In his four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, running back Kenneth Walker III never surpassed 230 carries. He was constantly part of a split backfield rather than taking on a workhorse role. Those limited opportunities irked plenty of Seahawks fans, and frustrated Walker himself at times, though he never let those frustrations affect the team.
Throughout the 2025 regular season, Walker never reached 20 carries in a single game. He only hit that mark twice in 2024.
After his first two weeks with the Kansas City Chiefs, it looked like he was finally getting the full workload that the Seahawks never game him. The Chiefs gave him 56 touches in those two games, and he turned them into over 350 total yards.
Heading into Week 3, it looks like the Chiefs are coming around to adopt the Seahawks' strategy with Walker, at least to some extent. Per ESPN's Nate Taylor, Andy Reid and the Chiefs intend to scale Walker's workload back "a little bit" for the rest of the season.
Chiefs are learning former Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker is best in smaller doses
In the modern NFL, there just aren't many running backs who can sustain a workload of 25 or more carries each game throughout a season. Outside of Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor, we don't have many modern examples of true workhorse backs.
Walker already proved that he can be productive with a heavy workload, both during the Seahawks' playoff run last season and through his first two games with the Chiefs. But an explosive back like him, especially one with a fairly extensive injury history, is best when kept somewhat fresh.
In conjunction with lightening the load on Walker, the Chiefs plan to give more carries to rookie Emmett Johnson.
In reality, the sweet spot is likely somewhere between the Seahawks' and Chiefs' usage of Walker. He can handle a significant workload, but rotating in another back can only help his health and longevity. The Seahawks may have leaned a bit too much on Zach Charbonnet in recent years when they could have given Walker more touches.
Of course, the Chiefs' intentions to limit Walker's touches are nothing more than talk at the moment. We'll see how much they put the ball in the running back's hands in their biggest games this season. But at the moment, it looks like they're moving closer to Seattle's strategy of managing his workload.
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