The Seattle Seahawks knew they had a talent at running back in Kenneth Walker after he burst onto the scene in his rookie year witt 1,050 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
In his second year, Walker was again a beacon of consistent production for the Seahawks offense under Shane Waldron.
While Walker didn't eclipse his rushing yard total from his rookie season (905 yards), he still showed enough to suggest that he will be the lead back in Seattle for a long time.
But when measuring up Walker's efforts against the 72 other starting running backs from the season, NFL.com has listed Walker at No. 21 among the position.
"Walker continued to be an explosive element of the Seahawks' offense when on the field, as he eclipsed 1,100 scrimmage yards and scored nine touchdowns for the second straight season," NFL.com writes. "Even with Zach Charbonnet in the mix, Walker is the clear front-runner to lead this backfield in 2024, due to his explosiveness and sheer talent."
Walker only managed one 100-yard rushing game this season but did have a four-week stretch where he rushed for a touchdown in each game, totaling six touchdowns in that span.
Walker has shown he can be a consistent contributor for the Seahawks on offense in his two seasons thus far, and expect that to continue next year even with second-year Zach Charbonnet potentially taking some of his carries.
Walker has made a name for himself as a punishing runner who, when he gets a head of steam going, can be tough to stop. Not to mention his ability to be a receiving option out of the backfield, too, as he posted 29 catches for 259 yards and one score this past season.
While he may have had a down season compared to his rookie year, if Walker can continue to show the kind of improvement in his third year that many expect, then we imagine he will be significantly higher than No. 21 next year.
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