Seattle Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet is coming off a rookie year where he was mostly stuck behind Kenneth Walker III. With a new coaching staff and a year of professional experience under his belt, could Charbonnet take a significant step forward in the 2024 NFL season, making him a worthwhile selection in fantasy football drafts?
Zach Charbonnet’s 2024 Fantasy Forecast
Despite not ever becoming a weekly fantasy starter, Charbonnet was the exact type of back fantasy managers should have been targeting last season. We want to draft reasonably talented running backs with a clear path toward an upside if one thing breaks their way. It just didn’t happen for Charbonnet as a rookie.
We did get a glimpse of what Charbonnet could be, though. Charbonnet only averaged 5.7 fantasy points per game in his 14 games with Walker on the field. However, Charbonnet averaged 13.3 fantasy points per game in his two games with Walker sidelined.
Admittedly, it’s a very small sample size, but the usage was encouraging, and Charbonnet played the majority of the snaps.
There was also the thought that Charbonnet would be the primary passing-down back as a rookie, given Walker’s lack of proficiency in that area. That proved to be true. However, the overall volume just wasn’t there.
Charbonnet’s target share was only 7.6%, identical to Walker’s. The good news is Charbonnet averaged 4.8 yards per touch (24th in the league) and 3.78 yards created per touch (14th). Volume matters far more than efficiency, but it doesn’t hurt to know that if Charbonnet touches the ball more, he’s good enough to show coaches he deserves to continue it.
Heading into the 2024 season, there’s no perceived ambiguity in the Seahawks’ backfield. Walker is the clear RB1 with an RB17 ADP, No. 44 overall. Charbonnet is nowhere close, going off the board as the RB43, No. 138 overall.
We find ourselves in a similar situation to last year when Charbonnet was a good player to target. Even if we consider nothing other than price, Charbonnet can be your fantasy team’s RB4 or RB5, and we know he’s one injury away from being a weekly startable RB2.
While that’s reason enough to take some shots on Charbonnet, there are more encouraging signs. The Seahawks moved on from long-time head coach Pete Carroll. For the first time in over a decade, we have uncertainty regarding how this team will deploy its running backs.
Carroll has always been loyal to his main guy. No amount of early-round picks could ever unseat Chris Carson. By the looks of it, Carroll had quickly grown fond of Walker. The new coaching staff did not draft either of these guys.
Walker certainly has the inside track to the RB1 role, and will undoubtedly open the season in that spot. But Charbonnet will have every opportunity to play his way into more work. Most importantly, Walker no longer has injury-related job security.
If Walker gets hurt, misses a month, and Charbonnet plays very well, it’s unlikely Walker will return to anything more than a 50/50 timeshare. That provides Chabonnet with another path to fantasy relevance.
Ultimately, this comes down to cost. I have Charbonnet ranked as my RB37, which is slightly above consensus. I wouldn’t draft him over backs more likely to be startable right away, but in terms of RBs going outside the top 36, he carries as much upside as any of them, which is exactly what fantasy managers should be looking for with the final two RBs on their rosters.