Putting Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles Season In Perspective

Peter King of SI.com put Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel in the top five of his MVP watch list but we've got another name that could be on that list -- RB Jamaal Charles. He's leading the NFL in yards per carry so we know on a per carry basis he's the most effective running back in the NFL.

But on the season as a whole? He's in some good company.

Dating back to 1970, Charles has the highest yards per carry average of any running back with over 200 carries. Think about that. 200 carries basically means full-time (or close to full-time) running backs and no one has been effective as him in the last 40 years.

Charles is standing at the top of that list with 6.42 yards per carry. He's joined in the top five by a couple of names you may recognize -- Barry Sanders, Jim Brown and Adrian Peterson.

Sanders is in second place behind Charles with 6.13 yards per carry in 1997. He had 335 total carries that year and ended with 2,035 yards. O.J. Simpson had 332 carries for 2,003 yards for an average of 6.03 yards per carry. Sanders is on the list again for his 1994 performance that saw him average 5.69 yards per carry and Peterson rounds out the top five with 5.63 yards per carry in 2007.

We can't have any Jamaal Charles story without saying, yes, he needs the ball more. Bill Barnwell of FootballOutsiders.com breaks down the numbers on Charles' season and the numbers indicate a solid argument that Charles is the best running back in the NFL.