For years, the Kansas City Chiefs had one of the best running games in the entire NFL. The Chiefs had Priest Holmes for many years, a player that made the entire game look easy. They replaced Holmes with Larry Johnson, who was the only running back in Chiefs history to run for over 1,700 yards in a season – and he did it twice. They replaced Johnson with Jamaal Charles, who looked even more dominant than Johnson. Add in older names like Marcus Allen and Christian Okoye, and you have some of the top backs in NFL history.
Jamaal Charles goes to Denver
When Priest Holmes was slowing down, Larry Johnson was there to take over the load. When Johnson started to wear down, Jamaal Charles was there to take over the starting job. However, despite suffering through injuries the last two seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs – for one of the first times in many years – have no one ready to take his place in the lineup. The Chiefs finally chose to move on from Charles and he left to become the new backup running back for the AFC West division rival Denver Broncos.
In his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, Jamaal Charles ran for 7,260 yards with 43 touchdowns. That included five seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards. In 2011, 2014, and 2016, Charles barely played due to injuries, with only 10 total games in those three years, making fans wonder what he could have finished with if not for those injuries.
Replacing Jamaal Charles for the Chiefs is … Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West.
2017 Chiefs running back competition
In the past two seasons, with Jamaal Charles injured almost constantly, it was Spencer Ware (2016) and Charcandrick West (2015) who led the team in rushing. Ware ran for 921 yards and three touchdowns last season while West ran for 634 yards and four touchdowns the year before.
Neither of those numbers is what the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans are used to. The team also added C.J. Spiller, who at one time was supposed to be the Buffalo Bills franchise back but hasn’t run for over 300 yards in a season since 2013.
Finally, there is rookie third-round draft pick Kareem Hunt. Don’t let his low draft spot fool you.
Jamaal Charles was also a third-round draft pick and Priest Holmes was an undrafted free agent out of college. The Kansas City Chiefs have a habit of uncovering treasures at the running back position. Hunt rushed for 1,475 yards with 10 touchdowns as a senior and 1,631 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore at Toledo. He has also looked great in training camp but Kansas City wants to see what he can do in real game situations before getting their hopes up.
