BRADY HENDERSON

Most Intriguing Seahawks: No. 3, RB Thomas Rawls

Jul 30, 2016, 11:18 AM

Thomas Rawls was on pace to top 1,000 yards rushing as a rookie before he broke his ankle in Week 1...

Thomas Rawls was on pace to top 1,000 yards rushing as a rookie before he broke his ankle in Week 14. (AP)

(AP)

LISTEN: Most Intriguing Seahawks: No. 3, RB Thomas Rawls

Each day until the start of training camp, “Brock and Salk” is talking with an NFL analyst and counting down the 25 most intriguing players on the Seahawks’ roster. “Two-a-days” continued with USA Today’s Tom Pelissero as the guest and Thomas Rawls as the third-most intriguing Seahawk. The segment on Rawls is embedded above. My thoughts are below.

Position: RB
Height/Weight: 5-9, 215
Experience: Second season
Acquired: Signed as undrafted free agent, 2015

Overview: When the Seahawks were studying running backs before the 2015 draft, Rawls’ physicality jumped out on film to coach Pete Carroll. “I loved the way he finished plays,” Carroll recalled last season. “He had good quickness, he got in the open field, but the way he finished he was very aggressive. He almost was a heat-seeking missile to find guys that were after him. That demonstrated to me a nature about him that I thought was unique, and I liked it more than anybody I saw in the draft.” The Seahawks made a hard push to sign Rawls as an undrafted free agent, a move that paid off big time when Marshawn Lynch went down with separate injuries early last season and then near the midpoint. Rawls stepped in and showed that he could be Seattle’s running back of the future, rushing for 830 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games before a broken ankle ended his season. His 5.65 yards-per-carry average was best in the league. He averaged 2.68 yards after contact per carry, which, according to ESPN Stats & Information, was the best mark for any running back over the last two seasons. With Lynch retired, Rawls is in line to be Seattle’s starter whenever he returns from his ankle injury.

The intrigue: Rawls showed last season that he has the talent to be the Seahawks’ starter, someone capable of taking the torch from Lynch and being the bell-cow for Seattle’s run-first offense. The biggest question is his health, not just right now as he comes off his broken ankle but also down the road as all the hits that he takes – and delivers – pile up. It was remarkable that Lynch only missed one game due to injury over his first five seasons with the Seahawks before his body hit the inevitable wall last year. It would be unrealistic to expect Rawls or anyone else who runs that hard to stay as healthy as Lynch did.

2016 outlook: General manager John Schneider said Rawls will not be ready to practice when the Seahawks begin training camp Saturday, but he said Rawls remains on track to be ready by the opener. He’ll have company in Seattle’s backfield with draft picks C.J. Prosise, Alex Collins and Zac Brooks as well as veteran Christine Michael. But as long as he’s healthy, Rawls figures to be the lead back. John Clayton recently projected that he should get 16 or 17 carries per game.

Most Intriguing Seahawks: 25, DL Quinton Jefferson; 24, WR Kasen Williams; 23, WR Paul Richardson; 22, G Mark Glowinski; 21, TE Nick Vannett; 20, CB Jeremy Lane; 19, DT Jordan Hill; 18, RB Alex Collins; 17, S Tyvis Powell; 16, G Germain Ifedi; 15, QB Russell Wilson; 14, FS Earl Thomas; 13, CB Tharold Simon; 12, WR Doug Baldwin; 11, WR Tyler Lockett; 10, LT Garry Gilliam; 9, DL Michael Bennett; 8, DB Brandon Browner; 7, OL Justin Britt; 6, RB C.J. Prosise; 5, DT Jarran Reed; 4, DE Frank Clark.

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Most Intriguing Seahawks: No. 3, RB Thomas Rawls