Rawls not guaranteed the job.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/10420/thomas-rawls

A little interesting although I'm sure it's coach speak to keep Rawls motivated and fits with the always compete philosophy. It wouldn't shock me if they brought in another talented back to compete though. Rob at Seahawksdraftblog has talked about this recently and makes some valid arguments for why it's a possibility.

I've got my little heart set on Alex Collins from Arkansas as a potential fit to pair with Rawls.

That certainly is the party line.

Nothing wrong with bringing in more talent anyway. Losing Marshawn is big, and Rawls is actually somewhat unproven, though he showed a lot last season. IMHO he's the real deal and will have the inside track no matter what-assuming his ankle heals fully, which it should. Right now he's kind of the only option, which is a scary thought. I suspect he'll be the man in '16, but he'll need help.

Rawls advanced stats were even more impressive which is scary. His yards after contact, yards over expected rushing yards(some nerd metric) were off the charts, league best numbers. Pete loves to keep adding to the stable.

We also do not know if Rawls is injury prone. This ankle thing could be a fluke or it could be an ongoing thing. Sample is still too small. Best to hedge your bet with some developmental talent.

Wow. I thought most of you had crowned him. Some good, even keeled posts up in here.

vin.couve12":3jfzg4av said:

Wow. I thought most of you had crowned him. Some good, even keeled posts up in here.

Click to expand...

It's not all knee-jerk around here, although we have our crew that should show up soon. :laugh:

As to the injury prone question, the play where Rawls got injured was pretty bad. He got rolled up on badly. That in itself screams "isolated incident" to me. He was pretty durable up til then. But one season does not a trend set either way.

Then again, in true Pete and John style, I expect them to add to the RB staff this off season and see some competition in camp and pre-season.

To be fair I love Rawls and he can be an absolute superstar. I think he flashed that kind of talent last year. It's still smart to keep the position competitive and Pete's team is built around being able to run the ball. Next year can't get here soon enough lol.

Perfect world we lure Matt Forte up here for a 1-year deal then draft someone in 2017 when the draft is absolutely loaded.. but I think this has about a 1% chance of happening.

Matt Forte? The guy is a decent RB but a glider...he's not a tough yards after contact guy.

Rawls is guaranteed the starting job in so far as he runs like he did last year...assuming health and desire... You could say the same for anyone on the team though. No news here.

Maybe Rod Smith finds his way onto the market again as well.

One hand Mike is going to rip it up!

Ezekiel Elliott, please.

Coach Speak

I'd like to see somebody take the job from him. :192215:

Coach Speak

I'd like to see somebody take the job from him. :192215:

ivotuk":s7jnv6h8 said:

Coach Speak

I'd like to see somebody take the job from him. :192215:

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Me, too!

That would be one quality RB, wouldn't it? :th2thumbs:

Typical offseason coaching speak comment. Everyone has to earn their starting spot every year.

It'd be nice to have a few guys who can push Rawls but as has been said above it'd be hard to to imagine him not starting and if someone did come and take his job he'd be a a good replacement for Lynch or a special addition to the team at the RB position.

I kind of thought what we needed was a third down back. If Forte is willing to sign on for that role, WOW. He could extend his career by a few years and be great for this team. Or we draft a weapon for that role like Dixon, Braxton Miller or Byron Marshall. PC has said he wants to have two TE sets that are dominant. I say why not add a third-down back who could be a huge weapon also. What a nightmare to game plan against.

We need a third down back.

And a backup.

And a fullback.

We literally have only Cottom and Rawls under contract. CMike is an RFA, and we usually keep 3-4RBs and 2 FBs. We need guys to "compete"/ fill out the roster. Good year to stock up on UDFAs/ pick someone up late in the draft.

jdemps":1q9kempl said:

We need a third down back.

And a backup.

And a fullback.

We literally have only Cottom and Rawls under contract. CMike is an RFA, and we usually keep 3-4RBs and 2 FBs. We need guys to "compete"/ fill out the roster. Good year to stock up on UDFAs/ pick someone up late in the draft.

Click to expand...

Cottom if going to be the new FB and will cross train as an H-Back/TE. Bank on it. Kid has a really, really unique skillset with great athletics for a 260 pounder and I actually liked the way he blocked quite a bit last preseason. I am of the belief that he was stashed for the year with only a handful of reps in the preseason where it looked like he should have gotten more. I think this is a player who can be a little bit like a cross between Leonard Waver and Marcel Reece, but with more actual FB experience.

CMike will come back and we'll also likely draft another one. Between those 3, a draft pick, and two or more UDFAs, and maybe a lesser known cheap FA possibly even at FB, think we'll have a pretty good platoon.

Coleman is obviously likely out and Tuku.....I'm not sure he doesn't take the most money someone offers, which likely won't be much, but we don't know he'll be back. Really looking forward to seeing what Cottom does though. I wouldn't even rule out that he could take some reps as a 3rd down back. He's more explosive than Fred Jackson (which might not be saying much) and can catch and block.

Pete has to keep the hunger pangs on his roster so doesn't concede anything to players, yes certain situations like Lynch are there but tell me who ran harder and worked harder when he was on the job then he did, he was given his days off to keep him healthy.

Rawls will have to prove he is back, thankfully if the story is true it was a break and not a tear and he can rehab quickly.

We don't need retread backs that have a lot of carries and hits on them, we need fresh and hungry, third down back yeah that stability is nice with a Vet, there will be plenty of them available looking to contribute on a winner.

FB, I don't see Coleman back, Tuk is getting up there, we may watch and wait on this or convert Cottom back to a FB. The Chip situation as stated may make one available as some of the other changes in the league as well.