New Scheme Might Save Ken Walker III’s Seahawks Career
From a big picture standpoint, when it comes to running the football, you can basically split the modern Seattle Seahawks era into the glorified Marshawn Lynch years and everything that came afterwards.
Lynch, AKA Beast Mode, ran around and through opposing defenses for the Seahawks between 2010 and 2015. In those six seasons, the Seahawks won eight playoff games, appeared in two Super Bowls, and won one Super Bowl title. In the nine seasons since he left Seattle after his prime years, the franchise has won a measly two playoff games, both in the Wild Card round, and are yet to even reach the NFC Title game since he left town.
We talk of “identities” with football teams. The Seahawks lost their identity post-2015 and frankly, have not really found another one since. Between Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks are at their best with a strong running game led by an alpha dog back at the top of the food chain. At times, their run game has been downright abysmal (let’s try to forget 2017, when the team’s leading rusher was quarterback Russell Wilson). Seattle hasn’t had a Pro Bowl running back since Lynch’s 2014 campaign.
Sure, the Seahawks have had talented running backs come through town since then. Chris Carson turned in back-to-back 1,100-plus rushing yard seasons in 2018 and 2019. Health issues prevented him from sustaining that success. Ken Walker III came to town and immediately ran for 1,050 yards in his rookie year of 2022.
Like Carson, health issues have crept in for Walker, preventing him from building on that strong rookie year.
Also, the Seahawks selected a running back in the second round for a second straight year in 2023. Zach Charbonnet offers a different skill set than Walker. The Seahawks coaching staff saw an opportunity to deepen their running back room and broaden the spectrum of abilities in the group.
Unfortunately, both running backs have been victims of a poor running scheme and subpar run blocking ahead of them. In their two seasons together, they have ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing yards both years. They have also gone through two different offensive coordinators in Shane Waldron and the now-departed Ryan Grubb.
Through two seasons as mostly a reserve with a string of starts, Charbonnet has been consistently in the 4.2 yards per carry range. Last year, he started six games as Walker was injured. He totaled 569 rushing yards with eight touchdowns. In 11 games, Walker amassed 573 yards, just four more than Charbonnet, with one less touchdown. He did so averaging 3.7 yards per carry, half a yard worse than Charbonnet. Charbonnet notched two games with more than 90 rushing yards, including a season-high 134 against the Cardinals in Week 14. Walker collected just one game above 90 yards, topping out at 103, in Seattle’s opening game against Denver. He never eclipsed 85 yards the rest of the season.
For two straight seasons now, Charbonnet has outgained Walker on a per-carry basis. Now, heading into 2025, is Charbonnet going to establish himself as the top back? Walker enters the final season of his rookie contract. Seattle is yet to secure an extension with the back. There is even a debate among fans if they should extend him at all. There’s even chatter that Seattle should trade the former Michigan State product.
New offensive coordinator Klink Kubiak prefers the outside zone running scheme, even as he hints he will mix in a variety of run looks. That might favor Walker’s skill set more than Charbonnet, who thrived in more of a gap-heavy scheme. This might be Walker’s saving grace.
Per Pro Football Focus, the zone versus gap scheme splits were different for the two Seattle backs. For Walker, it was a 54.3 percent zone scheme. For Charbonnet, it was a 51.2 percent gap scheme. It seemed that either Charbonnet was more effective as a gap-scheme runner or Grubb changed up his run schemes later in the season.
With Kubiak being a zone-heavy playcaller, Walker has a chance to retake the reins in the backfield. It might not be an accident that Walker’s best season, his rookie year in 2022, featured his career high of 159 zone runs.
Plus, the Seahawks attempted to fix issues along the offensive line by using their first round pick on guard Grey Zabel and drafting two more linemen later.
This is an important year for Walker. If he puts together a strong 2025 campaign, it will be hard for the Seahawks to let him walk in free agency. If he underwhelms or can’t stay healthy, Seattle has a host of running backs to which they can turn with Walker out of the picture. Damien Martinez might threaten for snaps, even as a seventh round rookie. Kenny McIntosh had a strong finish to 2024 and will look for more of a role.
Given the offensive scheme alterations and hopeful upgrades up front, this is a crucial year for Walker to rediscover his rookie form. If things click, we could see Walker reach 1,000-plus yards once more. And if he wants to stay in Seattle, it might be a necessity.
