Kenneth Walker III start or sit: Week 9 fantasy football advice

Those who sat on Kenneth Walker III as he bided his time behind Rashaad Penny have been handsomely rewarded over the last three weeks following Penny’s season-ending leg injury. The Seattle Seahawks look prepared to let the offense run through Walker III, which makes him a top fantasy running back option. Here is a look at his matchup against the Arizona Cardinals and how it should impact your fantasy football start-sit decision-making.

Fantasy Football analysis: Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III

In three weeks since taking over for Rashaad Penny as Seattle’s featured back, Walker has carried the ball 62 times for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Seattle has discovered that by leaning on Walker to complement the passing game, they can win games by grinding teams down and outlasting them on defense. That should be music to Walker owners’ ears entering his matchup against the Cardinals.

Arizona gave up 16 fantasy points to Seahawks running backs in Week 6, roughly their average for the season. They are coming off getting torched by the Minnesota Vikings backfield, though, for 30 fantasy points last week. On the low end, you can pencil Walker in for 20 carries and 80 yards. That means all he has to do is break 1-2 big runs and/or score a touchdown to be a more-than-viable option in fantasy this week.

Start or sit in Week 9?

Walker III should start in both season-long fantasy and DFS. There are few running backs in the league who you can be confident will get 20 touches, and Walker III is one of them. He definitely has top-five RB potential this week.