Marshawn Lynch: 5 potential landing spots
By Eric Saar
Taking a look at Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to see which team he could land on
Marshawn Lynch is a Superbowl champion running back for the Seattle Seahawks and is the heart and soul of Seattle’s running game. Unfortunately, he is 28 years old and nearing the age where running backs production on the field typically tends to “fall off a cliff”.
He’s racked up a whole bunch of carries in his career. He has 2,033 rushing attempts for 8,695 yards (a respectable 4.3 yards per carry average for his career) in eight seasons (split evenly with the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks).
Lynch rejuvenated his career as he came to Seattle, but also racked up the tread on his tires. Lynch has ranked fourth (2011), fifth (2012), and second (2013) in rushing attempts. He finished fourth in 2014.
| Games | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Tm | G | GS | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | A/G |
| 2007 | BUF | 13 | 13 | 280 | 1115 | 7 | 56 | 4.0 | 85.8 | 21.5 |
| 2008* | BUF | 15 | 15 | 250 | 1036 | 8 | 50 | 4.1 | 69.1 | 16.7 |
| 2009 | BUF | 13 | 6 | 120 | 450 | 2 | 47 | 3.8 | 34.6 | 9.2 |
| 2010 | 2TM | 16 | 14 | 202 | 737 | 6 | 39 | 3.6 | 46.1 | 12.6 |
| SEA | 12 | 11 | 165 | 573 | 6 | 39 | 3.5 | 47.8 | 13.8 | |
| BUF | 4 | 3 | 37 | 164 | 0 | 17 | 4.4 | 41.0 | 9.3 | |
| 2011* | SEA | 15 | 15 | 285 | 1204 | 12 | 47 | 4.2 | 80.3 | 19.0 |
| 2012*+ | SEA | 16 | 15 | 315 | 1590 | 11 | 77 | 5.0 | 99.4 | 19.7 |
| 2013* | SEA | 16 | 16 | 301 | 1257 | 12 | 43 | 4.2 | 78.6 | 18.8 |
| 2014 | SEA | 16 | 14 | 280 | 1306 | 13 | 79 | 4.7 | 81.6 | 17.5 |
| Career | 120 | 108 | 2033 | 8695 | 71 | 79 | 4.3 | 72.5 | 16.9 | |
| 5 yrs | SEA | 75 | 71 | 1346 | 5930 | 54 | 79 | 4.4 | 79.1 | 17.9 |
| 4 yrs | BUF | 45 | 37 | 687 | 2765 | 17 | 56 | 4.0 | 61.4 | 15.3 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/12/2015.
He’s had chronic back issues and as seen in the table above doesn’t miss games. He hasn’t missed one since his first year as a Seahawk. That’s a lot of wear and tear.
Lynch rubs some people the wrong way (has been fined multiple times for not speaking to the media and has been fined for obscene gestures). With the potential that he could become ineffective soon, coupled with quality running backs Robert Turbin and Christine Michael waiting in the wings, could cause the Seahawks to not resign Lynch.
He’s also said he might retire. But that is a less-likely outcome than just signing with a team that wants him.
Here are two videos showing why other teams would want him. The first one is from the 2011 playoff game against the Saints and the second is against the Cardinals tough run defense toward the end of the 2014 season.
So, which teams would be the best fits for Lynch?
New York Jets
The Jets finished as the fourth-heaviest run team in 2014 (meaning they have the fourth-most rushing attempts) with 507. They are doing that with the oft-injured Chris Ivory and the way-past-his-prime Chris Johnson. Imagine what they could do with Marshawn “Beastmode” Lynch.
They now have two good wide receivers in Eric Decker and Percy Harvin. If they get the chance to draft a good quarterback in the draft like Heisman winner Marcus Mariota or the like, Lynch would be the perfect addition to make the offense potent. However, they’ll have to wait until they hire a head coach to see what direction he’d like to move the team.
Indianapolis Colts
With Ahmad Bradshaw continuing to get injured and Trent Richardson just horrible, the Colts could use Lynch to become more elite. They already have a great passing game with quarterback Andrew Luck, along with Reggie Wayne and T.Y Hilton. It would really help their offense to become less one-dimensional.
They are 17th in the league in rushing attempts with 415, and 22nd in terms of yards, tallying 1,612. You’d expect both rankings to significantly increase if they had an elite running back like Lynch in the backfield behind Luck, making their offense absolutely lethal.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons tried signing an older running back that was elite in past years in Steven Jackson, but that hasn’t worked out too well. Jackson is only 22nd in rushing yards with 707 yards. What’s worse, this was a comeback season for him. He had only played 12 games, rushing for 543 yards following eight consecutive 1,000 yard rushing seasons when he was an elite running back in the league.
The Falcons land at 27th in rushing attempts with 372 and in 24th in yards with 1,498. Imagine how their offense would be with Lynch as their running back. Maybe signing an older running back will work out for them this time. Like the Jets, they’d have to wait until they have a coach.
Tennessee Titans
Since no one wants Shonn Greene (94 rushing attempts for 392 yards and a 4.2 yards per carry average) as their running back and Bishop Sankey (152 attempts for 569 yards and a 3.7 average) hasn’t been too effective, Lynch could go to Tennessee. I mean, in 34 more carries than Greene and Sankey combined, Lynch tallied 354 more yards and nine (!) more rushing touchdowns (13-4). Also, Lynch had a 4-0 edge on the Titan’s backfield in receiving touchdowns.
The Titans were 29th in rushing attempts with 354 and 26th in yards with 1,447. They could sure use Lynch.
Oakland Raiders
While the Raiders could have something in running back Latavius Murray, it would be better for the offense to have Lynch. They tried former elite running back Maurice Jones-Drew and they will continue to hang on to Darren McFadden.
The Raiders are predictably last in both rushing attempts and rushing yards with 337 and 1,240 respectively.
They could really use Lynch as he outperformed their entire team. He had more rushing yards in less attempts than anyone that rushed for them all year. That’s embarrassing.
Again, they’ll have to hire a head coach first.