SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Kenneth Walker III capitalized on his timely stint as an unquestioned RB1.
After his tandem backfield partner Zach Charbonnet suffered a season-ending torn ACL during the divisional round playoffs, Walker went on a dominating three-game stretch that ensured he will enter free agency with a higher price tag and a Super Bowl LX MVP trophy.
What made Walker’s 135 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards in the Seahawks’ 29-13 victory against the Patriots even more special? His father was at Levi’s Stadium as one of 70,823 fans to see him play for the first time in his four-year NFL career.
“My dad comes out to Seattle all the time to watch games, but he doesn’t go to the game because he doesn’t like crowds,” Walker said. “This is his first NFL game and we won the Super Bowl, so it means a lot to me. I know he’s proud of me for real.”
Walker’s agent convinced his father to make the trip.
“I didn’t think he would come,” Walker said. “They ended up mic-ing him up and everything, so he got out of his comfort zone.”
During the regular season, Walker out-carried Charbonnet 221-184, but Charbonnet was the pay-dirt finisher (12 touchdowns), as all fantasy football managers know. Without Charbonnet, Walker rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns against the 49ers, 62 yards and a touchdown against the Rams and stepped up as the primary weapon for an offense that played part of the Super Bowl without star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Walker’s three highest single-game touches totals were the final three games of the season, including 29 on Sunday.
Now the Seahawks face a post-celebration decision: Pay Walker the increasing going rate for a free agent running back, franchise tag him for slightly north of $14 million in 2026 or let him walk and trust Charbonnet to recover well enough to be a lead back. They were second-round draft picks in back-to-back years.
“K-9 is special,” safety Julian Love said. “There’s not a person in the building that doesn’t believe we are a better team when he is going. To see him winning Super Bowl MVP is crazy. He’s earned it. There’s been so much doubt on his name. He’s a menace with the ball in his hands.”
Walker became the eighth 100-yard rusher in a Super Bowl this century, joining a not fully esteemed list of Jamaal Lewis (Ravens), Michael Pittman (Buccaneers), Dominic Rhodes (Colts), Thomas Jones (Bears), Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks), Frank Gore (49ers) and Damien Williams (Chiefs). None of those running backs were Super Bowl MVPs — the award last going to a running back in 1999 (Terrell Davis).
Walker’s 100 yards from scrimmage in the first half were more than twice as many as anyone else on either team.
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