Seahawks Fantasy Football Running Back Breakdown | Should You Be Adding Zach Charbonnet and Trading Kenneth Walker?
One of the stranger backfield breakdowns in week 8 came out of Seattle. For the first time all season, Zach Charbonnet played more snaps for the Seahawks than Kenneth Walker.
Fantasy owners are wondering if this was just a one-week occurrence, or a sign of things to come. Let’s discuss.
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Week 8 Breakdown
The Seahawks played the Cleveland Browns in week 8, prevailing 24-20. Cleveland has one of the better run defenses in the league, but in a tight, low-scoring game that had Seattle leading most of the way, Seattle only ran the ball 17 times.
The two Seattle back’s average yards per carry in the contest makes the low carry total even more surprising. Walker averaged 8.3 yards a carry, while Charbonnet averaged 10.6 yards a tote.
Walker finished with eight of the back’s 13 overall carries, going for 66 yards. Charbonnet tallied 53 yards on his five carries. Each back received one carry in the red zone, and neither scored.
Charbonnet did a touch more in the receiving game, hauling in both of his targets for 11 yards. Walker caught one of his two targets for 4 yards.
While most of the back’s numbers were pretty similar, the only clear advantage was in snaps played. Charbonnet was on the field for 34 offensive snaps, while Walker played just 24 snaps.
Possible Reasons Behind Walker’s Low Snap Count
There have been a few times that Charbonnet’s snaps have rivaled Walker’s snaps, but Charbonnet had never played more. So to see Charbonnett play 10 more snaps has to at least put Walker fantasy owners on alert.
Walker had been on the week 8 injury report with a calf injury, so maybe that was part of the reasoning behind him playing less snaps. Charbonnet had also been on the injury report with a hamstring injury. Both guys practiced in full and didn’t carry a gameday injury designation, so it’s fair to assume both guys were as close to playing at 100% strength for this point of the season.
Charbonnet had missed the team’s previous game, so I find it especially odd that he immediately jumped back in and played more snaps than Walker. Charbonnet was the Seahawks’ second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, so it’s obvious that the team thinks highly of him and views him as a long-term piece for the team’s offense. It’s not like Walker is all that much different though, as he was the team’s second-round pick in the 2022 Draft.
Both running backs have been efficient on their carries for the season, with Walker averaging 4.4 yards and Charbonnet at 5.8 yards. They were even better against Cleveland, which made it surprising that neither got more carries.
Running Back Outlook
With Charbonnet missing the previous week and then suddenly jumping past Walker in snaps played, there isn’t any kind of trend to speak of for the Seattle backfield. Coach Pete Carroll said that Charbonnet played well and simply earned himself some more time on the field.
That makes me think that the Seahawks might simply ride the hot hand every week. I still think Walker is the leader in the backfield and will get the majority of the touches and snaps every week, but think Charbonnet will also get a good amount of snaps and touches every week.
Seattle is a pretty average offense across the board. There’s a handful of offensive weapons in the passing game - DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Noah Fant - but there’s also room for both Walker and Charbonnet to carve out decent fantasy roles too.
How to Proceed with the Seattle Backs
Charbonnet is currently owned in just 50% of leagues according to our charts, while starting in 3%.
I think if he’s available in your league, you almost have to take a gamble on him after how last week played out. If over the next couple of games Walker starts dominating the snaps and touches again, then you simply drop Charbonnet for another player. But if Charbonnet continues to play a good amount of snaps and get a handful of touches, he’s actually not a bad flex option, especially when some of the bigger bye weeks hit.
I would not panic with Walker and try to trade him yet. His value took a pretty big hit last week, so you likely won’t get as good of a return as you should. However, if you are worried about him possibly splitting snaps the rest of the way, what I’d do is wait until he dominates the snaps and touches again and then trade him. That’ll boost his stock back up, and you’ll get a much better player in return.
If I owned Walker, the first thing I’d do is check to see if Charbonnet is available. Add him if he’s a free agent, and if he’s on another roster, I’d check to see what it’d cost to acquire him.
As for who you can start going forward, I think Walker remains a safe starter until further notice. If you got a bunch of other great matchups for your workhorse backs, then maybe you can sit Walker, but I think he can be a solid fantasy option even in a committee like he was last week.
In standard leagues, Charbonnet is a bit tougher to get behind for a starting spot. He was a decent fantasy option last week against a good defense, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start a bit more this week. I’d personally want to wait another week before feeling safe about starting him. For all we know, Charbonnet might only get 15 snaps and three touches this week. History simply isn’t on his side yet.
In deeper leagues, I think I’d feel comfortable enough to start Walker and Charbonnet this week against the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore has an average run defense, allowing opposing backs to score 20 fantasy points a game. Split that nearly in half and that’s a solid fantasy performance for a deeper fantasy league.
I’m sure this is a backfield we’ll be talking about again in the future, so be sure to check back for the latest on the Seattle duo.
