Marshawn Lynch’s ‘football instincts’ make him valuable in Seahawks’ backfield
Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer didn’t know much about Marshawn Lynch.
But when the bruising veteran running back found his way back to his former team in December, it took the second-year Seahawks assistant a single practice to figure out what has aided Lynch’s success for so long.
Yes, Lynch brings menacing physicality to every snap he plays, cuts well and keeps his legs moving. But the most important thing Schottenheimer learned about the 33-year-old back?
“The football instincts,” Schottenheimer said following Thursday afternoon’s practice. “I think I referenced to it a couple weeks back. The very first practice he was at we were running a screen play, and we actually gave a really hard look where there was a safety coming off of the edge, and it was a blitz.
“He didn’t break stride. He probably heard the play for five seconds in the meeting and was able to go out there off of instincts and know, ‘OK, this guy is coming. They didn’t pick him up. I’ve got to not only hit him, but I want to hit him and lose him inside.’ That’s the design of it. He did it like it was nothing.”
In talking to Lynch in the weeks since that first practice, Schottenheimer has realized just how valuable of an asset Lynch’s understanding of the game is, in addition to the obvious presence he commands when he steps on the field on Sundays.
“How he understands how everything works together — the runs, the play fakes, the ‘Hey, you can use me as a decoy on this one’ — he’s obviously extremely, extremely intelligent with the football acumen,” Schottenheimer said. “And just the ability to go execute on the field is amazing.”
Lynch is a player Schottenheimer believes can make meaningful contributions Sunday in Green Bay, and echoed coach Pete Carroll’s comments about wanting to get Lynch more involved against the Packers in the divisional round.
“You’ll see him play more,” Schottenheimer said. “Travis (Homer) certainly will play. Turbo (Robert Turbin) will play.”
Is there a target number of snaps or carries for Lynch?
“No,” Schottenheimer said. “We’ll just see how the game goes.”
But, the Seahawks are aiming for higher numbers than he tallied against the 49ers (23 offensive snaps, 12 carries) in the regular-season finale and the Eagles (18 offensive snaps, six carries) in last week’s wild-card game.
Lynch has 41 rushing yards, 25 receiving and a pair of short rushing touchdowns through the two games on his 20 touches. It’s not an eye-popping tally — 14 of Lynch’s 18 carries have gone for 3 yards or less — but the Seahawks see progress after easing Lynch back into the NFL routine.
“He’s had a couple weeks under his belt,” Carroll said earlier in the week. “He made it through clean. He feels fine physically, so he’s just more available to us for more opportunities. ... Hoping that he’ll be more involved at this point forward.”
What exactly that means hasn’t been explicitly stated, but Seattle will likely ramp up Lynch’s carries while Homer — who has been Seattle’s starter since Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny’s seasons ended with injuries — continues to play a substantial amount.
“We’re really pleased that he’s able to take the additional reps,” Carroll said of Lynch. “He feels great. He’s doing fine. ... It’s been such a positive experience. A great choice by John (Schneider) to get this thing worked out.
“Give credit to Marshawn for the way he’s attacked this thing. He’s really going for it. He’s doing everything our fans would hope he would do. He’s trying to be everything in all aspects of it. He’s deserving of seeing some more reps.”
And even the plays he’s not on the field, Lynch can be plenty valuable on the sideline.
“You can tell the guy has just played a lot of football,” Schottenheimer said. “He understands the game, and he is a really talented player — a guy that can really help us have success on Sunday.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
