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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Micah Parsons is nearing his highly anticipated return from a torn ACL and meniscus, with recent reports indicating he's targeting a Nov. 25 return date, when the Green Bay Packers travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams. But while all the attention has been on Parsons' return, he quickly put it back on star running back Kenneth Walker, who's in the midst of a career year with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaking on a recent episode of "The Edge with Micah Parsons," he took time to praise Walker and even compare him to Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson and Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs, arguably the two best running backs in football.
"He could be," Parsons said, on whether Walker could win Offensive Player of the Year. "I think he got that Le'Veon Bell patience. We didn't truly see his value until this year. The overall package, how he carries himself, how he runs the ball. It's every week. He's not picking and choosing. It's every week, downhill. He's fighting through contact. It's just the whole thing. He has legit put himself in the conversation with Bijan and Gibbs. I still think there's a little bit of separation, but he's right there."
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Walker earned Super Bowl MVP honors last season after helping lead the Seattle Seahawks to just their second championship in franchise history. In the final game, he rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries, along with 26 receiving yards. Throughout the entire 2025 season, he never saw more than 20 carries in a game, but exploded in the playoffs, playing a big role in the Seahawks' Super Bowl run.
Obviously, the Chiefs saw something that made them believe they can achieve the same kind of success with Walker as their bell cow back. Through the first eight games of the 2026 season, Walker already has 872 rushing yards (second-most in the NFL) and seven rushing touchdowns on 159 carries (5.5 yards per carry), along with 172 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. In his first four years in Seattle, he never went over 1,100 rushing yards or 300 receiving yards in a season, totals he's well on pace to surpass this year.
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Most importantly, the Chiefs are winning. Kansas City won its first five games of the season behind Walker's dominance on the ground, and currently sit 6-2 heading into Week 10. They're firmly in position to not only get back to the playoffs, but go on a deep run in the postseason, with Walker as the focal point of the offense. And the best part is, while Gibbs ($22.5 million) and Robinson ($22.25 million) are the two highest-paid running backs in the league, Walker is on the books for just $14.35 million per year through the 2028 season.
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