Jamaal Charles Injury: Chiefs Running Back Tears ACL; Fantasy Fallout

by abournenesn

Oct 12, 2015

UPDATE (Monday, Oct. 12, 8:50 p.m. ET): The Chiefs confirmed that Charles has a torn ACL following an MRI.

Charles will miss the remainder of the season.

Original story: Another week, another major injury for a big-name NFL player.

The Kansas City Chiefs are fearing the worst for star running back Jamaal Charles. Head coach Andy Reid told reporters that preliminary reports say Charles has a torn ACL. He will have an MRI on Monday to confirm the initial prognosis.

Charles injured the knee on a non-contact play inside the red zone.

For those of you jumping to go put in a waiver claim for Knile Davis, hold off a moment. Rookie Charcandrick West has been Charles’ primary backup all season, but the Chiefs haven’t used any backs besides Charles with any sort of regularity all season.

West only has touched the ball the past two weeks and took seven carries for 31 yards in Sunday’s 18-17 loss to the Chicago Bears. He also caught one pass each of the past two weeks and has two catches for 9 yards on the season. He’s likely the player you should target on the waiver wire.

Davis primarily has been used on kick returns and actually ranks fourth in the league with 232 return yards, with a long of 54 yards and no touchdowns. It remains to be seen whether the Chiefs will continue using Davis on special teams with such a large void at running back now, but the third-year back showed his potential as a feature back during a three-game stint replacing Charles last year to the tune of 318 yards and three touchdowns.

In four career games with 22 or more touches, Davis has racked up 399 yards and five touchdowns. He isn’t much of a threat in the passing game, though, as he has just 24 career receptions with one touchdown. He could split carries with West.

Finally, De’Anthony Thomas could be a deeper-league addition. He’s been used sparingly as a receiving back through five weeks, picking up eight catches for 79 yards. He found the end zone Sunday on a receiving touchdown. His biggest upside could be his positional versatility, though, as Thomas is eligible as both a RB and WR in some fantasy formats.

Stay tuned for updates on Charles’ injury and any additional information from practice on how this trio will be used going forward.

Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@SiriusXMNFL

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