Thomas Jones To Chiefs: Ups, Downs, And Predictions

All season, the Chiefs got burned, bruised, and dominated. When they finally decided to cut ties with the troublesome Larry Johnson, former Texas University sleeper Jamaal Charles in a season that no longer mattered.

In his first game as a starter, he rushed for 103 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Week in and week out, her performed like an allstar and ended the season playing as good as any halfback, rushing for 1,120 yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

The Chiefs had hopes for him, but still needed to make some big offseason changes to their flourishing depth chart. So what do they do? They add 1,400 yard rusher Thomas Jones from free agency.

This brings us into downside of having Thomas Jones on their roster. Charles is a player that the Chiefs, along with the rest of the NFL, had big hopes for. What's not to like? A player, went to a good college, replaced a star when things got rough, and prevailed.

By adding Thomas Jones, the only upside to their team, and their development process of turning Jamaal Charles into a premiere NFL Runningback, ends.

Thomas Jones is a powerback, breaking tackles and taking hits are the mechanics of his game. How long do you think a physical player like this can be at his prime in the NFL? For a team looking to build their roster for the future, I'm not sure taking a 31-year-old powerback is in their best interest.

The downsides are not the only side, however. Thomas Jones does provide some positive things for the Chiefs' Franchise. The first is that no one can doubt that he is truly and exquisite player, coming off two back-to-back pro bowl seasons, and once leading the Chicago Bears in a run to the superbowl.

My predictions are that Thomas Jones does well in Kansas City, but the Chiefs continue to do poorly. Jamaal Charles will share carries, but will not be a Chief for many more season, as tons of tons will be in needs of cheap runningbacks who can potentially become outstanding offensive leaders.