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RENTON, Wash. — For the first time in his NFL career, running back Rashaad Penny began training camp as the Seattle Seahawks‘ projected starter.

It didn’t happen as a rookie in 2018, when Chris Carson returned from his broken leg and reclaimed the job, even though the Seahawks had just drafted Penny No. 27 overall. It didn’t happen in any of the next three seasons, as Carson entrenched himself as Seattle’s lead back while Penny was sidelined by one injury after another, including a torn ACL in December 2019 that shelved him for almost all of 2020.

So only now, with Carson out of the picture following plans to retire due to a neck injury, Penny is heading toward the start of the season as the Seahawks’ clear-cut RB1, coming off a torrid five-game stretch at the end of last season in which he led the NFL with 671 rushing yards.

“I don’t think like that,” Penny said when asked about being the clear-cut RB1 last week after the first practice of camp. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to prove to myself. Again, I’ve still got to be healthy … I’ve got a big chip on my shoulder this year, so I really don’t see anything as far as that, but I’m excited about the opportunity and we’ll just see where it goes from here.”

Penny isn’t getting ahead of himself because he knows his spot on the depth chart doesn’t mean much unless he can stay on the field. So far, so good. His only injury hiccup this offseason was a brief absence in the spring to rest what coach Pete Carroll described as a minor hamstring issue. He’s taken part in all five practices of camp and closed out the second one with a long touchdown run in which he sprinted past Seattle’s defense.

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“I think this is the best condition that he’s ever been,” Carroll said, “and I know he’s going to be flying.”

Interestingly, Carroll said the same thing last summer after Penny reported to camp on the leaner side of his weight range at 225 pounds. He came back this year at 237, which he’s played at in the past. Penny said some of that weight is muscle he’s added in his lower body but hinted that he wants to drop a few pounds this summer.

“Rashaad is in great shape,” Carroll said. “Two-thirty-seven he weighed. Just cut and sharp and fast and excited because he had such a great offseason. He looked terrific. He couldn’t wait to get out here and just run. He really wanted to show us that he could go, and he looked just like he did when we finished up at the end, so that was really fun to see that.”

That was a reference to Penny’s scorching finish to last season. With Carson on the sideline because of the neck injury — and with some motivation from Adrian Peterson — Penny ran for 208 more yards than the next-best rusher over the final five games. His six rushing touchdowns in that span tied for the league lead and were one more than he totaled to that point in three-plus seasons.

That stretch of brilliance earned Penny something that would have previously been hard to imagine — a second contract with Seattle. He tested free agency before returning on a one-year deal worth $5.75 million, all but $680,000 of which is guaranteed.

The Seahawks had added motivation to bring back Penny with Carson’s football future in doubt. The team released him a day before camp with a failed physical, a procedural move that makes him eligible to earn some of the non-guaranteed money he was set to make in 2022.

Penny, a close friend of Carson’s, called his retirement “heartbreaking.” Carroll did the same.

“I loved him on our team,” Carroll said. “It breaks my heart to not have him again, particularly with how we’re going about it.”

As in, with how much they’ve always liked to run the ball — Seattle has the NFL’s fourth-highest designed rush percentage since 2012 — and with how much of a focus that will be in their post-Russell Wilson offense. What other choice do they have than to lean on their revamped defense and run game and hope Drew Lock and/or Geno Smith can manage their way to victories?

That plan and their doubts about Carson gave the Seahawks more reason to reinforce their backfield by drafting Kenneth Walker III with one their two second-round picks. Walker has flashed his 4.38 speed and much better receiving skills than you might have assumed from a player who caught only 13 passes during his Heisman-finalist 2021 season at Michigan State.

“He’s fast,” Penny said of the 5-foot-9, 211-pound Walker. “This dude, he can play. He kind of reminds me of a smaller Chris. We’ll see when we get pads on … He fears nothing. I like the way he just wants to learn and wants to be great.”

Penny has missed 30 of a possible 69 games (including playoffs) in his career due to injury. Only twice has he carried more than 20 times in a game. So Walker figures to get plenty of work, whether by design or out of necessity. Seattle also has Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas as change-of-pace options. Their contributions on special teams make them safe bets to make the opening-day roster.

“We’re really fired up about Ken being here too now,” Carroll said. ” … It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity for us to see those guys play. It takes more than one.”

With pads coming on, the second week of camp will offer a look into whether Penny is again running with the same aggressive style that was evident during his closing surge last year.

“I feel like as far as what I did last season, it was kind of no surprise to me because I always knew what I could do,” he said. “I think the hard part was just me getting to play on Sundays … and now that I’m feeling healthy and I’m feeling at my best, I can’t wait to actually take off this year.”

RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks report to 2022 training camp on Tuesday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Here’s a closer look at a few storylines:

Biggest question: Can the Seahawks be competitive without quarterback Russell Wilson? Despite how it might have looked to casual observers when the Seahawks parted with Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner, this is a team in transition as opposed to a full-on rebuild. Shelling out big money to keep 29-year-old safety Quandre Diggs and other veteran players like running back Rashaad Penny and tight end Will Dissly says as much. Those re-signings, plus other marquee returning players (receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, safety Jamal Adams) plus two sure-fire starters they got back in the Wilson trade (tight end Noah Fant and defensive end Shelby Harris) plus a big free-agent addition (edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu) and a promising draft class that featured their first top-10 pick since 2010 (offensive tackle Charles Cross) leave the Seahawks with a solid roster … outside of quarterback.

Their defense and backfield look strong enough to keep them in games if quarterbacks Drew Lock and/or Geno Smith can be capable game managers. But can they avoid enough mistakes to play that way? And can they deliver in crunch time like Wilson so often did? If Lock doesn’t show that he’s worthy of a longer look, Seattle has the extra 2023 first-rounder from the Wilson trade to target his long-term replacement in next year’s draft.

The most compelling position battle: Will Lock’s upside or Smith’s familiarity win out? Lock and Smith are duking it out in the Seahawks’ first quarterback competition since 2012. That was the year that Wilson (an electric rookie) beat out free-agent pickup Matt Flynn (the presumed starter for much of the offseason) and incumbent Tarvaris Jackson (whom the locker room loved). The intrigue in this competition won’t come from name value but from how close it might be.

Some in the organization have anticipated that Lock’s talent (which hasn’t been his issue in three up-and-down seasons) will win out. But there’s a thought that he may have to win convincingly or else Seattle’s coaching staff will opt for the more known commodity in Smith and award anything close to a tie to the 10th-year veteran who’s backed up Wilson the last three seasons. Pete Carroll made it clear that Smith was still ahead when the offseason program ended.

The player with the most to prove: Can Adams return to his 2020 form? In his debut season in Seattle, Adams recorded a defensive-back record 9.5 sacks en route to his third straight Pro Bowl. He looked worthy of the big price the Seahawks paid to get him (a package that included two first-round picks) and to keep him (an extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid safety). Then 2021 happened.

Adams was held without a sack and had as many forgettable plays in coverage as productive ones. He also played through injuries for the second straight year until his season ended after 12 games because of a re-torn left shoulder labrum that required another surgery. Adams’ dropoff in pass-rushing production last season was largely the result of all the attention opponents started paying to him after his record sack binge, which led Seattle to blitz him less often. He may benefit more than anyone from the scheme changes they’re implementing because he should be harder for offenses to pinpoint pre-snap. But he has to stay on the field for any of that to matter.

Fiercest fantasy relevant position battle: Can Penny last as RB1? Chris Carson‘s chances of returning from neck surgery continue to look iffy, with word still yet to emerge on whether he’s been medically cleared. There’s no question as to who would be the No. 1 option in his absence. Penny is the guy after his stellar finish to last season, when he led the NFL in rushing by a wide margin over the final five games. But you know the deal with Penny: his long injury history makes it unlikely that he’ll be there for all 17 games.

Even when he is healthy, the Seahawks will almost certainly try to manage his workload with an eye towards keeping him fresh. Second-round pick Ken Walker III figures to factor heavily into the backfield rotation one way or another. He’s a must-have handcuff for any fantasy player with Penny on their roster.

As NFL training camps swing into action, NFL Nation looks at the top storylines and offers a prediction for each team.
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What’s the deal with Metcalf’s contract situation? The Seahawks typically don’t finalize big-money extensions until the start of training camp, so they aren’t necessarily behind schedule with Metcalf. And they’ve sounded optimistic that they’ll get a deal done, but it doesn’t seem like a slam dunk given everything that’s happened since March. The receiver market exploded, leading general manager John Schneider to express sticker shock at some of the megadeals. Then Metcalf skipped mandatory minicamp with an unexcused absence, which was surprising given that he had taken part in some voluntary work.

The steep fines are a huge disincentive for training-camp holdouts, but the recent trend with Seahawks and other players in Metcalf’s position has been to “hold in,” meaning they show up to camp but don’t participate in any on-field work, thereby avoiding fines and the risk of injury. Will Metcalf do the same?

Camp prediction: Coby Bryant will be a Week 1 starter at cornerback. Seattle’s rookie corner has more than a famous name. He also has a ton of college experience (53 career games) and some serious ball skills (the best of any defender in this year’s draft, if you ask him). Those traits could make him more NFL-ready than most rookie corners drafted in the fourth round.

It also helps that the position is wide open. Sidney Jones IV looks like a favorite to start at one of the spots, but no one is entrenched. Tre Flowers won a starting job at corner as a rookie in 2018 — even as a converted safety. So Carroll isn’t afraid to trust young players at that position. For that matter, fifth-round rookie Tariq Woolen could factor into the competition along with Tre Brown and Artie Burns.

RENTON, Wash. — For a team that often bucks convention in the NFL draft, the Seattle Seahawks were relatively straightforward this year. They attacked their most obvious needs early and often (aside from quarterback, where the options underwhelmed them). They made only one trade (but tried to make more), their fewest since 2015. They didn’t take any of their nine picks earlier than where analysts generally projected them to go.

But it wouldn’t have been a Seahawks draft without at least one debatable decision. And when they chose Michigan State running back Ken Walker III in the second round, the debate raged. Some fans liked it. Others reacted with a level of objection usually reserved for former offensive line coach Tom Cable and ill-fated Pete Carroll challenges.

Critics of the pick saw a running back at No. 41 overall as a misuse of high-end resources for a rebuilding team, but the Seahawks had no qualms about addressing a position of need that early with a player they rated highly. And with Chris Carson‘s future looking iffy following neck surgery — not to mention Rashaad Penny‘s long injury history — it was a big need.

“We picked him because, on the board, he was up there for us at a spot that we just couldn’t pass him up,” Carroll said of Walker, who was the second running back taken behind Iowa State’s Breece Hall by the New York Jets at No. 36. “But we don’t have updates yet on Chris and we won’t know for some time. … So there’s a little bit of uncertainty that we’re waiting on. With the commitment that we have to the run game, we want that group of guys really [ready] to get this thing hit off from the get-go.”

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ESPN’s Todd McShay rated Walker as his top running back in the draft. Walker transferred out of a crowded Wake Forest backfield in January 2021, exploded for more than 1,600 rushing yards in 12 games during his lone season with the Spartans and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Five of his 19 touchdowns last year came in an October win over Michigan, whose defense had three of the top 45 picks. And for a powerful downhill runner, the 5-foot-9 and 211-pound Walker has plenty of speed, running a 4.38 40-yard dash at the scouting combine.

“He’s a rocket,” Carroll said Friday after the first practice of Seattle’s rookie minicamp. “He caught the ball really well today too, which we are really excited about.”

Walker caught only 19 passes during three college seasons and, in Carroll’s words, has a ways to go in pass protection. But learning the playbook may not be as much of a challenge as it is for other rookies given his experience in the Spartans’ pro-style offense.

“Our offense and the terminology, and the concepts that we have run, he’s run before, and he was well prepared at Michigan State coming to us,” Carroll said. “He understood even the terminology to some extent too, so it’s really going to facilitate him being comfortable with the transition. So we’ll expect no issues there at all. He’ll be able to go. He was very bursty, very quick.”

Objection to the Walker pick might be scar tissue from the two other times the Seahawks’ current regime drafted a running back within the first two rounds. Christine Michael (62nd overall in 2013) hardly played for Seattle in large part due to maturity issues. Penny (27th overall in 2018) was the NFL’s most productive runner over the final five weeks of 2021, prompting Seattle to bring him back on a one-year deal, but his career has otherwise been a disappointment, with 30 of a possible 69 career games (including playoffs) missed due to injury.

Which was another reason the Seahawks felt they had to reinforce their backfield. They’ve been one of the NFL’s most run-heavy offenses of the past decade — ranking fourth in designed run percentage since 2012 — and will likely lean on their ground game without quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022. They need healthy backs to do it.

As of now, their backfield has Carson, Penny and Walker at the top. DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer are next, but the Seahawks have preferred them in change-of-pace roles. Josh Johnson and Darwin Thompson round out the depth chart. Carson is scheduled to make a non-guaranteed $4.5 million base salary this season in the final year of his contract. Penny and Homer are also set to be free agents next offseason.

“It’s a volatile spot,” Carroll said during the draft. “Guys get banged up, and with the way we ask our guys to run, we need rotations. We like playing multiple guys and we don’t have any problem with that at all. I’ve said it to you a million times, I’m fine about going with who’s hot, but also, we have to find a way to keep our guys healthy. So that’s why the rotation is so important, so we don’t overwork them, particularly early in the year, so we can keep the good momentum building.”

General manager John Schneider interjected with a reminder of what happened late in the 2019 season. The Seahawks were poised to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed until their backfield was suddenly decimated by injuries to Penny, Carson and C.J. Prosise. They brought Marshawn Lynch out of retirement, lost in Week 17 to enter the playoffs as a wild-card team and got bounced in the divisional round.

“We felt like that was the strongest part of our team,” Schneider said, “and we went from [three running backs] to zero.”

Carson, the Seahawks’ leading rusher from 2018-2020, had surgery late last year on the neck injury that ended his 2021 season after four games. Carroll initially expressed optimism Carson would return this season. That has given way to uncertainty — perhaps even doubt — inside Seahawks headquarters as to whether he’ll be part of Seattle’s backfield in 2022.

Hence the Walker pick.

“We’re really excited about him,” Carroll told the NFL Network. “What an explosive player to add, to go along with what Rashaad Penny did. We’re really excited.”