Seahawks Add RB T.J. Harden as Charbonnet's ACL Recovery Drags On
Seattle signed the undrafted SMU back and a corner off tryouts. With Charbonnet still rehabbing, the depth chart behind rookie Jardarian Price is thin.
Coming off a 179 PPR-point 2025, but the ACL recovery is the whole story.
- Harden signed with Browns undrafted, waived last week
- Charbonnet: 730 rush yds, 12 TD in 2025 (16 games)
- Charbonnet ranks #82 overall, #24 RB pre-injury
- Rookie Jardarian Price tops Seattle's RB depth chart
- Seahawks waived CB Brandon Johnson, LB Garrett Nelson
The Seahawks kept churning the bottom of their roster Wednesday, signing undrafted running back T.J. Harden and cornerback Jordan Washington while cutting corner Brandon Johnson and linebacker Garrett Nelson to clear the space. Harden landed in Cleveland as an undrafted rookie out of SMU this year, only to get waived last week — Seattle scooped him up before he could sit on the street long.
None of that moves the fantasy needle by itself. What matters is why Seattle is stockpiling backs at all: Zach Charbonnet is still working his way back from a torn ACL, and rookie Jardarian Price currently sits atop the depth chart in his absence. That's the real headline hiding inside a routine transaction wire.
Charbonnet was legitimately good in 2025. He piled up 730 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns across 16 games, added 20 catches for 144 yards, and finished with 179 PPR points — enough to land him at our overall rank of #82 and #24 among running backs heading into the offseason. Over his final five games last year he ran 3.2 fantasy points per game above his own season average, so this isn't a guy limping toward irrelevance. He's rehabbing from a knee, not fading from talent.
What the Depth Signals Mean
Signing camp bodies like Harden tells you Seattle isn't rushing Charbonnet back and wants insurance behind Price. That's normal August roster management, but it's also a nudge for fantasy managers to keep their expectations calibrated to the calendar. A player recovering from an ACL doesn't have a guaranteed timeline, and the front office is behaving accordingly.
Harden and Washington themselves are deep-league dart throws at best. Washington tried out at rookie minicamp before transferring from Dartmouth to Stanford for 2025 — that's a name to file away, not to draft. Johnson, freshly waived, brings just 2 PPR points from his 2024 stint (3 games) with him out the door, so there's nothing to chase there either.
The actionable read: don't overreact to the transaction, but do watch Charbonnet closely as camp progresses. If his rehab stays on schedule, that #24 RB finish from 2025 makes him a strong mid-round value with real touchdown upside. If Price keeps running with the ones into September, discount accordingly. For now, monitor the practice reports and let his draft-day price tell you how much risk the market is pricing in.
