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Will Zach Charbonnet start for the Seattle Seahawks when he returns? John Johnson breaks down the Zach Charbonnet return timeline and fantasy football outlook ahead of Week 8.
Much has been made of the return of Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (knee), who tore his ACL during his team's playoff run late last postseason. He had surgery to repair the damage and has been recovering ever since.
The Seahawks spent a late first-round pick on running back Jadarian Price (chest), who showed promise early in the season. But he suffered a chest injury and was placed on injured reserve. It's not yet known when he will return, but the team hinted he could be nearing a return to practice.
With Charbonnet and Price both out, the Seahawks hosted multiple running backs for workouts, and even teased the signing of running back Joe Mixon. If he had signed, it's likely he'd have had a big workload. That didn't happen, so will Charbonnet be the starter when he's back?
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Will Zach Charbonnet Start For The Seattle Seahawks When He Returns?
Initially, it's very unlikely that he will. His return from injury seems pretty accelerated as it is -- and he won't be anywhere near 100 percent when he's back. He also isn't likely to have a big workload in his first few games back, even though Seattle isn't happy with the inefficiency of RB Emanuel Wilson.
Wilson has been the RB1 so far, and has actually been a solid fantasy football option since Week 4. He's averaged nearly 16 PPR fantasy points per game, which is six more than Washington Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) had before he went down.
Emanuel Wilson with the exclamation point!
KCvsSEA on NBC/Peacock
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/2O1GivTHxj— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2026
He's averaged just over 3.7 yards per carry over those four games, so his fantasy scoring is more of a product of his volume than his efficiency. Charbonnet will eat into his workload, though it won't be meaningfully so at first.
Perhaps toward the end of the season we could see Charb back in the clear lead role if it weren't for the return of Price looming at that point. Price had his 21-day practice window opened this week, just a week after Charbonnet was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Zach Charbonnet Fantasy Football Outlook
We're probably doomed to see a committee backfield at play here. Charbonnet and Price appear poised to return at the same time as one another, meaning they'll both be rehabbing their injuries and playing alongside Wilson.
The committee could be a truly hideous three-way split until Price and Charbonnet get more healthy, at which point they'll probably be a one-two punch. They can be effective, of course, but it's not ideal for fantasy football, obviously.
Emanuel Wilson's last 5 games
85 Car | 300 Rush Yds | 2 Rush TD
5 Rec | 50 Yds | 1 TD#Seahawks https://t.co/3lWWoEczcB
— PaceBall (@paceball__) October 21, 2026
This is all assuming that Wilson doesn't have much of a role late in the season. Even if he gets a few touches per game, it will be very bad for Charbonnet's outlook. If both Wilson and Price were out of the picture, Charbonnet might have a shot at being a late-season league-winner. But it's not looking that way now.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Emanuel Wilson, J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, Zach Charbonnet. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 8. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Emanuel Wilson, J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, Zach Charbonnet. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 8 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Emanuel Wilson, J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, Zach Charbonnet compared to others:
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