The Kansas City Chiefs’ offense has a new kind of jolt this season, and Kenneth Walker III is already stacking up numbers that put him in rare company for the Patrick Mahomes era.
Through four games, Walker has ripped off 87 carries for 537 rushing yards and four touchdowns. That production has pushed him all the way to eighth on the list of Mahomes’ career rushing support, a ranking that sports writer Scott Kacsmar highlighted with a striking comparison to the top 10 leading rushers for some of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
That list still starts with Isiah Pacheco, who owns the top two spots after piling up 935 rushing yards in 2023 and 830 in 2022. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kareem Hunt, Darrell Williams, and Damien Williams also show up among the Chiefs backs who have helped Mahomes along the way.
What makes Walker’s start so eye-catching is how quickly he’s climbed there. He’s already only 200 rushing yards away from cracking the top five, and if this pace holds, he won’t stay buried on the list for long.
The Chiefs have never been a run-first team in the Mahomes era, which makes sense for a team that has always leaned into the passing game. But as Mahomes has gotten older, Andy Reid has pushed the run game more often, and Kansas City finally has a back in Walker who can make that shift matter.
The Chiefs are 4-0 to start the 2026 season, and they’ve done it while looking much more like the version of themselves that can control games again. There’s even talk of a reunion with Tyreek Hill to add another layer to the offense, but Walker has already been the offseason addition that changed things most.
With Walker now in Kansas City on a long-term deal, the Chiefs’ outlook looks bright again. They’ll use their Week 5 bye to get ready for a Week 6 matchup against the Chargers.
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Chiefs Fans May See Marquez Valdes-Scantling Very Differently After This
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Valdes-Scantling recently pushed back on the familiar chatter about his dropped passes, saying on social media that he held himself accountable and that the team never publicly criticized him. For a player whose postseason rsum includes touchdowns in Super Bowl LVIII and the AFC Championship Game, it is another reminder that the biggest moments of his Chiefs tenure may not always align with the loudest memories. [Read more 🡒]