Jamaal Charles: What Neck Injury Means for Chiefs, Fantasy Owners

In the midst of the San Diego Chargers blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football was an alarming injury to Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles.

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Jamaal Charles leaves game following hit wp.me/p14QSB-6gL2

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 2, 2012"

Charles is pretty much the only positive aspect of Kansas City's offense, so this is obviously a huge setback for a unit already struggling tremendously.

Let's analyze what this injury means for the Chiefs and fantasy football owners.

For the Chiefs

Chargers linebacker Donald Butler's helmet-to-helmet hit on Charles looked worse with every replay that was shown.

Still, Charles was able to walk off the field under his own power and that can mean nothing but positive things. The extent of Charles' injury is unknown, but losing him for any period of time would make a terrible situation unbearable.

The Chiefs have just three offensive touchdowns in their last four games and have almost no passing game to speak of.

Charles is one of the best RBs in the league and losing a guy that averages over 5.0 yards per carry would hurt any offense.

Backup Peyton Hillis has seen less than 30 carries all season and Shaun Draughn has potential, but to ask him to carry the Chiefs attack is a scary proposition.

For Fantasy Owners

Fantasy owners have undoubtedly been growing frustrated with Charles of late and this injury can only hurt matters.

He has found the end zone only twice all season and now has just 83 yards on the ground in his last three games.

It is hard to keep a player of Charles' caliber on the bench, but even if healthy, Kansas City does not have the type of offensive balance to put him in a position to succeed.

Do not give up all faith on Charles, but now is the time to look for other options in your lineup.