Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III had a nearly identical follow-up season to a pretty good rookie campaign. Is Walker destined to be a good, not great, fantasy football asset? Or can he ascend to RB1 levels in 2024? What should fantasy managers do in Best Ball drafts?
Kenneth Walker III’s 2024 Fantasy Outlook
It’s uncanny how similar Walker’s first two seasons have been. He played exactly 15 games in both, totaled 1,164 and 1,215 yards from scrimmage, scored exactly nine touchdowns, and averaged 13.5 and 13.3 fantasy points per game.
Rushing yards leaders from Week 7 in the #NFL:
1️⃣ Kenneth Walker III, #Seahawks – 105
2️⃣ D'Onta Foreman, #Bears – 89
3️⃣ Javonte Williams, #Broncos – 82
4️⃣ Saquon Barkley, #Giants – 77
5️⃣ Joshua Kelley, #Chargers – 75#PFN365's RB waiver-wire targets: https://t.co/l5rNCVXVl8 pic.twitter.com/oZt5jKLugR— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 24, 2023
Heading into 2024, the question for fantasy managers is whether there is more to unlock or if this is just who Walker is.
The young RB was set to be a pretty hot commodity ahead of last season. However, the Seahawks’ decision to use a second-round pick on running back Zach Charbonnet threw some cold water on the Walker ascension. That served to suppress Walker’s ADP, but it’s not as if he was some screaming value. He was merely fine.
Fantasy managers can work with fine, but we’d like to see more from a 23-year-old running back who clearly has talent.
Walker’s yards per carry dropped from 4.6 to 4.1. He also produced fewer splash plays, running for 15+ yards on 4.6% of his carries, a 2.9% drop from the year before.
The good news is Walker was still elite at making defenders miss. His evaded-tackles-per-touch rate was 12th as a rookie and second as a sophomore. We’d just like to see him do a little more after evading tackles.
Walker has room to grow in the touchdown department. If he takes a massive step forward as a fantasy asset, that’s where I would expect the points to mostly come from. In a season where things really come together offensively in Seattle, Walker has 15-touchdown upside. The problem for Walker’s fantasy value is it’s difficult to envision any other path to improvement.
His passing game role remains limited. He saw a 7.7% target share last season, which was right in line with what he did as a rookie. Charbonnet isn’t going anywhere and established himself as the primary passing-down back by the end of last season. Even when it wasn’t Charbonnet, it was Travis Homer or DeeJay Dallas.
Should You Draft Walker in 2024 Best Ball Leagues?
I still think Walker opens the season as the Seahawks’ clear RB1 and retains that role throughout. However, we could see Charbonnet take on a little more work than last season. Even a modest increase in touches would be a problem for Walker’s fantasy value.
Walker is far from an exciting pick, but he is a safe one. Due to how heavily wide receivers are propped up in Best Ball drafts, despite being drafted as a borderline RB1, Walker doesn’t go off the board until the late fourth/early fifth round.
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If you’ve started WR heavy, that’s a very fair price for a guy who has a stable carries floor plus goal-line carries on an above-average offense.
Walker isn’t a guy I would aggressively target in Best Ball drafts. But if you look down, need a running back, and he’s the best one available, it’s unlikely he will disappoint.