Jamaal Charles is best K.C. back ever?

[Stinger]

Adam Teicher seem to think so....

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This is probably overdue but I got to thinking about it after Jamaal Charles went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season in last week's loss to the Denver Broncos. That's four straight seasons for Charles with over 1,000 yards and though that's certainly not the only criteria, it's time to call Charles the best runner to ever play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Charles is third all time on the Chiefs' rushing yardage list. He is roughly 500 yards from catching Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson, the two backs ahead of him. With a big finish, Charles could conceivably catch both players this season. If not, he will pass them in 2014.

Charles is well shy of both players in rushing touchdowns, but Holmes and Johnson at times played for Chiefs teams that were offensive machines. Charles' teams in Kansas City haven't been built that way and it's unfair to penalize him for that. Charles isn't the pass receiver that Holmes was. There was no sight for Chiefs fans like Holmes running with a screen pass behind the great blockers he played with (unless it was Holmes running the sweep behind the great blockers he played with). But strictly as a runner, I'll take Charles.

Two factors go into that decision. First is longetivity. Johnson essentially had two great seasons for the Chiefs, Holmes three. Charles is now at four and we're still counting.

The other is Charles' career per-carry rushing average. Charles has picked up slightly more than 5.5 yards every time he's rushed the ball for the Chiefs in his career and that's frequently against opposing defenses that were often lying in wait for him because the Chiefs gave them little else to worry about.

Holmes rushed for 4.59 yards per carry, Johnson 4.37. That's a significant dfference in Charles' favor.

Holmes and Johnson deserve to be part of the discussion. But with apologies to those guys and some other great Chiefs backs like Marcus Allen, Christian Okoye and Ed Podolak it's time (and probably past time) to hail the new king.

http://espn.go.com/blog/kansas-city-...t-kc-back-ever

[suzzer99]

Theotis Brown gets no love?

[Kaepernick]

I think he has a ways to catch Marcus Allen, but he could end up the Chiefs best back.

[mcan]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Priest was my favorite, but Charles is just on another level right now. He's gonna get offensive player of the year on a team that spent half the year begging the defense to bail them out. He is the single biggest reason we are where we are. Just when I thought the Chiefs were going to blow it today, he was like "naw" and ripped the Raiders again.

He gets better as the game goes on. He has the best all time YPC. Also, I could give two ****s about rushing yards. Total yards are ALL that matters. He does it all and is a great teammate. ****... the guy even took a low ball deal. His hands seem to be improving. He blocks and looks to hit guys rather than going down easy. I just can't find fault with the guy.

I will finally buy his jersey when his career is over since I've had bad luck with those in the past. Love ya, Priest, but Jamaal is the most exciting offensive player I've ever seen in a Chiefs uniform.

He made a strong case for MVP today. Manning will probably win (and as much as I hate the dude, he deserves it) but Charles will absolutely be a part of that discussion. Can't deny that Charles is probably as important to us as Manning is to the Broncos. It's close, anyway.

[penbrook]

Manning - MVP

Charles - Offensive Player of the Year

[teedubya]

The dude is on a whole 'nother level. Love that dude. Plus, I rock Pumas.

[UK_Chief]

I loved Priest but he had one of the best O-lines we've ever seen to run behind. Imagine what JC would do with that line!!!

[Halfcan]

I think JC pretty much swayed the opinion he is the greatest ever in a chiefs uniform. a few more years with production like this-could be up in the top 5 in the nfl.

[dtebbe]

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

Willie Roaf made that WHOLE line work. The day he retired our line went to shit, our Offense went to shit and Trent Green got a concussion running for his life. If he was blocking for Jamaal, we'd be looking at history being made.

I would say Willie Roaf + Tony Richardson is what made that running game work, especially inside the 5. When they got inside the 5 you might as well just put the 7 on the board. We got kinda spoiled with that...

They traded T-Rich the same year that Roaf retired. Double whammy.

DT

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

I think he has a ways to catch Marcus Allen, but he could end up the Chiefs best back.

Marcus ran 3,022 times for 12,243 yards and 123 TDs. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry.

To date, Jamaal has run 1,030 times for 5,717 yards and 28 TDs. He's averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

So to catch Marcus statistically, Jamaal needs to run the ball 1,997 times for 6526 yards, which would average 3.27 yards per carry. It would appear that longevity is his sole remaining barrier.

Marcus also had 587 receptions for 5,411 yards and 21 TDs (9.2 yards per reception), whereas Jamaal is currently at 217 receptions for 1,937 yards and 14 TDs (8.9 yards per reception). So Jamaal needs another 370 receptions for 3,474 yards, averaging 9.39 yards per reception.

Both are clearly top runners. Marcus had success for a long time, but Jamaal is much more productive with the ball in his hands than (and I love saying this) any other player in the history of the National Football League.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

I think he has a ways to catch Marcus Allen, but he could end up the Chiefs best back.

If you're talking about just Allen's years with the Chiefs, he's not even in the discussion.

[Kiimo]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Marcus ran 3,022 times for 12,243 yards and 123 TDs. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry.

To date, Jamaal has run 1,030 times for 5,717 yards and 28 TDs. He's averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

So to catch Marcus statistically, Jamaal needs to run the ball 1,997 times for 6526 yards, which would average 3.27 yards per carry. It would appear that longevity is his sole remaining barrier.

Marcus also had 587 receptions for 5,411 yards and 21 TDs (9.2 yards per reception), whereas Jamaal is currently at 217 receptions for 1,937 yards and 14 TDs (8.9 yards per reception). So Jamaal needs another 370 receptions for 3,474 yards, averaging 9.39 yards per reception.

Both are clearly top runners. Marcus had success for a long time, but Jamaal is much more productive with the ball in his hands than (and I love saying this) any other player in the history of the National Football League.

So Jamaal needs nearly a HUNDRED more touchdowns to catch Marcus Allen.



Marcus Allen man. Jeez.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

So Jamaal needs nearly a HUNDRED more touchdowns to catch Marcus Allen.



Marcus Allen man. Jeez.

Marcus was a short-yardage machine, while Jamaal historically didn't get goal line carries. Interestingly, Jamaal is still behind Marcus' rushing TD total from the Chiefs. Marcus had 44 in five seasons with KC and Jamaal has 28 in more or less the same time period.

Jamaal has a lot of receiving TDs, though, and closes the gap in that respect. Marcus had 47 total TDs as a Chief, whereas Jamaal has 43 if you include one return TD.

It's interesting to me that 1/3 of Jamaal's TDs are receptions. That seems like a high ratio for a running back.