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July 27, 2019

RBBC in Seattle

Chris Carson ready to share load with Rashaad Penny

With Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, I think it’s more of a committee than a competition. They’re both going to play plenty.

The Seahawks run the heck out of the ball. They were the only team last year that finished with more runs than passes. So I think there’s plenty of room for both backs in this offense. The Seahawks ran for a league-high 160 yards per game last year.

Carson should be the starter for the foreseeable future. He ran for 1,151 yards last year, and he would have led the team in rushing the previous season had he not gotten hurt. But he says he doesn’t mind sharing the work with Penny.

“I think we complement each other real well,” Carson says in an article in The Seattle Times. “The media likes to tear us against each other and stuff like that, but me and him are close. We don’t pay attention to none of that. We just go out and play.”

Carson says Penny is playing with more confidence after starting out his rookie season as their third-string back (behind Mike Davis, who’s gone now).

“I try to give him as many tips as I can, and he does the same thing for me,” Carson says. “It’s great to see his growth from year one to year two. Year one, he had some injuries and some things to overcome. His confidence wasn’t there. But toward the end of the year, you saw his confidence start to grow, which is good. …

“He knows he can make the cuts that maybe he was second-guessing last year. You’re starting to see that. He trusts his speed more, and once he gets to that second level he can break away.”

I expect Carson will be the starter for now, with Penny mixed in off the bench and reaching double-digit touches in a lot of games. There should be some weeks where Penny gets the hot hand and leads them in rushing. When Carson sat out against the Rams last year, Penny came off the bench (behind Davis) and carried 12 times for 108 yards.

Neither one of these backs should be a big factor in the passing game, hurting their ability to potentially finish with top-15 numbers. Catches are huge in PPR leagues. The Seahawks likely will work in a third back who’ll play on third downs – C.J. Prosise, J.D. McKissic or rookie Travis Homer – and they don’t throw much to their backs anyway.

While Seattle rushed for a league-high 160 yards per game last year, eight teams got more production out of their running backs. All of those teams completed more passes to their running backs, and all but one scored more touchdowns.

TEAM RUNNING BACK PRODUCTION
TeamRecsReYdsRuYdsTotYdsTDPoints
New Orleans1099031,7662,66927537.9
New England1219991,6462,64523523.5
LA Chargers1071,0501,7052,75522514.5
LA Rams706761,8552,53124467.1
Kansas City829221,3712,29325461.3
Chicago1029651,4152,38019454.0
NY Giants1138601,5252,38516447.5
Denver957001,7462,44617441.6
Carolina1149191,3032,22217438.2
Seattle685092,0922,60116424.1
Cleveland827121,5792,29118419.1
Detroit1167531,4962,24912412.9
Indianapolis976161,5812,19715406.7
Pittsburgh887521,3132,06517396.5
San Francisco837811,7992,5809395.0
Oakland1078391,4732,3128386.2
Baltimore704541,6592,11317383.3
Philadelphia776601,4382,09816382.8
Miami776701,5392,20914381.9
Dallas886401,5772,21710369.7
Tennessee744991,5922,09114367.1
Washington816131,3701,98313357.3
Jacksonville987911,1401,93111357.1
Cincinnati835551,4131,96812351.8
NY Jets685991,4362,03512343.5
Green Bay726011,2991,90013340.0
Atlanta684711,3651,83613329.6
Arizona796031,1531,75612326.6
Minnesota785631,2781,84110322.1
Houston503801,4711,8519289.1
Buffalo695881,2411,8294275.9
Tampa Bay684341,0501,4848264.4

—Ian Allan

Chris Carson Rashaad Penny
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