Jamaal Charles Overview – The Star That Never Met His Full Potential
By: Justin Miles (@justm1les)
Amidst the flooded talk of the NFL trade deadline, let’s take a moment to dive into Chiefs history.. In doing so, we will take a deeper look into the careers of one of the greatest players in Chiefs history, running back Jamaal Charles.
Jamaal was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft. Charles was a highly anticipated prospect out of the University of Texas and rightfully so. Through 3 years with the University, Charles saw 533 carries for 3328 yards and 36 touchdowns. He was a workhorse for the Longhorns and led the Big 12 in numerous stats throughout his career.
He then went on to spend 9 of his 11 years in the NFL with the Chiefs franchise.
After sitting his rookie year behind star running back Larry Johnson, Charles finally got his chance in his second season. He instantly sparked, finishing the year with 190 carries for 1120 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Throughout his time with the franchise, Charles racked up 7260 yards (Franchise record) and 43 touchdowns on 1332 carries. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry and was truly one of the most dominant players to touch a football field. Jamaal often also got involved in the pass game. He ended his stint in Kansas City with 285 catches for 2456 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Through his 9 year hiatus, Charles was a 4x Pro Bowler and a 2x 1st All Pro. Charles was named to the NFL Top 100 list 5 times throughout his career, being ranked as high as #8 overall in 2014.
Unfortunately, despite being such a talented player, Charles’ career was flooded with injuries. In fact, he only started every game in 3 of his 11 seasons in the NFL. These injuries led to him starting in just 69 of 119 possible games. While devastating, these injuries only make his impressive career stats even more astonishing.
Despite his short-lived run, Charles is still a possible NFL Hall of Fame candidate. There has been much speculation on this topic since his retirement. Charles becomes eligible for the HOF in 2024. Until then, the NFL world is stuck with shear predictions. While his career thrived for only a short amount of time, Jamaal Charles is arguably the greatest running back in Chiefs history.
Charles’ injuries combined with his talent, leads to one of the biggest what ifs in NFL history. Could a healthy Jamaal Charles have ended as the best to ever do it? Even so, Charles may be the most dominantly skilled player the NFL has ever seen.
What are your thoughts Chiefs Kingdom? Is his portfolio enough?
