Kansas City Chiefs’ Kenneth Walker is on a historic pace through 3 games to become the NFL’s most elusive ball-carrier
Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker is forcing missed tackles at a historic rate. He could become the NFL’s most elusive ball carrier when it’s all said and done.
Kansas City Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker is off to a hot start with his new team.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP isn’t just the NFL’s rushing leader through three weeks with 65 carries for 360 rushing yards. He is also the league leader in missed tackles forced through three games. Walker’s 35 missed tackles forced are the most in the NFL by eight, according to PFF. Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs (27) and Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson (17) follow.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Walker is the only player in the NFL this season with 10 or more missed tackles forced in a single game. He has done that three times in 2026. He also set his career-high with 15 missed tackles forced in Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The hot start to the 2026 NFL season has Walker on a historic pace when it comes to forcing missed tackles.
Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker is on pace to break the NFL’s missed tackles forced record
The most missed tackles forced in a single season is Josh Jacobs with 90 in 2022. PFF began tracking the stat back in 2006, so unfortunately we don’t have real data on some of the all-time greats in NFL history. That said, we’ve had some pretty great rushing seasons during that time frame.
Marshawn Lynch owned the record for eight seasons after he forced 88 missed tackles in 2014, 20 more than the next-closest player that season. Last season, Bijan Robinson challenged Jacobs for the missed-tackles-forced title with 86. Walker could realistically challenge Jacobs; in fact, he’s on pace to blow by it before December arrives.
What is a missed tackle forced?
Missed tackles forced (MTF): The number of times a ball carrier causes a defender to miss a tackle through agility, power, or elusiveness.
- This specifically looks at a runner’s individual tackle-avoidance and independent playmaking ability. For running backs, it creates a layer of separation between their running ability and the O-Line’s blocking.
Doing some simple math, Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker is on pace for 198 missed tackles through a 17-game regular season. That’s 108 more than the current record held by Jacobs. Even if his pace is halved, he’d still be on pace to break the record by more than 10 missed tackles forced.
Walker’s success isn’t just about coming to a Kansas City team with some mauling interior offensive linemen. His individual production is at a level that it has never been at throughout his NFL career. The most missed tackles forced by Walker in a single season to this point is 60 in 2025. He already has more than half of that number through three games.
