutilizing the explosive Charles in a close game, head coach Romeo Crennel appeared to underutilize the explosive Charles in a close game. Despite Kansas City keeping it close until the fourth quarter, Charles got just 15 total touches in the game. He had seven touches at halftime of a 10-3 game. Granted, he didn’t do a great deal with the majority of those touches but he did appear to start getting into a rhythm in the latter stages of the game. He finally found some running room inside and then took a short pass up the left sideline like a bullet for 22 yards. Unfortunately for Charles, shortly after that he took a short pass over the middle and took a vicious hit from the defender. He was briefly stood up by one defender but managed to keep his balance. But just as he regrouped to turn upfield, he was leveled by another defender and appeared to suffer a head and/or neck injury. Charles ran off the field under his own power, but did not return. The long layoff before their next game should help.

Week 10 - If you put Ziggy Hood, LaMarr Woodley and Jamaal Charles on a football field, with the two Steelers between Charles and Woodley and Hood's pay checks for the game, Charles would have been murdered before he could take one step forward. Unfortunately for the Steelers, that wasn't the case as Charles repeatedly ran through the left side of the home-side's defense. His first carry went for nine yards, before his third went for a touchdown. In the redzone, Charles ran through a big hole in the defensive front before breaking two tackle attempts and diving into the endzone. The Steelers did stiffen as the game went on, but Charles had a relatively easy road to his production. Generally, backs who have success against the Steelers must work very hard to do so and are punished a lot physically. That wasn't the case with Charles. Charles' biggest difficulty was once again his team's lack of willingness to run him until the tires were worn out.

Week 11 - Charles was once again the bright spot in a terrible offensive performance from the Chiefs. Charles was effective in the first quarter bouncing off the left side and got really solid blocking from that side of the line. Once he’d established the outside he started cutting back and gashed the Bengals for 41 yards on his first six carries. The Bengals sold out against the run in the second quarter and Charles found virtually no room at all. Charles did have a nice run after catch on a 16 yard reception late in the quarter that featured one broken tackle. Charles was bottled up for a majority of the second half other than a 17 yard run on a draw play that caught the Bengals off guard. Charles played sparingly late with the game already decided.

Week 12 - Charles day could be described really simply by saying he was outstanding outside the tackles and not very good between them. He showed great patience around the edge and perfect timing knowing when to hit the hole. His vision on his cutback runs was outstanding, and for the most part his blocking on the outside was really good. Between the tackles he showed no ability to push the pile or even squeeze through a crease. He pretty much ran into his lineman’s back every time he tried to go up the middle. Charles continued a disturbing trend of not being able to have success on more than two or three consecutive plays and still took a lot of breaks, but he was strong in the 4th quarter with several runs of 8+ yards around the edge. Charles did leave the field early in the game after having the air knocked out of him and also fumbled once but the Chiefs recovered.

Week 13 - Jamaal Charles found a lot of success on the ground against a rather porous Panthers’ run defense, who consistently failed to fit their gaps, allowing Charles to get to the second level. Charles was stuffed more often as the game wore on. He was able to weave past defenders quite often and looked as smooth and quick as ever with his cuts. He was also very competent in pass protection, stopping rushers in their tracks and sliding them away from Quinn.

Week 14 - Charles started the game with an absolute bang. He took a run off right tackle 80 yards to the end zone on the game’s opening play. The play was well blocked, but Charles squeezed through a small hole and then burst up field, he made a cutback at the second level that dropped a defensive back to his knees and then outran the Browns defense. Charles wasn’t very active on the next drive, but continued to gash the Browns defense later in the quarter with shifty runs around the end. He showed great patience and continued to choose the right hole at the right time. It was on another of these runs, for 15 yards, that Charles suffered a rib injury early in the second quarter. He sat out for two series, but returned to post a gritty performance the rest of the way. Charles looked a little more tentative following the injury but the Chiefs continued to feed him the ball in the second and third quarters. The game script changed in the 4th quarter with the Chiefs down big, and a 13 yard run off left tackle was Charles’ only carry of note.

Week 15 - Jamaal Charles was completely held in check by the Raiders to the tune of 10 total rushing yards on nine carries. Charles did break one run down the sideline for a 20+ yard gain at one time, but that was nullified by penalty. The Chiefs continued to lean on Charles even as the game got away from them; credit has to go to the Oakland front seven, who had good gap discipline and did not give Charles the cutback lane on stretch plays. Charles was the recipient of a few check down passes, but he was tackled more or less immediately.

Week 16 - Amazingly, Charles was almost completely bottled up in the first quarter. He couldn't break free from the Colts' front seven and when he did the play was negated by a penalty on his offensive line. Peyton Hillis had much more success than Charles early on. With his first carry in the second quarter, Charles finally broke free. As his offensive linemen were pushed into the backfield, Charles bounced to the edge and sprinted down the field for a 25 yard gain. Charles nearly fumbled with his next carry, as the ball came out just after he dived forward for the first down. Charles' difficult first half culminated in a poor fumble as he danced at the line of scrimmage in the Colts' redzone just before the end of the second quarter. After struggling in the first half, Charles opened the third quarter with a sprint outside that went 80+yards untouched. Good blocking gave him the edge, but Charles' acceleration and speed allowed him to get to the endzone. With his next carry, Charles cutback on a play designed to go the right before running down the left side of the field untouched for 40+ yards. With his tail up, Charles was then “stopped” on his next carry after seven yards. Charles was now getting much more freedom as he gained an easy five yards over left guard. Charles almost gained 40 yards on another run when he went free into the secondary over left guard before sprinting around a defender in space and running out of bounds.

Week 17 - Coming off an incredible Week Sixteen performance against the Colts, Charles underwhelmed on the road against the Broncos. Charles totaled exactly half of the Chiefs’ rushing attempts – fourteen – for fifty-three yards on the ground. He caught one swing pass for fourteen yards. When he found room to run, Charles exhibited his trademark acceleration and vision that has allowed him to rip off so many long runs over the past few years – when he found room to run, of course. The Denver defense routinely bottled Charles up behind, or right in front of, the line of scrimmage. Knowing Kansas City’s plan to run the ball heavily, the Broncos routinely stacked the box in anticipation of the ground game, which did not bode well for Charles. He did not record a carry in the fourth quarter, with the game well out of hand for Kansas City, and did leave the field of play in the first quarter with an injury, though he did return. That Charles was able to total over fifteen hundred yards rushing on a two-win team that criminally mismanaged him – after coming off a season-ending injury in the second week of the 2011 season – is nothing short of miraculous, and would likely be a bigger story were 2012 not also beholden to the mythical comeback seasons of Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson.