Demario Davis Breaks Down What Kenneth Walker III Adds to Chiefs’ Offense

Kansas City signed Kenneth Walker III in free agency after he was named Super Bowl MVP with the Seattle Seahawks last season. The running back enters Sunday’s game against the New York Jets third in the NFL with 770 rushing yards.

Walker has six touchdowns. He also has 31 catches for 131 yards, the third-most receptions on the team. He joined an offense built around quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

Jets linebacker Demario Davis wants a disruptive defense at Arrowhead Stadium, one that controls the line of scrimmage and creates takeaways to set up the rest of the team.

“I think when you’re able to add an elite running back like Walker to an already explosive offense, it just presents another dynamic that’s very challenging to go against,” Davis said. “I think for years, Mahomes and Kelce have been a top tight end-quarterback tandem in the National Football League, and when you’re able to add a running game on top of that, but they have dynamic receivers as well that can stretch you vertically.”

“They’re doing a good job, not just No. 9, but No. 10 is doing a good job of running the football, so they have a good one-two punch,” Davis continued. “Andy Reid has always done a good job of keeping it balanced, so it presents a lot of challenges for any defense. So we got to be ready to go out there and play some good football.”

Rookie running back Emmett Johnson had 128 receiving yards in last week’s 28-24 loss at Denver. His 73-yard touchdown catch in that game was the longest by a rookie running back in Chiefs history, according to the Jets.

Brock Bowers is the go-to option in the Raiders’ offense, in Davis’ view, while Kelce is not always the first priority in Kansas City’s pass concepts.

“I think that’s part of the game now,” Davis explained. “Every team is going to have a tight end that presents challenges, and some teams have [multiple]. It’s challenging because not only is he a good route runner with great hands, but he has a lot of savviness, and he knows how to turn an over into a corner sit.”

“His over routes, he can flatten them out, [or] go straight down the seam, and him and Mahomes have a chemistry that allows him to be electric,” Davis added. “And then when you have a tight end that can stretch you vertically with running backs who can catch the ball, it creates a challenge for those [hook] players who have to play in those windows.”

Bowers caught seven passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets last Sunday. Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes in the 38-33 Raiders win.

Kelce leads the Chiefs with 29 catches for 410 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City ranks third in the NFL at 6.30 yards per play.

Beating Kansas City will require some of the Jets’ best football, Davis said.

“I think he’s a phenomenal back,” Davis said of Walker. “He can do it all. One of the top backs in the National Football League. No. 1, you got to set the edge because he can hurt you on the perimeter. But then you got to be a strong tackler in between the tackles because he has strong contact balance. Then you have to be a great space [tackler] because he can catch the ball in space and hurt you. So he’s one of those guys that presents multiple threats, not just on the edge, but between the tackles and the passing game as well.”

New York ranks 11th in total defense. The unit is fifth against the pass and 21st against the run, and it has allowed 92 points over its last three games.

The Jets recorded one sack and six quarterback hits on Cousins. Rookie edge rusher David Bailey missed that game with a groin injury and is expected to play Sunday after practicing fully Friday.

Defensive tackle David Onyemata has been on injured reserve since September after core muscle surgery. Davis said he does not know anything medically about Onyemata’s timeline.

Complementary football is what the Jets need anyway, as Davis sees it.

“What you’re alluding to is our four-minute defense, and several games we’ve been on the field at the end of the game and weren’t able to get off the field,” Davis said. “That’s one of our main focuses, being able to control the line of scrimmage. When you’re not getting off the field in four-minute defense, that’s an example of not controlling the line of scrimmage. Last game was a little bit better because we didn’t stay on the field. We were able to get off the field and give our offense another shot.”

“That’s what you want to be able to do, get off the field in those situations and give the other side of the ball an opportunity to go and win the game,” Davis noted. “That happens all throughout the game, where the offense needs to set the defense up, defense needs to set the offense up, special teams play a part for both. When you get into these games that have been close, like all of our games have been, all of them except one have been a one-score game. You want to have a shot in all these games. The one game that we didn’t have a one-score game, we still had opportunities. It was an 11-point game, a touchdown and field goal. So when you get in those close games, it really comes down to that complementary football, those situational setups, and capitalizing in those moments. That’s what we’re really working to do.”

Before returning to New York this year, Davis spent eight seasons in New Orleans. The Jets have lost five games by one score this season. Against Las Vegas, the decisive field goal came with 27 seconds to play.

Kansas City opened 5-0 before losing its last two games. The Jets are 2-6, and the game starts at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. Roundtable broke down the biggest X-factors for a Jets upset, and the Jets were also given a surprising chance to win at Arrowhead.