Fantasy Football Today: Kenneth Walker III's move to Chiefs boosts his RB1 upside

Kenneth Walker III was the Super Bowl LX MVP for the Seahawks, and now he will help the Chiefs try to win Super Bowl LXI after he signed a three-year deal in Kansas City worth up to $45 million, including $28.7 million fully guaranteed.

Fantasy managers should be excited about Walker, 25, going to the Chiefs, and he's worth drafting as early as Round 2 in the majority of leagues. I like Walker as a borderline top-10 running back with this move.

We saw the best of Walker in the NFL playoffs for Seattle when Zach Charbonnet (knee) was injured in the Divisional Round against San Francisco. Including that game, Walker scored at least 18.1 PPR points in all three postseason games for the Seahawks, and he averaged 24.9 PPR points over that span.

To put that in perspective, Christian McCaffrey was the No. 1 non-quarterback in 2025 at 24.5 PPR points per game. While we don't expect Walker to be that successful in 2026 with the Chiefs, the potential for a big season is definitely there.

Kansas City struggled to run the ball in 2025 and was No. 25 in rushing yards. The Chiefs' best running back last season was Kareem Hunt at 163 carries for 611 yards and eight touchdowns, and he added 18 catches for 143 yards and one touchdown on 25 targets.

Hunt shared touches with Isiah Pacheco and Brashard Smith, and only Smith is under contract for 2026, along with Walker. This should be Walker in a featured role in Kansas City, and hopefully, he will thrive.

Now, a big issue for Walker has been his durability, and he was limited to 11 games in 2024. He played a full season in 2025 and finished the regular season with 221 carries for 1,027 yards and five touchdowns, 31 catches for 282 yards on 36 targets, and he averaged 15.7 PPR points per game.

We expect the Chiefs to use him in all aspects, and his receiving totals improved in the playoffs when he had nine catches for 104 yards on 11 targets without Charbonnet. With Patrick Mahomes coming off a torn left ACL and LCL, we could see more dump-off passes to Walker, which will only enhance his Fantasy value.

Once the Seahawks opted not to use the franchise tag on Walker, we were hoping he would land with a high-powered offense that would feature him. It's a great landing spot to be playing for Andy Reid and with Mahomes, and this was a fantastic move for his Fantasy value.

From Super Bowl MVP to the new starting running back for the Chiefs -- and a major pay day. It's been a good start to 2026 for Walker, and we hope the best is still yet to come.