It’s been a sleepless night after watching my 9-year-old’s little league team fall one game short of the championship, so I’ve been trolling around the InterWeb and stumbled upon this blog post over at the TNT regarding Seahawks RBs.
Williams perspective seems like the predominant one around Seahawks beat writers and fans. Most people seem convinced that LenDale White will start, then are most excited about Leon Washington and then maybe people start talking about Justin Forsett. Coaches even talk about Julius Jones before mentioning Forsett.
Unless Leon Washington is healthy, there is no debate. Justin Forsett is our best RB. I almost choked when I read:
“I’m still bullish on Julius Jones, although the readers are not, giving him a three percent chance of earning the starting job. Jones seems to have a better feel in the zone blocking scheme during OTAs, and probably has the best overall package of strength, speed and pass-catching and pass-blocking ability out of all the candidates.”
You meant to write the worst overall package, right? Did you watch these guys play the last two seasons? Forsett consistently ran better between the tackles and outside the tackles than Julius Jones, leading to a massive 5.4 YPC compared to a paltry 3.7 for Jones. He caught six more passes for over two yards more per reception (8.4). He was regularly lauded as their best pass blocking RB. He had two of our three 100 yard rushing games.
LenDale White’s career highs:
YPC: 4.0 (2006)
Receptions: 20 (2007)
YPReception: 5.7 (2007)
Nothing to get excited about there. And why does everyone assume Pete Carroll wants to start White when he didn’t even start White at USC? I see White as just another body on the pile who gives us some unique abilities. Nothing about him screams “starter.”
Now, Leon Washington is a guy that has averaged as many as 5.9(!!) YPC, 10.8 YPR, and caught 47 balls. That’s a guy who, if healthy, should get legitimate starter reps. I’m just not holding my breath on the healthy part.
That brings us back to Forsett. I don’t know what it is about the guy that keeps coaches from showering praise on him. He appears to do everything anyone could ask of him, and is a model citizen. Jim Mora, Pete Carroll and Mike Holmgren all have sounded reserved when asked about him on the radio over the years. His lack of breakaway speed, combined with his small stature may be the reason. Perhaps, I’m too simple, but results are the only thing I care about. Forsett blows away the competition by that measure. Let’s hope the coaching staff ranks the depth chart according to impact, and not anything else.
