Kenneth Walker finished last season as the overall RB12 in fantasy points per game. In the spring, we wrote a series of articles dealing with Fantasy takeaways from the 2024 season. One of the major points we emphasized was whether you won a high-stakes fantasy championship or are a recreational player who won your home league, be proactive. The NFL calendar is year-round. Be the savvy fantasy players who are on top of past season results and analyze the data to use it to their advantage.
Best Ball drafts are in full swing on Drafters and Underdog sites. It is a necessary grind to afford managers the best chance to build championship rosters for the 2025 fantasy season. There are schools of thought within the fantasy community that early drafting can be advantageous. Past Best Ball Mania winning rosters are sometimes found from those keen players who are ahead of the curve. Right now, no reports are coming out of mandatory OTAs to drive up player ADPs. In addition, training camp is still about two months away. Find out why Walker is a player we have been targeting early in 2025 best ball drafts that we feel could be a league winner.
Kenneth Walker, Low-Key High End Fantasy Running Back
Kenneth Walker’s Rushing Ability Was on Full Display in 2024
As discussed in our introduction, Kenneth Walker’s 16.5 PPR fantasy points per game were good for the 12th best in last year’s fantasy season. Walker flies a bit under the radar, but he is a legit RB1 as we enter the infancy stages of the 2025 fantasy football draft season. Last season, Walker’s year was hurt by the injury bug. However, as we dissect the data, we see that Walker was a higher-end producer at the running back position.
Walker’s ability as a pure runner was on full display last season. Among qualified running backs, he led all runners in missed tackles forced per rush attempt and top ten in yards after contact per attempt. In his 11 games played, Walker averaged 13.9 rush attempts per game. To put that in perspective, Jahynyr Gibbs, the overall RB1, was at 14.7, and De’Von Achane, the overall RB5, was at 11.9.
Walker is a Three-Down Running Back
Among qualified running backs in 2024, Walker was top three in first downs per route run, and top six in both targets per route run and receiving yards per game. Walker compiled 53 targets in his 11 games played. That still ranked him in the top 14 amongst running backs. He averaged just under 5 targets per game, which was better than the aforementioned Gibbs. To further our point, the top two running back target leaders last season, Alvin Kamara and Achane, averaged 6.3 and 5.1, respectively.
Walker is in good company, and his running back metrics and data points compare favorably among the fantasy community’s best in 2024. For those fantasy managers who like to start their fantasy drafts WR-WR or go the RB zero route, Walker is a nice option in the fourth round. If Walker can remain healthy, he can be a league winner and a great value with a current best ball ADP of 43.
Main Photo: [Steven Bisig] – USA Today Sports
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