Three Seahawks that will exceed expectations in 2021
By Lee Vowell
Chris Carson
Chris Carson is going to have a huge season. In fact, I think he will have the kind of year that Todd Gurley did in his best seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. Gurley’s best season for total yards was 2,093 in 2017. The next year Gurley got 1,831. I think Carson ends up close to this number.
Why? Because the same system that Gurley used (and the system used Gurley) to get all those yards is basically the same one that Chris Carson will have in 2021. New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was on the offensive coaching staff for the Rams since 2017. He was the passing game coordinator starting in 2018.
Waldron knows how to get his running backs involved not just by running the ball but catching passes out of the backfield. In 2017 and 2018, Gurley was targeted at least 81 times each of those years. Carson was targeted just 47 and 46 times, respectively, for Seattle the last two years.
Carson is going to get the bulk of the carries for Seattle in 2021. He is clearly the Seahawks best running back. His rushing attempts each season, minus last year when Carson didn’t get the ball enough, rival what Gurley got with the Rams in his most productive seasons.
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Add in that Carson should catch more passes, he is going to have more touches and more touches means, of course, more yards. Carson is going to have a huge season and make the Pro Bowl. And Seattle will not mind using him a lot because while Carson is signed for the next two seasons, his 2022 season is not guaranteed.