By now, everyone knows the story of Chiefs RB Larry Johnson's derogatory Twitter remarks and comments to reporters. These antics, which have become typical of Johnson over the years, have gotten the veteran back banned from participating in team activities and, according to various reports, could cause Kansas City to part ways with him in the near future.

So with Johnson in hot water and likely to have little, if any, fantasy value the rest of the way, RB Jamaal Charles suddenly becomes an intriguing option. Through the first seven games, Johnson was running the ball 18.9 times per game, meaning there are quite a few carries for someone to pick up if L.J. is not on the field. That's where Charles could come in and be an impact fantasy player during the season's second half.

Playing in a reserve role, Charles only has 23 carries on the year, but he is averaging 5.0 yards per attempt, almost double what Johnson was gaining. Given the fact that he's not really much of an inside pounder, Charles probably won't be seeing the vast number of rushes that L.J. was, but he certainly figures to be heavily involved as the team's only legitimate backfield option at the moment.

One thing Charles can do well is catch the ball, so head coach/coordinator Todd Haley, who this week heaped praise on Charles for his progress, likely will alter his game plan to cater to the second-year back's strong suits. Instead of frequently running up the gut like he did with Johnson, Haley figures to get Charles out on the edges more, call more screen plays and maybe even have him run some routes. The Texas product certainly has the speed to be effective in those scenarios.

Also, the Chiefs have a healthy amount of favorable matchups still left on the schedule. Following their bye this week, K.C. faces the Jaguars and Raiders. And in the weeks to follow, they take on beatable defenses in the Chargers, Bills and Browns. That means Charles will have multiple opportunities to rack up yardage against shaky units.

With all these things going in his favor, fantasy owners in medium and large leagues should give strong consideration to adding Charles. After all, any NFL starting RB has at least some value. Just don't expect him to someone you can count on each and every week.

Remember, the Chiefs have one of the league's worst offensive lines, so running room will be difficult to find. And Charles simply isn't the type of player that can handle 20 carries a game. Similar to Darren Sproles, Charles could wind up being more valuable as a pass catcher than rusher, which typically leads to inconsistent performances. Even with that, however, he's still worth the gamble.