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Why the Seahawks offense will be better without Marshawn Lynch in 2016
For the first time since 2009, the Seattle Seahawks will be without their bruising running back and tone-setter, Marshawn Lynch. The five-time Pro Bowler called it a career shortly after the season ended, riding off into the sunset as one would expect him to: quietly with a simple tweet of his cleats hanging up.
Obviously the Seahawks would have loved to see Lynch return for another season after ending his career with an injury-riddled season where he only rushed for 417 yards in seven games. His 2015 performance came after rushing for at least 1,200 yards in each of the previous four seasons, which shows just how big of an impact injuries had on his campaign.
So now with a gaping hole at running back -- both literally and figuratively -- where do the Seahawks turn next? Russell Wilson hasn't had much experience playing without Lynch by his side in the shotgun, and the already-terrible offensive line could very well look even worse without a back as talented as Lynch running behind it. He made up for their deficiencies with sheer power and outstanding vision to find holes where few others could. Yet, despite Lynch's stellar, Hall of Fame-caliber career, the Seahawks will be just fine sans Beast Mode.
In fact, they'll be better without him.
That would have been a ludicrous statement to make prior to 2015 -- one that would have landed you on medication for being delusional. But it's no longer preposterous to say the Seahawks will be better on offense without Lynch.
Seattle has made a concerted effort to prepare for life after Lynch. Last season was the first example of that. Thomas Rawls was mostly an afterthought as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan. After just four games, it was clear he was so much more than that. He was the heir to Lynch -- the next star running back in Seattle.
In seven starts and 13 total games, Rawls led the team in rushing with 830 yards on the ground, finding the end zone a team-high four times. He did so on just 147 attempts, averaging a whopping 5.6 yards per carry. Lynch, on the other hand, averaged just 3.8 on 111 attempts. There isn't a soul in Seattle that would argue against the notion that Rawls outperformed Lynch in every way, because it's true.
Granted, Lynch was playing through health issues in most of those games, but his effectiveness was noticeably down from 2014. Had it not been for Rawls' emergence in the backfield, Seattle may not have made it to the postseason. Rawls' surprising rookie campaign helped elevate the game of Russell Wilson, too. Consider this: In games that Lynch started, the Seahawks were 2-4. In those same games, Wilson threw seven touchdowns and six interceptions. In the other 10 games, Wilson had 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Of course, some of that has to do with the caliber of opponents the Seahawks were playing in a given week, but they weren't all terribly dominant teams. In fact, just three of those games that Lynch started were against teams with winning records (Packers, Panthers, Cardinals), while the other three were against teams with losing records. So it's not as if Wilson was playing against top-flight defenses in all six of Lynch's starts.
Lynch's game doesn't necessarily impact Wilson's directly, but it does have an effect on it. It's basic Football 101 that when a team establishes the ground game, it opens up the aerial attack for the quarterback. It sucks linebackers in and makes play action infinitely more effective. Not to mention, Wilson was also relied upon more heavily without Lynch, and he responded with deep throws downfield and an unmatched connection with Doug Baldwin.
That's part of the reason why Wilson was playing lights out late in the season. Teams had to game plan for Rawls after he had rushed for 100-plus yards four times. Lynch just didn't strike fear in opponents the way he once did, and the way that Rawls now does.
It's not just Rawls replacing Lynch, though. The Seahawks have a convoy of talented running backs on the depth chart, including two rookies that they selected in the first five rounds of the 2016 draft. C.J. Prosise is the perfect compliment to Rawls' game. The wide receiver-turned-running back out of Notre Dame has the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and even split out wide as a receiver, providing Seattle with mismatches on offense.
They did the same with Lynch in the past, but he isn't half the receiving threat Prosise is. A combination of Rawls and Prosise gives Seattle a two-headed monster at running back that it didn't have with Lynch. The offense was more one-dimensional with Lynch getting the ball 20-plus times a game. Now, their backs will be able to stay fresh, which is key late in games.
And that's without mentioning rookie Alex Collins and Christine Michael, who also figure to have significant roles on offense. Collins is a hard-nosed runner akin to Lynch and brings a certain attitude to the run game.
There are obviously still several question marks about Seattle's running back corps, but on paper, it looks strong. So long as Rawls fully recovers from his broken ankle and the rookie duo of Collins and Prosise have somewhat of an impact, the rushing attack will be just fine. And yes, it will be better without Lynch in the fold.
The main reason why Seattle will be better in 2016 is the guy wearing No. 3. He's going to be throwing the ball more without Lynch in the backfield, which worked extremely well late in the 2015 season. As if he hadn't already cemented his spot as one of the elite quarterbacks, he did so by throwing 24 touchdowns and one interception in the team's final seven games with a passer rating of 132.8.
Wilson won't be able to keep up a pace like that to start the season, but he proved to the coaching staff that he can be more than just a game manager with a great defense and Lynch to hand the ball to. He's truly a playmaker that can carry an offense the way Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady do.
Lynch won't be easy to replace, but Seattle doesn't have to find someone to take his place. The Seahawks have a bevy of backs to use, and most importantly, a gunslinging quarterback in Wilson. The offense will take a step forward in 2016, not backwards.
