Seahawks 2018 report cards: Chris Carson and his breakout season

The Seahawks were a run heavy team in 2018 and that worked well for Chris Carson. Here is how Carson graded this season.

Seattle made a big effort to get back to running the ball a lot more in 2018. The Seahawks did that so well that the team led the NFL in rushing. Multiple backs rushed for more than 300 yards for Seattle this year but none more than Chris Carson.

Carson finished fifth in the league in rushing with 1,151 yards and he scored nine touchdowns. After a promising start to his rookie season in 2017, Carson was injured in week four and missed the rest of the season. He would have made a difference had he stayed healthy.

I write that last sentence because Carson made a huge impact this year. He runs harder than any Seahawks running back since Marshawn Lynch was healthy in 2014. Possibly harder. Because while Seattle’s line wasn’t great in 2013 and 2014 once could argue that it was better than the 2018 version.

Carson was so productive because many times he simply willed his way to yards. He is amazingly strong but also athletic enough to avoid tacklers. How he fell to the 7th round of the 2017 NFL draft is a blessing for Seattle and a crime for the rest of the league.

The fact is that Seattle will need Chris Carson for several more seasons. He should form an excellent backfield with Rashaad Penny through 2020 and hopefully beyond. Carson’s rushing numbers may go down with Penny picking up more carries but that should only help Carson’s sustainability and production.

As far as 2018 went, though, it is clear that Seattle does not win 10 games without him. Carson is the type of runner who simply thinks it is a crime to be tackled. By the time his career ends in Seattle, he could easily rank in the top five rushers in Seahawks history.

Grade: A