Kenneth Walker III thriving in expanded Chiefs receiving role

• NFL-leading production: Kenneth Walker III has rushed for an NFL-high 290 yards through two weeks while leading all running backs in PFF overall and rushing grades.

• Expanded receiving role: Walker has earned a career-high 20.6% target share and caught nine passes for 79 yards and a touchdown through two games.

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Kenneth Walker III’s first two games with the Kansas City Chiefs have delivered just about everything the team could have hoped for from its new lead back.

Walker has carried the ball 47 times for an NFL-high 290 yards through two weeks, averaging 6.2 yards per attempt and scoring once. His 90.4 PFF overall grade and 87.0 rushing grade both lead all running backs, as do his 243 yards after contact and 23 missed tackles forced.

The early production has been powered by a monster debut. Walker rushed 23 times for 173 yards against Denver in Week 1, with 179 of those yards coming after contact. He forced 14 missed tackles on the day and earned a 90.5 PFF rushing grade.

His numbers came back to earth against Indianapolis in Week 2, but he still finished with 117 yards on 24 carries while forcing another nine missed tackles.

Through two games, Walker has generated 5.2 yards after contact per attempt. His previous single-season career high was 3.1, which he hit in both 2022 and 2025 with Seattle. He is also coming off a 2025 season in which he earned a career-high 91.6 PFF rushing grade, ran for 1,340 yards and forced 76 missed tackles.

But Walker’s work on the ground is only part of what has made his first two weeks in Kansas City noteworthy.

The Chiefs have also given him a larger role in the passing game than he has handled at any previous point in his career. Walker has drawn 13 targets on 39 routes, catching nine passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. His 20.6% target share is comfortably above his previous career-high of 14.1%, set in 2024.

That usage has him tracking toward career numbers across the board. A 17-game pace would put Walker at roughly 111 targets, 77 receptions and 672 receiving yards. He entered 2026 having never recorded more than 52 targets, 46 catches or 386 receiving yards in a season.

And the increased opportunity has come with improved efficiency. Walker is averaging 2.0 yards per route run after posting a previous career high of 1.6 in 2025.

Of course, two games is far too small a sample to expect those numbers to hold over a full season. Walker’s rushing efficiency and current receiving pace will almost certainly stabilize as the sample grows, but the early usage is still notable — particularly in the passing game.

The Chiefs aren't just getting one of the NFL's most productive runners through two weeks. They are also involving Walker as a receiver more heavily than ever before, and even some regression from his current pace could leave him with the most productive receiving season of his career.