Running back, Michigan State (from Wake Forest), 2019–21
Ken Walker III
- Number
- No. 9
- Height
- 5′10″
- Weight
- 210 lb
- Class (2021)
- Junior
- Hometown
- Arlington, TN
- Born
- Oct 20, 2000
Ken Walker III played running back at Wake Forest (2019–20) and Michigan State (2021). He won the 2021 Doak Walker Award and the 2021 Walter Camp Award. He finished sixth in the 2021 Heisman vote and was a consensus All‑American in 2021. The Seattle Seahawks took Walker in round 2, No. 41 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
264rushing yards, career highat Northwestern, 20215rushing touchdowns, career highvs. Michigan, 2021Honors
- 2021Doak Walker Award
- 2021Walter Camp Award
- 2021Consensus All‑American
- 2021Big Ten Running Back of the Year
- 2021First-team All-Big Ten
- 2021Sixth in the Heisman vote
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Rushing
| Season | Team | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wake Forest | 98 | 579 | 5.9 | 4 | 96 |
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 119 | 579 | 4.9 | 13 | 75 |
| 2021 | Michigan State | 263 | 1,636 | 6.2 | 18 | 94 |
| Career | 480 | 2,794 | 5.8 | 35 | 96 | |
Receiving
| Season | Team | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wake Forest | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 0 | 15 |
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 0 | 19 |
| 2021 | Michigan State | 13 | 89 | 6.8 | 1 | 17 |
| Career | 19 | 136 | 7.2 | 1 | 19 | |
Returns
| Season | Team | KR | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wake Forest | 8 | 139 | 0 |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wake Forest | 9 | RB | Fr. | ||
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 9 | RB | So. | ||
| 2021 | Michigan State | 9 | RB | Jr. | 5′10″ | 210 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wake Forest | 104 | 0.06 | 29th (n=287) | 0.13 | 6.6 | 11% | 0.11 |
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 122 | 0.21 | 67th (n=212) | 0.14 | 25.5 | 23% | 0.23 |
| 2021 | Michigan State | 268 | 0.24 | 71st (n=277) | 0.16 | 63.3 | 35% | 0.34 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2021 Michigan State 12 games, 1,636 rushing yards, 18 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | at | W 38–21 | 23 | 264 | 4 | 75 | – | – |
| Sep 11 | vs. | W 42–14 | 7 | 57 | 1 | 24 | – | – |
| Sep 18 | at | W 38–17 | 27 | 172 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 17 |
| Sep 25 | vs. | W 23–20 | 19 | 61 | 0 | 23 | – | – |
| Oct 2 | vs. | W 48–31 | 24 | 126 | 3 | 15 | – | – |
| Oct 9 | at | W 31–13 | 29 | 233 | 1 | 94 | 1 | 13 |
| Oct 16 | at | W 20–15 | 23 | 84 | 0 | 13 | 1 | −5 |
| Oct 30 | vs. | W 37–33 | 23 | 197 | 5 | 58 | 3 | 11 |
| Nov 6 | at | L 29–40 | 22 | 136 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 20 |
| Nov 13 | vs. | W 40–21 | 30 | 143 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 29 |
| Nov 20 | at | L 7–56 | 6 | 25 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 4 |
| Nov 27 | vs. | W 30–27 | 30 | 138 | 1 | 35 | – | – |
2020 Wake Forest 7 games, 579 rushing yards, 13 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | vs. | L 13–37 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 12 | – | – |
| Sep 19 | at | L 42–45 | 27 | 131 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 7 |
| Oct 2 | vs. | W 66–14 | 11 | 105 | 1 | 27 | – | – |
| Oct 17 | vs. | W 40–23 | 23 | 128 | 3 | 75 | – | – |
| Oct 24 | vs. | W 23–16 | 23 | 66 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 4 |
| Oct 31 | at | W 38–14 | 16 | 79 | 3 | 20 | – | – |
| Nov 14 | at | L 53–59 | 13 | 51 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 19 |
2019 Wake Forest 13 games, 579 rushing yards, 4 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Yds | TD | Long | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 38–35 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sep 6 | at | W 41–21 | 9 | 125 | 1 | 96 | – | – |
| Sep 13 | vs. | W 24–18 | 13 | 94 | 0 | 21 | – | – |
| Sep 21 | vs. | W 49–7 | 9 | 91 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 15 |
| Sep 28 | at | W 27–24 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | – | – |
| Oct 12 | vs. | L 59–62 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 5 | – | – |
| Oct 19 | vs. | W 22–20 | 1 | −1 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
| Nov 2 | vs. | W 44–10 | 16 | 56 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 9 | at | L 17–36 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 5 | – | – |
| Nov 16 | at | L 3–52 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 8 | – | – |
| Nov 23 | vs. | W 39–27 | 17 | 113 | 1 | 34 | – | – |
| Nov 30 | at | L 30–39 | 10 | 32 | 0 | 12 | – | – |
| Dec 27 ✦ | vs. | L 21–27 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2022 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5′9¼″ |
| Weight | 211 lb |
| Arm length | 30⅜″ |
| Hand size | 9½″ |
| Wingspan | 73″W |
| 40-yard dash | 4.38 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.49 sW |
| Vertical jump | 34″ |
| Broad jump | 10′2″ |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
5 seasons, 62 games with a stat; latest team: Kansas City Chiefs.
| Season | Team | G | Car | Yds | TD | Rec | Rec yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Seattle Seahawks | 15 | 228 | 1,050 | 9 | 27 | 165 |
| 2023 | Seattle Seahawks | 15 | 219 | 905 | 8 | 29 | 259 |
| 2024 | Seattle Seahawks | 11 | 153 | 573 | 7 | 46 | 299 |
| 2025 | Seattle Seahawks | 17 | 221 | 1,027 | 5 | 31 | 282 |
| 2026 (so far) | Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 87 | 537 | 4 | 12 | 84 |
| NFL career | 62 | 908 | 4,092 | 33 | 145 | 1,089 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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