Seattle Seahawks: 3 Big takeaways from Preseason Week 2

Chris Carson has mixed results

For starters, Carson looked like an NFL starting running back for parts of the game. He showed the burst and explosiveness out of the backfield that NFL teams covent so much. That being said, there were a few hiccups. In particular, a fumble on the Chargers goal line stands out as his biggest mistake of the night. With rookie Rashaad Penny injured, Carson has the perfect opportunity to seize the starting job. Whether he helped himself Saturday night is debatable.

Carson carried the ball nine times for 34 yards, about 3.78 yards per carry. That number isn’t really impressive, but the second year back was running through tacklers and pushing for all the yards he could get. It was a good outing until that fumble on the goal line, which became a Chargers touchback. Those are the kind of mistakes that can cost a good player their starting spot and an average player their roster spot.

The Seahawks selected Carson in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He appeared in four games last season and ran for 208 yards on 49 carries. That’s 4.2 yards per carry and reflects what I expect his per carry average to be moving forward. At the time he was actually looking to become the full-time starter but an injury ended his season.

Right now, Carson is slotted to be the Seahawks starting running back and will split carries with Penny. Being a former seventh-round pick, Carson isn’t being paid much and has a lot of incentive to perform well and earn as many carries as possible. He has the ability to become the starter, but will need to play more consistently.