KC Chiefs: Should Jamaal Charles Move To Receiver
By Bobby Miller
Comparing KC Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles upside at running back versus slot receiver in response to 610 Sports Radio recent discussion.
The rise of Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware have forced many KC Chiefs followers to forget the amount of value Jamaal Charles brings to the backfield.
Some believe that a third, fourth, or fifth round pick along with $8 million in cap space is worth giving up on of the best running backs in the league in Charles.
In their defense, Charles is coming off his second career ACL tear, and at 29 years old, many fear Charles is at an age where running backs have been shown to lose value.
To address this unjustified compulsion to move Charles, The Night Shift co-hosts Chris Uno Cero and Julio Sanchez discussed a unique alternative to these flawed trade ideas on Kansas City’s 610 Sports Radio.
The full airing is provided below, and can also be found here along with every other installment of The Night Shift.
Uno Cero and Sanchez’ discussion of Charles began at about the 29:46 mark during the first hour of the broadcast.
This is when Uno Cero first explained the idea that had begun to grow on him.
"On Sunday, I was talking to [610 Sports Producer] Stephen Serda. Basically, his idea was that you could make [Charles] a slot receiver who can catch passes real short. You can even have him go down the field because he’s got great speed, and you could turn him into a really good threat underneath. [Charles] is at a point in his career where running backs fall off. To me, if you put him at that slot position, he will take less hits."
Sanchez did not share Uno Cero’s belief in the idea suggested by Stephen Serda.
Although Sanchez conceded that Charles’ injury risk should be minimized, Sanchez argued that this problem had already been addressed.
"You cannot give [Charles] the ball 25 times a game now, but, again, that is why they signed West and Ware to extensions."
Sanchez’ counter does raise some legitimate concerns regarding the dependence of Charles’ longevity on whether he moves to the slot.
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If the KC Chiefs trusted West and Ware with their rushing offense, then the KC Chiefs would have moved Charles by now.
John Dorsey can still do this moving forward, but despite the low ball market demand for Charles, trading him would result in more added value for the KC Chiefs than putting Charles in the slot.
In spite of these concerns, Uno Cero still remained unconvinced that the risk of switching Charles to a slot receiver outweighed the reward.
In response to Sanchez’ discussing West and Ware’s contracts, Uno Cero discussed Charles’ contract before giving one final argument for his preference.
"You are paying [Charles] a lot of money for him to get about ten carries a game. I would much rather him be on the outside. He can break one open against terrible tackling defensive backs [rather] than try to run around linebackers and defensive linemen when he has lost a step or two."
I respectfully disagree with Uno Cero’s estimation that Charles would receive ten carries a game along with his belief in Serda’s idea.
In regard to his number of carries, I would anticipate Charles to average somewhere between 15 to 20 carries per game.
As for Charles transition to the slot in general, it is certainly possible for Charles, West and Ware to put up huge stats following their respective depth chart shifts.
The problem is, moving Charles in the hope that this scenario plays out would be a gamble with unpredictable variables.
The success of this gamble would largely depend on the ability of Andy Reid to successfully integrate the slot receiver role in the KC Chiefs offense.
This plan becomes a lazy and unintentional phasing out of Charles if a proper offensive reformatting does not take place.
The failure of the KC Chiefs to utilize the play making ability of De’Anthony Thomas is slightly troubling in this regard, but he may just be too versatile to settle into a niche in any NFL offense.
Despite Charles’ age and his recent injury, he is still by far the best running back on the KC Chiefs current roster.
Moving Charles into the slot to be a secondary receiving weapon, as opposed to a primary rushing weapon, would be an egregious talent investment error.
At slot receiver, it is tough to envision Charles producing 1,000 or more yards receiving with Jeremy Maclin already projected to reach this milestone while leading the KC Chiefs in receptions.
The same cannot be said of Charles in the backfield, where he has produced over 1,000 yards rushing in every season beyond his rookie year and two seasons with ACL injuries.
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West and Ware may be able to accomplish this feat as a group, but both still have yet to prove they can carry the rushing burden by themselves.
It may be more beneficial to the KC Chiefs if they instead moved West into a slot receiver role.
In this scenario, the slot receiver role would have an effective pass catcher and the KC Chiefs still get to feature Charles as their number one running back.
West would not be quite the play maker in open space that Charles is.
Regardless, West would still add value to the KC Chiefs receiving corps while not subtracting Charles enormous value as a running back.
Do you think the KC Chiefs should trade Charles for a draft pick? Do you think the KC Chiefs should convert Charles into a slot wide receiver? Do you think the KC Chiefs should convert West into a slot wide receiver?
Next: Five Thoughts on Chiefs Schedule
Should nobody’s position on offense change this offseason? What other ideas do you have for the KC Chiefs offense?