Seahawks running backs will be ready to run a lot of routes

The Seahawks lost one of their best wide receivers ever in Doug Baldwin. There are plenty of wideouts ready to step up, but don’t forget the running backs.

There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth over the departure of the magnificent Doug Baldwin. He is one of the Seahawks best receivers ever, so the concern is understandable. Seattle drafted three wide receivers, so clearly the team is concerned. They got back into the draft when everyone thought they were done to get John Ursua, who’s perfect for the slot. They traded for a pure receiver at tight end when they added Jacob Hollister to the roster. Let’s not forget that Russell Wilson is more than happy to throw to his running backs. He’s likely to do even more this season.

His favorite target out of the backfield last year was Mike Davis. Sadly, he’s gone on to a greener bank account in Detroit. There’s no reason to assume he took his 34 receptions on 42 targets with him, though. In fact, Seattle still has a player on their roster who had very similar numbers in 2017. That would be J.D. McKissic, who had 34 catches on 46 targets that year. The styles of Davis and McKissic couldn’t be more different, but both got the job done. If it comes to a roster cut between McKissic and C.J. Prosise, I agree with Lee Vowell: it’s McKissic all the way.

As Lee also mentioned in his article, the Seahawks have a newcomer to their happily crowded backfield, Travis Homer. The sixth-round pick out of Miami has already drawn raves in minicamp for his blocking ability, and he is expected to be a key contributor to special teams as well. He’ll certainly get his chance to compete with McKissic in passing situations.

Seattle Seahawks

Seahawks will get a lot from Carson and Penny

But I think Seattle has two bigger options for receivers at running back. I don’t think that either Chris Carson or Rashaad Penny will have people believing Marshall Faulk is in the backfield, no. Speaking of Faulk, you may have missed that the Hall of Famer has been mentoring Penny for months. Penny caught 34 passes in his last two seasons at San Diego State. I’d be shocked if he didn’t have at least that many this year with the Hawks.

Carson doesn’t exactly have hands of stone, either. He nabbed 30 passes in his two seasons at Oklahoma State. He has 27 catches on just 32 in eighteen games with Seattle, so he can certainly get the job done, too. Now I don’t think either man will be the new Faulk or Le’Veon Bell, but with the departure of both Davis and Baldwin, there will be plenty of targets to go around. I already stated that I believe Carson and Penny will form the league’s best running attack. No, I won’t say Seattle will have the best receiving backfield, not while Bell and Alvin Kamara are in the league.

But over the past three seasons, the Seahawks have connected with their backfield 78, 79, and 69 times. On 287 targets, that’s just under a 79 percent success rate. Last year Carson and Penny combined for 29 catches on 36 targets. I can easily see Penny getting more targets than Carson this year, let’s say 30. That should equate to at least 22 catches for around 170 yards. That would put Penny within sight of 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Again, neither player is Marshall Faulk, but I’m pretty sure we’d all be happy with two backs with 1,000 total yards each.