There can be little doubt that one of the Seahawks’ biggest problems last season was the running game. It just wasn’t very good. The good news is Pete Carroll fully expects 2016 to be a return to form. He has excellent reasons for this. Three, in fact, with few parts to spare.
Carroll expects Seahawks running game to roar right back
Earlier this week on the Brock and Salk Show on 710 ESPN Seattle, Coach Carroll discussed the run game and what went wrong last year. The pertinent section begins precisely at 35:02, but Brock and Salk are always a great listen. Among other gems, Pete said
"“We lost a hundred some runs last year, you know? That was basically the story. That was basically the tale why everything came about as it did. Defense had to do more stuff, we had to throw the ball more, we had to pass protect more, and all of that because the running game got knocked up…I think we’re gonna come roaring right back.”"
This was almost completely lost in the firestorm of discussion about the possibility of Colin Kaepernick joing the Seahawks as a backup quarterback. If you somehow missed that, we discussed the statistics behind it. We also looked at it from the standpoint of Kaepernick being a rival and – ugh – a 49er.
Back on topic. Let’s look at just why Coach Carroll has good reason for his optimism. Other than that he’s about the most optimistic guy on the planet.
The three-headed attack, plus parts to spare
Eddie Lacy is expected to be the new featured back by most observers. There’s no reason Lacy can’t play at his established level with Green Bay. After all, he had only one bad season, that in 2015. In both 2013 and 2014, he gained over 1,100 yards. He scored 24 touchdowns, averaged almost 4.4 yards per carry, and caught 77 passes in his first two seasons. His production dropped as his weight increased in 2015, but he was averaging over five yards per carry last season until he was shelved by injury.
Thomas Rawls is a smaller, faster battering ram. He loves contact, as all 12s know. In his rookie season he averaged 5.6 yards per carry, and the Seahawks felt they’d found their workhorse. Unfortunately injuries hampered Rawls for much of last season as his average dropped to 3.2 yards per rush. A lackluster offensive line didn’t help matters much. He should be ready to compete for that workhorse role again.
C.J. Prosise is shiftier than either Lacy or Rawls. He’s more than happy to lower his shoulder, too. Like Rawls, Prosise missed considerable time last season. The Seahawks originally saw him as a third-down specialist. Considering his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield , I think that’s exactly where Prosise will find a home this season, a third-down specialist and great change of pace.
It’s always a good idea to have a few spare parts, especially when your three leading candidates for the running back job only managed 20 games among them last season. Yes, they missed over 58% of their teams’ games. Alex Collins, Troymaine Pope remain from last year’s roster, and 7th round draft pick Chris Carson has survived the early cuts so far.
2016 was an aberration that won’t be repeated
According to Football Outsiders, the Seahawks rushing attack ranked an abysmal 23rd last season in efficiency. In 2015 the running game ranked third, while the offense was number one overall. In 2014, the Seahawks ground game ranked 1st overall. 2014, it was one word: Beastmode. 2015 it was more Thomas Rawls than Lynch. Rawls and balance, those 100 extra running plays Pete talked about.
With Lacy, Rawls and Prosise, plus players that may be on either special teams or the practice squad, there is every reason to expect the Seahawks rushing attack to be back int he top five of the league for 2017.