In my Week 11 waiver wire breakdown, I included Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet as a reminder that he should be owned in your league and could be a top-10 RB if Kenneth Walker III misses time.
Before Week 9, when I covered Leonard Fournette signing with the Bills’ practice squad, here’s what I said about Charbonnet:
“Kenneth Walker III is dealing with an injury and isn't expected to miss any time, but Charbonnet would become a borderline RB1 if he did. Whoever has the biggest FAAB budget would likely have to bid most, if not all, of their budget to get him. That's the kind of RB I'd rather stash instead of Fournette.”
Before Week 5, I said Charbonnet was the kind of player to pick up instead of a short-term fix like Jaleel McLaughlin was at the time. Heck, I mentioned Charbonnet in Week 4, too.
You get the point. I’ve been hyping Charbonnet all season, and his time to shine might finally be here.
Kenneth Walker III Injury Impact
Well, Walker went down with an oblique injury in the first quarter of the Seahawks’ Week 11 game against the Rams, and Charbonnet entered immediately.
I bet on Charbonnet for that game, taking the over on his longest rush to be more than 10.5 yards. He hit that early in the second quarter after taking over for Walker.
The reason that I've continued to mention Charbonnet throughout the season is that he has been playing at such a high level that it would make sense for Seattle to get him more involved.
Charbonnet has been every bit as good as his 5.6 yards per carry (entering Week 11) would suggest. In fact, my expected yards model suggests it should have been closer to 6.1.
Entering Week 11, out of 84 qualified RBs, Charbonnet ranked:
Yards after concept per rush attempt: 15th
Explosive rate: Second
First down rate: First
Entering Week 11, 26% of his runs were going 10-plus yards and 45% of them resulted in a first down — both are off-the-charts good. When getting at least two yards before contact this season, Charbonnet is averaging 10.5 yards per carry — only Breece Hall and De’Von Achane have been better.
