An injury has forced Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson to retire at 27, opening the door for others to move up in fantasy football rankings.
Carson, 27, topped 1100 yards rushing twice in his five-year career, but he was limited to four games in 2021, carrying the ball 54 times for 232 yards and three touchdowns.
Because of a neck injury, Carson will not return in 2022 as the running back moves on in retirement.
That leaves more opportunities for running backs Rashaad Penny and rookie Kenneth Walker III in the Seattle backfield.
Penny appeared in 10 games last year, rushing for 6.3 yards per carry. That was good for 749 yards on 119 attempts with six touchdowns.
Walker III was a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Michigan State and is entering his rookie year.
How should fantasy football players approach Seattle's running backs in upcoming drafts? For that, we turn to Action Network's fantasy football expert, Sean Koerner.
Sean Koerner's Seattle Seahawks Running Back Analysis
I didn’t have Carson ranked in my initial RB tiers because I assumed he wouldn’t play this year or he would retire.
Now that his retirement is confirmed, Penny and Walker III do receive a slight bump, although this isn’t a very attractive situation.
They will split work on a team that will be bad, and neither has much upside as a receiver. That’s especially important since the assumption this season is that the Seahawks will be trailing early and often.
That makes me wonder if one of Deejay Dallas or Travis Homer is potentially involved more than we’re willing to admit.
I love Walker’s talent; he could be an RB2 in 2023 and beyond. This just isn’t shaping up to be a great situation for him in 2022. Getting drafted as the RB26 seems too rich.
