Seahawks' rushing woes could be solved through the draft

It’s no secret that one of the biggest disappointments with this year’s Seattle Seahawks — one that helped contribute to them missing the playoffs for the first time in six years — was the lack of a running game.

OK, there was also a still somewhat ineffective offensive line and a similar situation with the kicking game. The former are making progress and the latter was hopefully remedied by the potential moving on from the Blair Witch Walsh project with the acquisition of Jason Myers from Jacksonville.

We’ll wait and see.

Throw in a injury-riddled defense and, well, you know the rest.

All of these contributed to the 9-7 finish that has some Seattle players making Pro Bowl arrangements rather than playing for a Feb. 4 appearance at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis against the American Football Conference winner.

Having a running game might have changed some of that. Not being able to run the ball consistently and effectively meant relying a lot on quarterback Russell Wilson — in all aspects of this game — to get first downs and third and short, punch the ball in from inside the 5-yard line and provide a credible rushing threat to make opponents respect the passing game.

Through 2017, Seattle relied on five different running backs: Thomas Rawls, J.D. McKissic, CJ Prosise, Chris Carson and Mike Davis. All had their moments, and none really stood out.

Carson (broken leg) and Prosise (sprained ankle) are under contract while McKissic is an exclusive rights free agent and Davis and Rawls are restricted free agents. There will likely be running backs available through free agency, and I’m sure head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider will have their eyes open for a deal.

Overall, this group of five backs rushed for 994 of Seattle’s 1,652 yards, with Wilson leading the way at 586 yards on 95 rushes. Heck, 994 yards should be an off-year for one back, not a five-back combo package.

All that led to Seattle having the 23rd overall rushing offense in the league, which is OK given there are 32 teams, and 14th offense overall.

Who wants to be 23rd when you feel you should be much better?

So, enter free agency, but let’s also not forget about the NFL draft. Sure, some of the big name backs coming out will likely go high, and Seattle’s MO is to grab a lot of talent in the later rounds and mold them into the Seahawk image.

But Seattle has had some good fortune in the past through the draft with backs from big programs. Most recently was Alabama’s Shawn Alexander, who helped lead Seattle to its first Super Bowl appearance in 2007.

But some of us remember when a fledgling Seattle club in search of success drafted another back from a big name school — Curt Warner. Warner was drafted out of Penn State in 1983, and made an immediate impact, rushing for 1,449 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping lead Seattle to its first-ever playoff appearance and a first-round upset of the Oakland Raiders.

In seven years, Warner was a combination of power and speed, much like Alexander, rushing for 6,705 yards and 55 touchdowns. He’s third on the list behind the not-long departed Marshawn Lynch and Alexander.

And hey, guess what? There’s another good Penn State back available later this spring — Saquon Barkley. OK, he’s a top-10 pick, likely out of Seattle’s range right now, but there are others who could fit the bill.

Stanford’s Bryce Love provides not only speed and elusiveness, but his playing injured late in the season shows he’s got some grit — and Seahawk fans like that. The nation just saw what Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel can do, and there is pretty good talent in Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson and Alabama’s Damien Harris.

There’s more out there too, but that’ll do for right now. Seattle has gone down the free agent road before — see above — so here’s to hoping Carroll and Schneider give new, youthful blood a chance and test the draft waters for a future Curt Warner, at the least.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].