Kansas City Chiefs: Charcandrick West is For Real

Two weeks ago today, the Kansas City Chiefs were sitting at 1-4 following a disappointing loss to the Chicago Bears, and were awaiting the inevitable news that their Pro-Bowl running back Jamaal Charles would be out for the rest of 2015 with a torn ACL. Now, following a huge Week 7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chiefs have a reason for hope again: second year back Charcandrick West.

More from Kansas City Chiefs

Charcandrick West managed just 39 yards on 9 touches last week against the Minnesota Vikings in his first week as Jamaal Charles’ replacement. Many had questions about whether West could be the answer for Kansas City, but he quieted plenty of critics with a breakout 24 touch, 139 yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he scored his team’s first rushing touchdown since Jamaal Charles had 3 against the Packers in Week 3.

ALSO ON SPINZONE: 30 Greatest Running Backs of All-Time

The Steelers had allowed only one 100-yard rusher and only one rushing touchdown so far this season, and were giving up an average of only 93 total rushing yards per game through their first six games. West outrushed this average all by himself, and was also effective in the passing game catching 2 balls for 19 yards.

These are great stats, but oftentimes players have ‘breakout games’ where their stats are inflated based on different factors, and people fall into the trap overreacting to great-looking stats. The first ‘stat-trap’ that people fall into is seeing a high yardage total that is the result of simply having a high carry volume without a decent yards per carry average. West averaged 5 yards per carry on 22 carries on Sunday. The league’s top 10 rushers have a combined 4.5 yards per carry average so far this season.

The other ‘stat-trap’ that people fall into is seeing a high yardage total and high yards per carry average, but not realizing that most of those yards came on a few huge plays, which are often not repeatable. West’s longest carry of the day was for 36 yards, which shows he can break big gains but is not reliant on them to be productive. He had more carries of 10+ yards (3) than carries that went for negative yards or no gain (2).

10 of his 22 carries went for between 4 and 9 yards, which show his ability to be productive on an every-down basis, not just a few big plays. West also had 14 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown when running into the middle, right at the heart of the Steelers defense. There was nothing flukey about West’s production, and he’s looking like the real deal.

Many thought Charcandrick would be a part of a running-back-by-committee system along with Knile Davis, Jamaal Charles’ backup for the last two seasons. However, on Sunday West played 55 snaps while Davis played only 3 snaps, receiving 1 carry. Clearly the Chiefs feel confident in West’s ability to be an every-down back and carry the team’s workload.

In college, West was certainly a multidimensional player, finishing with over 900 rushing yards and over 400 receiving yards in his senior season. He played for the small FCS school Abilene Christian University, but ACU has produced its fair share of NFL talents such as former Bears and Texans safety Danieal Manning, former Rams running back Daryl Richardson, and former Bears receiver Johnny Knox who was becoming known as one of the fastest players in the league before a horrific back injury ended his career.

West now is trying to follow in the footsteps of these players from his former school and have some real success in the NFL. Next week he should feast on a Lions defense that has given up 123 rushing yards per game and 10 touchdowns through 7 games. His first real test may be after his team’s Week 9 BYE when the Chiefs face one of the leagues top defenses in the Denver Broncos. It appears as though the Chiefs are going to give him a chance to perform, and if he can continue to play at such a high level, especially against top talent, he could be one of 2015’s most exciting breakout players.

Next: These are the greatest teams in NFL history

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Kansas City Chiefs