Joe Nicholson – USA TODAY Sports
When Marshawn Lynch was injured, there was immediate concern that the Seattle Seahawks would not have enough weapons on offense to stay competitive. After all, Lynch is one of the league’s best running backs, and even though he was having a down year, he still had an impact on the team’s game plan. However, without Lynch this season, the team has surprisingly been better for the most part. That is largely thanks to the effort of their backup runner Thomas Rawls.
Rawls was an undrafted free agent following the 2015 NFL Draft, but the young back out of Central Michigan has looked like a first rounder. He has used his physical style mixed with speed to break off some huge runs. Rawls is averaging six yards per carry and he has frankly looked better than Lynch for most of the year.
Last week, Rawls had the best game of his young career against the San Francisco 49ers. Rawls had over 250 total yards on the day, and he was breaking tackles left and right against the 49ers. He was energized and motivated for the entirety of the game and he carried the team to victory.
In Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Seahawks are going to have to heavily utilize Rawls in order to have a chance to win. Though the Steelers’ run defense is good, the Seahawks should look to feed Rawls the ball early and often. If he can start racking up yards early on, that will open up options in the play action game. Against the Steelers’ poor secondary, play action could potentially be lethal and could result in Russell Wilson being able to throw for multiple touchdowns.
Ultimately, the Seahawks are going to be looking for Rawls to have another 100 yard game. Rawls is going to be the leader of the offense as long as Lynch is dealing with his sports hernia, and there’s no reason to think that he won’t be a big part of the game plan against the Steelers. Rawls is the future of the Seahawks’ offense, and getting him extra action early won’t hurt.
Jacob Camenker is an NFL Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can like him on Facebook here, follow him on Twitter @jacobyhorse, or add him to your network on Google.
