The Seattle Seahawks are desperately looking for help for their running back room. What that means for the health of Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet isn't known. On Monday, though, the team agreed to terms with both veteran Joe Mixon and rookie Robert Henry Jr. Their additions must mean something.
Henry went undrafted out of UTSA and landed with the Washington Commanders on their practice squad. A team signing a player off another team's practice squad means they must be added to the active roster. Henry being on the roster means another player will need to be released.
As opposed to the more plodding Mixon and the other backs currently healthy for Seattle, Henry is quick and potentially explosive. The problem is that the 5'9" and 196-pound player isn't powerful. He is more of a third-down option than trying to grind out yards on 2-and-short. His addition is interesting because he doesn't appear ready to help the offense every down.
Seattle Seahawks reportedly sign running back Robert Henry Jr.
At the NFL Combine this year, he ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, had a 37-inch vertical jump, and a 10'4" broad jump. He is definitely more athletic than the average human being, but he isn't necessarily for an NFL player.
Still, general manager John Schneider must have liked something he saw from Henry even before the draft. Choosing a player off a practice squad doesn't happen by accident. The Seahawks would have had an idea of how the running back could do before he made some team's practice squad.
Ultimately, Seattle agreeing to contracts with both Mixon and Henry on Monday could mean Price's chest injury is worse than it appears. He is already on injured reserve and will miss at least the next three games. He could miss more, of course.
Charbonnet is in his 21-day window for the team to make a decision about whether to activate him or not. If the Seahawks don't and the window closes, Charbonnet will have to miss the entire season. The hope (and maybe likelihood) is that Charbonnet will be able to play soon, but he is not going to do that in Week 5.
The Seattle Seahawks normally keep three running backs on the active roster, and while Mixon will be signed to the practice squad once he passes his physical, the assumption is that he would be elevated more often than the average practice squad player. In essence, he gives Seattle four tailbacks, and five once Charbonnet returns. That's too many.
Which is why 12s could have a reason to worry about Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet, and maybe the three tailbacks on the roster in Week 4: George Holani, Emanuel Wilson, and Velus Jones Jr. Seattle has gone from too few running backs to too many by the time Charbonnet and Price return, assuming they do. Maybe they aren't that close to coming back, though.
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