Kenneth Walker III (born October 20, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Wake Forest and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He won the

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

and

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League ...

s in 2021.

High school

Walker was born on October 20, 2000, in

Arlington, Tennessee Arlington is a town in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,569 at the 2000 census, 11,517 at the 2010 census, and 14,549 at the 2020 Census. From 2010 until 2020 the town's population grew by 26.326%. It is one of the se ...

. He attended Arlington High School and played for their football team, where he rushed for 3,485 yards with 41

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He committed to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

to play college football.

College career

Walker played at Wake Forest in 2019 and 2020. During those two years he rushed for 1,158 yards on 217 carries with 17 touchdowns. After the 2020 season, Walker transferred to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He became the starter his first year at Michigan State. In his debut with the Spartans, he rushed for 264 yards and four touchdowns. His four touchdowns doubled the Michigan State 2020 season total, and were the first for a Spartan running back since the 2019 season. Walker III was awarded the

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professi ...

and

Walter Camp Player of the Year Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information directo ...

and finish 6th in the

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

for the 2021 NCAA season. He earned Consensus All-American honors for the 2021 season. Following the season, he announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

College statistics

Professional career

2022

Walker was drafted by the

in the second round with the 41st overall pick in the

. Walker made his NFL debut in Week 2 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. In Week 5, against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, he had a 69-yard rushing touchdown in the 32–39 loss. He was named the starting running back for the Seattle Seahawks after

Rashaad Penny Rashaad Armein Penny (born February 2, 1996) is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at San Diego State, where, in 2017, he led the nation with 2,248 rushing ...

was placed on injured reserve. In Week 7, against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, Walker rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns in the 37–23 victory. On November 3, Walker was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. In Week 9, he rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 31–21 victory over the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. In Week 12, he had another game with two rushing touchdowns in the 40–34 loss to the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

. He closed out the regular season with three consecutive games with over 100 rushing yards. He finished his rookie season with 228 carries for 1,050 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns to go along with 27 receptions for 165 receiving yards. He joined

Curt Warner Curtis Edward Warner (born March 18, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American at Penn State University, Warner was drafted by the Seattle Se ...

as the only players in franchise history to rush for at least 1,000 yards as a rookie. On January 14, 2023, during the

2022–23 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferenc ...

, Walker rushed the ball 15 times for 63 yards and a touchdown, during a 41–23

Wild Card Round A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid) is a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that fails to qualify in the normal way; for example, by having a high ranking or winnin ...

loss to the

. He was named to the 2022 PFWA All-Rookie Team.

2023

In Week 3, Walker totaled 156 scrimmage yards with a pair of rushing touchdowns in a 37–27 win over the Carolina Panthers, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

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Seattle Seahawks bioMichigan State Spartans bioWake Forest Demon Deacons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Kenneth III 2000 births Living people People from Shelby County, Tennessee Sportspeople from the Memphis metropolitan area Players of American football from Tennessee American football running backs Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Michigan State Spartans football players All-American college football players Seattle Seahawks players