In Pete Carroll's egalitarian, post-Chris Carson backfield, there is no first- or second-string anymore. Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls will be treated the same.
"We're just going to keep working our guys and keep rolling with both really worthy guys," Carroll said, via ESPN. "We'll just pound away and see what happens as the games go and everybody is ready to go."
He added: "There's no reason to have any criteria for it right now because we like our guys, and really, equal status now is good for us. We'll see how they do."
This past week in a win over the Rams, that meant nine carries for 19 yards by Lacy and eight carries for 20 yards from Rawls. However, as Next Gen Stats pointed out, Rawls did almost all the heavy lifting. No ballcarrier in Week 5 faced a crowded, 8-man box more than Rawls, who essentially ran into a brick wall of defenders on 62 percent of his carries.
The fact that he outgained Lacy despite those circumstances could bode well moving forward.
With C.J. Prosise set to come back a few weeks from now and reclaim the obvious third-down role he was meant to play, it seems like Seattle's backfield has been able to heal all wounds for now. While the team's plans are often a mess for those embattled fantasy football players, those who love the game should take a step back and admire how well the organization scouts and acquires talent at the position. Even J.D. McKissic slid into a valuable role once his number was called.
Carroll has done the right thing by stiff-arming the attempts to pin him down to one back. Once the Marshawn Lynch era ended, there was no need for the Seattle Seahawks to cling to just one running back. A fresh rotation of strong, punishing backs like Rawls and Lacy could end up being good enough if used properly.
