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C.J. Prosise isn't like any running back the Seattle Seahawks have had under Pete Carroll. Carroll's Seahawks relied on Marshawn Lynch for the most part since Carroll has been there. Lynch was spelled by Justin Forsett early on before Robert Turbin eventually became the primary backup. Christine Michael was supposed to take Turbin's job and eventually take over for Lynch as the primary ball carrier. Michael's career didn't follow that path even though he's been a presence in the Seahawks offense this year.
Of those four notable backs, Forsett is the closest in style to Prosise. Lynch was a Hall of Fame caliber talent who could line up as a receiver and catch the football but he wasn't dynamic in space or versatile running routes. Turbin was a thumper who offered more in pass protection than as a receiver. Michael is closer to a sprinter than he is a running back.
The difference between Prosise and his predecessors is that he relies on precision and acceleration to be effective. He initially played wide receiver for Notre Dame at the college level before being moved to running back. Although he didn't play much at running back in college because of injury, the little tape he did have was spectacular. Prosise wasn't an experienced runner but he was a natural one. He instantly understood how to follow blocking schemes and diagnose defenses while showing off a smooth running style that was reminiscent of Arian Foster. His wide receiver skills still existed, making him a candidate to be a three-down back in the NFL.
Durability was the biggest concern with Prosise. Nobody had seen him play a full season as a running back in college so nobody could rationally predict that he would be able to carry the load in the NFL. Unfortunately, those concerns were given more credence as his rookie season began.
Prosise barely played over the first nine weeks of the season. He dealt with different injuries so he was only active for four games. In those four games he was sparsely used and when he was it was often in situations that weren't critical for the offense to be effective, draws on Third-and-Forever for example. Entering the Week 10 game against the New England Patriots, Prosise had nine carries for 30 yards and eight receptions for 116 yards. He was on course to essentially redshirt his rookie season.
Had Thomas Rawls been fully healthy, Prosise likely would have been reduced to a receiving role against the Patriots. Without him, and with a hamstrung Michael and Alex Collins as his other options, Prosise became closer to a feature back than a bit-part player. He touched the ball 24 times and finished with 153 yards. He only averaged 3.9 yards per carry but had goal line carries and should have had a short-yardage touchdown if it weren't for the inconsistencies of NFL replay procedures.
Prosise was so good that Pete Carroll didn't even mention Michael when discussing his running backs ahead of Week 11.
From Sheil Kapadia of ESPN, "With C.J., the versatility of all the things he seems to be able to do at this point, and knowing that there's a really style to Thomas that we’re really looking forward to seeing, it could be a real nice matchup." Kapadia notes that when Carroll was asked specifically about Michael and his hamstring, the response was short, "He's fine." That was significantly different from how he talked about Prosise specifically, "I think what stands out the most is the variety of things that he did, that he looked good at. He ran the ball inside. He ran the ball outside. He caught the ball well in the short passing game to make some first downs, and he caught the big ball down the sidelines. He got smacked on the catch and held onto it, just like the receiver that he has in his background."
It's hard not to share Carroll's optimism about Prosise. Much like his Notre Dame tape, his performance against the Patriots was extremely impressive even if only a taste of what could be.
Prosise opened the game with consecutive six-yard gains. Both plays were typical Seahawks running plays. They weren't specially designed toss plays or draws that were called to work to a limited skill set. Prosise lined up in the backfield, took the ball from his quarterback and was expected to read his blocking to attack the defense. His first carry can be seen above. Prosise steps back infield away from the defensive tackle without losing speed or hesitating. Because he makes that transition with great balance, he is able to sustain his momentum and drive forward to finish the play.
He doesn't break a tackle or even hit a defender, he actually hits his own teammate who was blocking for him, but an important thing to take away from this is how Prosise finishes the run. Despite being a converted wide receiver, he doesn't fear contact. Of course, that was his first carry of the game so he hadn't taken a beating at that point but it does fall in line with how he played throughout. And how he played in college.
The Seahawks offensive line isn't very good. It has received a lot of criticism this year and most of it has been fair. With a somewhat limited Patriots defensive front on the other side of the line of scrimmage in this game, it was able to be more effective than usual. You could see that on Prosise's first two runs. Both were well blocked plays that benefited from the running back's quickness and decisiveness to cross the line of scrimmage in the right spot at the right time.
Getting past the line of scrimmage was easier in the second play than it was in the first, but it still wasn't as easy as it initially looks.
Christine Michael has had some success for the Seahawks this year simply by being directed towards a spot and attacking it. Michael is a supreme athlete who can plant his feet and aggressively attack downfield when he has a hole to attack. What Michael isn't is a running back who can create gaps or alter his body shape with his feet to fit through smaller holes. In the above play you can see Prosise's confidence and balance as he alters the length of his strides to fit through a gap in front of him that is quickly closing thanks to the play of the left defensive tackle, number 97.
Without that quickness and precision, Prosise would have been put in a position where he would have had to run through an arm tackle to gain two or three yards. Instead he skipped past that defender and gained six.
Ironically, Prosise's first negative run came when the Seahawks tried to direct him towards the sideline as two pulling linemen led the way for him. His longest run of the game did come on an outside run, but it wasn't a toss, sweep or an end-around. It was a legitimate zone run where Prosise created the yardage with his awareness of how to play the position.
Prosise is directed towards right tackle as the offensive line shifts laterally in that direction. His right guard, fellow rookie Germain Ifedi, engages in his block and stays engaged but he is being beaten by the defensive tackle. If you watch Ifedi's feet closely you can see how he is stopped in his tracks and has to recover as the defensive tackle establishes position on his outside shoulder to control his movement. This is problematic for Prosise because he can't cutback at this point and if he stretches outside like he's supposed to the defensive tackle will be unblocked.
In this situation, Prosise has to manipulate the defender with his movement to create leverage for his blocker. He has to do this quickly too because the backside defender is left unblocked by design.
Again it comes back to Prosise's quickness and precision with his feet. He forces the defensive tackle to stop and react to an inside run by chopping his feet in place without ever stopping them. This allows the running back to always be in position to accelerate downfield while not giving the backside defender a chance to catch up to him. Reacting to Prosise for the defensive tackle means giving up your position on Ifedi's outside shoulder to move more centrally. That slight concession is all that Prosise needs to accelerate outside of him and advance downfield.
The running back gains 10 yards before absorbing a big hit from an unseen defender.
Offenses that sustain success in the NFL are offenses that get to dictate to the defense how plays develop. Prosise's ability to be dangerous as a runner and as a receiver makes him a mismatch piece for the offense no matter where he lines up on the field. This makes Russell Wilson's job easier in how he diagnoses coverages before the snap and how he attacks specific personnel packages. The above gif captures this perfectly.
Prosise initially lines up in the backfield. The Patriots are threatening to blitz with multiple linebackers. If Prosise stays in the backfield, Wilson has to correctly set his protections and the linemen with Prosise have to correctly react to which defenders blitz and which drop into coverage.
When Prosise moves to the outside, the defense is forced to show the quarterback its coverage and its pass rush. Wilson now knows which linebacker is coming because the other one dropped out to cover Prosise outside. If you do this with a typical running back you can still get the defense to reveal its coverage but you don't have a receiver lined up outside like you do when you do it with Prosise. The linebacker outside has no chance of sticking to Prosise's route in space.
Linebackers will always be at the mercy of Prosise. He's not just a guy who used to play wide receiver. He has a legitimate wide receiver skill set in the same way Darren Sproles, Danny Woodhead or Reggie Bush do.
The addition of Prosise gives the Seahawks the most dangerous five-receiver set in the NFL. With Prosise, Doug Baldwin, Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lockett, the Seahawks can add in Paul Richardson Jr for more explosion or Jermaine Kearse for more versatility. Any defense that comes out with all defensvie backs will be exposing themselves to Prosise running the ball. Any team that keeps linebackers on the field will be putting one of those linebackers on Prosise, Graham or a receiver. No matter what, Wilson will always have a matchup advantage to target.
For Prosise's biggest play of the game against the Patriots, the Seahawks came out with five players in positions of receivers. Prosise was in the slot to the left.
Elandon Roberts was used as the justification for the Jamie Collins trade. Roberts has played relatively well this year, but he was exposed in space by Prosise. Prosise beat him on the previous passing play with his horizontal double move. On this play, Roberts lines up deep off the line of scrimmage. That depth is supposed to prevent Prosise from simply running right by him. Roberts is also shaded slightly inside of Prosise so he can break on any slant routes the receiver runs.
Ultimately it didn't matter where Roberts lined up. Prosise was way too fast for him. He sprinted downfield and left Roberts so far behind him that the running back had time to adjust and work inside when Wilson's pass was thrown slightly too far infield.
The endzone angle gives us a better look at the catch. Prosise makes a spectacular play as the placement of the ball leads him into a huge hit from the arriving safety also. It's a play on the ball like this that highlight's his receiver skill set. The best receiving backs wouldn't be expected to make that play.
He was robbed of a touchdown against the Patriots and he only averaged 3.9 yards per carry, but you can definitely believe the hype when it comes to C.J. Prosise.
