The Seahawks won’t have their lead running back for the rest of the regular season.
An injury-riddled regular season for Kenneth Walker III has come to an end.
The Seattle Seahawks running back was placed on injured reserve on Thursday following an ankle injury suffered late in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss against the Minnesota Vikings. As you can see, Walker was bent at an awkward angle and it doesn’t take a medical degree to conclude it’s a bad injury.
At a minimum, I don’t think we’re seeing K9 against Chicago on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/BEbGwWGwzE
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) December 23, 2024
Walker heading to injured reserve means he will definitely miss the final two regular season games, and unless the Seahawks reach the NFC Championship Game, his season is over. It’s not even a guarantee he’d be back if the Seahawks make it that far. While Walker has had some injuries cost him a few games in his first two seasons, he’ll have missed at least six regular season games in 2024 for three separate injuries.
Zach Charbonnet will be RB1 moving forward, with Kenny McIntosh serving as his backup. Seattle also signed undrafted rookie and preseason standout George Holani to the active roster, giving him a role as the third-string running back and special teams contributor.
If you’re keeping score, this is now the ninth time in 10 seasons the Seahawks have placed one of their running backs on injured reserve.
Seattle Seahawks running backs on injured reserve since 2015
2015: Thomas Rawls (fractured ankle)
2016: C.J. Prosise (fractured scapula)
2017: Chris Carson (leg fracture + severe sprained ankle), C.J. Prosise (ankle injury)
2018: C.J. Prosise (abdomen, groin, and hip-flexor injuries)
2019: Chris Carson (fractured hip), C.J. Prosise (broken arm), Rashaad Penny (torn ACL)
2020: Travis Homer (knee injury)
2021: Chris Carson (neck injury)
2022: Rashaad Penny (broken fibula), Travis Homer (ankle injury)
2023: N/A
2024: Kenneth Walker III (ankle injury)