Kansas City Chiefs fans and fantasy football owners are both at a loss for words following Jamaal Charles' season-ending injury. Gone is the team's best offensive weapon and owners' No. 1 pick. Hopefully, you handcuffed Charles with one of his backups. However, picking the right backup is an inexact science.
"With Jamaal Charles done for the year, Charcandrick West is the man to add on waivers," ESPN Fantasy insider Mike Clay wrote. "When Charles went down in the third quarter of Sunday's game, West stepped in and was on the field for 14 of the team's final 18 snaps. Knile Davis worked the other four. Undrafted out of Abilene Christian last year, West is an intriguing size/speed specimen at 5-foot-10, 205 pounds and was having been clocked as low as 4.27 in a pre-draft 40-yard dash. The Chiefs will certainly add a free agent to the mix, but West is the favorite to lead this backfield in touches going forward. Considering Andy Reid's long history of turning his lead backs into fantasy stars, West should be your main target on waivers this week. He'll be a RB2 against Minnesota in Week 6."
Clay is all aboard the West bandwagon, but I'm not as convinced. He has a whopping 12 total carries in his two year NFL career and if we've learned anything from Oakland's Latavius Murray it's that a size/speed combo doesn't always translate to success.
Davis, on the other hand, has had some success. His career 3.4 YPC isn't exactly what you want to see, but he did have two 100-plus yard games filling in for Charles last year. At 227 pounds, he's a good goal line guy to have as well.
I'm not saying West won't be The Guy. But I do think the workload will split a bit more evenly than Clay thinks.
