The Seattle Seahawks placed running back Kenneth Walker on injured reserve Thursday with an ankle injury, likely ending his 2024 season.
Walker had already been ruled out of Seattle’s “Thursday Night Football” game against the Chicago Bears with the injury. The third-year back left the Seahawks’ Week 16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth quarter and didn’t return.
Walker had just returned to the lineup in Week 16 after missing Weeks 14 and 15 with a calf injury.
He leads the Seahawks in touches (199) and rushing yards (573), along with his eight total touchdowns (seven rushing, one receiving). For his career, Walker has tallied 2,528 rushing yards and 24 rushing TDs while averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Walker only averaged 3.7 yards per carry in 2024.
What this means for the Seahawks
Walker was wearing a boot on his left ankle this week so his trip to injured reserve is unsurprising. However, Seattle placing Walker on injured reserve effectively ends his season given how many guaranteed games the team has remaining.
The Seahawks have just a 14 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to The Athletic’s projection model. They need to beat the Bears on Thursday then get an Arizona victory over the Rams on Saturday. Seattle is still alive if it wins, and Arizona loses as well. But in that scenario, the Seahawks will need several results over the weekend to break their way to avoid losing the strength-of-victory tiebreaker to Los Angeles. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer
What this means for Walker
So, Walker’s underwhelming season is effectively over. He rushed for a career-low and 573 yards and seven touchdowns while limited to just 11 games due to injury. Walker is extension-eligible after the season, but considering Walker’s injury history and the way the run game has performed with Zach Charbonnet as RB1 — when they’ve committed to it — means he’s likely on track to play out the final year of his rookie contract in 2025. — Dugar
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(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
