Can the Seahawks really target Chris Carson 50 times?

Seahawks have a lot of targets to hit before we get to the backs

Let’s say Seattle tweaks the offense enough to throw 460 times. Sure, Doug Baldwin is gone (and man does that ever stink). But due to his injuries, Angry Doug was only targeted 73 times. You can’t say the Seahawks don’t have plenty of candidates at wide receiver to take those targets and more. The preseason will certainly tell us more, but the Hawks admitted they didn’t use Jaron Brown enough last year. DK Metcalf is a lock to get his share of targets. Jazz Ferguson is blowing up so far in the preseason. Gary Jennings came around with a great week of practice after a slow start – he did miss minicamp and OTAs. David Moore is the same guy who played lights out for half the season.

Throw in the new number one receiver, Tyler Lockett, and you probably have about 250 targets for the wide receivers. Wilson has looked for his wide receivers just under 58 percent of the time in his career. Last year under Schottenheimer, the wideouts were targeted 241 times in 427 attempts, a bit over 56 percent. I believe that percentage would have been higher if Baldwin had been healthy. Still, it’s pretty close.

If Wilson throws 460 times, that’s 265 passes to the wide receivers. The tight ends will certainly get their share. Last year they saw 72 targets. Will Dissly, Nick Vannett, and either Ed Dickson (depending on his health) or Jacob Hollister will be looking for the ball just as much this year. Let’s say they get 80 targets. That brings us to 340 attempts. Hmmm…115 to go.

Except not quite. Wilson did have 427 attempts last year, but only 400 targets were credited. He does have to throw the ball away sometimes, after all. So allowing for that, a few picks, and the occasional “where the heck was that ball going” attempt, we’ll assume the Seahawks will have 440 targets out of 460 attempts. That’s about 95 percent, Wilson’s career average. And that still gives us 95 targets for the running backs.