With Maurice Morris banged up and Shaun Alexander not 100%, what are the Seahawks to do? November 29, 2007
Posted by thesportsmaster8000 in Football, Leonard Weaver, Maurice Morris, NFL, Seahawks, Seattle Seahawks, Shaun Alexander, Sports.trackback
Like all the other teams in the NFL, injuries are starting to take a toll on the Seattle Seahawks. Specifically, Seattle’s running backs. The ‘Hawks currently hold a two game lead in the NFC West, over the Arizona Cardinals. This being one of the tighter divisions in the NFC, the Seahawks can ill afford a loss in Philadelphia this weekend.
Morris is nursing an injured ankle he sustained late in last week’s game against the St. Louis Rams. Alexander, on the other hand, is returning from a banged up knee. Alexander is expected to play, but his exact role this upcoming Sunday is still undefined. This week in practice, it was Alexander taking the majority of the snaps with the first team offense. This was more due to the fact that Morris was recovering rather than Alexander taking back his starting role.
Seattle’s run offense has been only slightly better than anemic this year. The ‘Hawks currently rank 21st in rush yards per game. Even worse than their 21st place ranking, the ‘Hawks are tied for 26th in the league with only 5 rush touchdowns. Blame for these rankings goes from running backs to offensive line and back. To be honest, I can’t even tell who deserves the majority of the blame. The insertion of Morris into the starting lineup has added a spark. Still, Seattle’s running game is about as impressive as a 4th of July sparkler.
With Morris banged up, Alexander a shell of his former self, and the team facing an Eagles’ defense ranked 7th in the league, what are the Seahawks to do? The answer is Leonard Weaver. With his 4.9 yards per carry average, Weaver is the most productive back on the roster. The fullback has seen limited duty at the running back spot, and while he hasn’t jumped out as the next Jim Brown or O.J. Simpson, he has shown he has the skills to give this team a consistent threat at running back (at least until Alexander is 100%). Besides his rushing ability, Weaver has shown he can catch the ball out of the backfield (6th on the team in receptions), and that he can provide solid pass protection when Matt Hasselbeck drops back to pass.
The division is on the line and the Seahawks can ill afford another loss. With that in mind, maybe Seattle should think about giving Leonard Weaver a shot at running back.
Not a big Seahawks fan, but have always thought Alexander to be over-rated! They definetly need to play the rookie. It wouldn’t matter if Alexander was a 80% or if he was 100%! he isn’t his “former self”. But as I said I never looked at him like an eilte back. Sure he scored a lot of TDs and broke the record in ‘05. Sure he can grind out yards and chew up clock. But those were the days when the Seahawks were good. That was when they had their ridiculous offensive line. I’m not trying to take anything away from him. He’s good, but not what he’s hyped up to be. His MVP season he had he got a TON of TDs handed to him. Hasselbeck had a GREAT year that year, and pretty much set up Alexander with his MVP. Hasselbeck: 3,459 yards, 24 TDs (should have been more), only 9 INTs, with a 65% completion percentage. I think Alexander may have had 1 or 2 long runs. Anyways, start the rookie and hope Alexander can come back next year ready to go.