We value Walker as a high-end flex who should be drafted some time after the fourth round. In his rookie season, he was the prototypical big-play back. Among players who ran the ball at least 100 times last year, only James Robinson had a higher percentage of his carries go for zero or negative yards. But Walker was also one of eight backs who saw at least 10% of his rushes go for 12-plus yards. The Seahawks brought in Zach Charbonnet to share the load, which should terrify Walker's Fantasy managers. Charbonnet profiles as being better both in the passing game and on short yardage eventually. If both of these backs stay healthy, it's hard to see how either finishes in the top 20 this year. They are both more desirable in Dynasty.
Walker (oblique) is inactive for Thursday's game against the 49ers.
Walker seemed likely to miss at least one contest due to the strained oblique that he suffered this past Sunday versus the Rams after being listed as a DNP on all three of the Seahawks' Week 12 practice reports. However, coach Pete Carroll told Colin Gunther of the team's official site Wednesday that Walker received a doubtful designation "because you never know." It may not mean Walker has a chance to return next Thursday night at Dallas, but his status will continue to be monitored to see how realistic that may be. With Walker sidelined, Zach Charbonnet will pace Seattle's backfield, while DeeJay Dallas and Kenny McIntosh will be the reserve options.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Another DNP on Tuesday
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Walker (oblique) was listed as a non-participant on Tuesday's injury report, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
The Seahawks did get in some on-field work Tuesday, but Walker wasn't one of those who took part as he tends to a strained oblique that he suffered Sunday against the Rams. Another absence Wednesday may spur Seattle to rule out the running back ahead of Thursday's game versus the 49ers. Assuming Walker is inactive for Week 12, Zach Charbonnet would be the team's top running back, with potentially all of DeeJay Dallas (shoulder), Kenny McIntosh and practice-squad member Bryant Koback available behind him.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: DNP on Monday's practice estimate
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Walker (oblique) was listed as a non-participant on Monday's estimated injury report, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
This comes as no surprise after Walker was considered doubtful to return to Sunday's eventual loss at the Rams due to an oblique injury, which coach Pete Carroll called "legit" in the wake of the game, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. With a short week to prepare for Thursday's contest against the 49ers, he seems like a good bet to be unavailable Week 12, but Carroll said Monday that he doesn't consider Walker to be a candidate for injured reserve, per Schefter. Assuming Walker can't play Thursday, Zach Charbonnet is slated to lead the Seahawks backfield, with DeeJay Dallas, Kenny McIntosh and potentially practice-squad member Bryant Koback mixing in behind him.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Rips off long TD in win
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Walker rushed 19 times for 63 yards and caught one of his two targets for a 64-yard touchdown in Sunday's 29-26 win over Washington.
Walker struggled to gain much traction as a runner against Washington's defensive front (3.3 YPC), but he finally broke free in the third quarter when he took a short pass from Geno Smith on Seattle's half of the field all the way to the house for the first receiving touchdown of his career. Sunday's strong fantasy output gives the 23-year-old 770 combined yards from scrimmage and seven total touchdowns through nine games this season. Walker's healthy production combined with his firm grip on the starting job in Seattle make him a universal starting option against the Rams next Sunday.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Gets back to full participation
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Walker (chest) practiced fully Thursday, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
Walker is tending to a health concern for the third time this season, but after sitting out Wednesday's session due to a chest injury, he was uninhibited one day later. His workload has been scaled back somewhat the last two games, resulting in 19 touches for 87 yards from scrimmage during that stretch. Walker will be looking to bounce back Sunday versus a Commanders defense that has conceded both the 11th-most yards per carry (4.2) and receptions (44) to opposing running backs in nine games this season.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Tending to chest injury
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Walker didn't practice Wednesday due to a chest injury, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
Walker has dealt with the occasional health concern this season, namely Week 1 due to a groin issue and Week 9 with a calf injury, but neither one affected his availability for game day. He had his roughest outing of the campaign this past Sunday against the Browns' top-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed, totaling just 17 yards from scrimmage on 10 touches. With another injury in tow, Walker's status will be one to watch as the weekend draws closer to get a sense of his potential to play Sunday against the Commanders.
Walker (calf) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Browns, Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.
The Seahawks were apparently just being cautious when they held Walker out of practice Wednesday and Thursday with a minor calf injury. He has a bit more competition for playing time this week with backup Zach Charbonnet cleared to return from a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury, but the rookie's presence hadn't been stopping Walker from ranking among the league leaders in carries and rushing touchdowns through the first six weeks of the season. A tough Cleveland defense is probably the bigger concern for Walker's fantasy production, though Jonathan Taylor put up 120 yards and a touchdown against the Browns last week while working in a timeshare with fellow Colts running back Zack Moss.
Walker had 17 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown in Monday's 24-3 win over the Giants.
Walker's short touchdown run in the second quarter extended his scoring streak to three weeks, providing fantasy managers with 289 combined yards and a whopping five touchdowns over that period. The 22-year-old was not targeted as a receiver against the Giants, but he commanded 17 of the Seahawk's 22 running back carries in the primetime win. Walker will get an opportunity to rest from his scoring frenzy on Seattle's upcoming bye week, resuming play Week 6 at Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 15
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Scores two TDs against Carolina
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Walker carried the ball 18 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns and caught all three of his targets for 59 yards in Sunday's 37-27 win over the Panthers.
Both TDs came in the second half as the Seahawks pulled away, with Walker getting into the end zone on a one-yard plunge in the third quarter and a seven-yard run in the fourth. His 59 receiving yards were also a career high, topping the 55 yards he hauled in last year in Week 10. Walker appears headed for another productive day in Week 4 against a Giants defense that's allowed four rushing touchdowns to running backs through its first three games.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Finds end zone twice in win
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Walker rushed 17 times for 43 yards and two touchdowns and brought in one of two targets for 11 yards in the Seahawks' 37-31 overtime win over the Lions on Sunday.
Walker encountered tough sledding on the ground against what definitely appears to be an improved Lions run defense, but he made up for it from a fantasy perspective by scoring one- and three-yard touchdowns. He's been the clear lead back in Seattle's ground attack over the first two games, and on Sunday, he outpaced rookie Zach Charbonnet by 13 carries. Walker will next set his sights on the Panthers, who'll come into town for a Week 3 matchup.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Cleared for Week 1 takeoff
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Walker (groin) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Rams, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic reports.
There was some concern Thursday after the Seahawks added him to the injury report as a limited participant with a groin injury. Walker missed part of training camp with a groin issue, but that was in late July and early August before he came back in mid-August with no reports of a setback or incident. He's expected to lead the Seattle rushing attack again, though he'll have to look over his shoulder after the team used a second-round pick on a running back for the second straight offseason, bringing in Zach Charbonnet to join Walker in the backfield.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Logs full practice Thursday
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Coach Pete Carroll said Walker (groin) participated fully at Thursday's practice, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reports.
Walker has been dealing with a minor groin strain since the first day of training camp. After returning to practice this past Saturday, he was spotted working in individual and blocking drills Wednesday, but team drills weren't on the docket for him until Thursday, per Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle. It's unclear if the Seahawks will clear Walker to play in Saturday's preseason game against the Cowboys, but such a decision may not beome known until shortly before the 10:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Team drills still to come
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Walker (groin) practiced Wednesday but didn't mix into any team drills, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.
Walker was in a helmet before practice and proceeded to take part in individual work and blocking drills, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. However, Walker has yet to be cleared for all activities since returning to practice Saturday. Given that head coach Pete Carroll called Walker "week-to-week" when the running back initially suffered a minor groin strain in the first practice of training camp, the Seahawks likely will continue to take things slow with the second-year pro with an eye toward Week 1. In the meantime, rookie second-round pick Zach Charbonnet and DeeJay Dallas represent the top healthy backfield options for Seattle.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Back at practice Saturday
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Walker (groin) returned to practice Saturday, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com reports.
Sidelined since the first day of Seahawks training camp due to a minor groin strain, Walker didn't suit up for the team's first preseason contest Thursday, which allowed rookie second-rounder Zach Charbonnet to get some run. Walker was contained to individual work Saturday, so he may need to progress to team drills in order to gain clearance to play in one of the final two exhibitions, the first of which comes Saturday, Aug. 19 against the Cowboys.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Not practicing yet
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Walker (groin) is present at Thursday's practice but doesn't have a helmet, Bridget Condon of NFL Network reports.
Walker has been out for about a week now, which coach Pete Carroll using the term "week-to-week" to describe his status Monday. Meanwhile, fellow running back Zach Charbonnet (shoulder) is back in action sooner than expected after missing only three practices, giving him a nice opportunity to take more snaps with the starters while Walker remains limited to observing from the sideline.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Dealing with minor groin strain
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Coach Pete Carroll said Sunday that Walker has been held out of practice over the past few days due to a minor groin strain, Curtis Crabtree of Fox 13 Seattle reports.
Walker missed a third consecutive day of practice Sunday, but his absence has been deemed precautionary, as Carroll said the team is holding the running back out to prevent a more significant injury. Although Carroll downplayed the severity of Walker's issue Sunday, he indicated that he could be out a while. Carroll also said that Zach Charbonnet (shoulder) will be out indefinitely, so DeeJay Dallas and Kenny McIntosh will likely see increased work at camp in the near future. Walker's availability for Seattle's preseason opener against the Vikings on Aug. 10 remains to be seen.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Challenged by Charbonnet
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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Monday that Walker and rookie Zach Charbonnet "will be battling", Seattle Sports 770 reports. "We're gonna find out how far [Charbonnet] can take it in terms of the receiving part of it," Carroll said. "We know he's really good at it. But so is Kenneth, so those guys will be battling."
It isn't quite clear from Carroll's comment if he's referring to competing for playing time in general or specifically on passing downs. Charbonnet, an incoming second-round pick, caught 61 passes in two seasons at UCLA, whereas Walker (a 2022 second-rounder) had only 19 receptions in three seasons between Wake Forest and MSU. Walker did catch 27 balls as a rookie, though for only 165 yards (6.1 per catch, 4.7 YPT) while doing nearly all of his damage on the ground to the tune of a 228-1,050-9 rushing line. The impressive running makes him a strong favorite to keep the starting job and lead role, but there's no question a prospect of Charbonnet's caliber poses a threat to Walker's touch volume. A split between the two could be problematic for fantasy managers, especially if the Seahawks settle on DeeJay Dallas or seventh-round rookie Kenny McIntosh as their third-down/hurry-up specialist ahead of Walker or Charbonnet.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: Ready for wild-card round
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Walker (ankle) doesn't have a designation for Saturday's wild-card game at San Francisco, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
Walker avoided Seattle's first injury report of the week entirely Tuesday before showing up one day later as a non-participant due to the ankle injury that has lingered since early December. With his status cleared up ahead of the weekend, though, Wednesday's absence clearly was maintenance-based, likely to keep the rookie second-round pick as healthy as possible. Walker thus is set to lead the team's backfield Saturday, which has resulted in 98 touches for 450 yards from scrimmage and no TDs over the last four contests.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: No practice yet this week
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Walker (ankle/illness) was held out of Thursday's practice, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
It's uncertain whether a lingering ankle concern, an illness or a combination of the two are keeping Walker sidelined this week, but he has yet to log any activity after two sessions. The same can be said for fellow running backs Travis Homer (ankle) and DeeJay Dallas (ankle), so the situation in the Seahawks backfield remains in flux with just one more chance to practice during Week 18 prep. Friday's injury report will unveil if any of the trio sidestep a designation ahead of Sunday's game versus the Rams. However, if Walker is able to suit up for the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff, he's the likely candidate to handle the majority of RB reps after posting back-to-back 100-yard performances on the ground.
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Seahawks' Kenneth Walker: No practice Wednesday
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Walker didn't practice Wednesday due to an ankle injury and an illness, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times reports.
The Seahawks have been especially cautious with Walker since he sustained an ankle injury Week 13 at the Rams. He sat out Week 14 against the Panthers, but he's played in each of the last three games despite not logging many, if any, practice reps before those kickoffs. Overall, the rookie second-round pick has racked up 68 touches for 326 yards from scrimmage during that stretch, including back-to-back 100-yard efforts on the ground. Fellow running backs Travis Homer (ankle) and DeeJay Dallas (ankle) also sat out Wednesday's session, so the trio will be watched as the weekend approaches to see how Seattle's backfield may break down Sunday versus the Rams.
