Moats or Charles

[Mahons21]

I got Charles off WW, thinking he'll become the feature back on a bad KC team.. A different team in my league picked up moats and once to do a one for one because he has schaub and johnson already from the texans. Who you guys think will end up being the better back

[SkinsNut73]

Moats. You said it in your post..KC is a bad team. Slaton got off to a slow start and Moats might be able to sneak in there...but I don't like Charles at all.

[snowman5607]

Probably Charles since the Texans are gonna go running back by committee now.

[twenty-eight]

Chiefs' Charles ready to seize opportunity

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

I'm generally not a guy who relies on unproven players, but even I am expecting reasonably good things this week from Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs, at least to some degree.

Ultimately, all we really know about Charles is that he's getting a legitimate chance to be an NFL team's starting running back for one week. After that, all bets are off. But Chiefs coach Todd Haley seemed cautiously optimistic in the Kansas City Star:

"Jamaal has worked hard. He's overcome some adversity. He's shown signs of trying to take that next step. Obviously, there's going to be some more playing time involved here, and I think he's got a great opportunity."

Past the opportunities he'll receive, however, there are no guarantees. Charles hasn't really gotten much of a chance to shine, and when he has been used in the backfield, it hasn't been on traditional running plays, but rather out of passing formations. Charles is probably the Chiefs' fastest running back, and he reminds me of a Jerious Norwood type, a smallish yet shifty player who can catch the ball and make plays … if placed in the right situation. Simply put, it's time for Charles to play.

Jamaal Charles

AP Photo/Ed Zurga

It's go time for Jamaal Charles, and he has the right matchup to have a big game.

The Chiefs don't have a particularly good offensive line or defense, which could stifle the production of any Chiefs back. In fact, the starting job might not even be Charles' beyond this week's game at the Jacksonville Jaguars, as Larry Johnson still lurks, even if Chiefs fans don't seem to want him around. Heck, I don't want him around; he has been awful this season. But for one week, I like the matchup against a reeling Jaguars defense that just allowed 228 rushing yards to the supremely talented Chris Johnson and another 77 rushing yards to LenDale White and Vince Young. I'm not comparing Charles to Johnson. If Charles does a third of that, however, it would likely justify the very un-Karabell-like thing I did when ranking an unproven player in the top 20 at his position.

I didn't do that because Charles has averaged five yards per carry this season. Personally, I don't think we can tell much about a player in 23 rushing attempts over six games. These are all NFL players, accomplished enough to make the world's top league, and most of these guys were superstars before they got to this level, so breaking the occasional big play as a change of pace to a starter, or late in a game in trash time means very little to me. Let an opposing defense actually plan to stop you, and all the rules change. From what I've seen, and it's no sample size really, this is a player who just looks like he can make plays. Now we get to see him do it.

I didn't rank him respectably because I think the Chiefs have a good offense that is about to break out with weekly 30-point performances. They don't. Larry Johnson has been terrible this season, averaging 2.7 yards per carry. While some of that was clearly LJ's fault as he plodded around, with the many miles on his tires clearly have taken a toll, this is not a good offensive line. Matt Cassel not only hasn't been protected well, ranking second in sacks, but when he does throw, his average yards per attempt is second-worst in the game among starters, next to only the awful Derek Anderson. Frankly, letting a "change of pace" running back play more can't hurt, and we might find he's more than that.

I ranked him well because once in a while I like to take the occasional chance on a player who has looked good in spurts, and looks to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe Charles won't have any more success than Johnson has this season. Maybe he'll be the next Kolby Smith, another tantalizing prospect who exploded in Week 12 of 2007 with 150 yards and two touchdowns, and hasn't done much since. Maybe Smith gets a chance this week as well.

It all just seems right to me to trust Charles, within reason of course, for a double-digit fantasy day.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog..._eric_football

[Mahons21]

Ya I've decided to stay with Charles, appreciate the input fellas

[httrburgundyandgold]

Charles. Slaton will bounce back while LJ is pretty much done in KC. Its a bad offense and he isn't a 25 carry a game type of RB, but he should get more opportunites than Moats and he is capable of breaking open big gains.