The Seattle Seahawks are replacing a beast with a beast.
Does it suck that they’ll be without Marshawn Lynch for at least the rest of the regular season after the perennial Pro Bowler underwent sports hernia surgery on Wednesday? Sure, because while the aging Lynch has been absent often this season and hasn’t been effective when healthy anyway, you just know he has the ability to start dominating at any given time.
But Seattle couldn’t have a better alternative than Thomas Rawls, who was — amazingly — found as a diamond-in-the-rough undrafted free agent in the spring but has already emerged as one of the best backs in football.
As I highlighted here, the Central Michigan product, who may have plummeted in the draft due to character concerns, leads the NFL with 6.0 yards per attempt. He loses yardage less often than anyone else in football and few backs have broken into the secondary as often as him.
And the best part for Seahawks fans looking for the team to maintain its hard-nosed identity without Lynch is that Rawls routinely does stuff like this…
In fact, he’s been a tackle-breaking machine, which explains why he’s been so damn successful, going over 100 yards rushing three times in only four significant appearances. And he’s coming off the best game a running back’s had, statistically, since 2012 (255 yards from scrimmage).
This revelation might not only help the Seahawks forget about Lynch for the time being. It might be a blessing in disguise.
