Chiefs New Running Back Is Making His Case For MVP

The Kansas City Chiefs are 4-0 and playing well, so the automatic assumption is that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the team’s MVP, right? 

Not so fast. Running back Kenneth Walker III can make a pretty good case for being not just the team’s MVP, but the MVP of the entire league, per a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Florio also named Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons as another running back who can make a case for the MVP award. 

This probably won’t happen, but it’s an interesting point. Per Florio, no non-quarterback has won the MVP prize since Vikings running back Adrian Peterson edged out Peyton Manning in 2012. In the current century, a non-quarterback has won the MVP award just four times: Marshall Faulk in 2000, Shaun Alexander in 2005, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 and Peterson in 2012.

Florio described Robinson as “a touchdown waiting to happen,” and his 59-yard touchdown run in Atlanta’s 45-24 set the tone and got the Falcons out to an early lead. He currently has 494 yards rushing to go with 120 yards receiving and a total of five total touchdowns. 

Walker, meanwhile has been used in a different way so far this season. He’s the hammer the Chiefs have used to compliment  Mahomes’ throwing talent, but he’s also a touchdown threat in his own right, as the two touchdowns he scored in just 19 second helped key the Chiefs’ 30-27 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. 

What’s put Walker in consideration for the MVP has also been about his receiving contributions, ironically enough. This wasn’t considered a strength or even part of Walker’s skillset, but the Chiefs have proven differently by using him in the screen game with soft tosses that are short aerial handoffs to some extent. 

The running back 537 rushing yards to go with 84 yards receiving for six total touchdowns. Per Florio, he’s also just the third player in NFL history to have 170 or more rushing yards in two of the first four games of a season, joining only Jim Brown and O.J. Simpson. 

Both players are low on the odds list for MVP, and there’s a good reason for that. Quarterbacks make an impact in every game, while running backs cede the limelight to other players -- usually the quarterback -- in some games, which often makes it harder for voters to go against the traditional bias for this award.