Kenneth Walker has been a scoring guru for the Seattle Seahawks for the past two seasons. Although relying on touchdowns and big plays is risky, depending on where he goes in your fantasy draft, will be a gamble worth taking.
With new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, former head coach for the Washington Huskies, the Seahawks offense will be vastly different for 2024. Despite more three-receiver sets and more pass-heavy looks, with two capable backs, Seattle should still rely on running the ball with Geno Smith at quarterback.
While capable as a veteran, leaning on their rushing attack on the back of Walker still makes sense, as he’s been reliable, despite injuries, ever since he was drafted in 2022 as a second-rounder from Michigan State.
Can the 23-year-old workhorse get back to over 1,000 rushing yards in 2024 and be a value once again in fantasy drafts?
Kenneth Walker III 2023 Stats and Fantasy Production
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Despite some thinking former second-round rookie Zach Charbonnet would cut into Kenneth Walker‘s workload, that didn’t materialize into anything serious in 2023.
Like his rookie year, Walker didn’t play the full set of games, only appearing in 15 like the season before. Some injuries for him lingered in the regular season and with a poor run-blocking unit, that led to a worse season compared to 2022 for rushing yards.
On 219 carries, he finished this past year with 905 yards on the ground, going over 1,000 in 2022 as a rookie on 228 carries.
The offensive line for Seattle was way more banged up in 2023 than the previous year, as Charbonnet was used to spell Walker for a handful of carries, but not the valuable touches.
At 5’9″ and 211 pounds, he is known as the power back for their goal line packages, while being extremely effective at it. Walker scored 8 touchdowns on the ground in 2023, with 9 in 2022, along with 1 receiving touchdown.
While he won’t be a high-level receiving threat out of the backfield, as long as he is productive with the carries he’s given, Walker has been viable in PPR and more valuable in standard or half PPR with the consistent touchdowns.
In 2022, he was a top 20 running back in fantasy after he was traded in leagues or dropped after a slow start, despite not getting starting reps till Week 5, according to FantasyPros. Walker stayed about the same as the 19th-ranked running back this past year, as it was more boom or bust than the previous season.
The Seahawks should be an improved offensive unit, and that will help out the star running back somewhat with his consistency and solid floor of touchdown looks from his NFL career so far.
Kenneth Walker III 2024 Fantasy Outlook
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This upcoming year, Kenneth Walker is being looked at as the 17th-ranked running back, according to Fantasy Pros. I would consider that appropriate, but perhaps closer to the top 15 or a value if he slips somewhat in favor of other running backs in that range.
The Seattle Seahawks have the 8th easiest schedule for running backs, making him enticing to grab in the range of rounds 4 or 5 in PPR. This is among the likes of Aaron Jones, Joe Mixon, James Cook, Alvin Kamara, De’Von Achane, Derrick Henry, Isiah Pacheco, and Josh Jacobs.
I would put Walker in the middle of that group, as new players join new teams, it will be interesting to see how a running back as talented as him is utilized in Grubb’s more downfield offense. While this could be seen as not ideal, it actually could lead to more carries in the red zone, keeping him fresh, and fewer touches near the 50 if explosive plays are made by their pass catchers.
Not to mention Kenneth Walker can always break off for 50 plus yards as well anywhere on the field.
Final Thoughts on Kenneth Walker III
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For the Seattle Seahawks, Kenneth Walker has been the alpha and led them in rushing yards and touchdowns the past two seasons. Although there could be a dip in carries in general, it would be to keep him fresh for the money downs, especially near the goal line.
Off that alone, the young rusher can be productive for fantasy football in any format, with a catch or two that goes off for a decent chunk of yards.
Walker still has great upside, as I am sure new head coach Mike Macdonald ultimately would like to rely on his defense and pull a page from the Baltimore Ravens and run the ball like Pete Carroll intended, unless it’s in the playoffs or Super Bowl.
If Kenneth Walker can manage the workload and stay healthy all season, the theoretical upside is anyone’s guess but one thing is for sure, it’s way up.
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