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Russell Wilson is the Seahawks running game now – or is he?

By Todd Vandenberg

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 22: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks runs the ball against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium on October 22, 2017 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Seattle Seahawks won 24-7. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 22: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks runs the ball against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium on October 22, 2017 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Seattle Seahawks won 24-7. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks hands the ball off to Thomas Rawls #34 against the Houston Texans at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 29: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks hands the ball off to Thomas Rawls #34 against the Houston Texans at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

The Texans made it look worse than it is

You can say the Texans exposed the Seahawks running game, or that it was just an outlier. That game alone dropped both Rawls and Lacy’s rushing averages by about half a yard. It was already bad, but not as awful as Houston made it look.

Houston is very good against the run, in the top ten in all categories. Other than rushing touchdowns allowed, New York ranks between 20th and 23rd defensively. And the Washington Redskins rank almost exactly between the Texans and Giants. So there’s cause for optimism this week.

Seahawks have part of the answer now

Part of that optimism is the addition of tackle Duane Brown. He doesn’t grade terrifically at run blocking, but he’s better than average. That is a major improvement over the play of Rees Odhiambo. Russell Wilson will certainly be happier with Brown on his blind side. Speaking of our quarterback, just how much of the load does he carry?

With 13 more yards, Wilson will take the lead as the Seahawks leading rusher. This is not what Pete Carroll envisioned at the start of the season. Of course if Eddie Lacy plays like he was expected, that could change tomorrow.

As for Wilson, it may surprise you to learn he isn’t carrying a bigger share of the rushing offense since Carson went down. He was the running game against Houston, sure, but versus the Giants he only ran twice for 10 yards. Seattle had 104 yards on the ground in New York. He had 16 yards of the 62 rushing yards versus the Rams. The Texans game painted the worst possible picture.

With Carson in the lineup, Wilson accounted for 28.2 percent of Seattle’s rushing yardage. Without him, DangerRuss has accounted for 28.7 percent of the Seahawks ground game. Wilson was always a big part of Seattle’s rushing attack. If you want to check my math, here are the stats.

Related Story: Seattle's running game has to change

For those of you who prefer the tl;dr version, Wilson was carrying too much of the load even when Carson was playing. The rushing yards per game averaged 122 with Chris Carson. Without him, the average is 66 yards per game. That overall production has to change against the Redskins, and I expect it will.

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