Seattle Seahawks rookie running back Rashaad Penny decided

to give me a bit of a break this week Shaquem Griffin Color Rush Jersey , and for that I thank him.Behind the defensive line:The 49ers front seven are, to be very technical in my description, tiny. From left to right: Jullian Taylor (77) is an undersized defensive tackle playing big end. (99) is DeForest Buckner. Both are 6’5” or taller, and both weighed in under 300 pounds at the NFL Combine. Earl Mitchell (90) weighed 296 at the 2010 NFL Combine and is playing nose. Quite a bit to his right is former LEO Cassius Marsh (54). He has an awful lot of responsibility for a dude weighing in at 252. (36) Marcell Harris, (51) Malcolm Smith and (48) Fred Warner are all in the range of very small linebacker to big strong safety. In fact, according to their current bios, 21-year-old Kam Chancellor was bigger than any of the three. More to the point, so is Rashaad Penny.Brian Schottenheimer “forced” San Francisco into going small by deploying three wide receivers to the left, and Ed Dickson split wide on the right. In fact, given Seattle’s personnel, the 49ers are sort of big. Being down 20-3 but being thus routed by an offense which had rushed 22 times compared to only 7 pass attempts is how the 49ers found themselves betwixt and between. The Seahawks were mercilessly rushing the ball, but whenever San Francisco compensated through scheme and personnel, Seattle would pass. It’s an unorthodox approach. It’s also working really really well.Penny just as he is about to receive the pitch: Seattle’s blocking begins flimsy. David Moore, just behind Duane Brown (76), is setting a block more resembling a basketball pick. Jaron Brown, just ahead of Duane, is squaring up Warner. Both receivers are relatively big, but this flimsy blocking puts an emphasis on Penny’s second gear. Marsh is unlikely to track him down in the backfield. Penny must then quickly accelerate in order to achieve the correct angle. That aligns the blockers. Penny has a gliding style. He doesn’t burst as the jargon goes, but his mix of talents bears a striking resemblance to those of Ezekiel Elliott:Zeke:Combine Invite: Yes Height: 5116 Weight: 225 40 Yrd Dash: 4.47 20 Yrd Dash: 2.62 10 Yrd Dash: 1.58 225 Lb. Bench Reps:Vertical Jump: 32 1/2 Broad Jump: 09’10” 20 Yrd Shuttle:3-Cone Drill: No Full Workout-ChoicePenny:Combine Invite: Yes Height: 5110 Weight: 220 40 Yrd Dash: 4.46 20 Yrd Dash: 2.63 10 Yrd Dash: 1.58 225 Lb. Bench Reps: 13 Vertical Jump: 32 1/2 Broad Jump: 10’00” 20 Yrd Shuttle:3-Cone Drill: No Full Workout-ChoiceOf particular interest is the time it took both players to run from 10 to 20 yards. Compared to backs with elite “burst” like Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey, both reached 10 yards in 1.55 seconds, Elliott and Penny build speed. All four range between 1.04 seconds (Elliott) and 1.06 seconds (Kamara) running that second leg of the 40. Where Kamara and McCaffrey peter our, Penny’s still gaining.20 to 40 splitKamara: 1.92McCaffrey: 1.88Elliott: 1.85Penny: 1.83Which isn’t to say he’s better, but it’s an interesting portrait of his talent. Penny is a long-strider. A pitch allows him to run further before engaging the defense. Aligned eight yards back and along the right hash mark, and running a curve which resulted in Penny crossing the line of scrimmage over the left 20 yard marker, I estimate that Penny ran about 17 yards before crossing the line of scrimmage.That deceptive speed is how Malcolm Smith doubled the effectiveness of Brown’s block. In the previous picture, you can see Smith beginning what looks like a reasonable angle of pursuit. J.R. Sweezy whiffed. Smith is entirely free. But by the time Penny is crossing the 20, that angle has proven downright awful. Smith has gradually flattened his angle until he’s more or less pursuing horizontally. He sandwiches Brown. This is a rare context in which“sandwich” verb indicates failure.Brown’s block is ugly and effective. K’Waun Williams has kept Brown off of his body but at the expense of position. At best he channels the rush inside. Which gives Antone Exum Jr. (38) one last shot to stop Penny. If only Exum could anticipate where Penny would go.Nope.But let’s roll it back and see exactly what happens.Exum must near the projected path of Penny but Exum must also contain the middle, or Penny will cut in and be home free. Ahkello Witherspoon (23) can potentially help, and the two could potentially form the kind of pincer which corrals a runner in the open field. Witherspoon, to his credit, does free himself from Doug Baldwin’s block.But Penny splits them effortlessly.Which racks Buckner with inconsolable grief, bringing us full circle ..?Penny does not look that fast. He was not supposed to be this fast. One NFC exec, if Walter Football is to be believed, described Penny as having “[some] speed.” Lance Zierlein commented that “he doesn’t really have the burst or long speed to be a homerun hitter.” Some early comps I could find: Javorius Allen (4.53 40) and Jay Ajayi (4.57). After Penny ran at the Combine, mentions of his speed became more prominent. But in some ways, what we see here is one of those circumstances in which the tape does kind of lie. Ronald Jones II, for instance, certainly looks faster. Only, he isn’t.Penny has become Seattle’s most valuable back per rush. His rushing DVOA is 8.3%, which would tie with Kareem Hunt if either qualified. This is the second incidental relationship between Kareem and a Seahawk in as many weeks, but facts are facts Bradley McDougald Color Rush Jersey , and Hunt was a very successful running back. Penny is or at least was not very good at everything else a back must do but rush the ball, and I value pass blocking and receiving very highly. But it would seem after a surprisingly slow start that Seattle’s first-round pick is gaining steam. We tend to think of players developing but in football, coaches developing an understanding of a player and what they are capable of, is often even more important. Maybe this kind of slowly developing run play, in which Penny can build speed, is a kind of breakthrough for Schotty II and Mike Solari. Maybe we think Penny is still just figuring it out while he’s already running by us. The Vikings, who are among the worst teams in football at defending rushes off either end, may just find out. Last week, five of the Seattle Seahawks’ biggest positions of focus this offseason were identified here. Now, we’ll start identifying which players at those positions the Seahawks could target in free agency. The biggest focus for Seattle at EDGE is retaining their own premier pass rusher, Frank Clark. Beyond Clark, there’s a void. Dion Jordan is a free agent and was a non-factor in 2018, while counting on one of Jacob Martin or Rasheem Green to make a giant step forward in their sophomore season would be a dangerous game to play. The Seahawks have the cap space to go out and acquire another solid, 8-10+ sack pass rusher, while retaining Clark. In fact, they might even add two in free agency; after all, at Seattle’s peak, they had a quartet of Chris Clemons, Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin to depend on. Who might they target?Ezekiel AnsahThe Seahawks’ defense of 2013 is unlikely to be replicated, if only, because of the incredible depth that team had. Signing Bennett for $4.5M on a one-year deal was a coup, as was the two-year deal given to Avril. However, if we operate under the assumption Seattle will try to double dip on pass rushers again, Ansah could be the Bennett of 2019, coming in on a one-year deal. Totaling 30 sacks in his first three seasons in the league, Ansah seemed well on his way to a major payday. His fourth season, however, saw him take a large step backwards, as Ansah posted just two sacks in 13 starts. Playing under the fifth-year option in 2017, Ansah seemed to reset his value with a 12 sack season. The Lions didn’t give him a chance to test his market, though, as they placed the franchise tag on him. Ansah couldn’t replicate his bounce back season of 2017 in 2018, as the now 29-year-old defensive end started just two games, collecting four sacks. Now, Ansah is heading towards his age-30 season without a long-term deal, nor the leverage to negotiate a lucrative one. He may choose to sign a one-year deal on a new team, in an effort to again reset his market value. Both Bennett and Avril parlayed short deals into large paydays, and Ansah could follow suit. Approximate deal: The closest comparison we have to Ansah’s situation from last offseason was Muhammad Wilkerson—an interior lineman rather than an EDGE—who signed a one-year, $5M deal in an attempt to reset his value following his release from the Jets. There’s a higher premium on EDGEs, and Ansah doesn’t come with the headaches that Wilkerson brought. A one-year deal around $8M could get Ansah in the building. Brandon GrahamOne of the Eagles’ Super Bowl heroes will finally hit free agency Brett Hundley Color Rush Jersey , after several years of being a rumored cap causality. Graham saw a four-year deal worth $6.5M APY through to the end, and will hit the open market entering his age-31 season, coming off a four sack campaign.Graham has never hit double-digit sacks in his career (the closest he came was 9.5 sacks in 2017), however Graham’s contributions go well beyond counting stats. He’s a solid run defender, disciplined on the edge—if both Graham and Ansah were signed by the Seahawks, it would likely be Graham starting on early downs, not Ansah. It wouldn’t be a particularly flashy signing, but Graham would be a tremendously steadying presence for Seattle.Approximate deal: A good comparison in terms of situation and role for Graham would be Adrian Clayborn, who signed a two-year, $10M deal ($5.5M guaranteed) with the Patriots in 2018. Clayborn has never hit double-digit sacks—the closest he came was 9.5 in 2017. Graham’s role, age and production line up with Clayborn’s, and his new deal should as well. Bruce IrvinThe former Seahawk was potentially going to return to Seattle following his mid-season release from the Raiders, but his hometown Falcons came calling. Now, Irvin hits free agency. While staying with Atlanta may be preferred, one would imagine the Seahawks and Ken Norton Jr. would be a close second. Irvin doesn’t have the legs to play SAM linebacker in Pete Carroll’s defense anymore, but as a rotational rusher, he would be valuable. At the time of his release from Oakland, Irvin was 33rd in the NFL in pass rush win percentage from the edge. Managing his snaps and allowing him to focus strictly on rushing the passer is the best way to maximize him at this point in his career. Approximate deal: Irvin has gotten his big contract already, and is likely looking at a number of one- and two-year deals from here on out. A two-year deal around $5M total, with guarantees in the first season, could work for both player and team. Pernell McPheeOnce upon a time, McPhee represented the Ravens’ hemorrhaging of talent following Joe Flacco’s extension and a Super Bowl victory. McPhee was a terrific rotational rusher, with 7.5 sacks in his final season in Baltimore during the 2014 season. In his first season with the Bears in 2015, McPhee posted six sacks, continuing on as a valuable sub-package rusher. His output slowly dropped during his final two seasons in Chicago, and it bottomed out in 2018, his one and only season in Washington: Three tackles for loss, zero sacks. The majority of McPhee’s time has come as a linebacker in a system with three down linemen, however, he absolutely possesses the build and functional strength needed to play with his hand in the ground. Approximate deal: McPhee, like Irvin, will likely be playing on short-term deals for the remainder of his career. A one- or two-year deal, with guarantees restricted to the first year, would be a wise signing for Seattle. An average per year in the $2M-$2.5M range would be more than palatable. The free agent class of EDGEs is top heavy, with all the headliners—Clark, DeMarcus Lawrence, Jadeveon Clowney and Trey Flowers—almost certain to re-sign with their current teams. A host of highly intriguing pass rushers are on expiring deals as well—Dee Ford, Shaquil Barrett and Preston Smith—but are restricted to stand-up roles in a 3-4 defense. A handful of rotational rushers should hit the market, but the lack of blue chip talent available means EDGE should remain the Seahawks’ biggest priority in the draft.