Zach Charbonnet Injury Boosts Kenneth Walker’s Fantasy Football Stock

Apparently, Bo Nix wasn't the only notable NFL player to go down with an injury this weekend. Now it's being reported that Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet will miss the rest of this season.

Let's go over what that injury does to the Seahawks, both in the real world, and for fantasy football purposes.

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Charbonnett's Injury and Numbers

Charbonnet has a season-ending knee injury. Coach Mike Macdonald said it was a “significant” injury, one that would involve surgery and long recovery.

He played just eight offensive snaps in the team's Divisional Round win over the 49ers. Charbonnet was injured late in the second quarter on a rush attempt.

Charbonnet was the team's No. 2 running back behind Kenneth Walker, and was oftentimes the better fantasy option thanks to his scoring upside. 

He ended up playing in 17 games this season (including the playoff tilt). Charbonnet had 184 rushing attempts during the regular season, gaining 730 yards - he scored 12 touchdowns.

Charbonnet was targeted 24 times during the regular season, catching 20 of them. He went for 144 yards, but no more scores.

Even though he was the team's No. 2 back on paper, he still logged 490 offensive snaps. Walker is at just 498, so it was basically a split backfield.

That means that the Charbonnet injury could have a bigger impact on the Seahawks' offense than most think.

Seahawks' Options

Walker is surely going to be RB1, and the workhorse at that, for the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams. 

Walker rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries in the Divisional Round. He added 29 receiving yards on three catches and targets.

His fantasy outlook is certainly up after Charbonnet's injury. Be sure to check back later in the week to see how the FantasySP experts view Charbonnet and other Seattle offensive players stack up. 

Velus Jones was the only other running back that played in the Divisional Round for Seattle. He played 11 snaps and got six carries, but they were all in garbage time, with Seattle up big.

Jones was on the practice squad and was called up for the team's first postseason game. He could be added to the active roster if the team determines he's the RB2 for the rest of the way. Seattle also has Cam Akers on the practice squad, so he's another option.

I don't see Jones, Akers, or any other running backs outside Walker getting a lot of carries in the NFC title game. Walker can handle the workload, while having receiver Rashid Shaheed (and maybe others) chip in with a couple carries here and there. Jones or Akers could log some snaps and get a few touches, but I don't see them being very good fantasy assets.

Seahawks' Outlook

Walker will be the Seattle running back to start in fantasy football postseason leagues, or in DFS contests. Not having Charbonnet around will give his fantasy stock a nice boost.

The matchup against the Rams will be a tougher one on paper, but now being the workhorse back, Walker's fantasy outlook should be sky high.

If you were wondering, Walker had 100 rushing yards and a score on 11 carries in the most recent game against LA - he had 64 yards on three catches and targets as well. Walker went for 67 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in the team's first meeting - he had 44 receiving yards on three catches and targets.

In other words, have a lot of confidence in Walker putting together a big fantasy showing against the Rams this coming week.

Not having Charbonnet around could put a bigger emphasis on the passing game as well, so quarterback Sam Darnold could have a bit brighter outlook. 

He was injured last week in practice, and hopefully he can work past that before the next game. The Rams will be a slightly below-average test for him, so maybe Darnold could surprise with a couple extra passing attempts.

Darnold was 29-of-44 passing for 279 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions in the first regular season game against LA this season - he also rushed for 11 yards on two carries. In the last matchup, Darnold had 270 passing yards, two touchdowns and two picks on 22-of-34 passing, plus seven rushing yards on three attempts.

Darnold is more of a middling fantasy option, but with just four quarterbacks left, the options are limited, so he's definitely a possibility for some of you.

The Seattle wideouts have a favorable matchup against the Rams, while the tight ends have a slightly below-average test.

While Shaheed helped a bit in the running game, and as a returner, he didn't do anything in the passing game against San Francisco. 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held in check surprisingly, only tallying 19 yards on three catches and four targets. A score bailed out his fantasy owners a bit.

Cooper Kupp was the team's top wideout, going for 60 yards on five catches and five targets this past round. 

Jake Bobo had a 16-yard catch on his lone target, while tight end AJ Barner wasn't targeted in the passing game - Barner did rush once for a two-yard gain.

Seattle only had 106 net passing yards, so nobody really did much. That could change against a better opponent, and with Charbonnet out of the mix now. 

JSN will be the top pass catcher of course, while Kupp and Shaheed are both more flex-level options. Barner is in a similar boat, but facing a toucher matchup.

Again, we will cover the Seahawks' players in full later in the week, so check back for those articles!