Rawls emerges as ‘Beast Mode II’
A year ago, Thomas Rawls was playing out his final year of college eligibility at Central Michigan and earned himself a nickname from his teammates and coaches: “Beast Mode.”
It was a nod to Rawls’ physical running style for the Chippewas and how much running back coach Gino Guidugli thought Rawls looked like the original “Beast Mode,” Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.
“Once contact is made, he has an uncanny ability to keep his balance, and he’s a violent runner. He handles that contact well, can take punishment and keep his feet, and has an ability to fall forward on all his runs,” Guidugli told USA TODAY Sports.
The comparison could not be more fitting now that Rawls, an undrafted rookie, has been tapped to replace Lynch as the Seahawks primary running back while Lynch recovers from a hamstring injury. Rawls certainly looked like he had picked up a few things from Lynch in his second career start Sunday, when the undrafted rookie rushed for 169 yards on 23 carries, including a 69-yard touchdown, in the Seahawks’ 27-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rawls sprinted past three Bengals defenders and broke at least one tackle on that touchdown run that extended Seattle’s lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter. With the Seahawks’ passing game stagnant and quarterback Russell Wilson again facing pressure, a strong run game was exactly what Seattle needed.
“Rawls was lights out today,” Wilson said. “He played physical and ran the ball extremely well.”
Rawls’ emergence in Lynch’s stead is one of the lone bright spots for the Seahawks, who fell to 2-3 after a fourth-quarter collapse that coach Pete Carroll described as baffling. That’s a word that also could have been used to describe the Seahawks’ approach to the running back position late last summer, but no more, thanks to Rawls.
He started training camp buried on the depth chart, behind Lynch and draft picks Robert Turbin (2012) and Christine Michael (2013). By the end of the preseason, Turbin (who had suffered an ankle injury) had been released and Michael traded to the Dallas Cowboys, while veteran Fred Jackson was signed to provide depth behind Lynch. Rawls made the 53-man roster but as a third-stringer.
But then Lynch injured his hamstring and has missed two games and Jackson suffered a sprained ankle in Week 4 that made him questionable for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati. Jackson healed enough to be active, but Rawls received the bulk of the carries during regulation. (In overtime, Jackson was the Seahawks’ primary tailback. Jackson had 5 total rushing yards in the game, along with three catches for 29 yards, including two screen passes in overtime.)
Lynch undoubtedly will get his starting job back when he’s healthy, but the Seahawks surely feel better about their depth there after Rawls’ big day.
“(Rawls) ran the way we hoped he would,” Carroll said. “He was pretty solid.”