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

[gblowfish]

As far as a pure Chiefs back, he's right up there. Marcus Allen was probably the best all purpose back we ever had (short yardage, pass catching, blitz pickup, dangerous breakaway ability) but of course his real prime was as a Raider. Joe Delaney was a great back, but his career was cut tragically short. Priest Holmes was a very good all purpose back too. If you want to go old school, Abner Haynes may have been the best athlete. Dawson speaks glowingly of his ability, and he is on the Chiefs ring of honor.

Okoye ran with great power but didn't block too well, and didn't catch well at all. Larry Johnson has serious character issues, and also didn't pass protect well. Podolak was a good all purpose back, but not as fast as Holmes or Charles.

One thing about Charles is his toughness. That guy is tough as nails, and I admire that a lot from a running back.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I'd say it's a wash with Holmes and Charles.

Bah!

Put Charles behind the line that Priest had and he'd be averaging much more than 5.5 ypc.

[Rain Man]

Here's a list of every 1,000-yard rushing season on the Chiefs. Jamaal's #16 spot will obviously move up and will likely end up around #9.

We should have total yards from scrimmage, but I don't have time to add that at the moment.

We see that Johnson and Holmes' best seasons were more productive in yards rushing. However, that's just because they got the ball more. Despite the fact that Johnson and Holmes typically had great ypc's in their best season, Jamaal's ypc is eye-popping astounding.

So Johnson and Holmes were greater workhorses at their peak, whereas Jamaal has two seemingly opposite arguments of having a better ypc and more peak seasons.

Rank-Name-Season-Age-Team-Pos-Games-Starts-Att-Yds-TDs-Long-YPC-Yards/Game-Fumbles

1	Larry Johnson	2006*+	27	KAN	RB	16	16	416	1789	17	47	4.3	111.8	2
2	Larry Johnson	2005*	26	KAN	RB	16	9	336	1750	20	49	5.2	109.4	5
3	Priest Holmes	2002*+	29	KAN	RB	14	14	313	1615	21	56	5.2	115.4	1
4	Priest Holmes	2001*+	28	KAN	RB	16	16	327	1555	8	41	4.8	97.2	4
5	Jamaal Charles	2012*	26	KAN	RB	16	15	285	1509	5	91	5.3	94.3	5
6	Christian Okoye	1989*+	28	KAN	FB	15	14	370	1480	12	59	4.0	98.7	8
7	Jamaal Charles	2010*+	24	KAN	rb	16	6	230	1467	5	80	6.4	91.7	3
8	Priest Holmes	2003*+	30	KAN	RB	16	16	320	1420	27	31	4.4	88.8	1
9	Joe Delaney	1981*	23	KAN	RB	15	10	234	1121	3	82	4.8	74.7	9
10	Jamaal Charles	2009	23	KAN	KR/RB	15	10	190	1120	7	76	5.9	74.7	4
11	Mike Garrett	1967*+	23	KAN	HB	14	0	236	1087	9	58	4.6	77.6	6
12	Tony Reed	1978	23	KAN	LH	16	16	206	1053	5	62	5.1	65.8	6
13	Abner Haynes	1962*+	25	DTX	HB/PR	14	0	221	1049	13	71	4.7	74.9	4
14	Christian Okoye	1991*	30	KAN	FB	14	12	225	1031	9	48	4.6	73.6	5
15	Barry Word	1990	27	KAN	RB	16	3	204	1015	4	53	5.0	63.4	4
16	Jamaal Charles	2013	27	KAN	RB	12	12	219	1011	9	46	4.6	84.3

[Kiimo]

I'd take Priest Holmes in his prime over Charles in his prime all day.


But I'd take Marcus Allen in his prime most of all.

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Bah!

Put Charles behind the line that Priest had and he'd be averaging much more than 5.5 ypc.

No doubt about it.... PH was good, but he had a size able advantage with the blocking OL.

[Red Dawg]

The GOAT no doubt. JC is a bad ass and could make a case for the HOF someday.

[Bump]

GOAT without question. He also is the NFL's ALL TIME leader in ypc. ALL TIME

[Fat Elvis]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Bah!

Put Charles behind the line that Priest had and he'd be averaging much more than 55 ypc.

FYP

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Flybone McTimmerson

Yes. Put him behind the Offensive lines Priest had, and the dude would have HOF numbers.

I told my buddy the same thing last week. Can you imagine the damage he could do with Holmes line? ****, he lights folks up with a little crease. Plus he runs tough. I thought we'd ALWAYS need a big bruiser for tough runs but we've ran a bunch of them through and Charles is better at what they do best. Kid is incredible.

If I'm picking one or the other as a rookie Charles by 13 miles.

[KCrockaholic]

I've been saying this for about the past 18 months. It's not even close honestly. You put Charles with the 03' offensive line, and that QB, and my god every record could be broken.

Priest was a better goalline back though. And maybe had better hands.

[WhiteWhale]

Yes, he is.

[Easy 6]

As a lightning bolt, keeping defensive coordinators awake at night, score from anywhere on the field kinda guy... its gotta be Charles, hands down.

Some guys are great, some guys are scary... JC is the latter.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Flybone McTimmerson

Yes. Put him behind the Offensive lines Priest had, and the dude would have HOF numbers.

He already has the best YPC of any back with a comparable work load in NFL (not KC) history.

He's already putting up HOF numbers. He just has to stay healthy and last long enough.

In terms of pure talent he's the best KC back ever and I don't think 2nd place is close.

[hometeam]

I knew JC was ballin back when I used to switch out LJ for him in Madden.

CHIEFS GOAT.

He still needs a lesson in going over the top from Priest.

[warrior]

Originally Posted by Ace Gunner

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