The Seahawks have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But they don’t have one of the best running backs. Not anymore.
In the two seasons since the retirement of Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks have been unable to find a competent replacement. Coach Pete Carroll knows it’s time to fix that.
“We have to get our running game back in order,” Carroll said last week during a visit to PFT Live. “We’ve just been so banged up the last couple years. We haven’t seen the continuity that we like. The connection to the overall play of the team really fits with the running game so I wanna make sure we bring that back. [Offensive line coach] Mike Solari’s gonna do a great job of that. [Offensive coordinator] Brian [Schottenheimer] and Mike have some background together. I’m expecting that we’re gonna put together a nice little look for us with the running game.
“We need to keep the continuity. We’ve got some really exciting backs in the system. We’ve got to keep them healthy. We haven’t seen much from C.J. Prosise but that which we have seen has been really exciting. Mike Davis had a nice finish to the season for us last year. Thomas Rawls is still there to maybe regain that stride that he had. Chris Carson is a guy that’s really one of our favorites coming up to see what he can do. He had a great lead into the season, unfortunately broke his ankle during the year. We’re anxious to see what he can bring.”
Injuries have been an issue for multiple Seahawks running backs. Is it simply a matter of bad luck?
“Some guys who have sustained over the years have a knack for staying out of harm’s way,” Carroll said. “Some others are kind of finding their way to it. We have to figure out who those guys are. But it is remarkable to see the guys that last a whole season and play every game and play sixteen straight weeks of ball because there are so many opportunities that come along where they can just get caught up and hung up and pulled back and stretched the wrong way and all that. There is some good fortune and misfortune in all that.”
Luck aside, it helps to have the kind of instincts that quarterback Russell Wilson possesses.
“He has a great instinct for going with the hits and finding his way down,” Carroll said of his quarterback. “That’s why we’re OK with him running. He’s given us the confidence that he knows when and when not to go for it. He had a play over the years when he hits a guy at the goal line and bangs into the end zone and goes for the first down. He will only choose those opportunities rarely when the situation provides itself. For the most part he’s great at it. I think some players have a knack. It’s not all luck.”
Carroll is right. But when it comes to finding a guy who will have good luck when it comes to staying healthy, a front office sometimes needs something other than luck to best spot them. In that regard, however, luck also is a factor.