For the past three seasons, Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III were arguably the NFL’s top rushing tag team. Both backs would routinely get double-digt carries per game in the Seattle backfield.
Things will look much different for the Seahawks’ rushing attack this season, however, particularly early in the year. Walker III is now in Kansas City after signing as a free agent, and Charbonnet is injured after tearing his ACL last season.
Below, we will deliver a Charbonnet injury update, and look at when he is expected to return.
Zach Charbonnet injury update: When will Seahawks RB be back?Charbonnet tore his ACL in the Seahawks’ Divisional Round win over the 49ers this past January. It was assumed at the time that this injury would put the running back on the shelf for the early portion of the 2026-27 season, and that is the case.
The Seahawks placed Charbonnet on the physically unable to perform list prior to the start of training camp.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald weighed in on Charbonnet’s rehab progress earlier this month.
“It’s just a progression that you’ve got to be able to do to get your body ready to play, especially at the running back position,” Macdonald said in a video recorded by hawkblogger.com’s Brian Nemhauser. “He’s going through it, hitting his hurdles, and we’re rolling … We’ll see what the timetable is and how quickly he comes back.”
It typically takes 9-12 months for NFL players to return from ACL tears.
One current example of an NFL player bouncing back relatively quickly from an ACL tear is Packers tight end Tucker Kraft.
Kraft tore his ACL on November 2 of last year. Ten months later, he is in line to start Week 1 of the regular season.
Nine months from Charbonnet’s injury would be October 17, 2026. Ten months from Charbonnet’s injury would be November 17, 2026.
The earliest we could likely see Charbonnet back on the field for the Seahawks is Week 7 against the Chiefs. More likely is that Seattle waits until after its bye week, which takes place in Week 11, to bring Charbonnet back into the fold.
Here is a look at the Seahawks’ schedule around the time that Charbonnet is expected to be back.
- Week 9 Sunday, November 8: Cardinals at Seahawks
- Week 10 Sunday, November 15: Seahawks at Raiders
- Week 11 Sunday, November 22: Bye week
- Week 12 Sunday, November 29: Seahawks at 49ers
- Week 13 Monday, December 7: Cowboys at Seahawks
Zach Charbonnet fantasy football ADP and odds
Charbonnet has a fantasy football ADP of 124 at FantasyPros.
One popular fantasy strategy that is often employed by owners this time of year is to stash quality players that have longterm injuries, like Charbonnet, on their bench. Many will pick a kicker in the final round of their draft, drop the kicker, add an injured player like Charbonnet, place him on IR, and then re-add a kicker.
Charbonnet is currently +5000 at Fanatics Sportsbook to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors. He is one of the longshots, for sure, as the likes of Patrick Mahomes (+190) and Kyler Murray (+450) sit atop the board.
Charbonnet, who is 25-years-old, put up career numbers last season as he rushed for 730 yards and had 12 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 24 balls for 144 yards.
Seahawks odds
The defending champions are, to no one’s surprise, one of the favorites to win this season’s Super Bowl. Macdonald’s crew is currently +1100 at Fanatics to win it all. Only the Bills and Rams have shorter odds.
The Seahawks are +215 to win the highly competitive NFC West. The Rams are the favorite at -115.
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