Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Seahawks have become depleted at the running back position with rookie standout Thomas Rawls breaking his ankle in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens and Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch’s return still in question. Lynch has already been ruled out for the team’s Week 16 matchup against the St. Louis Rams, which will mark the sixth straight game Lynch will miss.
With the absence of their top-two options in the backfield, Seattle has looked to more of a running-back-by-committee approach. They brought Bryce Brown back for the third time this season, returned Christine Michael after releasing him out of training camp and looked for some production from Derrick Coleman, who has been playing fullback for Seattle, but was a running back in college at UCLA.
In their first game together against the Cleveland Browns, Michael led the way with 16 carries for 84 yards, while Brown added nine carries for 43 yards, and Coleman carried the ball five times for 10 yards. Michael seemingly took hold of the lead position with his performance, as he ran well and averaged over five yards per carry and was in on a higher percentage of snaps than the other two backs. Although the three combined for 137 yards on 30 carries, for a yards per carry average of over 4.5, the Seahawks will still need Lynch back for their playoff push.
While they were able to put up a decent game on the ground, it did come against the 31st-ranked defense in the NFL against the rush. It will not be an attack that Seattle can rely on against some of the better defenses in football. For example, theCarolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals have the sixth- and fourth-ranked defenses against the run, respectively, and could easily be teams Seattle will have to face off against in the latter rounds of their playoff push. This is where the Lynch’s presence will be essential.
In both the 2013 and 2014 playoffs, Lynch led all running backs in yards, yards per game and led both years in yards per carry among backs that carried the ball at least 30 times. He led the leagues in rushing attempts in each of the last two postseasons as well. His additional production would be huge, not to mention the experience he brings to the table.
Even if Seattle continues to receive decent production from the running back position with Lynch out, it would not be something they can count on in the long run. It will be essential for them to get Lynch back prior to the postseason, and with him already being ruled out to even practice this week, they have to hope he’ll able to get some reps in Week 17. After missing five straight games, it is going to take Lynch some time to be totally ready for live action, even with the amount of experience he has under his belt.
If they are able to get Lynch back and some decent production out of him, coupled with the way quarterback Russell Wilson and the rest of the offense is playing, they become even more of a threat to the rest of the league than they already are.
