Kenneth Walker III might be exactly what Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs needed

The Seattle Seahawks' Super Bowl run last season provided the Kansas City Chiefs a glimpse into the future. It was the vision that this scarred juggernaut needed heading into an unknown offseason.

Patrick Mahomes was a month removed from ACL surgery. The Chiefs were coming off their worst season in more than a decade. Travis Kelce was mulling retirement. Rashee Rice was in hot water off the field. There was a switch at offensive coordinator.

And just when it looked like the Seahawks were giving the Chiefs a window into how to revive their greatness, the plan almost worked too well. Kenneth Walker III already had three of the Seahawks' four longest gains late in the game, well on his way to earning Super Bowl MVP, when he busted a 49-yard touchdown run.

Even after the play was called back by penalty, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was nervous watching the game at home, firing off a text to Mahomes in the moment. Veach had been thinking about Walker as a Chiefs savior since last "November or December" but was suddenly worried the back was outpricing himself for Kansas City, one Super Bowl carry at a time.

"I said, 'He's gonna run right to another team,'" Veach told ESPN's Pat McAfee in May, "because there weren't a lot of running backs available [in free agency] ."

Walker's playoff showcase was made possible in part by the injury to Zach Charbonnet, which increased the load the Seahawks asked Walker to lift in the playoffs. He was on the field more on third downs and in the red zone. More inside runs. Walker's receiving footprint increased. He was suddenly a workhorse back again.

In Seattle's three playoff games, Walker ran for 313 yards and four scores, adding nine catches for 104 yards and crossing the century mark for scrimmage yards in all three games. It was the best three-game stretch, production-wise, since the end of Walker's rookie season.

The Chiefs had seen enough. In the opening hour of free agency, Walker had accepted the Chiefs' offer — the most the team ever had spent on a running back and a move considered out of character for head coach Andy Reid. But they'd seen the diminishing returns of a once-great offense and faced the prospect of their star quarterback playing at less than full health.

Mahomes needed another wingman. The Chiefs didn't waste time finding him.

Where Kenneth Walker III can help the Chiefs the most

The day after the Chiefs lost to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, limping to a 6-11 record after a 5-3 start, Reid admitted what had long been an issue for his offense.

"You always go to your play-action game … and you look at it and you check to see what kind of reaction you're getting from the defense," Reid said in early January. "... We're not getting enough reaction out of them."

Reid added: "There wasn't enough respect there that needs to be given. So, we've got to run the ball more efficiently, especially on first or second down on those run downs in those run situations just to stay positive with that. Somewhere you'd like to have a few bigger plays in that area."

Mahomes actually hit on the issue far earlier in the season, prior to the Week 3 game against the New York Giants. "Part of football is being able to trust in the run game whenever they're in the light boxes," he said, "and force them to come down so we can throw some of the shots down the field."

The Chiefs have typically favored rotating backs under Reid, but this looks more like a one-back show than it has in a while in Kansas City. Longtime observers of the team have been surprised just how heavy a volume Walker appears to be carrying in camp sessions, and he's often the recipient of what looks like a revived screen game and a frequent red-zone option.

That wasn't always the case for Walker in Seattle, often paired with Charbonnet and resigned mostly to early-down duty. This is newer territory for Walker, as well as for the Chiefs.

"We haven't gone through a season," Reid said, "but it looks like it's a full package of a player."

Walker is 12th in the NFL in touches since entering the league in 2022, but you wouldn't call him a true workhorse in the Derrick Henry/Saquon Barkley/Josh Jacobs/Christian McCaffrey sense. You potentially can call him a workhorse by Chiefs standards, however. In the Mahomes era, Isiah Pacheco (249 touches in 2023) has been their busiest back, and Walker has twice surpassed that total in four years in Seattle.

The Chiefs' hope is that Walker's trademark cutback style will be a featured weapon in the open field but that he also can thrive as an inside runner behind their big interior offensive line.

"Stronger than an ox," Reid said of Walker. "I mean, he's put together."

Walker's arrival also can have another positive effect on Mahomes, potentially reducing his scrambling out of necessity. At times the past few seasons, it was the Chiefs' best offensive weapon, but they became too dependent on Mahomes bailing them out with his legs.

The Chiefs ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing attempts and rush yards, 21st in yards per attempt and 20th in rushing touchdowns last season, and that was with Mahomes having the best rushing totals (422 yards and five TDs in 14 games) of his career.

"I think I ran a little too much last season," Mahomes admitted at the start of camp this year.

The downward trend can be traced back to the 2023 season, when the run game first started sagging. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl that season, and they reached the title game the following season, but the problem was compounding.

Mahomes was taking on more of the share with his scrambling, averaging nearly an extra rush attempt in 2023 than he had the year before, a trend that mostly has kept up the past three seasons. He also was getting hit more frequently (an average of 68 times per season from 2023 to 2025) and taking sacks more often (5.5% sack rate) during this span, compared to an average of 55.2 hits per season and a sack rate of 3.9% his first five years starting, per Pro Football Reference.

The Chiefs actually ran the ball moderately well the first half of last season, and Mahomes had a 17-4 TD-INT ratio through eight games. But from the Buffalo loss on, the offense looked broken. The run game stalled badly and Mahomes endured the worst statistical stretch of his career from Week 9 on.

Everything hit rock bottom when Mahomes suffered his torn ACL against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15. The Chiefs knew that it would be ambitious for Mahomes to start the 2026 season healthy and that they couldn't go on with a substandard rushing attack.

If Walker hits the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season, it would be his third time doing it. But it would be the Chiefs' first 1K back since Mahomes took over. But Walker's impact is expected to run deeper than just one statistical benchmark — and that's what he signed up for.

"Whatever they need me to do," Walker said, "that's what I'm going to do."

Mahomes' 10th season, just as every NFL season does, will bring offensive change. But this might be the most significant Chiefs evolution offensively since Tyreek Hill was traded. When asked a few weeks ago which part of the new offensive ecosystem he was most intrigued by, with change happening all around him, Mahomes settled on Walker.

"No. 9," Mahomes said. "That's all I can say."

Walker might be lifting a heavy load in practices, but he has been kept somewhat under wraps outside the St. Joseph training fields. He spoke to the media early in camp, then once a week later, and he won't speak publicly again until the week leading up to the looming Denver Broncos showdown in Week 1.

Walker also has been a bit player in the preseason, with two snaps and two carries (for 4 yards) in the second preseason game. He's not expected to suit up for the exhibition finale. Outside of practice clips, the biggest noise on Walker has been from his new teammates raving about him.

"Ken Walker is going to be a hell of a ballplayer for us, if you didn't know that already," Travis Kelce said. "He's got every trait you can possibly want at the running back position."

For Kelce, Walker offers hope of a ride off into the sunset. Though he's not announced his future plans, this has widely been speculated to be Kelce's final NFL season — and his final shot at another ring. So far, Kelce appears thrilled with Walker, who could help him do so.

"I can't say enough about him as a teammate," Kelce said. "We got an absolute superstar on and off the field."

And they'll need him right away. Kelce isn't the same player he was. Mahomes is eight months removed from a torn ACL. Rice has been cloaked in health and off-field issues. The offensive line is far from perfect. Eric Bieniemy's return as offensive coordinator brings hope, but he has endured a tragic summer.

Things might still feel unsettled in Kansas City. But the addition of Walker has been an unquestioned well of encouragement and, the Chiefs hope, a key power source this season to keep them afloat.

"If all else fails," Mahomes said, "I'll just hand it off to K9 and let him go to work."