Seahawks outlook for 2018: Running backs

The Seahawks running backs were an underperforming group this season. Maybe that was due to a poor offensive line. Possibly because of the backs themselves. 2018 needs to be better. Here is how the group looks next year.

The Seahawks signed Eddie Lacy this past offseason and already had Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise. None of these three were anywhere near good in 2017. Prosise cannot stay healthy. Neither can Rawls and he is ineffective when he does play. Lacy was a healthy scratch many times and terrible when he got game action.

Seventh-round pick Chris Carson was Seattle’s best running back in 2017, but only played in four games. When Carson was injured against the Colts, the Seahawks not only lost their best running back, they lost their entire running game for weeks. Carson was much better than expected, but he should have never have been expected to carry the entire running back room.

But he did for the first few games. In game two, for instance, Carson literally ran off the last five minutes to secure a win against the San Francisco 49ers. Carson’s 4.2 yards-per-carry doesn’t look amazing until you compare it to the every other back, except for J.D. McKissic.

At least Carson will be back next year. He should be penciled in as the starter. Now, unlike most other Seattle running backs, hopefully he can get healthy and stay that way.

McKissic was also decent, but he doesn’t have the size to be a three-down back. He can be used in lots of formations and should be. McKissic should return to Seattle next year, so hopefully the Seahawks will find lots of ways to use him.

Mike Davis also showed promise. It might make 12s worry about the Seahawks decision making, though, in that he was on Seattle’s practice squad for much of the season when he clearly was better than Lacy or Rawls. A Davis and Carson backfield in 2018 could be a productive one.

Contracts

As of right now, Seattle has just three running backs signed in 2018. Those would be Carson (through 2020), Tre Madden and Prosise. All of those players will make less than $1 million each. McKissic is an exclusive-rights free agent, meaning Seattle need offer him only a minimum-terms one-year contract and he is under contract to Seattle. Count on him being back.

Rawls and Lacy shouldn’t return.

But Seattle still needs a good running back. Carson and Davis haven’t proven to be healthy enough for an entire season (or heck, even more than a handful of games). But the Seahawks cannot really afford to draft a back high in the draft; They have too many other needs.

Outlook

Hopefully Carson can return in the form he showed early in 2017 and Davis can be a good backup and both stay healthy. If that can happen, along with McKissic the Seahawks will have a decent backfield. With some other as-yet unknown help.

Related Story: Should the Seahawks re-sign Jimmy Graham?

Now if only someone can find a way to block for them.