The fantasy case of Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III comes with both pros and cons entering the 2024 NFL season. Optimistically, Walker was the clear leading ball carrier over Zach Charbonnet last year. Pessimistically, Walker didn’t showcase much improvement from his rookie to sophomore campaigns.
Can fantasy football managers expect Walker to emerge as a legitimate RB1 option in 2024?
Kenneth Walker III’s 2024 Fantasy Outlook
- Total Fantasy Points: 241.7
- Rushing Yards: 1,175.5
- Rushing TDs: 10.2
- Receptions: 33.7
- Receiving Yards: 254.9
- Receiving TDs: 0.6
These are PFN’s consensus projections, correct as of August 15. The most up-to-date projections can be found in our Who Should I Draft Tool.
Should You Draft Walker This Year?
Walker’s encouraging rookie season was followed up by a similar fantasy finish in 2023, which felt like a disappointment considering how much talent and potential the Michigan State product possesses.
Kenneth Walker III Fantasy Production
- 2023: 905 rushing yards, 29 receptions, 259 yards, and 9 TDs (RB19 overall)
- 2022: 1,050 rushing yards, 27 receptions, 165 yards, and 9 TDs (RB18 overall)
Walker seeing fewer carries for fewer rushing yards can definitely be attributed to the impact of Charbonnet’s role in this offense. In fact, in the full eight games they played together from Week 8 through the rest of the regular season, Charbonnet actually saw more snaps than Walker in five of those contests.
Now, did Charbonnet do enough to legitimately threaten Walker’s leading role this upcoming season? My answer would be not definitively.
Walker had eight more runs of 10+ yards, had more receiving yards despite running 78 fewer routes, and nearly had two-to-one advantage in red-zone touches over Charbonnet.
Yet, Charbonnet had a slightly better yards-per-carry average, had a narrow lead in yards per touch, and was virtually even with Walker on a fantasy-points-per-touch basis.
Charbonnet is a very good running back, but he did not do enough to suggest the roles should be flipped in 2024. Could this change if Charbonnet remains the more efficient option? Yes, that is within the range of outcomes — which feels baked into the pessimistic outlook of Walker entering the 2024 NFL season.
Optimistically, the Detroit Lions offense has proven two capable running backs on the same team can be reliable fantasy starters for your team. Yet, this would likely require the Seahawks’ offense making a big leap into the company of the elite offensive units in the league. I am not willing to go that far with Geno Smith still under center in 2024.
Walker’s ADP at No. 70 overall in the sixth round as the RB16 off the board feels a bit off at the current moment. I don’t take as much issue as to where he falls in the RB landscape as I do with WRs like Hollywood Brown, Christian Watson, and Rome Odunze going off the board before a proven producer at the position.
Charbonnet’s presence and potential role is clearly pushing Walker down the fantasy board for many managers, which does make sense behind a retooled offensive line, questionable quarterback play, and a new offensive scheme.
The lack of Walker’s full-PPR upside combined with the role Charbonnet has as a competent pass-catching and complementary option does likely push Walker’s upside as a potential low-end RB1 option off the board in 2024. Yet, he does have a clear fantasy RB2 role with his explosiveness and the dominating workload last year.
Unless Charbonnet’s role expands exponentially from what we saw last year, Walker presents a great draft fantasy value for your team.
