Kansas City Chiefs: Knile Davis Will Come Through Filling in for Jamaal Charles

The Kansas City Chiefs put up a big fight against the Denver Broncos in Week 2, giving Chiefs fans hope and reason to believe that the team can capture its first win of the 2014 season against the Miami Dolphins.

Despite the loss of running back Jamaal Charles, one of the biggest reasons fans were encouraged was the emergence of Knile Davis in the game. Filling in for Charles, who suffered an ankle injury, Davis ran 22 times and caught six passes for 105 total yards while pushing his way forward for two touchdowns on the ground.

Charles is not expected to be available this Sunday against the Dolphins, making it likely that Davis will make his first start of the season and the second of his career.

Week 2 was not Davis’ first time getting significant playing time, as he saw plenty of action late during his rookie season in 2013.

Taken in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft, the former Arkansas Razorback got some face time on offense in four of the last five games, including the postseason contest in Indianapolis.

When the Chiefs blew out Washington and Oakland in Weeks 14 and 15, Davis replaced Charles in the fourth quarter to finish those games and got in on the scoring fun with a touchdown in each of those tilts.

When Reid rested all 22 starters in Week 17 against San Diego, Davis earned his first career start and kept Kansas City’s offense competitive—even while playing with a group of backups against a group of starters. He finished that game with 27 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

One week later in the Wild Card Round, Charles left on the fifth offensive snap of the game due to an injury.

Davis took starting duties for the remainder of the game and had a big hand in helping the offense score 44 points. Despite the late collapse, Davis shined with 67 yards off 18 rushes while also catching seven passes for 33 yards. He contributed one touchdown through the air and on the ground to support Kansas City’s offense.

In his young career serving as a backup, Davis has already had three two-touchdown games.

Coming out of Arkansas, scouting reports suggested that Davis’ biggest issue was his ability to secure the football.

That issue carried over into his rookie season, and it was noticed right away when he fumbled once in the preseason and three times in the regular season as a returner and in the limited time he had on offense.

So far in 2014, including the preseason, Davis has committed just one fumble. The fumbling concerns from fans may still be there, but he’s shown signs of improvement up to this point.

When it comes to speed, Davis is similar to Charles and showed it off a couple of times during his rookie season. He took a kickoff 109 yards back for a touchdown in Week 3 of the preseason against Pittsburgh and did it again in the regular season against Denver, going 108 yards.

Even with the fumbling woes, Davis has shown plenty of flashes since being drafted by the Chiefs.

Now, as the primary starter until Charles returns, Davis has to turn those flashes into consistency and give Kansas City’s offense a leg up in matchups.

Including his two touchdowns in the postseason, Davis has collected eight career offensive touchdowns, which is pretty good for a backup.

Even though the Chiefs will likely be without Charles for at least a couple of games, the offense will still be in good hands with Davis in the backfield.

Follow @Farzin21