Rashaad Penny enjoyed the best game of his rookie career on Sunday, gashing the Los Angeles Rams to the tune of 108 yards on 12 carries for a whopping 9.0 yards per tote, and he scored his first career touchdown.
Though the Seahawks lost, it was the breakout performance Seattle envisioned when drafting the running back in the first round. On Sunday, Penny dashed the hesitant running style that characterized his first eight games for decisive decisions.
On Monday, coach Pete Carroll cooed about his rookie running back.
"He was explosive, read the line of scrimmage really well on four or five different runs, saw things really clearly, showed good speed on the edge [and] a good burst, scored easily and we haven't seen many of those,'' Carroll said, via the Seattle Times. "That was really nice. It was just great to see him play football and contribute.
"This is the guy we've been watching and we saw in camp and all of that, and just haven't had enough good looks up to this point but he was ready for it. He's been working hard and we've been pushing him and it was great to see him come through."
With Chris Carson out on Sunday, Penny saw a career-high 25 offensive snaps. After his early season struggles, he'd earned zero snaps in two of the previous four contests. Mike Davis still out-snapped Penny 37 to 25, but the rookie got more carries, 12 to 11.
Penny's performance will lead to a muddled backfield situation when Carson returns (hopefully this week).
"When everybody's healthy, not everybody's going to get the ball a lot," Carroll said. "That's just the way it goes, so we'll figure that out. You'll see how it comes together. It's a good group, it's a good problem. Not a great problem for the running backs, but it's good for us and we'll try to make the most of it."
