Emerald City Sports Spotlight ~ with Peter D

What Seattle’s Loaded Running Back Room Likely Means in 2025

By Peter Duncan, Sportswriter for The Facts Newspaper

Let’s stop dancing around the rumors and call it what it is: a decision point. I’ve said it since last season — and now, more than ever, it makes sense. The Seahawks should strongly consider trading Kenneth Walker III.

Why? Start with the obvious: depth. And then add another layer of talent in the form of rookie Damien Martinez. Seattle’s backfield is not just crowded — it is overflowing with potential, youth, and affordable production.

Walker, taken 41st overall in 2022, exploded onto the scene with 1,050 rushing yards at 4.6 yards per carry. The flashes were there: speed, explosiveness, home-run ability. He followed that up with a respectable 905-yard campaign in 2023. But then came 2024 — a season marred by injuries, inconsistency, and questions. In just eleven games, Walker managed only 573 yards on the ground, averaging 3.7 per carry. Not bad. But far from great.

Now look at who stepped in during his absence.

Zach Charbonnet, the bruising back out of UCLA, made four starts in 2024 — including a standout Week 14 performance against Arizona where he ran wild for 134 yards and two scores. His 51-yard gallop in that game was the kind of run that grabs a coach’s attention. More importantly, Charbonnet showed something Walker has not: durability. And that matters in Mike Macdonald’s ruthlessly efficient regime.

Then there’s Kenny McIntosh — Seattle’s seventh-round flyer from 2023 who flashed real potential when given touches. Physical. Shifty. Hungry. The kind of depth piece that championship rosters often lean on when things get real.

Add Damien Martinez to that mix — a tough, explosive runner built for outside-zone concepts — and it’s not just a logjam. It’s a warning light for Walker.

Still, some in the Seahawks media are urging caution. Former Seahawk receiver Michael Bumpus said on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy show:

“I want to see Ken Walker operate in this new Kubiak offense... I think in this offense, he’s capable of going for 1,000 yards and having (long touchdown) runs.”

Fair. Kubiak’s wide-zone system could, in theory, unlock Walker’s big-play ability. But when has Coach Macdonald given us any indication that he is sentimental about draft pedigree or prior production? This is the same coach who has shown, repeatedly, that performance — not potential — dictates opportunity. And Walker has not produced consistently.

Even former NFL lineman Ray Roberts weighed in with a dose of technical truth:

“I think that [Walker’s] style isn’t for everyone… With this outside zone stuff, you have to be really committed to it. K9 tends to put his foot in the ground and tries to go all the way back behind the opposite tackle… There’s just not a whole lot of success in running that way all the time.”

Translation: this scheme has little room for improvisation. It demands decisiveness, vision, and commitment to the lane. Charbonnet, Martinez, and even McIntosh seem better wired for that discipline.

So where does that leave Walker?

On the final year of his rookie deal. Coming off a down year. Sitting behind a stable of backs who are younger, cheaper, and stylistically better fits. The writing is on the wall — and it is not in cursive.

Yes, the case can be made to keep him. But the case to trade him is far more compelling. It is a cold business, and Macdonald runs a cold operation. Expect a move.

Soon.