I didn't call anyone ridiculous.
I just don't believe that a 5.9 YPC average is repeatable at this level. The Chiefs were getting spanked so badly last year that Charles faced prevent defenses for extensive periods of time. They scored 294 points last year and gave up 424. They allowed 6211 yards of offense and only managed 4851 total themselves. They had 62 less first downs than their opponents last year. Their best receiver, Dwayne Bowe, only played in 11 games and only started 9, and had only half as many receptions last season as he did during 2008.
There was a perfect storm on offense in KC that resulted in Charles getting ridiculous touches and gains in his chances to be the featured back. From week 14 forwards, he scored four of his TDs and amassed 94 of his 190 carries and 13 of his 40 receptions.
When I see 50% of a players' production coming week 14 forwards, as his team sits at 3-10 and faces the Bill's 30th ranked run D, the Brown's 28th-ranked run D, and the Bronco's 26th-ranked run D (three patsy D's out of four, with Cincy's 7th-ranked rush D the only real challenge in that stretch), color me skeptical about projecting 2010 based on his strong 2009 finish.
But that's just me.
OK, you make some great points. What kind of stats are you projecting then that would put him around 30 in your rankings?
K.C. ran for 438/1929 rushing yards/8 TDs in Haley year one. I give them credit for a slight improvement as a team this year, to ~2050-2100 rushing yards as a team, but project an increase in the number of carries required (I don't think the 4.4 YPC reflects the quality of the line, it was skewed by Charles' 5.9 last year and that was anomalous as I indicated above. So, I have it:
Jones 250/900-1000/7-8 rushing TDs with 25-30 receptions for 125-150 yards and one TD
Charles 200/800-900/4 rushing TDs with 35-40 receptions for 350-400 yards and one TD
McCluster 40 for 150 and one rushing TD with 40-45 receptions for 480-520 yards and one TD (understanding that some of the receptions come lined up as a wide receiver and some out of the backfield teamed with Charles on 3rd down situations).
~490 rushes for 1850-2050 rushing yards (and 60 receptions for the main two backs with some additions from the hybrid McCluster). Throw in another 50-100 yards rushing for QB plunges and FB carries (Castille, Cox) and you're looking at a rushing offense somewhere in the seventh-16th range at years end (based on last year's final rushing totals, KC was 11th in the NFL in total rushing yards).
For the purposes of doing my rankings boards, I assume the higher end of my yardage and TD ranges in the spreadsheet, but that's strictly for the purpose of ranking players 1-whatever.
When I do draft strategy, I arrange players in tiers/buckets based on where the apparent tiers appear in total fantasy points/X value projected. Then I order the players in the tiers according to intangible risks (injury situation, concussion risk, off-field risk, coaching changes, etc), with a preference for younger (but proven), healthier, saner players in the most stable coaching environments first and then on down to the over-30's. My intangibles notes help me break ties between positions later on in the fantasy draft (after the "premium" rounds 1-5 or so, depending on position).