Charbonnet Drafted in Second Round by Seahawks
April 28, 2023 | Football
LOS ANGELES โย UCLA football running back Zach Charbonnet was selected in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft Friday. Charbonnet was picked 52nd overall by the Seattle Seahawks. It is the earliest a Bruin running back has been selected since DeShaun Foster, his current position coach at UCLA, was chosen with the 34th overall pick of the 2002 draft. Maurice Jones-Drew was also picked in the second round, but went 60th overall in 2006. Charbonnet's selection marks the fourth straight draft which has featured a Bruin running back.
Charbonnet led the nation in all-purpose yards last season with a 168.0 yards per game average. He topped the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game with a 135.9-yard average which rated fourth in the FBS. Charbonnet also ranked fourth nationally in rushing yards per carry average (6.97). He racked up eight 100-yard rushing games in 2022, topped by a pair of 198-yard performances in wins against Utah and Stanford. His total of 1,359 rushing yards (19th in the nation) last season made Charbonnet the ninth Bruin to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He is just the second player in UCLA history to record at least 150 yards rushing over three straight games (also Karim Abdul-Jabbar in 1995). In addition to his rushing exploits, Charbonnet also ranked third on the team in receptions last season with 37 catches for 321 yards.
ย
ย Charbonnet was aย first-team member of the 2022 Football Writer's Association of America Team, presented in partnership by the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.ย He was recognized as a second-team All-America pickย at running back by CBS Sports and as a second-teamย all-purpose player by the Associated Press, PFF and The Sporting News. Charbonnetย was a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year Award, as well as aย first-team selection by the Pac-12 coaches for the all-conference team.
During his two seasons at UCLA, Charbonnet totaled 27 rushing touchdowns and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. He caught a total of 61 passes for 518 yards. The Oaks Christian School product compiled a total of 15 100-yard rushing games while at UCLA. In 2021, he was named the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press and a second-team All-Pac-12 pick by the league coaches after rushing for 1,137 yards.
With his selection by the Seahawks, Charbonnet joins Brittain Brown (2022-Raiders), Demetric Felton (2021-Browns) and Joshua Kelley (2020-Chargers) to mark the fourth straight season in which a Bruin running back has been picked in the draft.
The 2023 NFL Draft concludes Saturday with Rounds 4-7. Coverage on ESPN and NFL Network begins at 9 a.m. PT.
