The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to get the Kenneth Walker III that the Seattle Seahawks had during their run to winning Super Bowl LX. After winning Super Bowl MVP honors, the Seahawks decided to let Walker walk in free agency.
Last season with the Seahawks, Walker earned an 88.4 overall PFF grade while carrying the ball 221 times for 1,027 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Moreover, in the passing game, Walker caught 31 passes on 34 targets for 282 receiving yards.
During his time with Seattle, Walker split the carries with Zach Charbonnet. However, now with the Chiefs, he’s their RB1 after signing a three-year deal worth $43.05 million with $28.7 million in fully guaranteed money.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid shared his thoughts on Walker and that they intend to lean on him in their running game, especially with Patrick Mahomes returning from injury.
“We’ll utilize him,” Reid told Rich Eisen in a May 15 video from the “Rich Eisen Show.” “He’s a great addition to the offense, and I think he’s excited to be here. He’s been here every day during the OTAs, working his tail off, and I think he’s really looking forward to the opportunity to play.
“I guess we’ll have to use him. Maybe more than we’ve been accustomed to. You may see us run the football more or dedicate ourselves to running the football on a week-to-week basis.”
Seahawks Get Major Concern Over Jadarian Price
The Seahawks didn’t waste time replacing Walker in the 2026 NFL Draft, selecting Jadarian Price in the first round. Moreover, Seattle will lean on Price right out of the gate, given that Charbonnet is recovering from an ACL tear.
Nonetheless, recently, former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew expressed concern about the player the Seahawks are tasking with replacing Walker.
“His biggest issue is his fumbling problem,“ Jones-Drew said on the May 14 edition of “89 with Steve Smith and James Palmer.” “He’ll put the ball on the ground a little bit, and, as I said, what you are on Saturday, nine out of 10 times, you’ll be that on Sunday. I think he’s more of a natural runner than Jeremiyah Love. I don’t think he’s as explosive, but he’s probably a better pass catcher. But when you fumble the football, none of that matters.
“You’re talking about a game where guys don’t even try to tackle you anymore in the NFL. They try to punch the ball out. So, if you’re already fumbling the football and coaches are teaching defenders to punch it out and do all these things, I’m concerned. That was the only negative about him, and that’s why I had him so low. I think he had six fumbles or something like that. It was just too many fumbles.”
Running Back Outlook for Seattle
It will be interesting to see if Price can replace Walker and allow the Seahawks’ front office to know they made the right decision not to pay the running back what the Chiefs did this offseason.
Should Price take advantage of the carries that he will be getting to start the season, the Seahawks running attack might not skip a beat, even with the departure of the Super Bowl LX MVP.
Chiefs HC Issues Clear Message on Ex-Seahawks Kenneth Walker III