One of the biggest games on the Week 14 NFL slate will be the Seattle Seahawks taking on the Arizona Cardinals. This season, the NFC West has been one of the most competitive divisions in football, with all four teams separated by just two games. However, the winner of the Seahawks-Cardinals matchup will gain a strong hold on the division heading into the final stretch of the NFL season. Both teams will be looking to enter the game healthy so that they are able to give their best effort on the field. For the Seahawks, they’ll hope to have starting running back Kenneth Walker available for Sunday’s game.
Kenneth Walker Injury Status
According to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker will be listed as questionable heading into Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. Walker has been nursing an ankle and calf injury this week. While he was a limited participant on Wednesday, Walker did not practice on Thursday or Friday. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was asked about the running back’s status heading into Sunday and said, “I just don’t know right now. We’ll talk about plans in place on if we want to make any moves or take it up to the game on Sunday. We’re just not sure right now.”
The statement doesn’t inspire much optimism from the Seahawks head coach, and it seems Walker is trending toward not playing. Still, he will be a player to monitor on Sunday. The Seahawks play the Cardinals in the later afternoon window at 4:05 p.m. ET.
What Kenneth Walker’s injury means for fantasy football
Walker had his normal workload in last week’s win against the New York Jets with 16 carries for 49 yards. Since returning in Week 4, Walker has delivered solid RB1 production, ranking as the RB10 during that span with three games scoring over 20 points. If Walker is unable to play, it will certainly have an effect on fantasy lineups.
With that being said, the Seahawks do have a good backup option in place behind Walker in Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet was drafted in the second round by the Seahawks last year after having a prolific final season at UCLA. Without Walker in the lineup in Weeks 2 and 3, Charbonnet had 32 carries for 129 yards and three touchdowns. That was good enough to be the RB6 over those two weeks.
Charbonnet has proven capable of delivering strong fantasy performances in Walker’s absence. Without Walker, Charbonnet becomes a must start in fantasy lineups as he would be in line for a serious uptick in usage. Charbonnet could post a top-10 running back performance as the Seahawks’ primary ball carrier. The Cardinals defense has been in the middle of the pack against the run this season, allowing the eighth-most EPA per rush.
