Jamaal Charles Injury: Is Backup Dexter McCluster Ready for Featured Role?

Today the Kansas City Chiefs announced that Jamaal Charles has been placed on injured reserve after tearing the ACL in his left knee on Sunday.

Charles will miss the season and his injury is a huge blow to a Kansas City offense that has looked horrendous so far this season.

Second-year running back Dexter McCluster and veteran Thomas Jones are going to have to step up and replace Charles, but Jones has struggled as of late and McCluster may not be able to handle the pounding a lead back at the NFL level takes.

McCluster has the potential to be explosive, and is a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Through two games this season, the Ole Miss product has 12 rushes for 93 yards, and nine catches for 23 yards. But he has yet to get into the end zone. McCluster is just 5'8" and 170 pounds, and fits best in a Darren Sproles-type role as opposed to taking on full-time running back duties.

The problem for the Chiefs is that Jones has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry over his past 18 games. After Charles left the game on Sunday, Jones had 12 rushes for 40 yards, which was not an encouraging performance.

The loss of Charles would seem to open the door for McCluster to prove to the Chiefs that he could handle 20-25 touches per game. I just don't see it happening yet. While it will be good for him to get some experience, McCluster fits better as a change-of-pace back and punt returner.

More than likely Jones and McCluster will share every down duties, with the diminutive second-year back getting most of the third down reps.

In two games this season, the Chiefs have gained just 480 total yards. If Kansas City wants to have any chance of making the playoffs things need to get better on offense, and that will all start with a consistent running game.