Seahawks changing Ken Walker-Zach Charbonnet rotation 'feels inevitable'

Though the Seattle Seahawks are 4-2 and favored by a field goal to beat the Houston Texans Monday night at Lumen Field, there is growing frustration about their running back rotation. Among the 12s. And now it's spilling over to Fantasy Football owners.

Kenneth Walker has been much more productive. But Zach Charbonnet continues to get more and more snaps, and carries.

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Walker has gotten more carries, but only 78 to 60. The production, however, is eye-popping disparate. Both backs have three rushing touchdowns, but Walker is averaging 4.7 yards per run and Charbonnet only 2.6.

"We take stats into account, but ... we have a plan on how to use our guys and both guys are playing high-level football for us," Seahawks' head coach Mike Macdonald said this week. "Both guys have things they need to work on. But we love both guys, and they're both going to keep playing for us."

Pro Football Network's Fantasy Football are the latest to throw shade at Macdonald for his stubbornness at using Charbonnet.

Walker played a season-low 33.3% of the offensive snaps last week in the win over the Jaguars, and has yet to play 55% in a game. Macdonald, clearly, is trying to navigate his workload so he's fresh for a playoff run in December.

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"I could regurgitate an updated version of the numbers that I use in this space weekly, though we know my spewing fixes nothing, PFN writes. "Seattle is committed to this committee, and that means Zach Charbonnet (one of 60 carries this season has gained more than eight yards) is going to get enough work to make starting Walker uncomfortable."

The UCLA alum is the Seahawks' short-yardage back, so at times the yards are tougher. But he has the position's third-worst explosive play rate at 1.7%, the NFL's highest rate of runs for 0 or negative rushing yards at 31.7%, and his 2.6 yards per carry is dead last among all running backs.

Writes PFN:

"It feels inevitable that Walker will take over the lead role in this offense (Charbonnet doesn’t have a 10-yard run in four of his five games this season), but in a very New Englandly type of rotation, I refuse to bet against stubborn head coaches."

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) rushes for yards in Week .6 | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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