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Seahawks are going to be good at running back and here is why

By Andy Excell

Dec 13, 2020; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson (32) rushes against the New York Jets during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2020; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson (32) rushes against the New York Jets during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 4, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back DeeJay Dallas (31) runs the ball against the Miami Dolphins during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back DeeJay Dallas (31) runs the ball against the Miami Dolphins during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

Seahawks running back depth

Using the ratings from PFF.com for last season, I was able to rank the best two running backs from each team in order to rank them from 1 through 32, I also then factored into my formula how resilient to injury each team is in terms of drop off from RB1 to RB2 and the depth at this position for each team.

I used Chris Carson and DeeJay Dallas as the two running backs from Seattle, Dallas rather than Rashaad Penny due to Penny missing nearly all of last season.

The pairing of Penny and Dallas ranked eleventh overall, the top ten was as follows:

  1. New England (Harris & Michel)
  2. Minnesota (Cook & Mattison)
  3. New Orleans (Kamara & Murray)
  4. Cleveland (Chubb & Hunt)
  5. Green Bay (Jones & Dillon)
  6. Carolina ( McCaffrey & R.Smith)
  7. Baltimore (Dobbins & Edwards)
  8. Indianapolis (Taylor & Hines)
  9. LA Chargers (Ekeler & Jackson)
  10. Tennessee (Murray & Evans)

I am sure readers will dispute this top ten and have their own opinions, I just chose to use PFF as a reliable independent arbiter.

The first thing to note is that 6 of these top ten were playoff teams last season, if I went further down the list it would show that eleven of the fourteen playoff teams ranked 17th or better in this section of analysis.

Although neither of the Super Bowl teams from last season made it into those eleven of fourteen, the Chiefs coming in at 21st and the Bucs at 23rd.

What can we conclude from this? My conclusion is that it is important to have a quality running back or running backs, but that it is not a prerequisite for success. And in terms of the Seahawks, they have good enough running backs according to PFF ratings.

Indeed the return of Rashaad Penny and Dallas maturing in his second season could easily move the Seahawks into the top ten in 2021.

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