Kenneth Walker III's absence may affect Seahawks' kick returns

There is little doubt that the Seattle Seahawks best running back is Kenneth Walker III. He creates yards that simply aren't there due to the poor run-blocking of the offensive line in front of him. Walker's dismal 3.7 yards per carry would be even worse except 2.0 of those yards happens after Walker is first hit by a defender.

Due to a lack of an ability to run the ball, Seattle's offense has been struggling. The unit was expected to be one of the strengths of the team, but the Seahawks have only put up 20 offensive points in a game (and it was just 20 points) twice since Week 7. In the past two weeks combined, the team has scored a total of 42 points, but 12 of those points were from interception returns.

Without Walker, Seattle has little chance of consistent success when running the ball. The issue is that the running back is questionable ahead of the team's Week 14 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Walker is dealing with injuries to both his ankle and calf. If he cannot play, backup Zach Charbonnet will get most of his carries.

The Seattle Seahawks kick return strategy might change if Kenneth Walker III cannot play in Week 14

A problem might arise with the kick return game because of that, however. In Week 13 against the New York Jets, kick returners Lavsika Shenault, Jr. and Dee Williams played as if they had never taken part in a football game before. Combined, the two muffed or outright fumbled three different kick returns. Shenault managed to muff one kickoff and then fumbled the ball after he corralled the ball he lost.

The Seahawks' special teams versus the Jets was as embarrassing of a performance that a team could have.

In the days ahead of the Arizona game, Seattle released both Shenault and Williams, and the team signed Jaelon Darden. Darden has been in the league for four years and has returned both punts and kicks, though he hasn't been overly successful with kick returns. Besides Darden, the Seahawks were also giving other players a chance to show what they might be able to do when returning kickoffs.

One of those players was Charbonnet. Backup running back Kenny McIntosh was also a returner in practice this week. Should Walker not be able to play versus the Cardinals, risking Charbonnet, especially, and McIntosh to injury by having them return kickoffs would seem foolish. Perhaps the best hope for Seattle is that the Cardinals kick the ball into the end zone any time they kick off so that the Seahawks are never faced with a decision on whether to try to return the kick or not.

Update: Walker has been ruled out of Week 14.

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