After a disjointed and injury-riddled start to his NFL career, Seattle Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny put together an excellent second half of the season in 2021. His future with the Seahawks, and in the NFL, was in real jeopardy, but Penny’s performances last season have put him on the brink of an unlikely turnaround.
Life in Seattle didn’t start out particularly rosy for Penny. Selected with the 27th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the pick was immediately scrutinized due to the Seahawks having more pertinent needs, mainly on the offensive line, and the fact that teams were already shifting away from drafting running backs in the first round.
His first season in the NFL wasn’t disrupted by injuries, but it coincided with the breakout of Chris Carson in his second season. Carson rushed for 1151 yards and 9 touchdowns at a clip of 4.7 yards per attempt, limiting Penny to a complementary role in the offense. Penny had his moment, a 12-carry, 108 yards game with a touchdown in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The explosiveness of Penny was evident, but he wasn’t a true runner between the tackles – he was more of a threat when bouncing his runs to the outside and stretching defenses laterally before attacking holes upfield.
Flashes weren’t enough to push Penny to the top of the depth chart, though. Carson continued to excel in 2019 and Penny began to miss more time through injury. He did average 5.7 yards per carry in 2019, but it was on just 65 carries, 20 fewer than his rookie season. That’s been the theme of Penny’s career so far: an excellent body of work, but just in devastatingly small sample sizes. That’s why it’s been tough for the Seahawks to trust in a long-term future with Penny. Hence why they declined his fifth-year option at the end of the 2020 campaign.
That meant that Penny was playing for his job in 2020 – and it certainly didn’t start well. Penny didn’t receive regular carries until Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers, and even then, he only averaged 3.5 yards per carry on 10 attempts. He also missed 7 of the Seahawks’ first 11 games, putting his future in further doubt.
But then something changed. Penny was able to put together a consistent run of games and delivered the best form of his career. In the final five weeks of the season, Penny ran for 671 yards on 92 carries, averaging 7.29 yards per carry and adding six touchdowns on the ground.
He excelled as a zone runner and was able to demonstrate his ability to not only bounce to the outside and cut to the weak side of the formation but also bang inside between the tackles consistently. That was the sticking point for Penny – he needed to be able to attack defenses up the middle and become more versatile. If he could do that, better absorb contact, and still retain his big-play threat, there was a sense that Penny could tap into his potential.
Like previous seasons, it’s a small sample size, but Penny showed immense vision that’s hard to ignore. His 6.3 yards per carry in 2021 led all running backs, as did his breakaway percentage, per PFF. His 4.52 yards after contact per attempt was a career-high and also led the NFL. Penny’s ability to ride contact, keep his balance, and carry on churning for yards was never his strong point, but he made it that in 2021.
The hope among the Seahawks front office and fans is that Penny can replicate his 2021 season, or something relatively close to it, across a full season. Seattle gave him a 1-year $5.75 million contract in the offseason, with expectations of a large role. But, they also drafted Kenneth Walker in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Penny should be considered the favourite for the lead back role in 2022, and that’s a huge turnaround from where he was at this point last season.
Nothing is guaranteed in football, and skeptics will always be skeptics, but Penny has the chance to prove a lot of people wrong this season. A great 2022 season would certainly make for a feel-good story in what’s shaping up to be a long year in the Pacific NorthWest.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport