Answer to Seahawks Giving Ken Walker ‘More Opportunities’ Lies Beyond Run Game

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Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images [/caption]

RENTON, Wash. - For the majority of the 2025 season, the Seattle Seahawks have employed as close to a 50/50 split between their top two running backs as possible, with Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet having 136 and 105 carries respectively.

But with seven games left to play, on the heels of a strong all-around performance with over 100 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in a 21-19 loss to Los Angeles on Sunday that drew praise from coach Mike Macdonald one day later, that deployment may soon be undergoing significant adjustments for the closing stretch run with Walker returning to a more prominent role as Seattle’s lead dog in the backfield.

“I think Ken's showing that he's earning more opportunities to get the ball,” Macdonald said of Walker and the backfield rotation. “All three of our backs are doing a great job, and I think they really felt Ken yesterday, and just even in the pass game too on checkdowns and finding him late in the play. It just shows you that he's such an explosive player with a ball in his hands and he knows there's things that he needs to clean up in his game too. He’s done a great job in practice doing that, and we’ll continue to do that. I think Ken's showing that he deserves some more opportunities.”

Through the first 10 games of the season, Walker has averaged 13.6 carries per game and Charbonnet has nearly equaled him with 11.6 carries per game, drawn closer with the latter missing a game earlier against the Saints. With those opportunities, Walker has averaged more than a full yard (4.5) better than Charbonnet (3.3), but the latter has scored more touchdowns (six) with heavy usage in the red zone and posted a slightly higher success rate (44.8%), according to Pro Football Reference.

Beyond traditional stats, however, Walker has been noticeably more effective than his backfield counterpart. Per Pro Football Focus charting, he ranks ninth in 10-plus yard runs (19), fifth in designed runs of 15-plus yards (10), and sixth in breakaway run rate (35.1%). Though Charbonnet has nearly as many missed tackles forced, he isn’t even in the same zip code in any of those metrics for explosive runs with just four carries of 10 or more yards all year and a 17% breakaway rate, both ranking outside the top 25 among qualified backs.

For that reason alone, while Walker’s propensity for trying to hit a home run rather than taking what it is blocked in front of him leads to more negative plays than the Seahawks would like, his rare explosiveness with the ball in his hands justifies an uptick in touches compared to his current average under 15 per game in the final seven weeks. As Macdonald hinted, however, that may not necessarily mean more carries in the run game, as there’s a more effective way to get him involved while still mixing in Charbonnet and George Holani to keep him fresh and opening things up for Sam Darnold and company.

Thus far this year, Walker has only caught 14 passes as a receiver, well below pace of the 46 catches he hauled in last season. But he’s been very efficient with 15 targets, posting career-highs with a 93% catch rate and 9.1 yards per reception while forcing five missed tackles and averaging north of nine yards per reception after the catch.

Walker further demonstrated his value as a pass catcher in the closing minutes of Sunday’s loss, helping put Seattle in position to pull off an improbable win. Already with four interceptions on the day, Darnold started to lean on short passes with the game hanging in the balance, checking down to the dynamic back on a swing route that Walker turned into a 23-yard gain to kickstart the drive. Moments later, he punched it in from a yard out for six points, cutting the deficit to two points with a little over two minutes left on the game clock.

For the game, Walker tied a season-high with three receptions and turned those opportunities into 44 yards, two missed tackles forced, and a pair of first downs, helping ignite the passing game and get Darnold back in a rhythm late. Digging deeper into the numbers, such contributions beg the question: why has offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak not used him more as a receiving weapon?

According to TruMedia, Walker’s 14 receptions ranks 40th in the NFL among running backs, and his 15 targets do not qualify him for several metrics, including Expected Points Added (EPA) per target. If he did qualify, however, his EPA of 0.26 per target would rank fifth-best in the league behind the likes of Colts MVP candidate Johnathan Taylor and Lions standout Jahmyr Gibbs. He would also rank fifth in yards per reception, offering big play ability matched by a select few from his position in the passing game.

Given the general attrition at the running back position and Walker’s durability history, including being limited in training camp by a foot/ankle issue, Seattle wouldn’t be wise to suddenly start giving him 20-plus carries every single game, as that would be a recipe for wearing him down and/or upping the risk of him going down with another injury. From what Macdonald said on Monday, while fantasy owners may not have been happy with the news, even with the veteran being healthy, they aren’t going to suddenly abandon using Charbonnet or Holani, as those two will continue to be a big part of the run game plans.

“Well, we're not just going to give one of our running backs 100% of the snaps,” Macdonald commented. “That's just not responsible for a whole season. We're not going that far, but to my knowledge, [Ken is] as good as you can feel going into Week 12. I think he's pretty clean and healthy.”

With that said, the Seahawks have another alternative to get the ball into Walker’s hands as a playmaker more often that wouldn’t present the same body blows that come with running between the tackles while creating advantageous matchups pitting him against linebackers and safeties in coverage. And not only would that mean more chances for explosive plays without as much wear and tear, but it would force defenses to have to game plan more for his capabilities as a pass catcher, shifting attention away from other receiving threats on the outside and consequently influencing the types of coverages being ran.

In other words, parsing through Macdonald’s comments as a whole, Seattle may not be more inclined to up Walker’s workload as a runner too much. But with a chance to help out Darnold as one hell of a safety valve and make the offense more multi-dimensional, getting him more than 1.5 targets per game as a receiver would be a great starting point to further unlock his talents with more of the opportunities he has rightfully earned and open things up for everyone else around him.