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I'd have to see Charles run again before I invested in him. Good point in this post...and that's the mental edge. I remember reading something about Keith Marshall returning from his knee injury. He wasn't afraid of getting hit but when he was running he was looking for where the tacklers were instead of looking for open space. Subtle difference but says a lot.Todem said:
I love Charles. One of the best in the game when healthy. But yeah......he may have really lost that mental edge. You can't play running back (or any position for that matter) and worry about planting and stopping etc. Either he has 100% confidence in his body and that he is healed....or he just may be done between the ears. Once you lose that....
He hits the magic RB age of 30 this season. That's already a death sentence for most backs. Add to it the second knee surgery and there's plenty of reason for uncertainty about his effectiveness upon return.
I think touches are a better predictor of drop off than age. For instance, despite being close in age to AP, Charles has 40% less touches.
You start Spencer Ware until either Spencer Ware or Andy Reid cause you to not start Spencer Ware. I don't think it has anything to do with Charles at this point.
The age 30 thing is mostly a myth. Most backs that earned a heavy workload in their younger days were able to do so again at 30. Guys that are so so don't usually make it to 30. Guys that are good don't usually fall to pieces at 30, they normally struggle at 31 until 32.
It's still concerning that he isn't ready to play eleven months after surgery. These days, standard recovery time has become 8-10 months. That could be an indication that there is something else going on with the knee. Or just an indication that age is catching up to him. I don't know obviously. Not sure anyone does at this point. If Charles somehow comes back and is the player he was pre-injury, the Chiefs have a 'problem' every team wishes it did. They can still have Charles' home run ability without having to pound him into the ground. Splitting carries with Charles and Ware would be brutal to defend. Especially in the second half while both are fresh and the defense is beaten down.
Things change. It's his second one. He is older, has a lot more wear and tear on the body. I am obviously purely speculating. But being an old geezer who recently just hung up his baseball cleats....I can tell you once you start thinking you maybe can't do this or that anymore it's over. If he does not have the confidence to stop on a dime and cut hard...his game is finished. Because he is a track star RB. Not a banger or plodder. Everything he does was predicated on change of direction, hard cut's, slashing and then off to the races.
Yep at a very young age.
I don't agree. Charles is not ready. Something is going on upstairs. If he get's his confidence back he should be OK. But I don't expect a lot this season. Pure opinion. Something is amiss. I don't think he is done, but I do think his days of being a workhorse back are.
So you don't agree that Charles could just not be in game shape yet, seeing how he hasn't even had two weeks of practice with contact yet?
Very well could be just that. But no contact at this point, tells me something more is probably going on. He just may need another month to really get back to where he needs to be. We are all just speculating.
Something just doesn't smell right with the whole Charles situation. I believe what I see. He isn't practicing with the ones and all the focus for the Chiefs this off season, pre-season and week 1 has been on Ware.
One thing Charles doesn't want to do is discuss contract right now. The guy has zero leverage and they'd probably prefer he take his $7 million dollar contract elsewhere.
One way they appeased Gronk was to rearrange the schedule for bonuses or converted things from salary to bonuses. I don't think it cost NE more $$$.
On page 16 I said "I could be wrong (probably not), but the vibe I'm getting is that Charles just isn't the same guy anymore and is not as good as the young bucks on the team. Two blown knees will do that to a guy. What I'm saying is that I THINK it MAY be that they aren't simply waiting for him to heal and then he'll be back to form but that they can see he's not going to ever be back to form and the new version isn't their best option. "
That's a quality post. As a fellow owner I would like nothing more than to see it work out where there is a role for both with the edge to Ware obviously.Todem said:
Yes , and now they are 3 weeks away from their bye.
Great post. Why would the Chiefs rush Charles back now if he isn't 100% when they have two very serviceable RB's? Why not give him the extra time, and unleash him for the second half playoff push when other teams are starting to wear down? I think Ware owners are safe for several more weeks at the least.
Terry Allen also had one in college. The only time he tore it in the NFL was in 1993.
