Rashaad Penny Driven to Build Off Dazzling Finish, Anchor Rebuilt Seahawks Offense
RENTON, WA - During the final six weeks of the 2021 season, there may not have been a player in the entire NFL who enjoyed greater individual success than Rashaad Penny, who finally had his coming out party for the Seahawks after three-plus seasons littered with injuries and misfortune.
Taking advantage of his first chance to start with veteran Chris Carson on injured reserve and staying healthy down the stretch, Penny led the entire NFL in rushing yards (706), scored the second-most rushing touchdowns (6), and averaged nearly seven yards per rush. Putting his remarkable numbers in perspective, he surpassed 125 rushing yards four times in Seattle's last six games, two times more than any other backs in the league in that span.
Showing off his rare explosive ability at 235 pounds, Penny also ripped off eight rushes of 25 or more yards, tying Colts star Jonathan Taylor for the most such runs in the NFL despite having over 200 fewer carries on the season.
Rewarding him for his efforts, the Seahawks brought back Penny on a one-year, $5.75 million deal in March, opening the door for him to be a full-time starter for the first time. Not resting on his laurels, he's eager to demonstrate his sensational play in December and January wasn't a fluke and make the team's decision to re-sign him look like a wise investment.
“I’ve still got a chip on my shoulders. I’ve still got to play," Penny told reporters following Seattle's first minicamp practice last week. "I still have to prove myself wrong. And I’ve still got a lot to go. I'm not settling down yet.”
Coming into the league, nobody questioned Penny's talent. After all, he led the entire FBS division with 2,248 rushing yards and finished second in the nation with 23 rushing touchdowns as a senior for the Aztecs, earning consensus All-American honors. He also received seven first-place votes for the Heisman Trophy, finishing fifth overall in balloting that year.
When healthy, Penny showcased his penchant for the big play in spurts for the Seahawks. As a rookie, he rushed for 419 yards on just 85 rushes, averaging a healthy 4.9 yards per carry in 14 games as a reserve behind Carson. The following season, he nearly matched his rushing yardage total on 20 fewer carries, finishing near the top of the league with 5.7 yards per rush.
But every time Penny seemed to turn the corner and looked primed to step into a bigger role in Seattle's offense, injuries inevitably struck again. As a rookie, he missed most of the preseason with a broken finger and sat out two games with soft tissue ailments. Then in 2019, coming off two outstanding games against the Eagles and Vikings, he tore his ACL in a loss to the Rams, which ended up costing him all but three games the following season.
Even last year, before lifting off over the final two months and emerging as one of the sport's most dynamic backfield playmakers, Penny spent time on injured reserve with a calf injury and produced 43 rushing yards in four games played through Week 11. At that point, it seemed unlikely the talented, but fragile back would be back with the Seahawks after his rookie contract concluded.
Battling constant adversity at every turn, Penny spent most of the past two offseasons rehabbing his injuries rather than focusing on getting into top physical shape for training camp, which may have contributed to his struggles staying healthy. Failing to live up to outside expectations, he let comments from critics on social media consume him and weigh him down.
Luckily, that hasn't been the case for Penny this spring. Though he still has social media accounts, he rarely uses them and he's made a conscious effort to drown out the external noise that used to drag him down. As much as his physical health helped lead to a breakout season, he believes the mental aspect of the game may have been his greatest challenge and he was able to overcome those obstacles last year.
"I felt like I wasn't making myself happy. I felt like I was always trying to meet everybody’s expectations," Penny explained. "And over the course of my career, I've learned that it's not all about making everybody happy anymore. It's really about how I feel on the inside and making myself happy. And the last month or two of the last season, I was happy with myself. So I felt like that played out to how I played."
On the injury front, though he missed a couple of OTA practices with a tweaked hamstring last month and was held out for precautionary reasons, Penny looked like lightning being unleashed from a bottle with the ball in his hands in last week's minicamp, bouncing back into his 2021 form in quick fashion.
No longer bogged down rehabbing back from an offseason surgery and able to focus on sharpening his conditioning, Penny claims he's never felt better heading into his fifth season and will be the Seahawks' undisputed bell cow. Considering how he torched the rest of the league late running roughshod on opponents last season with his rare blend of size and speed, that's not a good omen for would-be tacklers tasked with trying to slow down the electric ball carrier down in 2022.
As long as he can stay on the field, in an offense that caters well to his strengths with plenty of under center runs and a big dose of midzone concepts, Penny should have an excellent chance to continue his resurgence as one of the NFL's premier backfield weapons.
"I never had the chance to run around and actually get an early jump to training camp for the next six weeks. I think it's just made it more special for me to come out here and just run around and get in shape early instead of waiting until training camp to figure out my body or whatever. But I feel amazing, and this is the best I've ever felt. I'm excited about this year and I can't wait to get going.”
