Height: 6'1"
Weight: 220
College: UCLA
Projected 40: 4.45
Strength: Contact balance
Weakness: Change of direction
Charbonnet has some scheme versatility (gap/power and zone) to his game, but he's a much better runner with space to move in a gap/power offense. Chip Kelly does a great job of maximizing the skillsets of his athletes. Charbonnet's UCLA tape is filled with open space opportunities that allow him to showcase his move-stringing ability to create chunk gains.
Charbonnet has good vision and patience to pair with his love for space. Here he patiently waits for his blocks to unfold and we see him get to work in space. He pulls the safety down to him, then cuts around the lineman (#71) into space. The short area movement isn't quick or sharp, but it gets the job done and he gains speed, looking for contact. He throws himself into the oncoming defender and drags a few Oregon Ducks with him to finish the run.
Charbonnet seeks out contact in space and defenders struggle to corral him. He makes his money by initiating contact and he drives with an insanely tough lower half. His re-acceleration (how he accelerates after making a cut or breaking a tackle) isn't special, but his contact balance and tackle-breaking ability are top-notch.
Cutback lanes and gaps will close faster in the NFL than in the PAC-12, but Charbonnet has shown that he can locate cutback lanes on plays like this outside zone run. An offensive lineman falls down and Charbonnet is left to improvise. He decelerates and uses a jump cut to take this run inside and around the downed lineman, then "gets skinny" between the tackles and nearly punches this in (He scores on the next play). Identifying cutback lanes is essential for a runner at the NFL level. He should be able to execute these concepts if he ends up in a zone heavy scheme.
