To say that Rashaad Penny's tenure with the Seattle Seahawks was a disappointment would probably be a massive understatement. Not many running backs are taken in the first round, and even fewer are out of the league five years later.
The Seahawks' decision to take Penny out of San Diego State with the No. 27 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft was always polarizing. The talent was most definitely there, and he was an electric special teams guy as well, but some thought he was a bit of a reach.
Penny had an up-and-down time in Seattle, mostly due to an inability to stay on the field. That's why, looking back on his career, he told Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times how badly he felt for letting the fans down.
Rashaad Penny feels he let the Seattle Seahawks down
“I talk about Seattle every day; I love it so much,” Penny said. “It just really made me sad, because that city deserved more of me, in the aspect of playing. I felt like I kind of let them down, because I wasn’t available.”
Penny played in 42 of 83 possible regular-season games in his five years with the team. The 5-foot-11 speedster was efficient when he was available, averaging a whopping 5.6 yards per carry, but availability is often the best of abilities in this line of business.
Even so, some fans may still remember him fondly for his explosiveness and how he put the team on his back in the final games of the 2021 season. He averaged 6.3 yards per attempt and finished the season with career bests in carries (119), rushing yards (749), and touchdowns (6).
Sadly, injuries got in his way again after that. He suffered a season-ending injury in Week 5 of the following season, and he would never suit up for the organization again. He spent a brief time with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, turning 11 carries into 33 yards. He later joined the Carolina Panthers' practice squad before retiring in 2024.
It's always hard to know how a player's career will turn out, and countless factors can make or break a guy's career. Talent or being a good fit were never an issue for Penny, but injury-prone players simply don't have a place in the toughest and most physical league in the world.
Now, the Seahawks have another late-first-round pick in the building in Jadarian Price, and they can only hope he'll have better fortune than the last first-round running back they rolled the dice on.
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