Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III was among the bigger free agents to change teams this offseason, and a slight role change might come along with that.
Walker joined Up & Adams on Tuesday and suggested that he might be catching more passes in Kansas City than he did with the Seahawks. The Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LX has earned a reputation as a run-first back in his four NFL seasons but has been spending time with Patrick Mahomes this offseason trying to get ready for an expanded role as a pass catcher.
"We've been working on getting connected in the passing game and everything, so that's good," Walker told Kay Adams. "I feel like I'll be used more in the pass game."
Mahomes was a big part of Walker leaving the Seahawks for the Chiefs two months after winning the Super Bowl. Walker called Mahomes "the best quarterback in the league" and said he had "a lot to do with" his decision to depart Seattle. They've found time to connect even with Mahomes rehabbing his torn ACL, hoping to be healthy by the start of the regular season.
"He's really good at being detailed with the whole team," Walker said, "and that chemistry is going to keep building."
Just how much more the Chiefs plan to use Walker as a receiver will be interesting. He averaged fewer than 40 catches and 300 yards receiving per season over four years in Seattle. In 2024, with Ryan Grubb as the Seahawks' play-caller, Walker had his busiest season as a receiver -- 46 catches on 53 targets -- but totaled a mere 299 yards. He has only two receiving TDs in his career.
Over the past five years alone, the Chiefs have featured three different backs with at least 40 receptions in a season: Darrel Williams, Jerick McKinnon and Isiah Pacheco. Two of those seasons (Williams in 2021 and McKinnon 2022) came under the play-calling of Eric Bieniemy, who left the Chiefs for the past three years before returning as offensive coordinator this offseason. In his five years as Chiefs OC dating back to 2018, Bieniemy's offenses ranked top five in pass yards every time and no higher than 16th in rush yards in any of those seasons.
The arrival of Walker and the return of Bieniemy could lead to an uptick in the running back's contributions as a receiver going forward.
