Rashaad Penny wants to take better habits into his second year in Seattle

As a freshman at San Diego State in 2014, Rashaad Penny logged all of two carries. The first went for 21 yards; the second went for 1. Aside from that, the Aztecs held him to just returning kicks. Come his sophomore year, the carries began to ramp up.

By Penny’s senior campaign, he led the nation with 2,248 rushing yards and 2,383 yards from scrimmage, and either set or tied the SDSU single-season records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and all-purpose yards.

Going into his second season in the NFL, Penny is looking for similar progress in his professional career.

“I feel like it’s the same type of story,” Penny said Friday after the Seahawks’ second day of training camp in Renton. “You go from freshman to sophomore, you get better and you get better every year, and finally you have that breakout year.

“I think the difference between college and the NFL is obviously speed, and you being more sharp on your techniques and all your plays and everything.”

Penny amassed 85 carries in 14 games last season, racking up 419 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground to go along with nine receptions for 75 yards. But injuries — a broken finger in the preseason and a knee issue later in the year — kept him out a bit. Now back and fully healthy, Penny wants more in year two.

“I feel better than what I felt last year,” Penny said “I’m just thinking about having a great year now. It’s more taking care of your body. That’s what prevents injuries.”

Or as he said in a little more cliche way a few minutes later: “New season, new me.”

That means more than just healing up from a tough rookie season. Penny hired a nutritionist in the offseason, and after (in his words) not doing the right things off the field, he began paying more and more attention to his health off the field

“Just trying to put the right things in my body,” Penny said. “I wasn’t doing the right things my rookie year, and now that I know how to be a pro, everything starts becoming easier. Start eating better, start sleeping better at night, recovery when you need it. It’s just all about doing the right thing.”

With a year under his belt in Seattle, Penny has also had a year to get Brian Schottenheimer’s offense down. No longer in his first rodeo, he’s found himself much more comfortable so far this training camp.

“When you know the plays off the top of your head, you know the pass protection and where they’re going, and then also reading what I didn’t read my rookie season.

“Everything is getting easier. That’s what I think is helping me out this year.”

And his teammates have taken notice of this new Rashaad Penny.

“I think he’s always been really smart,” quarterback Russell Wilson said after practice Friday. “I think, more than anything else though, he’s really comfortable right now, in a positive way, in the sense that he really understands the protections, he really understands the route concepts and when he’s trying to do his cuts.”

Now, the next step is for an expanded role. On the ground, the coaching staff has talked about having him be the second punch in a 1-2 combination with Chris Carson, who broke out for 1,151 yards and nine touchdowns in his sophomore season.

“We complement each other,” Penny said. “I think we do a great job on the field of just trying to play off each other. And also, trying to critique and learn each others’ game.”

But Schottenheimer — who said Friday was the best practice he’d seen out of Penny since the latter was drafted — was most impressed with one of his catches out of the backfield. In one of the later 11-on-11 periods, Penny ran a perfect route on a swing screen to the left side of the field, caught the ball, and turned upfield, avoiding defenders all the way to the end zone.

And with the Seahawks looking to ease Tyler Lockett’s load on kick returns, Penny — who owns a good deal of the kick return records at San Diego State — could be in the mix in that phase as well.

For Penny, though, getting better in all three of those areas — running, receiving, and returning — come from the same focus: speed.

“(I’m) being more of a pro,” Penny said. “Playing faster than how I played last year. That’s the steps from having an okay year to a great year. That’s what I’m doing now, taking every day, every chance I get on the field 100%. Maybe 110.”

To Schottenheimer, the change has been obvious. Alluding to the aforementioned screen pass on Friday, Seattle’s offensive coordinator was as happy about Penny’s effort at the end of the play as he was about his technique at the beginning.

“I told him it was fun to see him come back breathing heavy, which means he’s finishing runs,” Schottenheimer said.

There’s still a ways to go, even before Penny and the Seahawks get to the new season. Two days in, the team has yet to put pads on for full-contact drills, and the defense has been told not to make full-speed plays on the ball.

On Sunday, that’ll change, with the first pads practice of the summer.

“The reality is, once you get those pads on, you really get to figure out who’s who,” Wilson said. “Penny is a tough guy; he can make some huge runs. He had a great couple breakout moments last year and now it’s time to have a full breakout season.”

And with his new season on the horizon, the new Rashaad Penny is ready for just that in his sophomore year in the NFL.

“I don’t really look at the past,” Penny said. “Last year was last year. I can’t really talk about it. I try to put as much things in the past, focus on the next new year, and that’s now. Last year was pretty good for me, I was okay with what I got. But this year I know it can be different with preparation.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2019 at 2:01 PM.