Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson or Zach Charbonnet: Fantasy Football Start or Sit Advice for Week 8

We all knew this was coming at some point.

From the moment Jadarian Price joined Zach Charbonnet on injured reserve with a chest ailment, we knew there would eventually be a week where both running backs returned and created the committee of all committees — and now that time is upon us.

Technically, Price still has to be activated for tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup with the Bears, but when that happens, he, Charbonnet and Emanuel Wilson will all be at the disposal of Seahawks’ offensive coordinator Brian Fleury. I guess there’s even a chance that Seattle dresses four RBs and we also get a little George Holani in the mix. What a time to be alive.

Let’s break down this mess of a depth chart and decide if any one of these backs is a viable fantasy option in Week 8’s finale.

Who is the Seahawks No. 1 RB vs. the Bears?

Let’s start with Emanuel Wilson, as he’s the man who comes into this tilt with the Bears leading the Seahawks in rushing attempts (111), rushing yards (403) and rushing touchdowns (3). Somewhat ironically, Wilson’s directly on the heels of his best rushing performance of the season, cracking the 100-yard plateau for the first time in a dominating 20-3 victory over the Chiefs. Wilson’s also registered at least 20 carries in four different games, making him the clear “bell cow” for an offense that wants to run the football. Remember, last year, Seattle finished the regular season with a 49.7% rush rate — the highest mark of any squad in the NFC. That inclination likely played a massive role in the organization opting to trade for All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson, too.

While Wilson’s done admirably in filling the void of Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet, the simple fact of the matter is that there’s obvious room for improvement. Among the league’s 42 qualified running backs, Wilson’s 3.6 yards per attempt rank in the 26th percentile, and his 41.4% rushing success rate sits in the 21st percentile. Wilson’s also struggled to get overly involved as a pass catcher, with just six receptions through the Seahawks’ first seven games. That inability to diversify his skill set looms large in the new reality of Seattle’s backfield. Unless injuries once again play a massive factor, Wilson won’t have the same type of path to rushing volume anymore.

Wilson won’t have the same path to red zone opportunities, either. If anything, vulturing touchdowns was Charbonnet’s specialty last season, and he was stealing those opportunities from Kenneth Walker III — who is currently leading the AFC in rushing yards after winning Super Bowl MVP. That tells you all you need to know about how this coaching staff values the former second-round pick and his talents. Charbonnet saw 64.6% of the Seahawks’ carries from inside the 10-yard line, and he translated that volume into 12 touchdowns. His overall 46.1% snap share was also virtually identical to Walker’s 46.8% figure. Last year, this backfield was a 50/50 split.

Finally, there’s Price. The final first-round pick of this past summer’s NFL Draft, Price has started all three games he was healthy for back in Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3, though fumble issues cost the rookie large swaths of playing time. Still, in that small sample, Price averaged 10.7 touches per contest with a 50.0% rushing success rate. The 23-year-old’s ability to be a lead back was questioned in the draft process — it didn’t help he shared a college backfield with Jeremiyah Love — but now that conversation appears to be moot. Price doesn’t have to be a workhorse in this situation, yet the big play ability he consistently flashed at Notre Dame will be tantalizing enough to get him a steady flow of carries.

The Bottom Line

Look, we all know this is going to be a mess. In season-long formats, I hope you had the roster flexibility to stay away from this situation entirely, especially considering that the Bears are surrendering the fourth-fewest opponent rushing yards per contest (87.6) and the fifth-fewest FPTS per game to opposing backfields — and that was before they acquired All-Pro defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons from the Titans.

However, for those of you that couldn’t, or for those interested in DraftKings’ Monday Night Football Showdown slate, let’s at least attempt to make some sense of the situation.

Here are the positives. Seattle is averaging a robust 70.3 offensive plays per game since the beginning of Week 5, which is the third-highest total in the league in that span. As mentioned above, the Seahawks also possess one of the NFL’s highest rush rates the past two seasons, which means, in a neutral script, you could reasonably project roughly 30 rushing attempts as a team. If you’re going to be splitting the pie this much, at the very least, it’s nice to have a large pie.

Over time, I would expect the backfield to mostly mirror last year’s Seahawks, with Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price sharing the load. Specific to tonight? I’d lean even farther in the former’s direction, as Charbonnet has had two extra weeks of practice to get his conditioning back up to snuff. Add in how he’s been utilized in the red zone, and Charbonnet is my preferred option in DFS, especially with his $7,000 price tag $400 cheaper than Emanuel Wilson’s. Still, don’t be shocked if none of the trio even get close to 15 touches this evening.