Walker in Seattle

When Walker arrived in 2022, he sent incumbent starter, Rashad Penny, packing and became the No.1 back for the next four seasons. He's a career 4.3 ypc running back, who has averaged 889 rushing yards and 7.8 touchdowns a season. He's been ably backed up by Zach Charbonnet the past three seasons which limited his ceiling. While his 2025 regular season was in line with his previous seasons, it was the post-season which likely made him such an attractive free agent. With Charbonnet sidelined by injury, KW3 dominated three post-season games, accumulating 313 rushing yards, nine reception for another 104 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 24.9 FPts/G.

Walker in Kansas City

The Kansas City Chiefs have been “hunting” for a No.1 running back for almost a decade. Kareem Hunt appeared to be that guy in 2017 (272-1327-8 and 53-455-3), but off-the-field issues forced the team the release the running back. He returned six years later, but was never the same guy. Hunt averaged just 3.7 ypc the past two seasons while leading a running back room which consisted of frequently-injured Isiah Pacheco, rookie Brashard Smith and failed 2020 first-round draft choice Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The proof is Patrick Mahomes led the team in rushing in three of the first five games in 2025 and four times overall.

So the Chiefs and Head Coach Andy Reid were obviously looking for a solution to a rushing offense which ranked 25th in rushing yards and bottom-10 in yards-per-attempt. It became even more important when Mahomes tore his left ACL in Week 15, meaning he shouldn't/won't be a running option for most of 2026. Meanwhile, four Chiefs running backs are unrestricted free agents this March: Pacheco, CEH, Hunt and Dameon Pierce.

Conclusion

Though the Seahawks used Charbonnet as the primary third-down and receiving back, Walker has proven to be capable of holding his own in the passing game which is a significant part of any Reid offense. The remaining Chiefs backs heading into the draft are; Walker and Smith, so the team will obviously add to the running back room, but these two should garner most of the workload with Walker at the top of the list.

The Chiefs OL has been an issue of late. They ranked 22nd in 2025 and while they were decent in pass protection their running game is below average. That will hurt Walker's 2026 production. On the other hand, the threat of Mahomes' arm, when he returns, opens up running lanes. I believe the normally pass-oriented Chiefs offense (59%-41% the past four seasons) will look a little more balanced in 2026, particularly early on which favors KW3. If Mahomes comes back for Week 1 as he believes, I'm expecting a solid line like 258-1083-10 which would be a career-high in touchdowns because Mahomes won't likely be running many into the end zone (he had five last season). An average of about 14.5 FPts/G from Walker, would jump him up from 28th last season (11.3 FPts/G) to around 15th among 2026 running backs and help improve the Kansas City offense which ranked just 21st in points (21.3 ppg) in 2025.