The Seattle Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving night and they will have a new starting running back. Their usual starter, Kenneth Walker, is listed as doubtful after not practicing due to an oblique injury. That will elevate rookie Zach Charbonnet to the lead role on Thursday night.
Fantasy Football analysis: Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet
Charbonnet has backed up Walker when healthy this season and has drawn effusive praise from head coach Pete Carroll. When Walker went down eith his oblique injury last week, Charbonnet stepped in and saw huge usage, with a a 93% snap share, 65% route share, and 17% target share. Those numbers are elite for fantasy running backs and with nobody special behind him this week, he should continue to see that kind of workload.
The trouble this week is a tough matchup with the 49ers run defense. They rank 7th best in fantasy points allowed to running backs, but they also rank 23rd in run defense DVOA. Matchups with some poor running offenses can skew fantasy points allowed. The 49ers can stop good backs, and I don’t expect Charbonnet to go off, but I do expect a healthy workload both on the ground and through the air.
Start or sit in Week 12 fantasy football leagues?
Start in most leagues, but he has his best upside in PPR leagues.
