Seahawks running back Ken Walker burst onto the scene in 2022, running himself into the conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year. While he ultimately lost that battle, Walker still had an impressive and productive rookie year, especially as an explosive runner.
In fact, according to Next Gen Stats, Walker was the second-most explosive rusher in the entire league last season. Nick Shook at NFL.com says they gave him an “explosive score” of 90, tied with Jaguars running back Travis Etienne for the second-highest in the league. Bears quarterback Justin Fields blew the field away with a score of 98.
Here’s what they had to say about Walker.
“He led all rushers in top speed reached with the ball in his possession at 22.09 mph, tied for third in gains of 10-plus yards over expected (15) and hit 20 mph on four carries on the year (tying for fourth in the category)… Oddly enough, Walker didn’t exceed expectation often, but some of that is a product of Seattle scheming and blocking its way to an expected average of 4.2 yards per Walker carry.”
Walker became Seattle’s starting running back in Week 6 after Rashaad Penny suffered another season-ending injury. He still managed to post over 1,000 rushing yards, nine touchdowns and didn’t fumble once. With Penny gone to Philadelphia, Walker is the clear No. 1 option in the backfield, but he does have competition coming in the form of former UCLA running back, Zach Charbonnet.
Like Walker, Charbonnet is another eyebrow-raising second-round pick by Seattle at running back. While they picked him at No. 52 overall, reports indicate they seriously considered taking him with their No. 37 pick. That speaks to a high level of confidence. Walker may only be an injury away from losing that RB1 spot to the team’s next-big-thing.
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