Anyone who was surprised the Seahawks picked Ken Walker in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft hadn’t been paying attention to their history. While the rest of this latest draft class went against type, Seattle has made a habit of taking running backs earlier than virtually every other team.
In 2018 they used their first-round selection on San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny at No. 27 after trading down with the Chargers from the No. 18 spot. The only thing better than taking a RB at the end of the first round is doing it even earlier, of course.
In a recent 2018 NFL re-draft conducted by Gary Davenport at Bleacher Report, he had the Seahawks going in a different direction at the same position. This time, Pete Carroll and John Schneider elected to stay put at 18 and take Saquon Barkley.
“In 2018, the Seattle Seahawks traded back before settling on San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny with their first pick of the draft. Penny flashed down the stretch last year, but he’s had all kinds of trouble staying on the field over his first four seasons and has never rushed for more than 750 yards in a season.
It’s a problem that Saquon Barkley can relate to—since being taken second overall by the Giants in 2018, Barkley has missed time in three of four seasons—21 games overall. He missed almost the entire 2020 season with an ACL tear and didn’t look himself a year ago, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry.
However, when Barkley has been at or near 100 percent, he’s looked as dangerous as any back in the NFL with a football in his hands. As the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018, Barkley topped 2,000 total yards, averaged five yards a tote, caught 91 passes and found the end zone 15 times. He topped 1,400 total yards and 50 receptions the following season in 13 games.
The talent is worth gambling on here.”
Typical.
