Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald explains intriguing Week 5 Kenneth Walker III usage
After a blazing start to the season by winning back-to-back games over the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks are now in a tailspin.
Seattle failed to return to its winning ways in Week 5, as the team lost to the New York Giants at home on Sunday, 29-20. The loss came on the heels of a 42-29 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions on the road.
Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald opens up about Kenneth Walker
Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Seattle’s Week 5 setback had fans scratching their heads in part because of the unusually low usage on the ground of talented running back Kenneth Walker. Following the Giants game, Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald offered an explanation about Walker’s apparent lack of touches out of the backfield.
“Mike Macdonald acknowledged #Seahawks have to get run game going, provide more opportunities for Ken Walker III early,” reported Corbin K. Smith of Sports Illustrated.
“He said they wanted to try to get Geno going early and didn’t have many plays in first half to get game plan going”.
Against the Giants, Walker only had five carries for 19 rushing yards. Geno Smith, meanwhile, had four rushing attempts for 72 yards while Zach Charbonnet only had 11 rushing yards on two carries. Overall, the Seahawks ran just 11 times, with Smith racking up 72 of the team’s 102 rushing yards.
Despite Smith getting repeatedly banged up in the backfield by the Giants’ pass rush, the Seahawks still tried to rely heavily on their passing attack. Smith finished with 284 passing yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions on 28-of-40 completions but got sacked seven times for a loss of 53 yards.
Walker came off a huge individual performance in Week 4 against the Lions in which he converted 12 carries into 80 receiving yards and three touchdowns to go with 36 receiving yards on four catches and five targets, but the Seahawks never gave the former Michigan State Spartans star enough touches on the ground to come up with good rushing numbers.
Walker managed to have 57 receiving yards on seven catches and eight targets versus the Giants but it was still interesting to see the Seahawks prioritize passing the ball on several occasions instead of letting the running back develop rhythm, especially since Macdonald hinted at giving the tailback plenty of work running the ball.
The 3-2 Seahawks will look to recover in Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers at home.
The post Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald explains intriguing Week 5 Kenneth Walker III usage appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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