Head coach Mike Macdonald said last week that running back Kenneth Walker III had earned himself some more opportunities.

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It didn’t result in more touches, but it resulted in more playing time. And the Michigan State product had one of his most-efficient days with the ball in his hands, averaging 6.5 yards with 71 yards on 11 carries and adding another 30 yards on three receptions in the Seattle Seahawks’ win over Tennessee on Sunday.

It wasn’t Walker’s most-productive game this year. He’s eclipsed 71 yards on the ground three times, including 105 yards in Week 2 against Pittsburgh, and he’s piled more than the 101 total yards he had on Sunday on two occasions.

But according to Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus, Walker’s performance against the Titans was his best this year. Bumpus explained why during his Four Down Territory segment on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Monday.

“This is why I think he had his best game. He had gains of 11, 15 and 19 (on the ground). He played 62% of the snaps, that’s the most he’s played all year, and that tells me that he’s in during pass (protection) as well,” Bumpus said. “Typically, when you’re going to throw the football, you bring in Zach Charbonnet because you feel like K9 (Walker) isn’t as good in that area.”

Walker has spent most of the past two seasons splitting the workload in the backfield fairly evenly with Charbonnet. His 62.5% of offensive snaps played on Sunday were not only his most this season, but also his highest workshare since Week 12 of last year.

To Bumpus, that’s an indicator that Walker is starting to make strides in areas of his game that needed improvement the most.

“He’s getting better at some of the things that we aren’t aware of, honestly. The little nuances of the game that the coaches want from him that we don’t know he’s being coached to do in those situations,” Bumpus said. “So K9 had his best game of the year. He seems like he’s getting downhill a bit more. He’s understanding when to cut back. There weren’t too many runs where I thought, ‘What the heck are you doing?’ There was one where the guard or the center got pushed back and he had to get lateral and it was a negative run.

“But for the most part, when it was time to cut back on the zone, he did it. When it was time to get downhill, he did it. He caught the ball in the backfield. … K9 had his best game overall, including in the pass (protection).”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays form 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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