When you experience the adversity that the Seattle Seahawks have in recent weeks, sometimes the best thing you can do is find a familiar place, a happy place. A happy place can give you some much-needed calm and serenity. It can help you get to a place where you can deal with life’s pitfalls.
In the absence of a place, a presence will do.
Monday evening, the news broke the Seahawks were bringing back one presence in former running back Robert Turbin. But fans continued to wait for information about the other guy the Seahawks were rumored to be bringing back.
Beast Mode; they were bringing back none other than Marshawn Lynch. The news finally broke late Monday night, making the rumors a reality—Marshawn Lynch is back in the NFL.
With season-ending injuries to two running backs Sunday, Seattle found its stable sorely depleted. As a running team, well—it will be kind of hard to remain a running team with only one healthy running back.
Nothing against Travis Homer, but the rookie had just three career carries prior to entering the game Sunday against the Cardinals. While he could be capable and up to the task, it would be nice to have some depth and maybe even some proven talent.
Marshawn Lynch qualifies as the ‘proven talent,’ and Turbin provides the team with some much-needed depth.
As former players, both are already familiar with the team and the culture. Because of that, and assuming they have been working out, there is a reasonable chance they could contribute as early as this week against the 49ers.
Neither has played since October 14, 2018. That was the last time Turbin appeared in a game when he was with the Colts. It was also Lynch’s last game with the Raiders (against the Seahawks in London). So, it may be unreasonable to expect too much out of either at this point in the season.
Turbin was never a high-volume back in the first place. His role in just about every stop was to be the ‘change of pace’ guy that typically only got a few carries a game. He has yet to carry the ball more than 80 times in a single season (his rookie year with the Seahawks).
As for Lynch, this is going to be his second time coming out of retirement. Even though Pete Carrol says he has been working out, he will probably be far from the guy fans know and remember.
Fans will probably see both Turbin and Lynch get into the game against the 49ers. But it is also likely Travis Homer will be the lead back for the night. Even though he hasn’t played much more than Turbin or Lynch, he knows the offense, and they don’t.
The run will still be a prominent part of the offense; Russell Wilson will probably run a little more. But if Seattle is going to beat San Francisco Sunday, it will have to be through the air.