Jamaal Charles: Will Superstar Ever Be the Same Following ACL Injury?

Things have gone from awful to dire in a hurry for the Kansas City Chiefs, when it was announced that star running back Jamaal Charles is going to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. This news came shortly after the team’s second consecutive blowout loss.

ESPN NFL analyst Adam Schefter first broke the news via Twitter, and Chiefs’ fans all began to cry in unison, because as bad as things were for this team through two games, at least they had the home run threat in the back field.

Charles was the heart and soul of the offense, and without him there is no safety net for Matt Cassel to fall back on.

Head coach Todd Haley does not want to make excuses, and believes that his team is capable of turning things around.

"The season will not be canceled as far as I know," Haley said. "What we have to do is we have to stop doing those things that are costing us dearly, and putting us in very difficult positions."

The good news, if you want to see it right now, is the surgery that Charles will have to undergo has become so common, and has such a high success rate, that he will be the same running back that we know him to be.

A torn ACL in the NFL is the equivalent of Tommy John surgery in MLB: It is scary when you first hear about it, but when you look at the success rate of players coming back after going under the knife, there is no reason to think that Charles won’t come back and be the same player he was prior to the injury.

But be warned all you fantasy players who may want to steal Charles in your 2012 draft: it is going to take him time before he is back to full strength. You can’t undergo this kind of surgery, go through months and months of rehab and step back onto an NFL field and be the same player you were right away.

We may not see the Jamaal Charles of 2010 right away next season, but I would be willing to bet right around midseason he should be back to averaging six yards per carry and running around defenders.

Plus, if you are a Chiefs fan looking to find a silver lining for this season, they should wind up getting a high draft pick, possibly the top pick, and will have an opportunity to draft Andrew Luck in April’s NFL Draft.