The Seattle Seahawks saw Rashaad Penny simply go off in the last third of the season. Penny is now a free agent and will have many suitors and this, of course, includes Seattle. Not picking up Penny’s fifth-year option before the 2021 season now seems like a mistake but at the time it was the right move.
No one could have guessed after watching the Seahawks play their first 11 games of 2021 that Rashaad Penny would end up having the season he did. Through those 11 games (of which Penny had played in four of them), he had run for a total of 50 yards on 17 carries. Penny would finish the season leading the NFL in yards per rush (6.3) and exceed his previous career-high in rushing yards by 330 yards.
Penny may have become a must-sign for Seattle this offseason but other teams need a good running back too. He should have several offers to choose from like the teams that follow.
5 potential landing spots for Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons aren’t a great team and they have an aging quarterback but a healthy Rashaad Penny helps them improve quite a bit. Atlanta’s rushing attack was so poor this season it was led by Cordarelle Patterson (153 carries and 618 yards and 6 touchdowns rushing). No offense to Patterson, but he isn’t meant to be a running back. He is a wide receiver/return specialist. Patterson actually did fairly well as a running back but sustained success shouldn’t be expected.
To help quarterback Matt Ryan be better, though, the Falcons need a true running back. Atlanta has budding superstar Kyle Pitts at tight end and receiver Calvin Ridley should be back in 2022. The Falcons offense with a very good RB like Penny would increase their win total next year.
Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore is a good team that has suffered a ton of injuries the last couple of years. Their 8-9 record in 2021 is not indicative of how good they actually are. The Ravens started 8-3 this year until the injuries hit and they lost their last six games. Five of those games were by 3 points or less, however. Three were by 1 point.
Baltimore is a team built to run the ball (a quarterback who is a physical freak but is limited with accuracy and not great receivers to work with) but when the only real breakaway threat to carry the ball is the quarterback and he is hurt for five games, the entire team is limited. If Penny were to join the Ravens he will be going to a team with a built-in scheme for how to open holes for a running back.
Penny showed over the last third of the 2021 season that if he can get even the implication of a hole he can go for a 30-yard run.
Baltimore’s offense still needs quarterback Lamar Jackson to be healthy and take fewer hits but a back like Penny would allow Jackson to be hit less because Jackson wouldn’t have to run the ball as much. Penny would get enough carries (again, if he can stay healthy) to have a 1,500-yard season in 2022. I am not sure the Seahawks offensive line is good enough to help him do that.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills are an interesting team when it comes to running the ball because they rely on quarterback Josh Allen to do a lot with his legs. Their leading rusher the last two seasons has been Devin Singletary who isn’t a bad running back at all and is still just 24 years old. But Rashaad Penny would be a great running back in the Bills system because he can catch the ball as well and is a better runner than Singletary. Penny is also a lot bigger.
In 2021, the Bills threw the ball 655 times and ran the ball 461 times. For a cold-weather team, the Bills probably need a running back who can reduce the burden on Allen. Yes, the Bills have won the AFC East the last two seasons but could be a Super Bowl contender with a healthy Penny. He adds an element to the team that Buffalo simply doesn’t have.
Opposing teams would have to account for Penny and that should mean even more efficiency for Allen. The Bills were 0-4 in games when they ran for fewer than 100 yards. In all other games, Buffalo was 11-2.
Penny showed late this year with the Seahawks that he can change the outcomes of games when healthy and is a powerful runner with the speed to break away from safeties in the open field. Buffalo adding Penny would make the already very good Bills offense better and likely good enough to be the favorite in the AFC in 2022.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins are a poorly run franchise that changes coaches far too often than they should. This offseason they let Brian Flores go after Flores had begun to get the team into a potential perennial playoff contender. Miami’s defense was young and improving and dangerous.
The part of the Dolphins that held them back was their offense. Miami needs an upgrade at quarterback and running back. I wrote previously about what a Russell Wilson to Miami trade could look like. I don’t want the trade to happen but adding Wilson makes Miami better to the point where they could make a deep run in the playoffs.
But imagine if Rashaad Penny were to follow Wilson to the Dolphins. What was a liability for Miami, the offense would instantly be among the better ones in the AFC. Even if Penny leaves Seattle on his own in free agency, he would make the Dolphins offense much better.
In 2021, Myles Gaskin led Miami in rushing with 612 yards in 17 games. Penny gained 671 yards in Seattle’s last five games alone. It’s true that the Dolphins offensive line isn’t that good but neither is Seattle’s. If I am Miami, I am making a hard play for Penny this offseason with the knowledge that if he can stay healthy he will transform the offense.
Seattle Seahawks
The NFL is a funny business. Before the 2021 season, the Seahawks rightfully decided not to pick up Rashaad Penny’s fifth-year option. Penny was a first round bust and couldn’t stay healthy. Not only that but it wasn’t clear how much Penny actually wanted to play. He would come into a game for three plays and then leave and look injured and never returned. 12s got used to this.
Even most of the way through the season Penny seemed like not only might he never get back on the field in a Seattle uniform but it wasn’t obvious he would even play football again. Penny played a bit in week one, went on injured reserve and then did not play again until weeks 7 and 8. Then, of course, he got hurt again and came back in week 11. He ran twice versus the Cardinals including one impressive run and then left with injury. Again.
Before week 13, there was some talk about Penny once again going on injured reserve but he didn’t and played every game the rest of the season starting in week 13. He was so good in the last five games that he ended up leading Seattle in rushing yards this year and led the entire NFL in yards-per-rush (6.3).
More than that, Penny was so explosive and productive that his last five games of 2021 changed the narrative of his entire career. He went from bust to possible must-sign for the Seahawks this offseason. If – and that is a huge if – Penny can stay healthy for all of 2022, he could run for 1,500 yards and help make Seattle’s offense one of the best in the NFC.