Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III is coming off the least productive season of his three-year career.
Do Seahawks have enough in new-look WR room? Insider weighs in
After rushing for 1,050 yards as a rookie in 2022 and 905 yards in 2023, Walker struggled with injuries last fall and ran for just 573 yards in 11 games behind Seattle’s subpar offensive line. Walker’s yards per carry also declined, falling from 4.6 and 4.1 over his first two seasons to just 3.7 last year.
But according to former NFL wide receiver Bryan Walters, Walker could be poised for a bounceback 2025 campaign in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s wide-zone blocking scheme.
Walters thinks Walker’s speed, elusiveness, vision and cutback ability is a much better fit for Kubiak’s scheme than the gap-power scheme the Seahawks ran under previous OC Ryan Grubb.
“With this scheme, there’s gonna be more flow to it,” said Walters, a former Super Bowl champion with the Seahawks who was serving as a co-host last week on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “Wide-zone offensive lines kind of flow into the sidelines. … And that’s where I see K9’s strength – getting on the edges outside and hitting the cutback.
“That’s what K9 wants to do. … He’s trying to hit these cutbacks. He’s trying to find those those big gash plays. And that’s where he got knocked last year – that wasn’t the scheme.”
According to FTN Fantasy, the Seahawks ran outside zone on just 14.1% of their rushing attempts last season, which ranked 24th in the league. By contrast, when Kubiak was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator last season, the Saints had the second-highest outside-zone rate at 34.7%.
“K9 has all the talent in the world… and this scheme (will be) getting him on the outside, getting him in more space,” Walters said. “He’s gonna be working in a little more space this year when you’re out on the edges (and) outside the tackles, as opposed to, hey, wait for this pulling (guard) and then hit right behind him up the center. … It’s just gonna fit his style so much better.”
Listen to the full conversation with Bryan Walters at this link or in the audio player near the bottom of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
Seattle Seahawks news and analysis
• Report hints at another Seattle Seahawks throwback uniform
• Do Seattle Seahawks have enough in new-look WR room? Insider weighs in
• Insider: Tory Horton could push for Seattle Seahawks’ No. 3 WR role
• Wyman: The key X-factor in Seattle Seahawks’ O-line battles
• Bump: Why Seattle Seahawks signing Shaquill Griffin is ‘good move’