Seattle Seahawks: 5 Players who need to improve in 2019 season
By Samuel Teets
Rashaad Penny, RB
This situation could turn ugly for both Rashaad Penny and the Seahawks. When the team drafted the San Diego State product with the 27th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, over other top running back prospects like Derrius Guice, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, they probably didn’t expect him to be completely overshadowed by Chris Carson.
Now Carson, a 2017 seventh-round pick, is the team’s borderline Pro Bowl running back and Penny is just a quality backup who was even outplayed by Mike Davis last year.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Not only could this Penny situation be bad for the Seahawks, it never looks good when a first-round pick is a long-term backup, but Penny could be denied carries and attention he would get on other teams because of Carson’s success. I’m sure he didn’t expect to be a backup either when he was taken in the first round, but this is where his young career is now.
The most obvious way to mitigate any potential criticism, of the team or Penny, is for Penny to come out and be one of the best backup runners in the league this season. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not as good as Carson and won’t be taking his starting spot, but Penny needs to have more games like he did in Week 10 last season and less like he had in every week before that.
Penny will also be assuming Davis’ workload since the veteran left in free agency. That means up to an extra 112 carries could be headed Penny’s way. While the second-year back did average 4.9 yards per carry last season, he did it very inconsistently. Case in point, he had four games where he didn’t even average two yards per carry. Carson didn’t have a single game like that and Davis only had one.
Now that Penny will be the second option at running back, he’ll be expected to consistently average over three yards per carry, a mark Carson never missed last season. Penny also cannot afford the slow start he got off to in his rookie season. If he comes out of the gate flat-footed, there are plenty of other young backs on the roster looking to take his carries.