Kenneth Walker III is back. His understudy, Zach Charbonnet, got his time to shine, but Walker will be needed to cut through the Vikings' crucible of a defense. After a demoralizing beatdown at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in primetime, the ensuing game against their divisional big brothers in Minnesota feels like a David and Goliath mismatch.
Walker has been a dynamic piece running the rock; he is a back who can make something out of nothing at times. Appropriately enough, that's exactly what the Seahawks may need to do as a team this week.
Seattle may need a little Houdini, a little razzle-dazzle, if you will. The Minnesota Vikings come to town with an NFC-best 12 wins. Their quarterback is revived and efficient and their defense is dictating games to lesser teams. The nice thing for the Seahawks is that there is finally a bit of
stability now, upfront these days, with Cross, Tomlinson, Oluwatimi, Laumea, and Lucas now playing together for multiple games in a row.
Here's the key truth: We've all seen offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's air raid offense struggle to consistently put up points at times. Head coach Mike Macdonald has stressed the importance of running the ball better and more often, directly addressing the unit's need for improvement. It's time to let the K9 run loose. Feed him and see if he can make as much hay as Charbonnet did when you finally gave him the work (30 rush attempts in the last two weeks).
Three bold predictions for Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III in Week 16 against the Vikings
Whenever Zach Charbonnet received 18 or more carries, he scored between 24-34 points. As the lead back, Kenneth Walker has only received 18+ run attempts twice himself all year. Charby's games were both against league-average or worse run defenses, while Walker's games were against teams that are better than league-average at defending the run (according to Yahoo fantasy football standard settings).
Minnesota is a squad that is allowing the second-fewest rushing yards allowed per game, so full systems will need to be a go. Sorry fantasy fans, but we are building a game plan to achieve team success... not your fake team's success.
Me seeing this after searching “Kenneth walker” pic.twitter.com/HDmucLS2h4
— Wing (@CJWYSue) December 12, 2024
Prediction 1: Kenneth Walker will split carries with Charbonnet, but both will garner double digit touches
Zach proved some of the haters wrong in his spot duty as lead back for Kenneth. I myself had doubts about his lack of speed, explosion, and aggression before this stretch. Fast forward to nowadays, and Charbonnet has clearly earned a piece of the pie. Walker III is also an elite talent who can reverse field and change the game in a flash, so both men can contribute.
If you're the Seahawks, you've got to try something else, because facing this defense in pass mode all day behind a sputtering offensive line does not sound like a great idea. Getting them both involved as emergency outlets in the passing game may get them both more involved as well, getting them each to at least 10 combined touches (rush attempts + catches). This may be the key to disallowing the Vikings from pinning their collective ears back and rushing ferociously on every down.
Prediction 2: KWIII will rack up over 100 total yards against the Vikings' top-2 defense
Both teams that beat the Vikings so far this year (Lions, Rams) have something in common: both went over the century mark on the ground. I believe that If Seattle platoons, they can get there, but it might take all of Walker, Charbonnet, and even QB Geno Smith. Despite giving up the fourth-fewest points to running backs (at least according to Yahoo Fantasy, again), K9 will gain over 100 combined yards. He'll most likely have to do it on the ground as well as through the air, but Minny will be missing linebacker Ivan Pace (as they have been for a few games).
The truth is, the way Coach Macdonald has shown the willingness to move on from players if they can't pull off his vision, coaches should feel a little of the pressure as well. OC Ryan Grubb could be stating his own case for why he should retain his job moving forward. If that's the case, he'll need to unlock the immense potential that K9 has always possessed. That will also include tapping into what this offensive line has been best at for stretches this season: run blocking.
Prediction 3: Walker III will get into the end zone twice this week to put his stamp on this game
I'll make this short and sweet. The last time Ken Walker came back from a multi-game absence was Week 3… he went for 80 yards and three TDs against the Detroit Lions. He will have multiple scores against the new iteration of the Purple People Eaters on Sunday. Let's hope he can be a spark that helps to get this offense back on track, and capable of contending with an NFC heavyweight.