Zach Charbonnet Opens Camp on PUP: Jadarian Price Is Now Seattle's Week 1 Backfield

The Seattle Seahawks placed running back Zach Charbonnet on the physically unable to perform list to open training camp, a move reported this week as the defending Super Bowl champions brought their full roster in. Charbonnet is recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in last season's Divisional Round, and head coach Mike Macdonald has spoken positively about his progress without attaching a return date. The practical effect for fantasy managers is immediate: first-round rookie Jadarian Price is the projected lead back in Seattle for the start of the 2026 season, and his average draft position has not yet caught up.

The PUP designation at the start of camp is not a season-ending sentence. A player on the preseason PUP list can be activated at any point during camp. But the more common outcome for a player still rehabbing an ACL tear from January is that he stays on the list through the preseason and is then moved to reserve/PUP, which requires missing at least the first four regular-season games. That is the base case here, and it is the one fantasy drafts should be pricing.

How Seattle got here

The Seahawks lost Kenneth Walker III in free agency after he ran for 161 total yards on 29 touches in Seattle's Super Bowl LX win over New England and was named the game's most valuable player. Walker signed a multi-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs worth roughly $45 million, per reports at the time, leaving the champions with a starting-caliber vacancy at running back.

Seattle answered it in the first round, taking Price with the final pick of the round out of Notre Dame. Price averaged 6.0 yards per carry in his final college season, rushing for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns on 113 carries. That is an efficient but low-volume profile, which is the central question about him: he was explosive in a rotation, and Seattle is now asking whether he can carry a load.

Behind Price, the Seahawks added Emanuel Wilson in free agency and retain George Holani. Neither profiles as a threat to a first-round pick's early-down role, but both are live for passing-down and short-yardage work while Charbonnet is out.

The fantasy case for Price

The volume argument is strong. A first-round running back on a team with no returning established starter and no obvious committee partner is one of the cleanest opportunity profiles available in a redraft league. Teams do not spend first-round capital on backs they intend to split evenly, and Seattle's offense under Macdonald has been willing to lean on the run when it protects a lead, which a defending champion expects to do often.

The efficiency argument is also fine. Price's college tape shows the trait Seattle prizes in the position: open-field vision and the ability to turn a crease into a chunk gain. He has publicly said he expects to be the team's RB1, which is the standard thing for a rookie to say but is at least consistent with how the team has deployed him so far in camp.

The risk is the pass game. Price was not a heavy target earner in college, and if Wilson or Holani absorbs third downs, Price's ceiling in PPR compresses toward a two-down role. That is still startable given the projected volume, but it is the difference between an RB2 and a low-end RB1.

What it means for Charbonnet's value

Charbonnet is the more complicated asset. He is the better-established NFL player, he has produced when given volume, and he will presumably be healthy at some point in the middle of the season. He is also a running back returning from an ACL tear who will have missed all of camp, into an offense where a first-round rookie has by then had a month of starts.

That combination argues for treating Charbonnet as a bench stash rather than a starter, and for drafting him accordingly. The upside case is that he returns in October, reclaims early-down work, and finishes as a weekly flex with RB2 weeks. The downside is that Price plays well enough that Charbonnet returns to a timeshare in a backfield that no longer needs him.

The Verdexed model take

Verdexed's projection engine currently has Price as the highest-volume rookie back in the league through the first four weeks, driven almost entirely by the absence of competition rather than by any assumption of elite efficiency. The model's rushing-attempt projection for him over that opening stretch sits in the range that historically supports RB2 scoring even at league-average yards per carry, before accounting for the touchdown equity that comes with playing for a team the market expects to lead often.

The model is more conservative on his full-season line, because it assigns real probability to Charbonnet returning in the second half and taking a meaningful share back. That produces a projection with a wide range: a top-20 back if Price holds the job, a mid-range flex if he splits it from November on.

The actionable read is that Price's value is front-loaded. In seasonal leagues that is fine, because the first month of the season is when managers most need a functional RB2. In best-ball, it is even better, because Price's high-volume early weeks bank points before the timeshare risk arrives.

What to do in your league

Move Price up your board. A first-round rookie with a clear four-game runway as the lead back in a good offense should not be sitting in the range typically reserved for handcuffs and committee backs. He is a legitimate RB2 target in the middle rounds and the kind of pick that wins the first month of a season.

Draft Charbonnet, but late, and draft him as an asset rather than a starter. He is the correct handcuff to Price for anyone who takes Price, and he has standalone value in deeper leagues once he returns.

Do not chase Wilson or Holani in standard formats. Their role is real but small, and they are only relevant in 14-team and deeper leagues or as an in-season pivot if Price stumbles.

What's next

The two things to watch are Charbonnet's activation status and Price's usage in the preseason. If Charbonnet is activated from PUP during camp, the entire calculus changes and Price's early-season ceiling drops sharply. If Charbonnet moves to reserve/PUP when rosters are set, Price's four-game window is locked in and his ADP should climb accordingly.

For Price specifically, watch the third-down snaps. If he is on the field in obvious passing situations during preseason work, the PPR ceiling opens and he belongs a round earlier than where he is going now.