RENTON, Wash. -- During one practice last week, Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson broke off a long run -- one of many so far in camp -- and put his hand up, signaling toward the sideline. He needed a break.

But veteran wide receiver Doug Baldwin didn't want to hear it.

"I was gassed because I'm not used to breaking long runs and then going back in," Carson said. "So I was gassed. He came back and was like, 'Around here, we finish everything.' It really had me build my mindset up like if I start a drive, I have to finish it. He's been on me since Day 1, giving me positive criticism, encouragement, everything like that. I'm just blessed to be alongside playing with him."

The Seahawks drafted Carson in the seventh round out of Oklahoma State. Through the first couple of weeks of camp, he's been impressive. The usual caveats apply. The team is not tackling to the ground, and Carson has not even participated in a preseason game yet. But he's gone from an afterthought to a potential contributor.

Baldwin called Carson his favorite Seahawks rookie.

"He just has all the tools," Baldwin said. "I think he is probably to me the most polished of any rookie at that position that I have ever seen. He has all the tools in his tool bag. He just has to put it all together. He is mature. He has the right mindset. He has the work ethic. But when you see something like that, you don't want him to miss the opportunity. So we stay on him because we know the potential that he has. But again, potential means nothing if you don't put it in motion."

Carson committed to Georgia out of high school, but he tore his ACL and his grades slipped. So instead of joining the Bulldogs, he went to junior college in Kansas. During his first season, he fumbled eight times.

"One of my coaches at juco, he was on me," Carson said. "If I fumbled in a game, he would sit me out for the rest of the game. So my whole summer after that season, I was doing a whole bunch of ball security work to try to get that corrected. It really paid off."

That's an understatement. Carson has not fumbled since. He didn't put the ball on the ground once on 243 touches at Oklahoma State and has demonstrated good ball security at practice.

At 6 feet, 218 pounds, Carson is impressive physically. He keeps the sleeves of his jersey rolled up just in case observers were wondering how much time he spends in the weight room. All of the terms that scouts like to use -- strapped up, chiseled, rocked up -- apply to Carson.

But for a while, that weight room work wasn't translating to the football field. One day last year, his teammates at Oklahoma State called him out on it.

"We had squat days, and they saw me squat 600 pounds, so they were like, 'We've seen you squat all this weight, but we've never seen you run over anybody,'" Carson recalled. "So I was like, 'Oh, OK. Next game, I've got you.' So the next game, I ran over somebody, and I felt good about it. So after that, I just tried to switch my whole scheme up. And from then on, I became a power back."

Carson injured his thumb last season and appeared in only nine games. But when he got the ball, he was productive, averaging 6.82 yards on 82 carries. He played in a spread offense, but some of the Seahawks' scheme -- inside zone, wide zone -- is familiar to him. He'll have to get used to running the ball behind a fullback with the quarterback under center.

But if Carson can take his production from the practice field to live preseason games, he has a legitimate shot to make the 53-man roster.