Sitting at 6-3, the Seattle Seahawks were looked at as a sneaky NFC playoff team just a few weeks ago. However, the team has struggled as of late, losing their last three games to fall to .500. One of those losses was to the San Francisco 49ers at home on Thanksgiving.
On Sunday, the Seahawks will once again be playing the 49ers. Only this time it will be in San Francisco. To make matters worse, Seattle could be facing some major issues in the backfield with injuries to Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.
Latest Injury Update on Kenneth Walker III
Walker has had to deal with injuries the past couple of games because of an oblique injury, and he could potentially miss another. He did a light walkthrough early in the week, which gave fans and fantasy football managers some hope. However, he hasn’t practiced since then
The fact Walker hasn’t gone through an actual practice this week indicates he probably isn’t going to be able to play Sunday.
Over the first two months of the season, Walker was a fantasy star (top-15 performer at the position in four of his first five games).
To make matters worse for the Seahawks, it isn’t just Walker who is dealing with injury issues in Seattle’s backfield.
Charbonnet is coming off a strong performance against the Cowboys last week (20 touches for 99 yards and a touchdown). That was the type of performance that the team definitely thought they could build off, but a knee injury held him out of practice through Wednesday.
In some positive news, Charbonnet was practicing on Thursday, even though it was in a limited role. In the two games that Walker missed, Charbonnet averaged 19 touches.
What Does This Mean For Walker’s Fantasy Ranking?
It’s looking more and more likely that Walker will miss his third consecutive game. Friday is generally the day that tells us what a player’s status is, as teams are going through walkthroughs and getting the plays they want to run installed.
While a player could still play even if they don’t practice, it’s hard to imagine Walker being ready to go against the 49ers. If he’s inactive, the Seahawks will hope that Charbonnet can go.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
If neither of these two backs can play, then the next player on the Seahawks’ depth chart would be Deejay Dallas. However, against the 49ers, that could be a very difficult ask for any of Seattle’s RBs.
There are going to be more favorable matchups for other running backs than any of the Seahawks’ backs, especially if it isn’t Walker or even Charbonnet.
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