The Seattle Seahawks were one of the only teams in the NFL that aggressively pursued running backs on the free-agent market this offseason.
The team was linked to Adrian Peterson, Latavius Murray and Jamaal Charles but eventually settled on a one-year deal with Eddie Lacy. What makes Lacy a good fit? The recently released Football Outsiders Almanac offers some insight.
In the chapter about the Seahawks, it notes that the offense ranked 29th in total number of broken tackles and 24th in broken-tackle rate after finishing second and third, respectively, in those categories in 2015. In other words, Seattle's running backs did a poor job of picking up yards after contact, and the team is counting on Lacy to help fix that problem. Since entering the league, Lacy has averaged 2.15 yards after contact, which is sixth best, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The numbers indicate that Seattle simply didn't have confidence in its running game last season. The Seahawks went from running the ball 67 percent of the time in short-yardage situations (fifth) in 2015 to 50 percent (25th) in 2016. They ran the ball just 33 percent of the time in the first halves of games, the third-lowest mark in the NFL.
A healthy Russell Wilson will go a long way in helping the run game get back on track. But the Seahawks need their backs to create yards even when the blocking is far from perfect. That's how they'll be judging Lacy's performance.
Some other notes from the Football Outsiders Almanac:
The offensive line numbers were ugly.
The stats back up the eye test here. Left tackle George Fant had a blown block once every 25.5 snaps, which ranked last among the 35 players at his position. Given his inexperience, Fant was put in an impossible situation as a rookie. But he has had one of the most impressive offseasons on the team, according to Seahawks coaches.
Guards Germain Ifedi and Mark Glowinski both finished in the bottom five at their respective positions in blown blocks.
Center Justin Britt was the team's best offensive lineman and the only one not to allow a sack.
The Seahawks signed Luke Joeckel and drafted Ethan Pocic in the offseason, but perhaps more importantly, they need young players like Fant, Ifedi and Glowinski to improve significantly.
The run defense was phenomenal.
It gets taken for granted at times, but the Seahawks' run defense was outstanding last season. Per Football Outsiders, it was one of the 12 best performances they've ever measured.
Guys like veteran defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin do the dirty work against the run. Linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright both had great seasons. And rookie nose tackle Jarran Reed seemed to improve as the season went on.
Often when coach Pete Carroll is asked if his team lacks discipline, he points to its consistently impressive effort against the run.
The offense needs to be better in the red zone.
The Seahawks' red zone offense ranked 24th, per Football Outsiders. Part of that is connected to the struggles in the run game mentioned above.
The other obvious issue is they need to do a better job of utilizing Jimmy Graham inside the opponents' 20 -- something Carroll has admitted. Graham had 923 receiving yards last year, third best among tight ends. But he had just six catches in the red zone.
Whether the Seahawks can find a way to get more from Graham as they near the end zone remains to be seen. But expect this to be an emphasis during training camp and the preseason.