Kenneth Walker

Former running back at Michigan State. 2021: 1,636 rushing yards, 18 rushing TD, 13 catches.

RB · Michigan State · Jr. · #9

5′10″ · 210 lb · Arlington, TN

CFB Index 90 · #7 of 315 RBsHigh confidenceSeattle — drafted 2022, Rd 2, Pick 9, #41 overall

Recruiting

3★

RB recruit

No. 2111 nationally · Signed with Wake Forest

Statement game23 car · 197 yds · 5 TDvs Michigan (FBS) · W 37-33

Top 0.1% rushing TDs game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Michigan State. 2021: 1,636 rushing yards, 18 rushing TD, 13 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Wake Forest in 2019.
Transferred from Wake Forest to Michigan State in 2021.
Drafted round 2 by the Seattle in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Michigan State, 2,794 rushing yards — drafted at #41 overall by Seattle.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

201913 games

Signed with Wake Forest3-star out of Arlington

202112 games

Entered the portal

2022

Drafted by Seattleround 2, pick 41

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2111 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R2 · #41

Seattle · 2022

Featured in The Canon

#37

The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

2 coaches

2019

Mark Dantonio

Michigan State

2020–2021

Mel Tucker

Michigan State

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mark Dantonio → Mel Tucker. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

SeattleEntering 5th NFL season

#41Rd 2 · Pick 9

SeattleEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Wake Forest8-5HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2020Wake Forest4-5HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Michigan State11-2HC: Mel Tucker · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score percentiles

90All-America level #7 of 315?

High confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush yards (100th percentile). Strength: long run (98th percentile).

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#2 / 343 · 100th pct

1636

Long run#6 / 343 · 98th pct

Rush TDs#7 / 343 · 98th pct

Carries#8 / 343 · 98th pct

263

Yards / carry#42 / 343 · 87th pct

6.2

Receptions#131 / 331 · 60th pct

Rec yards#147 / 331 · 56th pct

Fumbles lost#63 / 222 · 46th pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	120	5.8	2.0
Road6g	152	6.7	1.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	142	6.6	1.3
Weeks 8+5g	128	5.7	1.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

90 · #7 of 315 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #7 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Michigan State	263	1,636	6.2	18	--
2020	Wake Forest	119	579	4.9	13	--
2019	Wake Forest	98	579	5.9	4	--
Career		480	2,794	5.8	35	--

Season	Team
2021	Michigan State	13	89	6.8	1	--
2020	Wake Forest	3	30	10.0	0	--
2019	Wake Forest	3	17	5.7	0	--
Career		19	136	7.2	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 9 · 2021

W 37–33

vs Michigan

197 rush yds (23 car) · 5 TD

Edged out Michigan at home in a shootout.

With B. Baringer — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 55 AVG · P. Thorne — 196 yds · 0 TD · 2 INT · QBR 48.4

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 6 · Rutgers · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +6.90Kenneth Walker III run for 94 yds for a TD, (Matt Coghlin KICK)
Week 1 · Northwestern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Kenneth Walker III run for 75 yds for a TD, (Matt Coghlin KICK)
Week 9 · Michigan · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +5.79Kenneth Walker III 58 Yd Run (Payton Thorne Pass to Jayden Reed for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 10 · Purdue · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA -3.91Kenneth Walker III run for no gain to the Prdue 38 Kenneth Walker III fumbled, forced by George Karlaftis, recovered by Prdue George Karlaftis
Week 1 · Northwestern · 2&7 · Q4 · EPA +3.83Kenneth Walker III run for 50 yds to the Nwest 25 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Penn State · 4&3 · Q4 · EPA -3.34Kenneth Walker III run for a loss of 1 yard to the PnSt 23
Week 10 · Purdue · 2&13 · Q1 · EPA +3.19Kenneth Walker III run for 28 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Purdue · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA +3.17Kenneth Walker III run for 14 yds for a TD, (Stephen Rusnak KICK)
Week 11 · Maryland · 1&18 · Q3 · EPA +2.93Kenneth Walker III run for 26 yds to the Mary 34 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Miami · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.88Payton Thorne pass complete to Kenneth Walker III for 7 yds for a TD (Matt Coghlin KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 38-21@ Northwestern	23	264	11.5	4	75	Season-high 264 yds
Wk 2	W 42-14vs Youngstown State	7	57	8.1	1	24
Wk 3	W 38-17@ Miami	27	172	6.4	0	26	172-yard day
Wk 4	W 23-20vs Nebraska	19	61	3.2	0	23
Wk 5	W 48-31vs Western Kentucky	24	126	5.3	3	15	3 rushing TDs
Wk 6	W 31-13@ Rutgers	29	233	8.0	1	94	233-yard day
Wk 7	W 20-15@ Indiana	23	84	3.7	0	13
Wk 9	W 37-33vs Michigan	23	197	8.6	5	58	5 rushing TDs
Wk 10	L 29-40@ Purdue	22	136	6.2	1	33
Wk 11	W 40-21vs Maryland	30	143	4.8	2	36
Wk 12	L 7-56@ Ohio State	6	25	4.2	0	15
Wk 13	W 30-27vs Penn State	30	138	4.6	1	35
Total		263	1636	6.2	18	94