SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks are searching for a new offensive coordinator in part because Ryan Grubb couldn’t – or wouldn’t – get the running game going the way Mike Macdonald hoped.
The Seahawks finished 28th in rushing yards per game at 95.7 in 2024 (though a more respectable 17th in yards per attempt at 4.2) and had the fifth-highest pass rate at 62.82%.
Not that anyone was simply blaming Grubb for the running game’s issues.
An offensive line generally regarded as near the bottom of the league in run blocking was at the heart of the issue.
As the OC search continues, finding someone who can bring new ideas to the running game will be a priority.
The new OC will have a stable of running backs to work with – all four running backs who saw action for this season remain under contract for 2025.
As we continue our review of the Seahawks’ position groups heading into the offseason, let’s examine the running back position.
Starter
Kenneth Walker III
Age: 24.
Snaps played in regular season: 469, 42.64% via Pro Football Reference.
Contract situation: Walker has one year remaining on the four-year, $8.44 million deal he signed in 2022 as a second-round pick, due to make a nonguaranteed base salary of $1.856 million in 2025.
Backups
Zach Charbonnet
Age: 24.
Snaps played in regular season: 568, 51.64%.
Contract situation: Charbonnet has two years remaining on his four-year rookie deal which is worth a total of $6.876 million, due to make a nonguaranteed base salary of $1.375 million in 2025.
Kenny McIntosh
Age: 24.
Snaps played in regular season: 75, 6.82%.
Contract situation: McIntosh has two years remaining on his four-year rookie deal worth $3.930 million with a nonguaranteed salary of $1.030 million in 2025.
George Holani
Age: 25.
Snaps played in regular season: 5.
Contract situation: Holani has one season left on his contract due a nonguaranteed salary of $960,000 in 2025.
2024 in review
From the moment Grubb was hired, there were questions of how effectively he could alter the pass-centric offense he ran at UW to assure the run-pass balance Macdonald wants.
Initially, Grubb sounded as if that wouldn’t be an issue.
“When you talk about some of the run/pass balance, you have backs like (Walker) and Zach, you’re pretty excited about your ability to run the ball,” Grubb said in early June. “I think for us, we’re trying to melt some things together with some of the things we’ve done in the past, whether it’s a long time ago or even just the last few years and get the guys to understand that we want to be a physical dominant team (and) at the same time have that same explosive, confusing element that people are used to.”
Those hopes were briefly realized.
In a season-opening 26-20 win over Denver the Seahawks rushed it 33 times for 146 yards while throwing just 25 passes.
Walker, who ran 20 times that day for 103 yards, suffered an oblique injury near the end of the game, kicking off a season in which he was rarely healthy for long, playing just 11 games.
Right tackle George Fant was also injured in that game, kicking off a merry-go-round at that spot.
Whether the injuries were solely to blame, the numbers show the running game was never the same.
The Seahawks rushed for more yards than the Denver game only once all season (176 on Dec. 8 at Arizona) and never again had a run-pass balance as heavily slanted toward the run.
It didn’t help that Walker never hit a consistent stride once he returned, held to averages of 3.9 yards or less in all but one game following the opener, finishing with 573 yards on 153 carries. He was placed on injured reserve before the Bears game with an ankle issue.
Walker caught a career-high 46 passes, though many were of the check-down variety as those catches went for 299 yards, or an average of 6.5 yards per reception, with a long of 21. Still, Walker showed his dependability as a pass-catcher, something that was questioned during the predraft process.
Charbonnet got the majority of the snaps the second half of the season and had one highlight moment with 134 yards on 22 carries in the December win at Arizona, finishing with 569 on 135. His 42 receptions for 340 yards, along with Walker’s receptions, showed that Grubb made good on his promise to involve the running backs in the passing game.
Walker’s injuries opened up some snaps for McIntosh the second half of the year and he showed some promise with 172 yards on 31 carries, with a career-high 49 on seven in the season-finale win against the Rams.
Holani, an undrafted free agent out of Boise State who was signed off the practice squad late in the season, played in five games with 10 yards on three carries.
2025 preview
The Seahawks can return their backfield intact for 2025 and can do so at a fairly inexpensive price. They are projected to spent just $6.573 million on their backfield in 2025, 23rd most in the NFL, helped greatly by Walker, Charbonnet and McIntosh still on their rookie deals.
Given needs elsewhere, odds are the Seahawks will mostly stand pat, other than filling out the depth with cheap veterans and/or a late-round pick or a UDFA or two.
One question is the future of Walker as he is entering a key season in his career.
Like all 2022 draftees, he is eligible for a contract extension. If he had another 1,000-yard season as he did in 2022 as a rookie with 1,050, the Seahawks might be eager to lock him up.
After the injuries derailed this season and resulted in a career-low 3.7 yards per carry, the Seahawks might be inclined to let Walker play out his contract, as they did with Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny in recent seasons.
They’ll hope Walker can stay healthy, and with the help of the new OC and a potentially revamped offensive line, return to his rookie promise, when he averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and then if they want, re-sign him following the 2025 season.
After the Seahawks put Walker on injured reserve in December, Macdonald talked optimistically of Walker’s future with the team.
“I thought Ken played really good football for us,” Macdonald said. “He’s battling some injury things throughout the year that are probably frustrating for him. We always want him to be out there as much as possible. Wish he would’ve ran for 2,000 yards. You know, it just doesn’t happen all the time. We’re excited about Ken. We love him.”