Weird numbers of DeeJay Dallas from the weird Seahawks season

It’s certainly been a weird season for the Seattle Seahawks. Setting the 10 losses aside (I wish we could), the Hawks have put up some really weird numbers this year. I suppose it fits, considering how 2021 played out. But no one has had weirder numbers than DeeJay Dallas.

There’s no way around it, the Seahawks have had a very strange year. That 10 in the loss column is the standout number, for certain. Especially so when you consider the possibility that could very well move to 12 before the season’s end. The Lions have 12 losses already, sure, but they’re no pushover. They were 2-2 in December, including a blowout 30-12 shellacking of the Cardinals. Four of their losses have been by three points or less.

But this is about weird numbers for the Seahawks, not the team in Honolulu Blue. No one stands out more than our seventeenth-string running back, DeeJay Dallas. Well, it seems like we’ve had 17 RB with all the injuries Seattle has had in the backfield.

Even though DeeJay isn’t the next man up, or even the next, he’s the only running back who’s appeared in all 15 games this year. Despite all the injuries, he hasn’t gotten a single start. Even Adrian Peterson got a start, in his single Seahawks appearance.

DeeJay Dallas has some weird numbers for the Seattle Seahawks in 2021

Now the numbers get really weird. Although he averages just two carries per game (31 total), he has as many touchdowns as Alex Collins (108 carries) and is just one behind both Rashaad Penny (71 carries) and Chris Carson (54 carries). At 5’10” and 214 pounds, he’s hardly the prototypical goal-line bruiser. That’s over six scores per carry. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but still.

This brings me to his receiving numbers. Let’s just say, they’re pretty good. Like, weirdly good. Dallas has been targeted 23 times. He has 21 catches. And all good 12s know it should be 22 catches. Yes, I know the pass interference wouldn’t count as a catch, but if Russell Wilson had just put the ball where it should have been, that’s a catch, a touchdown, and probably a win.

Regardless, look at those numbers. 21 catches on 23 targets result in a catch rate of 91.3 percent. That leads the Hawks for all players with at least 10 targets. For the record, Carson caught all six of his. Not only does Dallas basically lead all Hawks in catch rate, but his yards per game is higher than the three lead backs. Yes, we’ve had three lead running backs this year, and that doesn’t even count AP. Tells you a lot about 2021, doesn’t it?

Don’t worry, 12s, we’ve barely scratched the surface of the weirdness of the DeeJay Dallas numbers. As you no doubt recall, he has just 31 carries. He’s accounted for 10 first downs. He leads the other backs with that 32 percent rate. Another weird number here: Alex Collins and Chris Carson have exactly the same rate of first downs per carry at 20.37 percent.

I suppose the weirdest number of all is why this guy is getting less than three and a half touches per game. I suppose that’s just one more symptom of the ineptitude of the Hawks offense this year. I’m not suggesting that getting DeeJay the ball more would have fixed the problem. Nothing short of a change in offensive philosophy would do that. And that requires a new – and effective – offensive coordinator, and Pete Carroll to let him run his system. Hey new guy: be sure to let DeeJay Dallas do his thing.