More than a year after unretired running back Marshawn Lynch retired from the Seahawks, the team that he helped lead to a pair of Super Bowl appearances is still struggling to replace him.
This year, two guys will initially get the honor of trying: Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy.
“We have a really diverse group,” coach Pete Carroll said Saturday regarding the team’s tailbacks. “You start with [Rawls and Lacy], but then C.J. [Prosise] brings some stuff and Chris [Carson] is really exciting to see too and then [J.D.] McKissic’s lit us up the last couple days with all the versatility he brought and with the question of where he playing and all, so I’m fine with it. I am really comfortable and I have no problem with it.”
While Carroll likes the diversity, he’s not averse to the emergence of a workhorse.
“I’m comfortable a guy taking over,” Carroll said. “If a guy takes over and it’s obvious, I got no problem with that either. . . . I guess that’s pretty wide open.”
The primary contenders continue to be the third-year home-grown product and the free-agent arrival from Green Bay.
“They’re battling, just as they have been the whole time,” Carroll said of Rawls and Lacy. “I think when Thomas gets back on the field officially and he’s playing, it’s a great situation for us. We are really excited to have the different dimensions and different styles that the guys bring. Everybody’s got a good attitude, everybody’s got a way about them that makes them different. I’ve always coveted that. So, they couldn’t be much more different in stature than they are. But, I think they’re really terrific players for us.”
Still, none are Lynch. Primarily because none have been able to emulate one of Lynch’s top attributes -- durability. Rawls, Lacy, and Prosise haven’t shown it. Whoever does will have the inside track to becoming the guy.
