Maurice Morris remains the heir apparent to Shaun Alexander. He rarely gets to carry the ball, especially near the goal-line, but he has shown flashes of potential when given the chance. The Seahawks re-signed him as an unrestricted free agent to a 3-year, $3.75 million contract that included a $900,000 signing bonus. The Bills, Cardinals, and Vikings all showed interest in Morris, but he chose to stay with the Seahawks. In Seattle, Morris is buried behind Shaun Alexander, but he is an injury away from stepping into one of the best offenses in the league. Back in February, Mike Sando reported the following comments from Stump Mitchell: "With this offensive line, I think Maurice would put up some astronomical numbers both in the receiving and the rushing area if he was given the opportunity." Mitchell must have really meant it, as that is not the smartest thing to say about one of yours players as they hit free agency, especially someone you plan on re-signing. Morris is not Alexander, but with his exceptional receiving skills, he would put up excellent numbers in Seattle and add a dynamic in the passing game that Alexander does not bring to the table.
The Seahawks fell in love with undrafted fullback Leonard Weaver last season. Fans did as well as they watched him rip off 116 yards on just 13 carries (8.9 avg) during the 2005 preseason. He also scored 2 TDs and broke a 40-yard run. Weaver was in on 11% of the Seahawks offensive plays last season, and carried the ball 17 times for 80 yards (4.7 avg). He entered college as a linebacker, but moved to tight end after his freshmen season. He caught 14 TDs in his final two seasons. He is a versatile back that can block, as well as catch the ball and even produce as a primary ball carrier. His dynamic skill set, especially his running skills, give the Seahawks more options than if he was a one-dimensional fullback.
David Kirtman is another interesting prospect at fullback. He is not ready to be a primary lead-blocker in the NFL right now, but he did lead the way for a lot of Reggie Bush and LenDale White touchdowns at USC and has a couple of years to learn from Mack Strong. On draft day, Mel Kiper said he has the hands of a top wide receiver. In the west coast offense, the fullback is often involved in the passing game, so Kirtman’s ability to catch the ball makes him a good fit for the Seahawks (the same can be said of Weaver). I seem to remember a fullback by the name of Tom Rathman that caught 163 balls over 3 years ('88-'90) in Mike Holmgren’s offense in San Francisco.
After Morris, Weaver, and Kirtman, it is hard to get excited about any other running backs on the Seahawks roster. Marquis Weeks made the practice squad last year, but did not even make it into a preseason game. It is hard to envision Josh Scobey taking handoffs from Matt Hasselbeck, no matter who gets hurt. If Alexander and Morris went down, Leonard Weaver makes the most sense as the next option at tailback, similar to how Carolina used Nick Goings in 2004 when Stephen Davis and De'Shaun Foster went down. Goings did get his bell rung by Lofa Tatupu in the NFC Championship game last year, but when he was handed the starting job for the final 8 weeks of 2004, he filled in more than admirably. In his 8 starts, he had 190 carries for 733 yards with 6 TDs and also caught 28 passes for 265 yards. Putting up 1000 total yards and 6 TDs in half a season as a starter is impressive.
The Seahawks will likely keep 5 running backs this year, but that could include a group of 3 fullbacks along with Alexander and Morris. Weaver and Kirtman are dynamic players, and no other backs on the roster make a lot of sense to keep around, especially if we find someone besides Scobey to return kickoffs. If Kirtman lives up to the expectations the Seahawks had when they selected him on draft day, then these five guys should be the running backs that make the roster when the season begins.
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