Why running the ball more is the right move for the Seahawks in 2022

Any successful Seahawks offense under head coach Pete Carroll starts with a good running game and finishes through the air.

In Pete Carroll’s football philosophy, a good ground game is what the offense hangs its hat on. The Seahawks this year have all the tools needed for a dynamic and explosive rushing attack. Most importantly we start with the offensive line, as opposed to years past the Seahawks have finally built a potentially dominant offensive line.

With two young blue-chips prospects at each of the tackle spots in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas to pair with two potentially great run-blocking guards in former All-Pro Gabe Jackson and third-year guard Damien Lewis. Seattle should start off decent and get really good by the end of the season.

If this line stays healthy, they will finish far above where Pro Football Focus projected the Seahawks to finish in run-block grade before the year.

The Seahawks need a dominant run game if they want to exceed 2022 expectations

With the line into consideration, it could be a potential breakout year for not one but two hungry running backs for the ‘Hawks. Rashaad Penny is a man who already started to shine at the latter part of last year’s strong finish (Seattle finished 4-2 in their last 6 games), rushing for 706 yards in the final 6 games of the season. Penny finished with an average of 6.3 yards per carry, according to ESPN statistics, and this led all NFL running backs.

His running mate for this season will be no slouch either, most likely splitting carries with rookie Kenneth Walker III. Walker led the Michigan State Spartans to an 11-2 record running for over 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns and supplied most of the Spartans offense, providing an exceptional number of explosive runs.

Finally, the passing game. The biggest question for the Seahawks will obviously be “who will play quarterback?” And for the first year in the past decade, the question is a very valid one. Seattle trading franchise cornerstone Russell Wilson was a very controversial move. But this is an optimistic article so let’s dive into what a best-case scenario would look like.

The decision comes down to a somewhat safe bet in Geno Smith versus Drew Lock. Smith might be a good starter mostly due to the fact he knows the offense. Lock likely has the bigger upside as he is younger with a stronger arm. So, the best-case scenario in my opinion would be Drew Lock fulfilling his potential and helping Seattle exceed expectations.

Lock has not shown a ton of promise as a drop-back passer so far in his three-year career. And this might not be the popular opinion but what Lock has been able to excel at is running play-action. According to Pro Football Focus, Lock has a 123.3 passer rating when running an offense off play-action versus an abysmal 59.3 when not using play-action drop-back plays.

In summary, let’s say in a best-case scenario the Seahawks can run the ball effectively. This will make defenses respect the run game and adjust accordingly. This, in turn, will create a heavy base of play-action passes for Drew Lock to get one-on-one targets with Seattle’s two Pro Bowl-caliber wide receivers, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf.

If you ask me that sounds like the ideal concoction of balance and explosive plays for Pete Carroll, and with that potent and balanced offense, Seattle could just shock the world with an eerily similar offense to the one that got them to back-to-back Super Bowls.