In the midst of their bye week, the Seattle Seahawks find themselves searching for answers in all phases after dropping five of their past six games to plunge into last place in the NFC West.
With nine games down and eight left to play, Seahawks running backs Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet have combined to rush for only 611 yards behind a struggling offensive line, but they also have been regular visitors to the end zone with 10 total rushing touchdowns despite subpar blocking in front of them.
Revisiting the first half of the season, how have Walker and Charbonnet performed so far in Ryan Grubb's offense? Midseason report card:
Areas of Strength: Regularly having to create yardage on their own with defenders instantly in the backfield, Walker and Charbonnet have both excelled at manufacturing yardage after contact. 293 of Walker's 398 rushing yards have come in that variety with 35 missed tackles forced, as he has averaged only 17.1 yards per game before contact this year, a clear indicator of how much the offensive line has struggled. Charbonnet ranks 20th in the league averaging 3.11 yards per carry after contact while producing 16 forced missed tackles on just 61 carries.
While Walker and Charbonnet haven't had the overall impact expected as runners due to the lack of blocking in front of them, both players have been key cogs in Seattle's top-ranked passing game. Walker already has set a new career-high with 30 receptions and reeled in a spectacular diving touchdown catch against the Falcons. Charbonnet has done much of his damage on screens, turning 25 receptions into 189 yards and a touchdown, as neither back has dropped a pass so far and both have been incredibly reliable as checkdown targets for Smith.
Areas of Improvement: Atrocious offensive line play has obviously been a major factor, but Walker and Charbonnet haven't been able to break loose for many explosive runs this season. Through nine weeks, they have combined for just 14 runs of 10-plus yards, ranking 31st and 38th respectively. In comparison, Walker had 24 such runs last season and Charbonnet had 16, so neither player is on pace to equal or surpass those numbers from a year ago. After combining for 15 designed runs of 15-plus yards last year, they only have six such runs in 2024.
Without the ball in their hands, Walker and Charbonnet have also been hit-and-miss in pass protection. Coming off a stellar rookie season in that regard, Charbonnet has allowed four pressures and a sack on 60 pass blocking reps, currently ranking 29th out of 60 backs in pass blocking efficiency rate. Walker has been slightly worse, according to PFF charting, giving up three pressures on only 24 pass blocking reps and ranking 35th in pass blocking efficiency rate, providing an area for both to continue working on and developing.
Midseason Grade: B
Statistically, Walker and Charbonnet have been held back by an offensive line that cannot consistently create push or open up running lanes. But when they have had any room to work with, they have remained effective, and the Seahawks have benefited from their ability to turn nothing into something on a far too regular basis. Add in their pass catching contributions and they've remained valuable assets in Grubb's offense despite having a hand tied behind their backs for much of the season to this point.
