Pick #27 Rashaad Penny RB

[adeltaY]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Our run blocking was actually pretty good in the earlier RW years. By adjusted line yards, they were 4th in 2012, 9th in 2013, 9th in 2014, and 4th in 2015 before plummeting to 26th in 2016 and 31st in 2017. Lynch was excellent, but I'm not sure how confident I am Penny or really anyone will be as good as he was back then. I think we've seen plenty of teams be successful with decent to good RBs and excellent OL. The Vikings when Cook went down, Eagles, Pats, Saints (pre-Kamara they were still a good running team), etc. I actually think a team like the Cowboys would've been better overall if they took Jalen Ramsey instead of Zeke.

To your Raiders point, they weren't amazing at run blocking even in 2016, they were 11th in adjusted line yards. They were, however, absolutely phenomenal in pass protection. That's where most of their OL rep comes from. This year was a bit shakier due to some injuries.

I don't really get your point about Russ. Most of his runs come from scrambles where the line is actually pass protecting. It's not fair to compare QB rush yards to RB rush yards for that reason.

 

[hawknation2018]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Our run blocking was actually pretty good in the earlier RW years. By adjusted line yards, they were 4th in 2012, 9th in 2013, 9th in 2014, and 4th in 2015 before plummeting to 26th in 2016 and 31st in 2017. Lynch was excellent, but I'm not sure how confident I am Penny or really anyone will be as good as he was back then. I think we've seen plenty of teams be successful with decent to good RBs and excellent OL. The Vikings when Cook went down, Eagles, Pats, Saints (pre-Kamara they were still a good running team), etc. I actually think a team like the Cowboys would've been better overall if they took Jalen Ramsey instead of Zeke.

To your Raiders point, they weren't amazing at run blocking even in 2016, they were 11th in adjusted line yards. They were, however, absolutely phenomenal in pass protection. That's where most of their OL rep comes from. This year was a bit shakier due to some injuries.

I don't really get your point about Russ. Most of his runs come from scrambles where the line is actually pass protecting. It's not fair to compare QB rush yards to RB rush yards for that reason.

:ditto:

 

[Fade]

2017 2nd Ethan Pocic Center
2017 6th Justin Senior Tackle
2016 1st Germain Ifedi Tackle
2016 3rd Rees Odhiambo Guard
2016 6th Joey Hunt Center
2015 4th Terry Poole Guard
2015 4th Mark Glowinski Guard
2014 2nd Justin Britt Tackle
2014 6th Garrett Scott Tackle
2013 7th Ryan Seymour Guard
2013 7th Michael Bowie Tackle
2012 7th J.R. Sweezy Guard
2011 1st James Carpenter Tackle
2011 3rd John Moffitt Guard
2010 1st Russell Okung Tackle


We have invested heavily, just like cooking you can get the best cut of steaks all day long but if a guy can't cook he will ruin every one of them no matter the meat cut. That's been the case here.

Let's see what a new Coach can do, he can't do worse it's got to be better then worst line in the league.

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

 

[Blitzer88]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/David_Seahawks/status/991552558421360640[/tweet]

 

[hawknation2018]

Well thought out breakdown on Rashaad Penny (the good & the concerns):
[youtube]WWkE0a2LAKk[/youtube]

 

[mrt144]

2017 2nd Ethan Pocic Center
2017 6th Justin Senior Tackle
2016 1st Germain Ifedi Tackle
2016 3rd Rees Odhiambo Guard
2016 6th Joey Hunt Center
2015 4th Terry Poole Guard
2015 4th Mark Glowinski Guard
2014 2nd Justin Britt Tackle
2014 6th Garrett Scott Tackle
2013 7th Ryan Seymour Guard
2013 7th Michael Bowie Tackle
2012 7th J.R. Sweezy Guard
2011 1st James Carpenter Tackle
2011 3rd John Moffitt Guard
2010 1st Russell Okung Tackle


We have invested heavily, just like cooking you can get the best cut of steaks all day long but if a guy can't cook he will ruin every one of them no matter the meat cut. That's been the case here.

Let's see what a new Coach can do, he can't do worse it's got to be better then worst line in the league.

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Even if I disagreed with what you wrote, I'd buy you and yours a round for using the cook analogy. One of my favorites when it comes to team building.

 

[Russ Willstrong]

Our group was chanting Guice-Guice-Guice. But after he fell way down in to the 2nd round, it was clear that there was a big reason he slipped. And now I'm loving this pick.

Surprised me too. If Guice was selected I was ready to call him OJ. The Juice (soft "g").
Now we got a potentially fun backfield in Hill and Penny. AKA the Penny Hill Show!

 

[Seymour]

2017 2nd Ethan Pocic Center
2017 6th Justin Senior Tackle
2016 1st Germain Ifedi Tackle
2016 3rd Rees Odhiambo Guard
2016 6th Joey Hunt Center
2015 4th Terry Poole Guard
2015 4th Mark Glowinski Guard
2014 2nd Justin Britt Tackle
2014 6th Garrett Scott Tackle
2013 7th Ryan Seymour Guard
2013 7th Michael Bowie Tackle
2012 7th J.R. Sweezy Guard
2011 1st James Carpenter Tackle
2011 3rd John Moffitt Guard
2010 1st Russell Okung Tackle


We have invested heavily, just like cooking you can get the best cut of steaks all day long but if a guy can't cook he will ruin every one of them no matter the meat cut. That's been the case here.

Let's see what a new Coach can do, he can't do worse it's got to be better then worst line in the league.

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Amazing how many times I've said that over the last 3 years and got nothing but crap about it from guys like HawkNation 20xx. Now it's accepted by all ONLY because Fable is now gone. ukeface:

 

[mikeak]

One concern I have is looking back at when they drafted Tyler Lockett

They said then - he was primarily drafted for kickoff returns - then he turned out to be a good WR

I can't help but think one reason they picked Penny is simply because of his return skills

Something that is getting overhauled for 2018 and will then be re-evaluated for complete removal

I know he was picked as a RB but if he was close to three other guys on the board but he is the supreme returner something we want Tyler not to do any longer (body build) then I am sure that raised Penny up quite a bit. I hope that evaluation stays true over the next two years. My logic would also explain why he was higher on the Seahawks board than on some other boards where they mainly evaluated him as a RB

 

[ivotuk]

Listening to the Blitz this morning, Lydia listed off these accomplishments for the young man

5th in Heisman voting

1st Team All American AP/Sporting News/Sports Illustrated/ESPN

Consensus 1st Team All American

Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year

Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year

First player in history to win both awards

275/2,027 7.49 YPC

If you include the Bowl game, he had:

Almost 3000 All purpose yards in 2017

AND 228.8 All Purpose yards per game

Tied for most kick off returns in NCAA FBS history at 7

4 of which went for 100 yards


THE BLITZ WITH LYDIA CRUZ -- May 2, 2018

http://sports.mynorthwest.com/category/ ... Lydia+Cruz

 

[hawknation2018]

2017 2nd Ethan Pocic Center
2017 6th Justin Senior Tackle
2016 1st Germain Ifedi Tackle
2016 3rd Rees Odhiambo Guard
2016 6th Joey Hunt Center
2015 4th Terry Poole Guard
2015 4th Mark Glowinski Guard
2014 2nd Justin Britt Tackle
2014 6th Garrett Scott Tackle
2013 7th Ryan Seymour Guard
2013 7th Michael Bowie Tackle
2012 7th J.R. Sweezy Guard
2011 1st James Carpenter Tackle
2011 3rd John Moffitt Guard
2010 1st Russell Okung Tackle


We have invested heavily, just like cooking you can get the best cut of steaks all day long but if a guy can't cook he will ruin every one of them no matter the meat cut. That's been the case here.

Let's see what a new Coach can do, he can't do worse it's got to be better then worst line in the league.

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Amazing how many times I've said that over the last 3 years and got nothing but crap about it from guys like HawkNation 20xx. Now it's accepted by all ONLY because Fable is now gone. ukeface:

Dude, take my name out of your mouth and get over yourself.

 

[chris98251]

2017 2nd Ethan Pocic Center
2017 6th Justin Senior Tackle
2016 1st Germain Ifedi Tackle
2016 3rd Rees Odhiambo Guard
2016 6th Joey Hunt Center
2015 4th Terry Poole Guard
2015 4th Mark Glowinski Guard
2014 2nd Justin Britt Tackle
2014 6th Garrett Scott Tackle
2013 7th Ryan Seymour Guard
2013 7th Michael Bowie Tackle
2012 7th J.R. Sweezy Guard
2011 1st James Carpenter Tackle
2011 3rd John Moffitt Guard
2010 1st Russell Okung Tackle


We have invested heavily, just like cooking you can get the best cut of steaks all day long but if a guy can't cook he will ruin every one of them no matter the meat cut. That's been the case here.

Let's see what a new Coach can do, he can't do worse it's got to be better then worst line in the league.

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Amazing how many times I've said that over the last 3 years and got nothing but crap about it from guys like HawkNation 20xx. Now it's accepted by all ONLY because Fable is now gone. ukeface:

Dude, take my name out of your mouth and get over yourself.

Yeah your the only poster that disagrees with anyone here, you should be ashamed of yourself

 

[Seymour]

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb. They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Amazing how many times I've said that over the last 3 years and got nothing but crap about it from guys like HawkNation 20xx. Now it's accepted by all ONLY because Fable is now gone. ukeface:

Dude, take my name out of your mouth and get over yourself.

Yeah your the only poster that disagrees with anyone here, you should be ashamed of yourself

If you don't quote, then I dont have to read.
I wonder which of his names he wants me to take ??
Facts are facts, it's all about doing those 180's on Cable and now Ifedi. ukeface:

 

[Rat]

Hawks draft a RB: "What a reach" "Horrible pick"
Pats draft a RB a few spots later: "What a great pick" :?

Eight Super Bowl appearances over 16 years with five victories gets you a lot of benefit of the doubt.

The last first round RB the Pats drafted (Laurence Maroney) was a disaster, but I guess that was forever ago now. Seems like most of their better RBs have been guys they poached from other teams (Dillon, Blount, Lewis, A. Smith).

 

[Mad Dog]

Hawks draft a RB: "What a reach" "Horrible pick"
Pats draft a RB a few spots later: "What a great pick" :?

Eight Super Bowl appearances over 16 years with five victories gets you a lot of benefit of the doubt.

The last first round RB the Pats drafted (Laurence Maroney) was a disaster, but I guess that was forever ago now. Seems like most of their better RBs have been guys they poached from other teams (Dillon, Blount, Lewis, A. Smith).

Belichek is a master at using his talent wisely not necessarily a master at selecting talent. Got lucky with Brady and knew how to use him. His drafts haven't been anymore fantastic than any other teams. Drafts remain a crapshoot by and large. Just got to know how to make hay when you get it right.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Pretty much this.

Back when it comes to Penny, though, Sam Gold made a good point today that OL could very well matter for Penny if it doesn't improve:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991759271233810433[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991764307896668160[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991768589802921986[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991771385662984192[/tweet]

So it's possible that he also turns into 2017 Rawls if the OL can't overcome the backfield penetration Seattle allows, part of which is by design, according to the techbros over there.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

Cable really is the story here, he is a horrible cook, and he got to pick his own ingredients most of the time. They were drafting the guys he wanted in droves, bringing in free agents that Cable wanted Joekel & J'marcus Webb.
They were burning assets for years on this fraud, and they were getting worse as a unit every year instead of better.

Despite the O-Line woes over the years they could be just functional enough when they had a good runner going. Lynch 2011-2014, Rawls in 2015, Carson in 2017. Which circles back around to Penny. PCJS feel like with Penny that will upgrade all 5 O-Line positions as opposed to upgrading 1 O-Lineman with a round 1 pick.

The other factor here is they need to get a true evaluation on what they actually have. You see Cable was so bad that Duane Brown got worse game by game and looked like just a guy by the end of the year. So the team needs to see what these guys look like with proper coaching before they go ham drafting a bunch of O-Lineman.

Penny was the right choice at this time due to this situation, and the injury plague for 3 yrs at the rb position put it over the top.

Truer words were never spoken!!

 

[chris98251]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Pretty much this.

Back when it comes to Penny, though, Sam Gold made a good point today that OL could very well matter for Penny if it doesn't improve:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991759271233810433[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991764307896668160[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991768589802921986[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991771385662984192[/tweet]

So it's possible that he also turns into 2017 Rawls if the OL can't overcome the backfield penetration Seattle allows, part of which is by design, according to the techbros over there.

They do realize that the scheme and offense that Rawls was in is not being coached by Bevell and Cable but a new system coached by Schottenheimer and a line Coached by Solari. the TECHBROS missed that I guess so nothing will be the same.

This sounds just like a troll hate thing, oh Fieldgulls...

 

[Spin Doctor]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Pretty much this.

Back when it comes to Penny, though, Sam Gold made a good point today that OL could very well matter for Penny if it doesn't improve:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991759271233810433[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991764307896668160[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991768589802921986[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991771385662984192[/tweet]

So it's possible that he also turns into 2017 Rawls if the OL can't overcome the backfield penetration Seattle allows, part of which is by design, according to the techbros over there.

They do realize that the scheme and offense that Rawls was in is not being coached by Bevell and Cable but a new system coached by Schottenheimer and a line Coached by Solari. the TECHBROS missed that I guess so nothing will be the same.

This sounds just like a troll hate thing, oh Fieldgulls...

We do have a new coach, and system -- but I do think they have some valid points. I noticed the same thing when watching Penny. There was hardly any penetration by defenders on any of the plays. On the Seahawks he will face a lot more adversity, especially if none of our guys take a leap forward in skill this season. The thing I'm most worried about is Penny was not a particularly strong back. He was taken down by arm tackles when I was watching his play far too often for my liking. He does balance this out in some ways though. He is very good at making defenders take awkward angles, and he possesses a very elusive speed. Players don't realize he has hit his second gear, and they are left grasping for air. He also has a knack for setting up blockers, and seeing even small little creases. He kind of reminds me of Shaun Alexander in these regards. Under the right circumstances he can be a very productive back in this league -- I'm just not sure if those circumstances fit our teams current circumstances.

Time will tell, I really like Penny, and yet on the other hand I see things I really dislike about Penny. I really don't know where I stand on this player.

 

[Smellyman]

People outsmart themselves when it comes to running production and running backs. It's boring to talk about how important the RB is and you can sound much more insightful if you talk about OL scheme, OL personnel, OC play calling and NFL rule changes. As a result I find people undervalue the most obvious piece of the puzzle.

With our supposedly garbage OL scheme and personnel we were great in the running game when we had Lynch. Even after the rule changes the running game was good for the first three weeks last season and somehow became dumpster tier at the exact same time Carson was injured vs. Green Bay. Sure it was just three full games, but Carson had a 4.2 YPC behind the line that everybody thinks was awful and that was before we picked up Duane Brown. And even after Carson went down, Russ still rushed for nearly 600 yards on the season. It's crazy that people use that stat primarily to talk up Russ instead of realizing how completely ineffective our remaining RBs were in comparison.

At this time last year the Oakland Raiders were widely regarded to have a top 2 OL. They went on to finish with less total rushing yards than even we had because Lynch was only available for 13 carries per game and they didn't have a good #2 rusher. I know it's boring but the running back is a key element of the running game.

Pretty much this.

Back when it comes to Penny, though, Sam Gold made a good point today that OL could very well matter for Penny if it doesn't improve:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991759271233810433[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991764307896668160[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991768589802921986[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold/status/991771385662984192[/tweet]

So it's possible that he also turns into 2017 Rawls if the OL can't overcome the backfield penetration Seattle allows, part of which is by design, according to the techbros over there.

In conclusion, Running Backs are better when they have holes to run trough. When they don't they could get frustrated.