Penny...Hyde...Carson...

[jammerhawk]

It always amazes me that people add Penny to lists like this and lists of good draft picks. He is not good. Heck, Deejay has 3 total TDs and Penny only has 5.

We should have picked the MUCH higher rated CHUBB! Huge miss

Good of you to make that hindsight call, but Penny would be fine if he could stay healthy. He's clearly quite good when on the field. Interestingly, he was the smart medical pick at the time. Had his body held up like it did in college, he'd be one of the biggest threats on the offense. To insinuate the Penny isn't obviously a talented rusher when on the field is just... wrong. I question whether you were watching him last year.

Nick Chubb blew his knee out horribly in college, and hurt it again this year.

The REAL criticism here is that they picked a running back in the first round, which is almost always a stupid move. Regardless of how it worked out, it'd be pretty silly to draft a running back who suffered a naaasty knee injury in his college play with a high pick.

I agree with Maelstrom, but think it should be noted that Penny was quite healthy in college and the Hawks were struggling to find good RB depth as CC was nicked up often. He was drafted o be the healthy young challenger to Carson, but hasn’t been able to stay healthy, he’s not Prosise but he sure hasn’t lived up to his college history of avoiding injuries. Penny was reasonable value where he was picked even if many self-included were not fans of the pick. Then unfortunately Penny has had a number of health issues and never truly gotten his game into high gear which likely ads strength to the don’t draft RBs in the first round argument. Penny is a very capable RB but has underplayed his draft slot so far, I suspect he thinks he’s got thing to prove before the end of his rookie deal. I still think we could be very happy with him.

It is easy to criticize when the full picture is unknown. The Hawks have usually found good players at RB over the years of this regime. Some have had questionable characters have been released and returned but have shown they can play and run hard.

The RB depth on the team presently with the additions of Hyde and Collins to Carson and Penny at least should give us the hope we won’t have bring back retired players to allow for any semblance of a running game in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to seeing Carson back, more of Hyde, then hopefully a very motivated Penny, and perhaps Collins.

 

[Spin Doctor]

I don't think Penny is going to be worth anything this year. He's spent the whole year out of practices, and even in his huge games it seems like he didn't completely grasp the playbook. Russell always has to direct him where to go when he was in the backfield. We can't even count on Penny being in proper game shape if his last few years are any indication. Even if he is we don't know how his acceleration and lateral agility will be affected.

I don't think Penny will ever amount to anything with the Seahawks. He's got a limited skillset, and really seems to have a hard time finding the crease up the middle. I've always thought his style was at odds with what the Seahawks usually want to do in their running. He doesn't seem to grasp the finer nuances of the NFL, yet and he's struggled with motivation. He's had a few good games, but he's had way more games where he looked completely lost out on the field. I don't think the Seahawks can count on him ever being a bellcow back. We're probably going to need to look towards FA, or the draft to find a solid back next year. Carson, and Penny have not demonstrated the ability to stay healthy, Penny in particular has a really poor track record in the NFL of health.