In 2013, Jamaal Charles made owners feel like pretty much every day was their birthday. In his sixth season, Charles set career highs with 19 touchdowns and 1,980 total yards. He also hauled in 70 receptions, by far the highest total in his excellent career. He brought out the big balloons at the right time as well, with five touchdowns and 215 total yards in week 15, which is playoff time in almost all fantasy leagues. What can this superstar do for an encore?
Fantasy Upside
Normally, when a team makes the playoffs as the Chiefs did but failed to make any noise when they got there, they look to make further improvements to take the final steps towards the Super Bowl. It was not all that long ago when the Atlanta Falcons were in a similar situation and made a big move to get Julio Jones to ease the burden on Roddy White after White caught 115 passes. However, the Chiefs made no major upgrades. They were hampered by limited salary cap space and their personnel on offense is largely the same. Maybe tight end Travis Kelce can stay healthy this time around and maybe rookie De’Anthony Thomas can provide a spark replacing Dexter McCluster, but in the end, Charles will be Mr. Everything for the Chiefs offense once again.
Fantasy Downside
Although Kansas City did not find any difference makers on offense to steal Jamaal’s thunder, his backup, Knile Davis, played well when given a chance. When Charles sat out the final game of the season to rest for the playoffs, Davis rushed for two touchdowns and 81 yards. While there’s no way Davis is going to turn the backfield into a committee situation, it’s only natural to expect he will spell Charles more this year. The Chiefs had a ton of turnover on their offensive line. Quarterback Alex Smith may be inclined to throw more this year after growing into the offense late in the season and in the playoffs. And Kansas City’s schedule will be much tougher this year. The AFC South and NFC East are gone, replaced by the AFC East and brutal NFC West. Plus, they play in a division with two playoff teams that upgraded on defense. Even Oakland, the worst of the AFC West, should also be better on that side of the ball after a number of acquisitions.
Bottom Line
It will be tough for Charles to match last year’s heroics for a variety of reasons. Career years are hard to duplicate. And it is only natural to be worried about the heavy workload catching up to him. Nevertheless, even when you factor in a slight drop on the stat line, it will not be enough for him to lose his rightful place at the top of the fantasy hierarchy. He remains the best of the best.
