Ready or not, it’s Seahawks rookie Ken Walker’s time to replace Rashaad Penny
Ken Walker was more prepared for the question than he was for the surprising acres of space he found on his first professional touchdown.
“I’m ready,” the rookie second-round draft choice said Sunday of replacing injured-again Rashaad Penny as the Seahawks’ lead running back.
He has to be.
Penny will miss the remainder of the season for Seattle (2-3), beginning with its home game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals (2-3) at Lumen Field. He broke his fibula and damaged his tibia with a high-ankle sprain on a carry in the second quarter of the Seahawks’ loss at the New Orleans Saints Sunday. Coach Pete Carroll confirmed that Monday.
That means it’s Walker’s time now.
Penny told Walker essentially that during the Saints game, minutes after he got hurt.
“It is tough,” Walker said Sunday of Penny’s second-season ending injury in three years. “We did not talk much about it.
“But I talked to him on the sideline, and he just told me, like he always tells me, to run hard, read my keys. Somebody like that that’s been a big brother in the room to me ...”.
Walker took Penny’s advice, almost immediately. In the fourth quarter replacing his “big brother,” Walker read the biggest key possible: an expanse of green turf in front of him around the left end at the start of an off-tackle run. He used rookie left tackle Charles Cross’ block, then cut once just past the line of scrimmage diagonally to his right. Walker got a timely block from wide receiver Dee Eskridge and sprinted past all remaining Saints for a 69-yard touchdown.
That signaled Walker perhaps is indeed ready and gave Seattle a 32-31 lead.
It lasted only 92 seconds, because the Seahawks defense could not tackle New Orleans’ Taysom Hill Sunday in the Seahawks’ 39-32 loss.
Asked if he was surprised at all the space he found on his first NFL touchdown, Walker smiled.
“Yeah, a little bit. I was surprised,” he said. “Those guys do a great job of blocking ... I thank them for that.”
The dominant runner for Michigan State last season missed most of Seattle’s preseason with a hernia issue. It took him from August into September to return.
“I’m ready,” Walker said. “We practice it every day. I feel real comfortable with the offense. I’ve got older running backs in there to teach me everything that I need to know, so I feel real comfortable in the scheme.”
He was behind on fully knowing the playbook upon his return from the hernia last month. He twice went the wrong way in the backfield on what became broken plays with quarterback Geno Smith in the Seahawks’ first games.
Walker says he’s past that now.
The Seahawks are about to find out.
Coach Pete Carroll said Monday Penny’s injury means DeeJay Dallas “will play a lot more” than third-down snaps. Dallas moves up to the number-two runner behind Walker.
Travis Homer, the usual third-down back, remains on injured reserve. He has a rib issue. Carroll said Homer could be back in a couple weeks.
Adding to running-back depth
The Seahawks claimed running back Tony Jones off waivers from the Saints. New Orleans waived Jones, 24, last week. The Saints signed him as a rookie free agent from Notre Dame in 2020. He made his NFL debut in one game for them that year.
A high-ankle sprain limited Jones to 11 games and 142 yards rushing in 2021. He’s 5 feet 11, 224 pounds.
The Seahawks had an open spot on their 53-man active roster through last weekend’s game after they’d put linebacker Darryl Johnson on injured reserve.
Carroll said adding Jones is a depth move to “stay competitive in practice and preparation” at the sport’s most injured, attrited position.
For now, it’s Walker, who must prove he’s as ready as he says he is for the lead job. Can he maintain Penny’s production on an offense that’s rolled up 950 yards and 80 points the last two games?
“He’s just getting comfortable with the timing of hitting the line of scrimmage, seeing the blocks at full speed, and he’s just getting comfortable. He’s going to get a lot better,” Carroll said of Walker. “He will get more and more feel working with the guys. He hasn’t had that many turns yet.
“It’s obvious that he can do it, and he can hit it, there’s no question about that. Taking full advantage of all of the opportunities that come up, that’s going to take a little bit, but at this point, he’s not going to have any time to keep patiently waiting. He’s going.
“We’re counting on him to do stuff in a big way.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 10:39 AM.
