OCTOBER 23: Charbonnet isn’t quite ready to return to game action. He will not play Sunday, head coach Mike Macdonald announced (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). “I think we’re going along with the plan,” Macdonald said. “The plan was to get a great week’s worth of work and see where we’re at.”
OCTOBER 22: The Seahawks’ run game should receive a boost in Week 7. Zach Charbonnet’s return is a go. The fourth-year running back returned to Seattle’s 53-man roster Thursday via an activation from the reserve/PUP list.
A recent report identified the Seahawks’ Week 7 Chiefs matchup as the likely Charbonnet return window, and the former second-round pick — coming off an ACL tear sustained in last year’s divisional round — will make his debut to start a contract year. The team needed to activate Charbonnet today since he returned to practice Oct. 1; no activation would have moved him to season-ending IR.
Set to renew acquaintances with Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker on Sunday night, the Seahawks certainly check in behind the Chiefs in run-game effectiveness through six weeks. Walker leads the NFL in rushing (665 yards). While injuries have nagged the 2022 second-round pick in his career, opening the door to additional Charbonnet work in the past, he has become a vital piece for a Kansas City offense missing multiple wide receivers. The Seahawks enter Week 7 ranked 18th in both total rushing yards and yards per carry (3.9).
Charbonnet’s injury and contract status influenced the Seahawks’ draft strategy; the team added Jadarian Price in Round 1 as the likely Charbonnet successor. But Price is on IR with a chest injury. Charbonnet will join a backfield housing free agent pickup Emanuel Wilson and holdover backup George Holani. His return will be welcome from a Seahawks team coming off a shaky offensive performance against the Broncos.
To the chagrin of a sect of Seahawks fans (and all Walker fantasy GMs), Charbonnet ate into the starter’s workload consistently in 2025. The 2023 second-rounder scored 12 touchdowns to Walker’s five, and the two split snaps down the middle under one-year OC Klint Kubiak. Charbonnet lacks the dynamism Walker provides, but the Seahawks trusted him more in pass protection.
Charbonnet had worked more as a Walker backup from 2023-24, but he came through with a career-best 730 rushing yards last season. The ACL tear blunted his third-season momentum, and a shift from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list occurred at the roster-setting deadline. Walker has been soaring ever since the Charbonnet injury.
Walker proved capable of carrying the load after Charbonnet went down in Round 2 last season. His Super Bowl LX performance enticed the Chiefs to make a winning free agency bid; the Seahawks did not make an offer to retain the four-year starter. Charbonnet, 25, will be a free agent in March. Considering the Seahawks used a first-round pick on Price, Charbonnet may be set to follow Walker out of town. For now, though, the ex-Michigan and UCLA back will be asked to help Sam Darnold and Co. — especially while Price is sidelined.
To make room on their 53-man roster, the Seahawks placed tight end Elijah Arroyo on IR. Arroyo suffered a shoulder injury recently, and this does not look to be a short-term IR decision. The second-year pass catcher underwent surgery Thursday and will miss the rest of the season, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Used as an AJ Barner backup last season, Arroyo played in 13 games; he finished with 15 catches for 179 yards and one touchdown. A knee injury sidelined Arroyo late last season, and he did not return until Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks drafted Arroyo 50th overall out of Miami. Two years remain on his rookie contract. This will leave Seattle thinner at the position; Eric Saubert and second-year UDFA Nick Kallerup sit behind Barner on the 53-man roster.
