Chiefs didn’t just sign Kenneth Walker to run. They hope he reshapes the offense

In his very first NFL coaching job, it’s fair to say Chiefs running backs coach DeMarco Murray has it easy — at least in one aspect.

Read more Late summer ‘surge’ of COVID-19 cases expected for California

At the start of the offseason, seeing that an improved run game was necessary, the front office was deliberate. The Chiefs acquired Kenneth Walker right as free agency began.

The 25-year-old Super Bowl MVP doesn’t need much instruction, save for a nudge here or there about keeping his eyes up and focused or making sure his hips are lower than his tacklers.

A running back of Walker’s caliber might scoff at minor coaching points, but as the Chiefs have found out over the past four months, Walker meets the instruction with open arms.

“Man, he’s very eye-opening when it comes to being receptive of information and understanding,” Murray said. “He’ll text me, ‘Hey, Coach, you’re right. I saw that after I watched the film.’

“He’s been everything-plus that we wanted.”

That kind of built-in humility is never guaranteed with a splashy free-agent signing. And for the 2026 Chiefs, it matters because Walker stands as a solution to a problem that had been quietly holding them back for seasons.

Adjusting to the new norm

Around six years ago, opposing defensive coordinators began to grow sick of offenses such as the locally cherished 35-points-a-game “Legion of Zoom” Chiefs.

League-wide, dynamic offenses had caught up to static, identity-based defenses.

“Before, you’d have two or three coverages that they would run,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said during a Wednesday sit-down with local writers. “Very seldom would they take a shell coverage and put in there a single-safety-middle coverage with it.

“They were kind of, ‘We’ve got three single-safety-middle coverages. This is what we do.’ And so, as offenses evolved, the defenses had to evolve, and they start combining these things.”

Current Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, then with the Chicago Bears, is widely credited with helping spark the two-high-safety trend we see today. Fangio’s principles of light boxes and changing coverages post-snap while making it all look alike caught on like wildfire.

As designed, offenses suffered. Reid acknowledged the trend put a “bit more stress on the pass game.”

“Obviously, the shell coverage, these soft-shell coverages, they’re going to limit your down-the-field throws,” Reid said. “Then you’ve got to go body blows, and they’re not all going to be knockout shots. That’s where your run game comes in and some of your play-actions and naked games and all that stuff.”

Read more Did a recent ruling kill California’s multi-million-dollar bail bonds industry?

Last year, the Chiefs learned the hard way that they weren’t landing those necessary body blows effectively enough. To open up those nostalgic Patrick Mahomes knockouts, they needed a more effective runner.

They needed Walker.

What the Chiefs see in Walker

In mid-March, The Tacoma News-Tribune’s Gregg Bell reported that throughout last season, the Seattle Seahawks planned to work in No. 2 running back Zach Charbonnet with Walker due for free agency following the end of his rookie contract.

Walker played 47% of Seattle’s offensive snaps compared to Charbonnet’s 49%, with Charbonnet handling many third-down passing situations and red-zone snaps.

Specific to the red zone, Charbonnet had 50 carries and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. Walker had 31 red-zone carries and four scores in a split that “privately irked” him, according to Bell.

It’s difficult to question the roster strategy of the reigning Super Bowl champions, but their decision prevented interested teams from getting a complete look at Walker, who rushed for 135 yards in their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

Injured in the playoff’s divisional round, Charbonnet did not play.

“The other running back got hurt,” Reid said. “They relied on (Walker) now for third down and for protections — catching the ball out of the backfield a little bit more, flexed him out a little bit in a couple situations. So you got to see him, and he did pretty good with, at the same time, carrying the load that he carried it. From our standpoint, I’m glad we got to see that.”

Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck, whose duties include run game coordination, says he believes the addition has made every run call “super dynamic.”

“We can run the same kind of runs — and to his credit, he’s a guy that can run multiple concepts,” Heck said, “whether it’s downhill, hard-nosed power football, get on the edge with stretch plays. He can do it all. And his balance, his strength, his ability to make guys miss I think are going to be special for us.”

Reid described Walker as talented, adding that he is also a good route runner. Murray used the word “unbelievable.”

And now the Chiefs are prepared to use him in all the ways the Seahawks didn’t.

“As you start creeping down the field and the field gets smaller — red zones and all that — that’s where a guy like that, that extra guy, becomes kind of handy for you,” Reid said. “We haven’t gone through a season, but it looks like it’s a full package of a player. And he works at it. That’s the part I appreciate. Always asking questions and pretty impressive.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2026 at 4:00 AM with the headline “Chiefs didn’t just sign Kenneth Walker to run. They hope he reshapes the offense.”

Read more Is 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey in contract standoff? Kyle Shanahan reacts to rumors