Mahomes was a big part of Walker leaving the Seahawks for the Chiefs two months after winning the Super Bowl. Walker called Mahomes “the best quarterback in the league” and said he had “a lot to do” with his decision to leave Seattle. They have found time to bond even with Mahomes rehabilitating his torn ACL, hoping to be healthy by the start of the regular season.
“He’s very good at being accurate with the whole team,” Walker said, “and that chemistry will continue to build.”
It will be interesting how much more the Chiefs plan to use Walker as a receiver. He averaged fewer than 40 catches and 300 receiving yards per season in four years in Seattle. In 2024, with Ryan Grubb as the Seahawks’ player, Walker had his busiest season as a receiver – 46 catches on 53 targets – but totaled just 299 yards. He has just two receiving TDs in his career.
In the past five years alone, the Chiefs have had three different quarterbacks with at least 40 receptions in a season: Darrel Williams, Jerick McKinnon and Isiah Pacheco. Two of those seasons (Williams in 2021 and McKinnon in 2022) came under the play calling of Eric Bieniemy, who left the Chiefs the past three years before returning as offensive coordinator this season. In his five years as Chiefs OC dating back to 2018, Bieniemy’s offense ranked in the top five in passing yards each time and ranked no higher than 16th in rushing yards in any of those seasons.
The arrival of Walker and the return of Bieniemy could lead to an increase in the quarterback’s contribution as a receiver going forward.