The high-flying Seahawks offense suffered a big blow this past Sunday, as starting running back Rashaad Penny sustained a broken fibula during the team’s loss to the Saints. Penny is out for the year, and the man everyone has their eyes on now is rookie Kenneth Walker.
The rookie is an obvious add, but what should fantasy managers expect from him going forward? Our experts weigh in below.
Sean Koerner: It’s surprising that Walker is still available in over 50% of leagues, but he should be the top waiver priority this week with Penny out the rest of the season.
Walker is going to offer mid-range RB2 value the rest of the way and I would be extremely aggressive with my FAAB and absolutely use a No. 1 waiver claim — this is the very situation you save both for. Use them!
The only other likely available RBs who could offer that sort of upside are Alexander Mattison and Rachaad White, but both would need their team’s starter to miss an extended period of time. If you end up missing out on Walker, those would be the top two backs I recommend stashing.
Chris Raybon: Walker should be a low-end RB1/high-end RB2 for the rest of the season. He is averaging 6.3 yards per carry, which is 20th among 53 RBs with at least 20 rushing attempts.
Yards per carry can be a noisy stat, but it should hold up to some extent in this case, because Seattle’s offensive line is generating 2.34 yards before contact per carry for its halfbacks, second in the NFL. Walker is also being targeted on 23% of his routes, which far exceeds the rate of Penny (7%) and Deejay Dallas (16%), who figures to mix in on passing downs.
Mike Triplett: The second RB taken in this year’s draft should be worth the highest FAAB bids of this fantasy season to date. He’ll have a rare opportunity to be a true RB1 in an offense where both backs have averaged more than six yards per carry.
Walker is still a work in progress — head coach Pete Carroll pointed out recently that he’s still trying to get comfortable in the offense and ran the wrong way on one play. But the Seahawks are very high on Walker’s potential, and Carroll praised his pass-catching ability this past summer even though that wasn’t a big part of his game in college.
Those who cover the team expect Walker to get a major share of the workload, with veterans Dallas and Travis Homer (currently injured) in supporting roles.
