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RENTON, Wash. — When quarterback Geno Smith checked the ball down to Zach Charbonnet on the opening play of the Seattle Seahawks’ game-winning drive Sunday against the Washington Commanders, the running back turned upfield and had two options: Race toward the sideline and preserve the team’s last timeout, or initiate contact with defensive back Jartavius Martin and pick up additional yardage.
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Charbonnet chose violence. He caught the ball at the 24-yard line, set his feet, lowered his right shoulder into Martin’s chest, exploded forward, knocked the defender backward and toppled over him while staying inbounds. The Seahawks were forced to use their final timeout with 38 seconds remaining.
“Honestly, I was trying to run him over and get out of bounds at the same time,” Charbonnet said. “But I realized that was a bad decision as soon as I did it.”
The Seahawks appreciated the decision. Coach Pete Carroll laughed it off during his weekly radio appearance the next morning, saying Charbonnet “had business to take care of” on the play.
“We won the game, he took a shot, we’ll learn from it,” Carroll said. “(I) kind of like it.”
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Said linebacker Bobby Wagner: “I always respect and appreciate running backs that don’t go out of bounds. They’d rather hit the person than go out of bounds or they finish their runs. As a rookie, that’s always been impressive, the way that he seeks contact, likes to run through people. It’s a tone-setter, for sure.”
Charbonnet’s decision was easy to appreciate because that style of play is why the Seahawks drafted him with the 52nd pick in April’s draft. He’s a one-cut-and-go, downhill runner who often chooses violence. That’s who he was in the preseason, and it’s who he has been in limited opportunities during the regular season.
Charbonnet has appeared in eight of Seattle’s nine games as Ken Walker III’s backup and carried the ball 38 times for 214 yards. There are 66 running backs with at least 30 carries this year, and among that group, Charbonnet ranks third in yards per carry (5.6), fifth in expected points added per rush (0.15) and fourth in success rate at 50 percent (all stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise). He has an explosive run (12 or more yards) on 17.1 percent of his carries, which ranks fourth among running backs with at least 30 attempts.
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Charbonnet hasn’t yet found the end zone, but he’s been one of the most efficient and explosive backs in the league when given the opportunity. The Seahawks have taken a step in the right direction by increasing his snap count in recent weeks. The next move needs to be giving him the ball more often.
“There will be times when he’ll run the ball just as many as Kenny, if not more,” Carroll said. “That’ll happen somewhere. I’m not opposed to that at all. Been doing that for a long time, and I just go with what’s hot, basically, and what feels right. Kenny will fight it, and that’s OK, that’s all right, but Zach’s doing great, and I’d love to see him get it more.”
The Seahawks are seventh in EPA per rush, 10th in yards per carry and fifth in explosive play rate on designed rushing attempts (9.6 percent). Walker is eighth among running backs in yards per game (66.1) and fifth in attempts per game (16.1), all while ranking third in percentage of runs against eight-man boxes (47.6). He is tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns (six) and has been better than he was last season at reading the line of scrimmage and avoiding negative runs.
Walker has been very good this season, but it’s also hard to ignore Charbonnet’s effectiveness and how it might help Seattle stay on schedule on early downs, which should, in theory, help an offense that is 30th in third-down conversion rate (31.5 percent).
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Charbonnet’s season high in carries is nine in Week 3 against Carolina. He rushed for 46 yards in that game, produced five first downs and lifted a safety off his feet on a goal-line run.
Sent 'em into the next zip code 😡@Seahawks | @InsideTheNFL pic.twitter.com/1ETwKhW6J3
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) September 25, 2023
That was the first of four games in which he has averaged better than 5 yards per carry. In the win over the Commanders, Charbonnet had six carries for 44 yards (7.3 per carry), including consecutive runs of 11 and 10 yards in the third quarter, along with a 7-yard run on fourth-and-1 in the fourth. His style was critical to Seattle having a better offensive performance in the second half.
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“He’s got a different running style than Kenny does, but he reads the line of scrimmage well,” Carroll said. “He’s a really good football player. We have a lot of confidence in him. He’s playing down the stretch, in the stretch drive, he’s out there going. That’s just confidence that he’s giving us by who he is and how he practices and how he performs. He hasn’t had a ton of plays yet, but there’s no doubt that he’s in it, and we can count on him.”
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In Weeks 1 through 6, Charbonnet played 29.2 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Since then, he’s been on the field 55.1 percent of the time. The increase is tied to taking over DeeJay Dallas’ role on third down. In the first six games, Charbonnet was on the field for a total of 13 third-down snaps; that number is up to 37 over the last three games (Dallas hasn’t taken a third-down snap since Week 7, a game Charbonnet missed due to injury).
Playing on third down can be a challenge for running backs because of the pass-protecting duties and how versatile defenses have become with showing and generating pressure. Sometimes defenses show blitz and bring rushers from every direction. Sometimes they show blitz and drop out of it. Other times they show blitz, drop defensive linemen into coverage and bring pressure from elsewhere in the formation. Sorting all of this out and then making the block is a tough job.
Charbonnet has proven he can handle it. From taking on linebackers, like he did against Cleveland’s Sione Takitaki during a rush up the middle on third-and-11 in Week 8, to body slamming a blitzing Kyle Hamilton on third-and-4 against the Ravens, Charbonnet has made it so that running backs coach Chad Morton feels he has no choice but to play the rookie on third down.
“Oh, I love him,” Morton said. “Oh yeah. Big time. I have to use him. He is brilliant on third down. Knows exactly what to do. Great technique on his (blitz) pickups. He might be one of the better ones out there, I’m telling you. He does a great job of (identifying), and he’s on it.”
Charbonnet hasn’t had many opportunities to show what he can do in the passing game. He has only 13 receptions for 70 yards on 17 targets. But he has flashed enough to make the coaches feel confident with him on the field in obvious passing situations, another crucial element for running backs who want to see their snaps increase.
“He can do everything,” said Carroll, who later added: “There’s nothing that I don’t like about him.”
The Seahawks rank 30th in plays per drive (5.39), meaning the key to getting Charbonnet — or anyone, really — the ball more is to be better on third down and extend drives.
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Carroll said this week that the team recently discussed the importance of the run game and “how it affects so many other aspects” of their offense. As the Seahawks close the year with eight games against defenses that rank outside of the top 10 in success rate versus the run, this is the ideal time to start incorporating Charbonnet more and unleashing that violent running style they love.
(Photo: Christopher Mast / Getty Images)
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