The Seattle Seahawks will face a familiar face in Kenneth Walker III when the Kansas City Chiefs travel to Lumen Field. Moreover, after leaving Seattle in free agency earlier this year, Walker has built on his Super Bowl LX MVP award and hit the ground running in Kansas City.
Walker landed a three-year, $43.05 million contract with the Chiefs this past offseason, and so far he’s been worth every single dollar and more. Walker has played 241 total snaps for the Chiefs, leading to a 90.8 overall PFF grade.
Moreover, the Chiefs star has carried the ball 106 times for 665 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Walker has also forced 41 missed tackles as a runner while averaging 4.4 yards after contact per attempt. Meanwhile, in the passing game, he has caught 14 passes on 19 targets for 95 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Despite this production, the Seahawks received a welcoming prediction from CBS Sports’ Leger Douzable, who predicts Walker’s regression will begin in this game against Seattle.
“For a regression, which you would assume is going to happen,” Douzable said in an Oct. 22 video from CBS Sports. “At this pace, it’s ridiculous and I think it starts this week. That is a tough defense to run the football against because of those two war daddies they have in the middle, Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy.
“You don’t think that [Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald] is going to know that the key focal point of the Kansas City offense is to minimize what Kenneth Walker III does? He’s going to do everything in his power to make sure that Mahomes and that Chiefs offense are in second and third-and-long. That way, their pass rushers can really get after the quarterback.”
Seahawks HC Could Cause Kenneth Walker III’s Regression
Moreover, Douzable believes that Macdonald will be the key reason that Walker regresses from his production in this game against the Seahawks.
“They feel like maybe they can take advantage of that if they get them in those third-and-long and advantageous downs,” Douzable added. “So I think Coach Macdonald, because he is a defensive genius — we always talk about these offensive geniuses — Mike Macdonald is one of those defensive geniuses.
“He’s going to try to minimize the guy. I don’t think it has anything to do with Kenneth Walker coming back to Seattle. It has more to do with taking away what the Chiefs have done really well.”
Did Seattle Make Mistake With Kenneth Walker III?
Throughout the week, there’s been discussion about whether Seattle made a mistake allowing Walker to leave as a free agent. Nonetheless, former Seahawks tight end and TSN NFL analyst Luke Willson shared his thoughts on whether Seattle made a mistake allowing Walker to leave.
“It certainly seems like it’s a massive one, but I do think we’re a little too quick to completely stamp that as a mistake,” Wilson said on an Oct. 21 appearance on TSN.
“The reason being here is you look at Seattle. Some of the money they spent on offense this offseason went toward Rashid Shaheed, also a special teams guy, and that offense in Seattle has struggled mightily. So, that being said, I don’t think they’re completely cooked yet, as we like to use that term.”
Kenneth Walker III Gets Concerning Prediction Before Seahawks Game