Seahawks Blog
Danny O'Neil covers the Seahawks for The Seattle Times.
Blog Home |
E-mail Danny |
Subscribe |
Twitter feed|
Seahawks forum
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print
Share
Seahawks back in the running?
Posted by Danny O'Neil
No position will be more intriguing in Seattle than running back. Perhaps no position is more important.
At USC, coach Pete Carroll showed a desire, perhaps even an insistence, to assemble an effective rushing attack using multiple backs, which is exactly what he's trying to do in Seattle, one of only four teams in the league that hasn't had a single player surpass 1,000 yards rushing in any of the previous four seasons.
Take a look at how Seattle's rushing production compares to the rest of the division over the past five years:
| Year | Rush yards | NFL rank | Avg. Carry | NFL rank | |
| 2009 | 1,600 | 25 | 4.3 | 12 | |
| 2008 | 1,599 | 27 | 4.0 | 21 | |
| 2007 | 1,477 | 27 | 4.1 | 11 | |
| 2006 | 2,172 | 6 | 4.9 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 1,689 | 17 | 3.9 | 16 | |
| Year | Rush yards | NFL rank | Avg. Carry | NFL rank | |
| 2009 | 1,494 | 28 | 4.1 | 23 | |
| 2008 | 1,178 | 32 | 3.5 | 31 | |
| 2007 | 1,440 | 29 | 3.6 | 30 | |
| 2006 | 1,138 | 30 | 3.2 | 32 | |
| 2005 | 1,668 | 32 | 3.5 | 32 | |
| Year | Rush yards | NFL rank | Avg. Carry | NFL rank | |
| 2009 | 1,784 | 20 | 4.3 | 11 | |
| 2008 | 1,649 | 25 | 4.0 | 25 | |
| 2007 | 1,527 | 25 | 3.8 | 25 | |
| 2006 | 1,805 | 17 | 4.3 | 10 | |
| 2005 | 1,535 | 22 | 4.0 | 13 | |
| Year | Rush yards | NFL rank | Avg. Carry | NFL rank | |
| 2009 | 1,566 | 26 | 4.0 | 27 | |
| 2008 | 1,768 | 19 | 4.2 | 14 | |
| 2007 | 1,619 | 20 | 3.8 | 26 | |
| 2006 | 1,923 | 14 | 4.0 | 17 | |
| 2005 | 2,457 | 3 | 4.7 | 2 | |
When last season began, there were a number of readers who evaluated Seattle's stable of running backs among the worst in the league.
Well, this offseason, the Seahawks added one running back who's coming off a career-low in rushing (LenDale White) and another who is attempting to come back from a serious leg injury (Leon Washington).
Seattle isn't like San Francisco or St. Louis. The Seahawks don't have a back like Frank Gore or Steven Jackson, the designated alpha dog of the offense. If Carroll's history at USC is any indication, the lead back could change from month to month and from game to game. Consider that over the past four seasons total there wasn't a single back who had more than five 20-carry games.
What does that mean? Well, it shows that Carroll has demonstrated a willingness not to carve out a specific pecking order in terms of backfield use. He's willing to ride a hot hand or make adjustments in a game plan.
Will it translate to the NFL? We'll see, but after four years of running-game recession in Seattle, it's certainly going to be different.
So how does Seattle stack up to the rest of the division at running back? Take a look at the personnel and then cast your vote on which team's backfield is best.
| SEAHAWKS RUNNING BACKS | 49ers RUNNING BACKS | |||||||
| Name | Ht. | Wt. | Years | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Years | |
| Justin Forsett | 5-8 | 194 | 2 | Frank Gore | 5-9 | 217 | 4 | |
| LenDale White | 6-1 | 219 | 4 | Michael Robinson | 6-1 | 223 | 3 | |
| Julius Jones | 5-10 | 208 | 6 | Anthony Dixon | 6-1 | 233 | R | |
| Leon Washington | 5-8 | 195 | 4 | Glen Coffee | 6-0 | 209 | R | |
| Louis Rankin | 6-1 | 205 | 1 | |||||
| Quinton Ganther | 5-9 | 214 | 2 | |||||
| CARDINALS RUNNING BACKS | RAMS RUNNING BACKS | |||||||
| Beanie Wells | 6-2 | 229 | 1 | Steven Jackson | 6-2 | 236 | 6 | |
| Tim Hightower | 6-0 | 222 | 3 | Chris Ogbannaya | 6-0 | 220 | 1 | |
| LaRod Stephens-Howling | 5-7 | 180 | 1 | Kenneth Darby | 5-10 | 219 | 2 | |
| Alfonso Smith | 6-1 | 230 | R | DeMaundray Woolridge | 5-9 | 241 | R | |
| Jason Wright | 5-10 | 210 | 5 | Keith Toston | 6-0 | 213 | R | |
UPDATE - 1:00 PM
Recently listed
Popular searches
Dec 24 - 6:10 AM Looking back: Revisiting Sunday's scouting report
Dec 24 - 1:09 AM Seahawks' scoring binge
Dec 24 - 1:01 AM Video: Summing Seattle's victory
Dec 24 - 12:58 AM Video: Russell Wilson post-game comments
Dec 24 - 12:21 AM Rookie passing roll call
- No question: Russell Wilson's in charge now
- McNerney: Boeing will squeeze suppliers and cut jobs
- Percy Harvin already impressing Seahawks teammates, coaches
- Amazon’s plan for giant spheres gets mixed reaction
- Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect
- Sinking Mariners lose sixth straight game; changes ahead?
- Is Catholic Church taking over health care in Washington? | Danny Westneat
- Ex-Great Wolf Lodge lifeguard charged with rape of guest, 14
- Turmoil surrounds program to help prostitutes
- High-level Starbucks exec heads to Kohl’s
- Is Catholic Church taking over health care in Washington? 311
- Official: Treasury played no role in IRS targeting 246
- Game thread: Mariners try to end trip with a win 218
- Businesses refuse service to gays 150
- Podcast: Mariners season hits crucial point 141
- Mariners head home facing key decisions as losing streak hits six 127
- View from Sacramento: David Stern deserves statue, thanks 87
- Mariners shuffle lineup, put Bay at leadoff and Morse at No. 3 84
- McNerney: Boeing will squeeze suppliers and cut jobs 79
- Mariners routed by Angels again, 7-1 68
- Is Catholic Church taking over health care in Washington? | Danny Westneat
- McNerney: Boeing will squeeze suppliers and cut jobs
- Amazon’s plan for giant spheres gets mixed reaction
- Catholic schools update to compete with charter schools
- Careers carved at wood-tech center
- UW Medicine, Catholic health system to have ‘strategic affiliation’
- Doctors save Ohio boy by ‘printing’ an airway tube | Close-up
- Food-video site launched by Bellevue consumer-research firm
- Council panel OKs zoning for big pot-growing operations
- China’s wealthy paying cash for Eastside luxury homes
