Is Kenneth Walker III a top 10 back in the NFL?

I miss Kenneth Walker III. I’m sure you all do as well.

Our time with Walker at Michigan State was extremely short since he transferred late in his college career, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the all time great Michigan State football players of all time. What Walker did in just a few short months was legendary, and that’s why MSU fans everywhere still follow his NFL career very closely.

Walker was drafted to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2022 NFL Draft. And from there he rose the ranks in the NFL very quickly. He became the starter in Seattle almost immediately and to no Michigan State fans surprise he was an immediate impact player.

So far in his career, Walker has amassed nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. He also has only fumbled the ball once in two seasons which is just as impressive as well.

This fine start to his two year career has raised a lot of eyebrows, so much so that he has recently been ranked a top 10 running back in the NFL.

There are many different rankings out there for NFL running backs, and I’ll be honest that Madden ratings might be the least accurate ranking to go off of. But since College Football 25 just came out, I thought it was applicable.

So out of all the running backs in the league, Walker comes in at No. 8 with an 88 overall rating. In my opinion this is a very fair placement for him, and speaks to how good Walker could still become.

Being that he’s only entering his third NFL season, it’s a safe assumption that Walker hasn’t hit his prime yet. So just imagine how much better Walker could/will be after two, three or even four more seasons. Then when you factor in that players above him may get worse, age or even retire, you really start to see how high these rankings he could climb. I wouldn’t even say it’s impossible for him to be the No. 1 back in the NFL at some point in his career.

But for now we just get to enjoy his rise as he continues to improve and show more people how great he really is. And as every day goes by and the more success he finds in the league, I’m increasingly grateful for the one season we got to watch him dominate at Michigan State.