The Seattle Seahawks are facing the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7, which means conversations over the team’s decision to let Kenneth Walker III leave as a free agent are at the forefront.
Walker was coming off an MVP performance in Super Bowl LX, making it a difficult decision for Seattle to let him walk. However, the Seahawks likely wanted to allocate that money toward retaining other players.
Nonetheless, the running back would land a three-year, $43.05 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, 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.
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.”
Seahawks Have to Get Two Key Players Going
Moreover, Wilson believes that if the Seahawks can get Shaheed and Jadarian Price, once he returns from injury, going, then the conversation around whether they made a mistake with Walker will begin to quiet down.
“If they can get Shaheed going, and I say the new offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, some of that whole question about whether we should have Kenneth Walker, I think, starts to dissipate. The next thing is the rookie, Jadarian Price. He comes in as a first-round pick. It hasn’t really worked out in the first few games. He also sustained an injury and hasn’t played.
“I think Seahawks fans need to give this guy a little bit of grace before we say, ‘Okay, this is a terrible mistake. We should have had Kenneth Walker.’ Don’t get me wrong, in Andy Reid’s offense with Patrick Mahomes, Kenneth Walker has been out of this world. He looks like the Offensive Player of the Year thus far, but it’s still very early and it’s not just a direct comparison here.”
Seattle Receives Candid Message on QB Situation
While the Seahawks will be judged on whether they made a mistake allowing Walker to leave, they have other issues given their two-game losing streak, and one of them is the play at QB.
Despite conversation regarding the Seahawks’ QB position and whether Darnold should remain the starter, Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus believes that making a change won’t fix the team’s issues.
“This isn’t Madden,” Bumpus said in an Oct. 16 video from Seattle Sports. “People talk as if they don’t know what they’re doing. How quickly do you jump ship from a team that brought you a Super Bowl? Sam, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, is turning the ball over. Yes, he is. He’s turning the ball over. Just inserting another quarterback is not going to fix it.”
Seahawks Get Blunt Take on Kenneth Walker III Decision Before Chiefs Game