Kenneth Walker III has been NFL’s best RB in 2026, and it’s not particularly close

It’s been just two games, but the Chiefs version of Kenneth Walker III might just be the best running back in the world.

The former Michigan State (not Wake Forest Demon Deacon, like Michigan fans like to troll with) running back has been putting up some incredible numbers, setting the NFL on fire in the first couple of looks with his new team. Winning Super Bowl MVP has put his career on the perfect trajectory to being the NFL’s best overall running back.

It’s hard to beat out guys like Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs, but through two weeks, Walker has been the best running back in the league, and it really hasn’t been all that close.

While the Chiefs have said that they plan on lessening Walker’s workload a bit after he’s touched the ball 56 times through two games, that might not change a whole lot considering he’s been the NFL’s best back after contact. It doesn’t matter how many times he carries the ball, he wears defenses down with his rare combination of elusiveness and power. His yards are always going to be there.

One insane stat shows just how dominant Walker has been through two weeks, and it also proves that he’s been the NFL’s best running back so far in 2026.

Note: Bijan Robinson’s 194-yard game on Thursday night put him just ahead of K9 by 59 yards. He’s played three games to Walker’s two.

Before Bijan’s big Thursday night game to kick off Week 3, K9 was leading the NFL in rushing yards by 78 over Derrick Henry. Even ahead of Henry is Walker’s yards after contact this season which is a staggering 243. This just further proves that the best running back in the NFL this season is a former Michigan State star and one of the biggest Heisman ceremony snubs of all time.

Not impressed enough? He just forced 15 missed tackles which follows up his 14 from the season opener — 29 forced missed tackles through two weeks is absurd.

Although he may see a reduction in carries over the coming weeks, Walker is going to continue starring in one of the most explosive offenses in football.

Michigan State fans saw this day coming from a mile away

Watching Walker split carries with Zach Charbonnet and essentially forfeit every goal-line snap to the RB2 was like watching an exact replay of the the 2021 Doak Walker Award winner back at Wake Forest where he split carries with an inferior back. All he needed to do was find a new home and his career took off.

History clearly repeats itself.

Michigan State fans saw this coming from a mile away. They watched as Walker was finally given the reins to an offense and all he did was win the award for the nation’s best running back. He still fell to the second round in the 2022 NFL Draft but he’s proving to be the best rusher from that class.

When Charbonnet went down with an injury and Walker pieced together a legendary run all the way to the Super Bowl where he won the MVP award, no Spartan fan was shocked.

And now that he’s being made the focal point of a really good offense, he’s flourishing once again like he did back in 2021 when he was the centerpiece of Michigan State’s high-scoring attack.

We all knew it was coming — not a matter of if, but when — and it’s still beautiful to witness.

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