The Seattle Seahawks may have passed on giving Kenneth Walker III a new contract after his Super Bowl heroics, but that hasn’t changed how impressed the team’s head coach is with the running back.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald spoke out about Walker this week, just after a report that the team never considered offering a new contract to the running back an offer when he hit free agency. Walker instead signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and has gotten off to a league-best start to the year.
Walker will face his former team this weekend, and Macdonald said he expects a challenge.
Mike Macdonald Praises Kenneth Walker III
In an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio this week, Macdonald said he’s been impressed with Walker’s start to the season. Macdonald said the Chiefs have done a great job utilizing the veteran running back, while Walker is giving opposing defenses headaches with his hard-charging style.
“Ken’s playing really great football,” Macdonald said. “I think it’s a combination of, you see the stats and you’re like, man, that’s a lot of stats. And then you turn the tape on and see how they’re playing and how he’s playing and you’re like, ‘That makes sense. No one has tackled this guy yet.’ It’s the things we knew about Ken, that he does really well. He’s so strong, he’s decisive, he’s got great vision. He’s also come alive in the pass game. They’re doing a great job with him. He’s playing probably at the highest level in the league right now.”
Walker leads the NFL across several categories this year, including total rushing yards (665), yards per attempt (6.3), and yards per game (133). He has scored six touchdowns on the ground and another two through the air, accumulating 760 yards from scrimmage through just five games.
Macdonald said he expects his former running back to give his defense a difficult time on Sunday night.
“It’s got to be a team effort on defense,” Macdonald said. “It’s gonna take waves of Seattle defense to eliminate those explosive plays he’s been able to create.”
Seahawks Passed on Extending Kenneth Walker III
The Seahawks never made an attempt to keep Walker after he earned Super Bowl MVP honors last season, The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar reported this week. He reported that the team had no “serious discussions” about extending their former second-round pick, knowing that they couldn’t afford his new contract.
“Walker’s postseason performance put him in such high demand that he effectively priced himself out of Seattle, which didn’t make a contract offer ahead of free agency, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly about the matter,” Dugar wrote.
Seahawks HC Sends Message to Kenneth Walker After Report Team Turned Him Down