Field Gulls
Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III has dealt with his share of injuries dating back to his rookie season, but 2024 was particularly difficult.
Walker missed six games due to oblique and ankle injuries, marking more games missed than in his first two seasons combined. This season he’s been available and started every regular season game. However, that doesn’t mean the injury concerns have gone away.
In an interview with Field Gulls’ Bryce Coutts on The Hawks Eye podcast, Seahawks reporter and Tacoma News Tribune columnist Gregg Bell went a little bit deeper into the managing of Walker’s workload relative to backup Zach Charbonnet, whose average carries per game is only roughly one fewer than K9.
“They’re trying to manage Kenneth Walker through the entire season with a foot issue that he has had since August,” Bell said. “When I got to Green Bay, I learned that Walker’s foot injury in the summer that was causing him to miss practices in training camp is related to the high ankle sprain that he had in December last year that he ended up on injured reserve.
“So, this thing has been a lingering issue since last winter,” Bell continued. “They need to get him 17 games, not just for their offense, but for Kenneth Walker. Walker has this much money and this many teams he’s signed to for next offseason. Zilch. His rookie contract’s going to end in January. So, he wants to be out there every single week to audition for his next job across the league. He wants to get game tape so that everybody can see it. It’s not going to do him any good to get 50, 70, 80 percent of the snaps one week and then be out for two weeks because he couldn’t handle the workload.
“He’s on board with this job share with Charbonnet because he’s trying to make it through 17 games. So, he has 17 auditions for a new contract this year. It’s going to be interesting to me to see if the production stays as skewed as it has if the Seahawks cannot succumb to the temptation of playing Walker more. I mean, we saw it against Houston right in the middle of drives. Walker was the more productive back and then he got yanked right in the middle of the series. That’s how much they’re trying to manage this foot thing and keep him healthy through the entire season.”
It should be noted that Walker did not have any reported offseason surgery and has not been on the injury report all season. He’s never been in jeopardy of missing games, but this appears to be a case of “load management” but in-game.
You can catch the full interview below and the Walker piece at about 30:36.
