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Seattle Seahawks: 2018 Rookie report card grades

By Samuel Teets

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Running back Rashaad Penny #20 of the Seattle Seahawks gets around inside linebacker Cory Littleton #58 of the Los Angeles Rams to score a touchdown in the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Running back Rashaad Penny #20 of the Seattle Seahawks gets around inside linebacker Cory Littleton #58 of the Los Angeles Rams to score a touchdown in the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 11: Running back Rashaad Penny #20 of the Seattle Seahawks gets around inside linebacker Cory Littleton #58 of the Los Angeles Rams to score a touchdown in the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 11: Running back Rashaad Penny #20 of the Seattle Seahawks gets around inside linebacker Cory Littleton #58 of the Los Angeles Rams to score a touchdown in the first quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

First Round: Rashaad Penny

The Seahawks gave us the surprise of the draft when they selected running back Rashaad Penny out of San Diego State with the 27th overall pick. The selection made Penny just the second back taken in a class full of talented runners. This was surprising because players like Derrius Guice, Kerryon Johnson, Nick Chubb, Ronald Jones and Sony Michel were still on the board.

While Penny did rush for 2,248 yards during his senior season in college, the other players I listed were graded higher and seemed more attractive at the time. It wouldn’t have been as surprising if Penny was the fourth or fifth back taken, but he was the follow-up to Saquon Barkley in this class and that caught people off guard.

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I was a heavy critic of Penny early on in the 2018 season because I believed the Seahawks could have drafted a better running back or a better player from a different position. While backs like Barkley and Michel were making immediate impacts, Penny got off to a slow start. Through the first three weeks of the season, averaged just 2.15 yards per carry on 20 attempts.

As the season progressed though, he got healthier and began to see more carries regularly. It took until Week 10, but by then the rookie was a regular part of the Seahawks offense. In that Week 10 matchup, he carried the ball 12 times for 108 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

It was his arrival game. From the start of that game until the end of the season, Penny averaged 6.35 yards per attempt on 43 carries. He finished the year with 85 carries, 419 yards, two touchdowns, and an average of 4.9 yards per attempt.

Just because Penny flashed good potential at the end of the season doesn’t mean this pick will get a good grade though. Penny was the third leading rusher on the Seahawks this season and will probably be second next year if Seattle lets Mike Davis walk in free agency. That doesn’t change the fact that Chris Carson is by far the best running back on the team. He’s the clear cut starter since he put up 1,151 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns on 247 attempts.

The first round is a time for teams to draft players who will be key pieces of the organization for the next decade. It is not a time to draft backup running backs. Maybe Penny will be a starter one day — he has the potential — but the Seahawks could have used their 2018 first round pick to draft a starter instead of him.

Rookie Grade: C+

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