Two weeks into the 2026 season, Kenneth Walker III has already made the league look like it’s chasing him.
The Chiefs back has ripped off 290 rushing yards, and that number alone tells part of the story. The more eye-opening piece is what he’s done once defenders get hands on him: 243 yards after contact.
Derrick Henry sits at 212 rushing yards, but Walker has already piled up more damage after contact than Henry has total yards. That’s the kind of start that makes the rest of the running back field feel a step behind.
Before Bijan Robinson broke loose for 194 yards on Thursday night to open Week 3, Walker was sitting on a 78-yard lead over Henry for the NFL rushing lead. Robinson’s big night nudged him ahead of Walker by 59 yards, but Robinson has played three games to Walker’s two.
The efficiency has been just as loud as the volume. Walker has forced 29 missed tackles through two weeks, including 15 in Week 2 after forcing 14 in the opener. That Week 2 total even topped his previous career high of 14, and it came with the Chiefs saying they plan to trim his workload a bit after he’s touched the ball 56 times in two games.
That may not matter much if he keeps running like this. Walker has been the NFL’s best back after contact, and his mix of elusiveness and power keeps showing up no matter how many touches he gets. The production has been there every time he’s asked to carry the load.
It’s a familiar sight for Michigan State fans, who watched Walker thrive once he was finally handed the keys to an offense. They remember him becoming the nation’s best running back, then hearing his name fall to the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft anyway. They also watched him share work with Zach Charbonnet and give up the goal-line snaps to the RB2, a setup that looked a lot like his time at Wake Forest, where he split carries with an inferior back.
Once Walker got a new home, the career took off. When Charbonnet got hurt and Walker surged all the way to the Super Bowl, where he won MVP, nobody in East Lansing was surprised. Now he’s the centerpiece of a strong Chiefs offense, and he’s producing the way Spartan fans always believed he would.
In Other News...
Michigan State Suddenly Faces A Cam Edwards Question Fans Feared
The sight was as jarring as it was sudden in Nebraska: Cam Edwards went down after a tackle in the first quarter and had to leave on a medical cart, a scene that quickly shifted the focus away from the game itself. Michigan State had been counting on Edwards to be part of its offensive rhythm, and losing him so early left the Spartans scrambling to adjust on the fly.
What comes next is the part Michigan State cannot fully answer yet. The immediate concern is the extent of the leg injury, but the larger question is how much his absence could change the look and production of an offense that was built with him in mind. Until there is more clarity, the Spartans are left waiting on the one update that matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Former Spartans Keep Making Michigan State Fans Feel The Loss
Indianas trip through Big Ten play brought another reminder of how much roster movement has reshaped the conference, and it came with two familiar names for Michigan State fans. Nick Marsh and Aidan Chiles, both former Spartans now playing elsewhere, were part of a game that had the look of a showcase for players who once wore green and white before moving on.
Marsh made his mark with a touchdown grab and another productive afternoon as he topped 50 receiving yards for the third straight game, while Chiles was sharp in defeat despite Northwesterns loss. The quarterback put together one of his better outings of the season, and the way both players are performing now only adds to the lingering sense in East Lansing that the Spartans are watching their former pieces thrive in new places. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious After This Loss
Michigan States home loss to Nebraska came with the kind of frustrating backdrop that tends to linger long after the final whistle. Injuries had already thinned the Spartans at key spots, and the game felt like it kept tilting away from them with every controversial call, every stalled drive, and every chance that slipped through their hands. Even so, Michigan State managed to put together a spirited second-half push and made enough notable plays to keep the night alive deep into the fourth quarter.
But the comeback never fully took hold, and the details of how it unraveled will sting. Nebraska kept extending possessions, the Spartans were hurt by turnovers, and late touchdowns ended up putting the result out of reach despite the effort to rally. For a fan base already bracing for a long night, the mix of injuries, officiating gripes, and missed opportunities made this one feel especially hard to swallow. [Read more 🡒]