Many have put their doubts out there about recently unretired RB Marshawn Lynch’s comeback season. But there are no reasons to believe that his comeback season won’t be a successful one. Some question if his timing and rhythm will be there but there is reason to believe it will be.
Ricky Williams, another great player that played the RB position has done it before successfully. And he had a year off from retirement as well as a year-long suspension for smoking that bud. Williams averaged 4.0 yards per carry before the time off and 4.34 yards per carry after.
Then there are those that want to say that Lynch was on the way down in 2015 but he really wasn’t. The Seahawks O-line was never great with Lynch but they were the worst for Lynch in 2015. Lynch was actually No. 1 in elusive rating according to Pro Football in 2015 so he did his part.
No one can deny the year he’s had off to rest and fully rehab his abdominal injury was good for him. And he kept himself in great condition the time he was off, impressing the Raiders with it this offseason. So at 31, Lynch definitely has enough left to run through the NFL for a couple of good years.
Even if he’s lost a little, he’ll be running behind an excellent offensive line with the Oakland Raiders. His production will be like Walter Payton’s late in his career with the O-line he ran behind. Like Lynch, Payton excelled despite running behind a horrible O-line for much of his career.
Then at 31, he had one of the best O-lines in the NFL and ran for 1,551 yards and 4.8 yards per carry. I’m not sure Lynch gets enough carries for 1,551 yards but that 4.8 yards per carry is probable. The Raiders are known for the way they protect QB Derek Carr but they are the best at run blocking too.
According to Pro Football Focus, left OT Donald Penn was the No. 3 run-blocking OT in the NFL in 2016. They had C Rodney Hudson at No. 4 and left OG Kelechi Osemele at No. 6 for the year. The Raiders were the only team with a player at each position with a top-6 run-blocking grade.
And they work well along with the other two guys to allow RBs two yards per carry before contact. Lynch averages 2.8 yards per carry after contact, adding up to a total of 4.8 yards per carry. According to reports out of the Raiders’ minicamp and OTAs Lynch doesn’t look like he lost anything.
If that turns out to be true, the team is literally off and running!
Just win, baby!
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