Kenneth Walker III Has Hit His Stride - Just in Time for the NFC Championship
Kenneth Walker III has always had the kind of speed that makes defensive coordinators lose sleep. He can turn a crease into a chunk play, and a missed tackle into a house call. But early in his career, that home-run mindset came with a price - too much hesitation, too much dancing behind the line, and too many negative plays.
That version of Walker? He’s starting to fade into the rearview mirror.
Since Week 10, the Seahawks’ fourth-year running back has flipped the script in a big way. According to FTN Fantasy, Walker has been stuffed at or behind the line on just 12.7% of his carries - a massive improvement from the 24.5% rate he posted over the season’s first nine weeks.
To put that in context, he hovered in the 21-23% range during his first three seasons. This isn’t just a hot streak.
It’s growth.
And here’s the kicker: he’s done it without losing the explosive element that made him so dangerous in the first place. Since Week 10, 14.9% of Walker’s carries have gone for 10 or more yards - virtually identical to his 15.1% explosive run rate from the first half of the season. In other words, he’s found a way to marry discipline with dynamism.
The result? The best stretch of his NFL career - and it couldn’t be coming at a better time.
Walker is averaging 5.0 yards per carry since Week 10 and has topped 90 rushing yards in three of his last four games. That includes a dominant 116-yard, three-touchdown performance in last week’s 41-6 dismantling of the 49ers in the divisional round. He wasn’t just good - he was the engine of an offense that looked borderline unstoppable.
“Kenneth Walker is kind of on fire right now,” said former NFL offensive lineman and current Seahawks Radio Network analyst Ray Roberts on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “I think he’s found his rhythm.
He’s found a great connectedness to the offensive line. He’s getting downhill really fast.”
That downhill mentality is the difference. Walker’s always had the ability to bounce runs outside and break big ones, but now he’s trusting the blocking, hitting the hole, and letting the play develop.
He’s not hunting for the highlight - he’s letting it come to him. And when it does?
He still has the burst to make it count.
No Charbonnet, No Problem?
Walker’s emergence is especially timely given the loss of fellow running back Zach Charbonnet, who tore his ACL in the divisional round and is out for the rest of the postseason. That puts even more on Walker’s plate heading into Sunday’s NFC Championship against the Rams.
The good news for Seattle? Walker has already had success against L.A. this season - and plenty of it.
In Week 11, he ran for 67 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, adding 44 yards through the air on three catches. Then in Week 16, he broke off a 55-yard touchdown and finished with 100 yards on just 11 carries, plus another 64 yards receiving.
Across both games, only one of his 27 carries failed to gain positive yardage. That’s not just efficiency - that’s dominance.
And that kind of performance will be critical again on Sunday.
The First-Down Factor
This game isn’t going to be won on third down - it’s going to be won on first. That’s the message from FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt, who told Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports that staying on schedule will be the difference-maker against a Rams defense that thrives on creating chaos.
“To me, this is a first-down game, not a third-down game,” Klatt said. “Each offense will build themselves into success or lack of success on third down based on what happens on first down and how many times you can run the football and stay on schedule. That’s the entire key, to me, to the game.”
For the Seahawks, that means leaning on Walker early and often. Quarterback Sam Darnold has had his share of turnover issues against the Rams, and the best way to keep him clean is to avoid obvious passing downs. Positive yardage on first down - even three or four yards - keeps the playbook open and the pressure off.
That’s where Walker comes in. He’s running with vision, purpose, and confidence. He’s trusting his line, taking what’s there, and still breaking off the kind of runs that flip the field.
If he keeps that up on Sunday, Seattle might just find itself punching a ticket to the Super Bowl.