Fantasy Football Injury Impact: Zach Charbonnet Nearing Return, Spoiling Emanuel Wilson’s Long-Term Outlook
In this story:
Emanuel Wilson is expected to be a popular waiver-wire option in fantasy football after delivering 27.0 fantasy points in Week 4. However, Zach Charbonnet was designated to return to practice for the Seattle Seahawks last week, and his practice activity is expected to increase ahead of the team’s Week 5 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.
Zach Charbonnet (knee), per head coach Mike Macdonald, will get "team reps" in practice this week but will not be activated for Seattle's Week 5 matchup with San Francisco.
— RotoWire Fantasy Football (@RotoWireNFL) October 5, 2026
Via @gbellseattle pic.twitter.com/Zb3uKX0M7E
While Charbonnet won’t be active on Sunday against the 49ers, he’s nearing a return. This could certainly make the Seahawks’ backfield even tougher to decipher in fantasy moving forward.
How does Charbonnet’s injury update and increased practice activity affect Wilson and the other running backs on the Seahawks from a fantasy football perspective?
All stats used in this article are from PFF or Sumer Sports unless stated otherwise. Fantasy rankings and fantasy point totals are courtesy of FantasyPros.
Fantasy Impact
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Just a season ago, it was Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III sharing the workload in Seattle’s offense. Both Charbonnet and Walker were tied as the RB28 in fantasy points per game (11.3), but it was Charbonnet who led the team with 51 red-zone carries and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Sadly, Charbonnet suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Divisional Round during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run. Although Seattle drafted Jadarian Price in the first round of this year’s draft and signed Wilson, Charbonnet is poised to handle a red-zone role once he returns.
Charbonnet is a valuable stash candidate right now, especially with Price on injured reserve and Wilson’s inefficient rushing metrics. Even if Charbonnet isn’t the lead back in this offense, he’s trusted near the goal line and on third downs.
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Seattle Seahawks
With Price sidelined and George Holani seeing less usage in Week 4, Wilson is the RB5 in Week 4 with 27.0 fantasy points, barring Monday Night Football. Wilson turned 24 touches (21 carries, 3 receptions) into 120 scrimmage yards and 2 touchdowns in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Although Wilson produced a season-best fantasy output in Week 4, he has the 12th-fewest yards per attempt (3.6) and 11th-fewest EPA/rush (-0.17) among RBs with 25-plus attempts.
While Wilson still has solid value in Week 5 against the 49ers, he’s seemingly – at best – going to be in a timeshare with Charbonnet and potentially Price. Therefore, be wary of spending too much FAAB on Wilson, unless you’re desperate for a short-term option at the RB position.
Jadarian Price, RB, Seattle Seahawks
The hope for Price was that he’d gradually get an increased role in the Seahawks’ offense and earn a large enough role to be a weekly starter in fantasy football. However, Price lost 2 fumbles and tallied the lowest EPA/rush (-0.53) among RBs with 25-plus attempts in his first three games in the NFL.
To make matters worse, Price sustained a chest injury in Week 3, and the rookie back has since been placed on injured reserve. Even though Price is likely to return at some point this season, it now feels like it will be a redshirt year for the first-round draft pick.
There’s certainly a chance Price can earn more touches later in the season, though he’ll likely still struggle to be a trustworthy option each week, barring another injury in the backfield.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Skyler Carlin is an experienced sports writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, college football, college basketball, and soccer for FanDuel Research and USA Today. Outside of writing, he enjoys cooking, watching movies, and playing video games.
Follow skyler_carlin