Is this the beginning of the Spencer Ware era in Kansas City?
It has become one of the more common yet most dreaded situations in fantasy football, but “running back committees” are a thing now and for fantasy owners, they are just downright undesirable. However, they are still a thing, and it is up to us to make the best of them. So naturally, the question becomes, “What do we do with a committee?”
The answer is simple; find the most value. As with most things in life, this is much easier said than done. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the RB committee in Kansas City.
The committee in Kansas City boils down to two main players, Jamaal Charles and Spencer Ware. Charles used to be a fantasy owner’s dream, especially in PPR leagues, but major injuries and slow recoveries have plagued his performance.
Ware has filled in this season with Charles out and has performed very well in his stead. Charcandrick West should at least be mentioned, but the reality is that he’ll only be more involved if Ware or Charles goes down with an injury.
So the big question is, “What will the Chiefs’ backfield look like moving forward?” To answer this question, I’ve got a bold prediction. Charles and Ware will both finish as top 25 running backs and will be good RB2/flex starters for the rest of the season.
| Spencer Ware’s Stats | RUSHING | RECEIVING | |||||
| ATT | YDS | TDS | TGTS | REC | YDS | TDS | |
| Charles Inactive (Weeks 1-3) | 41 | 202 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 185 | 0 |
| Charles Active (Weeks 4 & 6) | 37 | 213 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 46 | 0 |
Ware’s stats with Charles active and inactive are just too good for the Chiefs to ignore even when Charles is fully healthy and will get a full workload. Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid said this week that Charles still isn’t ready for a full workload so Ware will still be the main back in Kansas City for now.
However, Charles has been getting more and more involved since he has returned which we see in a number of touches he has received. Charles had two touches against Pittsburg in Week 4 and nine touches last week against Oakland.
The beauty about Charles and why fantasy owners love having him is that he can still put up fantasy relevant numbers with a smaller workload. When Charles is ready, we should see a 50/50 split between Charles and Ware in the Chiefs’ running game.
Charles coming off his second ACL tear and also being one of the older backs in the league just strengthens the chance of an even split with Ware. So here’s what owners should consider:
- Owners with both Ware and Charles should consider yourselves lucky and start Ware as an RB2. The Chiefs have a very favorable matchup against New Orleans this week, so Charles is worth a look as a flex starter.
- Owners with only Ware should attempt to trade for Charles because owners are probably disappointed with his slow recovery and have likely been holding on to him since the beginning of the season.
- Owners with only Charles should attempt to trade him to the Ware owner in your league. The chances are that the Ware owner wants the RB set in Kansas City and you could likely get one or two decent players for him on name value.
It will be interesting and exciting to see how the Chiefs’ backfield evolves moving forward, but expect to see great things from both of the main RBs down in Kansas City!
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Jonathan Stone is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Jonathan, follow him @JEStone904. You can find more of Jonathan’s work here.
