Seahawks 25 best players, #9 Thomas Rawls

Dec 6, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls (34) celebrates his touchdown during the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls (34) celebrates his touchdown during the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Seattle Seahawks roster is generally regarded as one of the best in the NFL top to bottom, but what about the talent level within the roster? Our co-editor Dan Viens takes a shot at ranking the team’s Top 25 players in order.

(PART 17 OF 25 IN A SERIES)

NFL Network does their Top 100 NFL players list every year, and this off season we’ve seen our share of analysts taking a crack at ranking the best rosters in the league. As we enter into the dog days of the off season, with the start of training camp still over a month away, I wanted to see what it would look like if I tried to rank the best 25 players the Seahawks have.

It was harder than I thought.

The top 10 was pretty easy. I would suspect most would end up with the same 10-12 names in some order or another. After that it gets dicey.

Among the challenges, how do you figure in the rookies and players who have never played a down in Seattle?

More from 12th Man Rising

My criteria was wide-ranging. Sometimes I went with pure talent, and other times I gave more weight to the players importance to the team. And in certain cases the players role…….played a role in my ranking. When in doubt, however, I would just ask myself “who’s the better player?”

So here we go……

The 9th Best Player On The Seahawks Roster is….

#9: Thomas Rawls, RB

When I projected Rawls to make the final 53 man roster last June, it was simply because I loved his college tape. Even then, I had no idea he would be this good.

With Marshawn Lynch hobbled by nagging injuries early in the season, Rawls got a chance to shine. The undrafted rookie looked good against Chicago in week #3, gaining 104 yards on 16 carries. But it was his week #5 in Cincinnati when Rawls announced to the world he was a star in the making. 169 yards and a score on 23 rushes, many of them highlight-reel worthy. He finished his rookie season with 830 yards and a 5.6 yards per carry average.

What makes Rawls special is his ability to read his blocks, anticipate the hole, make one hard cut and commit. Couple this with his ability to make that cut at extreme angles while running at nearly full speed and he’s a perfect fit for the Seahawks zone blocking system. Because of that, he was actually more effective than Lynch early in the season when the team’s offensive line struggled to find any continuity. Lynch was a more patient runner, but the holes simply weren’t there at times. Rawls can take a tiny crease and get through it, making it a big gain once he reaches the second level.

As we know, however, his rookie season wasn’t perfect. A broken ankle in week #13 ended his season and wiped out his offseason training. While team officials have expressed confidence he’s on track to return in time for the regular season, the fact Seattle drafted 3 running backs this year may point to a cautious approach.

Next: With Baldwin now signed, who's next?

If Rawls is healthy, however, we could see a huge breakout year for the #9 ranked player on our list of 25 best Seahawks.