According to Kansas City Chief's head coach Andy Reid, their star running back, Jamaal Charles, injured his foot in practice, but X-Rays returned negative. As the Chiefs are getting ready for their Week 2 meeting against the San Francisco 49ers, Charles had to exit practice as he was "carted off" the field. Though x-rays were negative, this injury could drop Charles' value in fantasy football.
Foot injuries are almost impossible to deal with on the field, but it's extremely tough on a running back since they have to cut, jump, stop, spin and perform many movements that allow them to be explosive. Charles was probably one of the favorite backs for fantasy football owners, especially after a dominant year on the ground for a very bad team.
While the Chiefs were 2-14 in 2012, Charles was having a career season. With 1,509 yards rushing, Charles was fourth in rushing yards in 2012. His only issue was getting in the end zone, but he is still a Top 10 running back option nonetheless. Charles was the offense in Kansas City, receiving 285 rushing attempts, seventh most amongst runnign backs in 2012.
So how big is this foot injury? Nobody can tell right now, the only good thing is that the results were negative. However, we have seen big time running backs get slowed down after having dynamic seasons.
Look at Maurice Jones-Drew. He suffered a Lisfranc injury and couldn't even run on his foot, forcing the star back to miss more than half of the 2012 season. After being the leading rusher in 2011 with 1,606 yards and eight touchdowns, Jones-Drew rushed for only 414 yards and one touchdown in six games played in 2012.
Hopefully, for fantasy owners, Charles is able to return healthy. Do you take a chance and draft him early on? Chances are you shouldn't go after him in the earlier rounds of the draft. Maybe you can snatch a Jones-Drew for a cheap price? He's healthy and running very well. If Charles is still in the draft pool and you are in need of a back in the later rounds, it wouldn't be a horrible pick. However, don't be surprised if his numbers do fall off from where they were last season.
