It's been a long time since Seattle has been in this situation. From Chris Warren to Ricky Watters to Shaun Alexander, Seattle has always had a top-notch ball carrier.
In fact, the last time the Seahawks seemed to be in this much trouble at the position was in the post-Curt Warner era of the early 1990s. Then, the likes of Derrick Fenner and John L. Williams led some of Seattle's worst rushing attacks in years.
Now, the Seahawks don't even have a stud fullback like Williams to lighten the load (sorry, T.J. Duckett is no John L.), and Julius Jones finds himself the lone wolf atop the depth chart.
To continue...
In the last two seasons, Seattle has finished 19th and 20th in rushing. That's a stark contrast from the yearly top-10 finishes during Alexander's heyday.
With an aging Matt Hasselbeck, a strong rushing attack may be as important as it has ever been. Unfortunately, Jones leads a rushing attack with little depth, and as the past has shown, little talent up top.
Julius Jones
If Cowboys fans are to be trusted (ya, I'm not sure either) then Jones was run out of town in Dallas because he was too slow and too small. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. They did have reason to complain though. In his final season as a Cowboy, Jones managed a rush of more than 15 yards just six times. And unlike his burly barbarian counterpart, he was never known as a bruiser. In fact, his running style has tended more toward the soft category. The upside is Jones did show improvement last season, making many more big plays and finishing with a career-high 4.4 yards per carry.
Outlook
Typically, teams that run the ball well win games in the NFL. Last season, the top five rushing teams made the playoffs, while the Raiders were the only top 10 team to not have at least a .500 record. So let's say the goal for Seattle is to be a top rushing offense to take pressure off Hasselbeck and keep the defense fresh. That means Seattle will need about 2,000 total rushing yards. Here's the breakdown:
T.J. Duckett - He has rushed for more than 600 yards only once, and it's been five years since he's even topped 380 yards in a season. Let's be optimistic and assume he returns to his 2004 levels when under Greg Knapp and Jim Mora in Atlanta.
Projection = 500 yards
Justin Forsett and Devin Moore - The pre-season favorite has yet to accumulate any rushing yards in the regular season, but he should get his chance this season. Moore, an undrafted free agent, has talent, but may be too raw to be more than a third-down back or practice squad fodder.
Projection = 200 yards
Quarterbacks - Both Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace are threats to run. But neither do it as much as you'd think, and Hasselbeck should be looking to stay healthy and won't be as reckless as he has been in the past.
Projection = 100 yards
That puts the team at 800 total yards thus far. Jones' career-high is 1,084 rushing yards, which would give Seattle about 1,800 rushing yards, just a fraction more than the 2008 total of 1,768 yards.
To reach 2,000 yards, Jones will need to have the best season of his career with 1,200 rushing yards. Can he do it? Probably not. He had plenty of opportunity to be the man in Dallas but failed.
Now, plenty of teams have had success without a strong running game, but they had a dominant unit to make up for it. Neither the passing game nor the defense appear ready to dominate, which means Seattle needs balance, which means Seattle needs Jones to be better than he's ever been.
This training camp, he fights only himself, or perhaps our perceptions of him, to prove he has what it takes to be the man in Seattle.
Reach Jeff Richards at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
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