The Kansas Chiefs shook up the fantasy world with their start to free agency. On the first day of free agency, they came to an agreement on a contract with Kenneth Walker III. They agreed on a three-year contract worth up to $45 million with $28.7 million guaranteed.
Kenneth Walker was drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He was a very talented and big bodied back who was projected to take off at the NFL level. Walker came out with a solid rookie season where he ended the season as a solid RB2 in fantasy football. There was a lot of hope for the future that lay ahead of Walker. However, in the 2023 NFL draft the Seahawks drafted also talented running back Zach Charbonnet in the second round.
The drafting of Zach Charbonnet went on to cause a fantasy football nightmare. For the past three seasons this has been a shared backfield between two talented players that just don’t have the workload to totally break out.
Below are Kenneth Walker’s end of season fantasy football rankings for each of his first four seasons. As you can see Walker has been no more than a middle of the pack RB2 to a flex play.
| Career Fantasy Football Ranks By Season | |||
| PPR | .5 PPR | STD | |
| 2022 | 18 | 16 | 15 |
| 2023 | 19 | 19 | 16 |
| 2024 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 2025 | 22 | 22 | 21 |
Another factor in Walkers’ mediocre performance leading up to this point is injuries. Walker missed two games in 2022, two games in 2023 and 6 games in 2024. Last season was the first season that he played a full 17 game schedule.
I’m not saying all of this to put Kenneth Walker III down, I still believe he has immense talent, and I think he may finally be able to show it. He is going to a competitive team with a star quarterback who can take pressure off the run game and make the defense back off of the line of scrimmage. The chiefs have a defense that can get the ball back to the offense quickly as well.
However, the biggest reason that I think Kenneth Walker could finally break out is that he is now going to be in a position where he can take the bulk of the carries and not share as much of the workload. He was 20th in the league with 221 rush attempts last year while sharing the backfield with Zach Charbonnet. Walker has never had more than 228 carries in his career.
So where does this put Walker when it comes to his fantasy value now? When it comes to redraft fantasy football leagues, I will be evaluating this and putting out rankings as it gets closer to the season, but we are in the thick of the offseason in dynasty leagues. Kenneth Walker III is 25 years old, and he will be turning 26 in the middle of this season. With his age being a factor in dynasty leagues, he is sitting right around the 45th overall player. Other players around him include Garrett Wilson, Tyler Warren, Jordan Love, Treveyon Henderson and Rome Odunze.
What should you do regarding Kenneth Walker in your dynasty league? This is very dependent on your situation. If you are an insulated contender or an aggressive contender, then I would make a push to acquire Walker if you just need a better running back to get over the hump and win that championship. If you are a rebuilding team, then this is the prime time to trade Walker for valuable draft capital. Walker is worth an early to mid-first round pick in this year’s rookie draft or a mid-first round pick in next year’s draft. If you are looking to make a trade for a pick, I would suggest going for the mid 2027 first round pick as next year’s draft class is going to be loaded with talent.
This was a big acquisition for fantasy football. This changes things for Kenneth Walker if the Chiefs don’t acquire any other talent to compete with him. This is absolutely a situation to keep your eye on as your league offseason progresses.
View my 2026 free agency tracker here to keep up with all offseason free agency moves.
Check out more dynasty fantasy football related articles here.
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