Seahawks film study: Kenneth Walker vs. Mike Macdonald's defense

Plus Olu Oluwatimi (again), Kalen DeBoer's play action, and new music genres of the 2010s: Seaside Joe 1922

Two years before they won the national championship, the Michigan Wolverines were nearly put to bed for good at the hands of a previously unheralded running back who would rush for 197 yards and five touchdowns against a defense that finished the 2021 season ranked eighth in the nation in points allowed per game. This was the first and only time that Kenneth Walker III would face a Mike Macdonald defense, but the two will be reunited in Seattle Seahawks practices this summer and fall.

Does Macdonald have an answer for Walker now?

I say “nearly put to bed” because Michigan rebounded from the loss to reach the College Football Playoffs, at which point they got demolished by the eventual-champion Georgia Bulldogs. Though Michigan State improved to 8-0 after the comeback win—a Walker game that I originally detailed two years ago with his “nine best plays” against Michigan—the Spartans would lose to Purdue the following week, then get embarrassed by Ohio State two weeks later. In that game, Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, which was still only third on his own team that day behind Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.