Kenneth Walker didn’t need long to remind people what kind of back he is.
In his first game with the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night against the Denver Broncos, the former Seattle Seahawks running back was electric. He piled up 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, a hefty 7.5 yards per attempt, and added three catches for 18 yards. Those 173 rushing yards were the most ever for an RB playing with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
For Seahawks fans, that kind of debut can land in a strange place: impressive, but not exactly painful. Walker spent four seasons in Seattle, and while he was never the loudest guy in the room, he did plenty of his talking on the field. He also left a real mark on the Seahawks’ run to a Super Bowl last season, when Zach Charbonnet went down in the Divisional Round against the San Francisco 49ers and Walker suddenly had to handle almost everything at running back.
He answered. In year four, he stayed healthy and turned in the best football of his NFL career.
That matters in Seattle, because there’s a strong argument the Seahawks don’t win the title without him. That’s why 12s are likely to keep him in good standing, even now that he’s wearing Chiefs red.
He may have missed too much time because of injuries in his second and third seasons, but there was never any question about his willingness to play. When he finally got through a full year healthy, he made it count.
Seattle has its own answer in rookie running back Jadarian Price, a first-round draft choice this year who has already shown what he can do in a Seahawks uniform. Price didn’t come close to Walker’s yardage in Week 1, but the expectation is that both backs will be very good with their new teams.
And Walker gave Kansas City exactly the kind of jolt Seattle fans remember well. On 4th-and-1 in the third quarter, he ripped off a 60-yard touchdown run, the sort of burst that makes him so dangerous when he’s rolling.
The Chiefs paid him more and gave him the chance to avoid sharing the backfield with another runner, and Walker took the deal. Hard to argue with that. For Seattle fans, the reaction can be simple: happy for him, as long as he doesn’t do that to the Seahawks.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo May Have Just Moved Ahead For A Huge 2027 Target
Michigan State used a recent recruiting weekend to put two of its top 2027 targets in front of Tom Izzo and his staff, welcoming five-star point guard Antonio Pemberton and four-star center Jaydn Jenkins to campus. The timing mattered, too, with the Spartans continuing to lean into early evaluation and relationship-building as they try to position themselves well for a class that is still taking shape.
Now there is real momentum to monitor with Pemberton, the No. 23 overall prospect in the 2027 class. A report from Joe Tipton suggests Michigan State has emerged as the favorite for the top-25 recruit, a sign that the Spartans may have moved ahead in a recruitment that still has room to evolve. For a program that has long sold player development and trust, landing in front this early is the kind of progress Izzo wants to see. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Pretzlaff Just Took On A Bigger Michigan State Role
Michigan State is off to a 2-0 start in its first season under Pat Fitzgerald, and the latest win came with a familiar test for a defense trying to establish its identity early. In a 35-7 victory over Eastern Michigan at Spartan Stadium, the Spartans got another strong team showing, but the day also created room for a different voice to emerge when the defense needed one.
With Jordan Hall unavailable, redshirt sophomore Brady Pretzlaff handled a larger responsibility and spoke afterward about stepping into the moment, the standards Michigan State expects on defense and how much it means just to be back on the field. For a program still settling in under a new coach, that kind of growth matters almost as much as the scoreboard, especially when the next stretch will ask even more from the players now carrying the load. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Is Counting On Anton Bonke To Silence One Doubt
Michigan States interior picture is taking shape around Anton Bonke, the 7-foot-2 transfer from Charlotte who is expected to step in as the starting center after Carson Cooper. Tom Izzo has shown plenty of confidence in Bonke, and the Spartans are banking on the blend of size, development and continuity that has long been part of the programs identity. Bonke is also expected to help ease the transition for incoming freshman Ethan Taylor, which adds another layer to why his role matters so much early.
Still, there is a bit of outside skepticism attached to the assignment. College Basketball Report left Bonke off its Top 30 centers in college basketball, even as several Big Ten big men earned spots on the list, underscoring how much Michigan State is asking him to prove right away. For a program that tends to trust its own developmental track, Bonkes season will be about more than simply filling minutes in the middle. [Read more 🡒]