An early look at the Seahawks 2019 running backs

Seahawks have solid players to step in for Davis

So if Davis leaves, who can the Seahawks use instead? He’s largely been forgotten as he missed the first nine games of the season, but J.D. McKissic is still around.  Well, technically he isn’t as he’s a free agent too. But unlike Davis, he’s a restricted free agent. That means that if another team offers McKissic a contract, Seattle can match the offer and keep him on the team. Considering he only touched the ball four times in 2018, he isn’t likely to get any big offers.

So why should the Seahawks consider keeping him at all? Refer to the 2017 season, also known as “The Year Without a Running Back”. The year in which Russell Wilson led the team in carries and rushing yards. McKissic only had 47 carries, but no running back had more than 69 carries that year. McKissic’s true value came on – you guessed it – third down. Only three of his runs came on that down, but 15 of his 46 catches were on third or fourth down. Mike Davis was the only other back who had more than 10 catches. So McKissic could certainly help carry the load in crunch time. Remember, he was the only Seahawk to score a rushing touchdown other than Wilson in 2017.

There’s one more name to throw into the mix. That would be Bo Scarbrough. At this stage of his career, all Bo knows is the practice squad. Remember, Mike Davis spent most of 2017 on the practice squad and likely would never have seen the field if it wasn’t for the train wreck the backfield had become. Scarbrough was signed on December 18th to give the Hawks a little more depth at the position and replaced guard Jordan Simmons on the active roster. He’s signed through 2020.

What does he bring to the Seahawks? At 6’1″ and 235 pounds he’s got about ten pounds on Carson. Of course, he has no stats as a practice squad guy, but he looked pretty good in college. In three seasons at Alabama, he averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored 20 touchdowns. One more nice thing, he made 17 catches in his final season. For a little more on him, check out the always excellent Bob Condotta’s article from the Seattle Times. Scarbrough is young, as he came out as a junior in the 2018 draft when the Cowboys picked him up in the seventh round. Seems the Hawks have done okay with that draft spot before.

I haven’t forgotten about C. J. Prosise, but I’d be dumbfounded if Seattle doesn’t cut him. He’s a fine player when healthy, but he’s almost never healthy. In three seasons he’s appeared in just 16 games and made only two starts. Yes, he was spectacular in that game against New England, but that was three years ago. Those 153 yards account for 30 percent of his career output. I wish him all the best, but it’s time to let him try to revive his career on another team.

Seattle has Carson under contract through 2021 and Penny until 2023. They’re likely to re-sign McKissic, as he won’t be too expensive. Between him and Scarbrough, I’d say the Seahawks have a nice roster to fill out the backfield behind Carson and Penny. As much as I’d love to see Davis stay, he’s probably going to cash in with a nice payday. He deserves it, too. You can always make improvements, but I think the Hawks already have the backfield they need.