Tag: Chris Carson

Report: Bears to hire Chad Morton as running backs coach

According to Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears are set to hire former Seahawks coach Chad Morton.

It seems the Chicago Bears had themselves a busy Tuesday working to hire offensive coaches. According to Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears are hiring Chad Morton to be their running backs coach, which would round out the position coaches on the offensive staff. Morton is the third reported coaching hire over the last 24 hours, joining wide receivers coach Chris Beatty and passing game coordinator Thomas Brown.

Morton, like Brown, has prior ties to new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The two worked together for the last three years on the Seattle Seahawks, but his coaching journey started out in a place Bears fans know all too well, however.

After a productive playing career as a running back, Morton began his coaching career with the Green Bay Packers and was a special teams assistant from 2010–2013. From there, he joined the Seahawks in a similar role before moving to their offensive staff as a running backs assistant from 2015–2016. In 2017, he was promoted to running backs coach and trudged through a tough season where the Seahawks had a bottom-five rushing attack.

Those struggles didn’t last long, though. Seattle led the league in rushing the following season, averaging 160 yards per game, and had another top-five attack in 2019. In 2022, Morton became the Seahawks run game coordinator in addition to his role as running backs coach.

Morton helped get the most out of Chris Carson for a few seasons and developed younger talents such as Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Now, he rounds out Waldron’s staff and will be tasked with further developing players like Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert in the backfield.

Kenneth Walker III misses Tuesday practice with hernia issue

Walker had five rushes for 19 yards and one reception for 11 yards in limited playing time against the Steelers.

Following their 32-25 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Seattle Seahawks held rookie running back Kenneth Walker III out of Tuesday’s practice due to a hernia issue he is currently dealing with. This complication may keep him out of Seattle’s Week 1 game against the Denver Broncos.

“Ken’s got a little hernia thing that he’s working on and we’ve got to get through that,” head coach Pete Carroll told reporters. “So I don’t know what to tell you yet, but it’s something that we can attend to and all that.”

Walker had five rushes for 19 yards and one reception for 11 yards in limited playing time against the Steelers. Given his highly-touted reputation coming out of college and the fact that the Seahawks used a second-round pick to select him, it is safe to say they are banking on Walker to shoulder a sizable portion of the offensive workload, especially following Chris Carson’s retirement.

“We’ve just got to make sure that he’s OK by the opener is what we’re shooting for,” Carroll said.

With Drew Lock and Geno Smith competing for the starting quarterback spot and Carroll reiterating his commitment to running the football, we may see a lot of Walker this upcoming season if he is healthy.

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Rashaad Penny says Ken Walker reminds him of a smaller Chris Carson

However, the run game is still in good hands going forward.

The Seahawks might have had the best running back room in the NFL this season if they’d had Chris Carson in the fold. Sadly, Seattle’s former No. 1 running back has been forced to retire due to his neck injury. However, the run game is still in good hands going forward.

Heading into the 2022 season, Rashaad Penny is at the top of the depth chart, fresh off an explosive finish to the 2021 campaign. Promising rookie Ken Walker is next up and Penny shared some high praise for him at training camp this week. Penny says Walker reminds him of a smaller Chris Carson, per Sports Illustrated.

“He’s fast. This dude can play and reminds me of a smaller Chris (Carson) and we’ll see when we get pads on. Just watching highlight tapes and who he is, he’s very outgoing, can talk, and he isn’t afraid of anything, he fears nothing. I like the way that he just wants to learn and wants to be great. I have a special feeling about him. He’s a great dude.”

If Penny can stay healthy and Walker lives up to the hype, this should still be one of the top RB groups in the league.

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J.R. Sweezy signs ceremonial contract to retire with Seahawks

However, Wright is not alone in this department.

It seems every day the Seattle Seahawks are in an offseason of transition. The last of the “old guard” are being transitioned out from the organization, in one way or another.

Earlier this week the Seahawks witnessed a pair of retirements from beloved players. Running back Chris Carson hung up the cleats due to a neck injury, and linebacker K.J. Wright signed a ceremonial one-day contract to retire as a member of the Seahawks. However, Wright is not alone in this department.

On Friday afternoon it was announced left guard J.R. Sweezy is following in Wright’s footsteps, and will be signing a similar ceremonial contract to officially end his career in Seattle.

It’s not every day fans are invested in a left guard, but not every left guard has a unique story like J.R. Sweezy. Originally a defensive tackle from NC State, Seattle selected Sweezy in the 7th round of the 2012 NFL Draft… as an offensive linemen.

The experiment born out of the mind of Tom Cable actually payed off well for the Seahawks. From 2012-2015, the Seahawks managed to find themselves a mainstay in their offensive line as Sweezy became one of their more consistent men up front. Following a two-year stint in Tampa Bay, Sweezy would return to the Seahawks in 2018 for one final season to help bring Seattle back to the postseason.

It speaks volumes to the kind of organization Pete Carroll and John Schneider have cultivated over the past 13 years where franchise icons want to “return home” when it’s all said and done.

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Fantasy football training camp roundup: July 24-28

A spin around all of the fantasy football buzz as training camps get underway.

Now that all teams have reported to training camps across the NFL, here’s a spin around the league for a look at the most notable fantasy football news as of Thursday, July 28.

Rashaad Penny talks about Chris Carson’s impact on him

Watch Rashaad Penny talk about Carson’s impact on his game as well as him personally.

It’s been an emotional week for the Seattle Seahawks and their fans, as two popular players have retired. Running back Chris Carson and former linebacker K.J. Wright have officially called it a career.

Watch running back Rashaad Penny talk about Carson’s impact on his game as well as him personally.

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K.J. Wright signs one-day contract to retire with Seahawks

Wright is the second Seattle legend to retire in as many days.

K.J. Wright is signing a one-day contract with the Seattle Seahawks and will retire with his former team. A fourth-round draft pick in 2011, Wright became an integral if underrated part of their all-time great defensive units.

Wright went on to play 144 games in a Seahawks uniform for the next 10 years, racking up 941 combined tackles, a Pro Bowl appearance and one Super Bowl victory. He spent the 2021 NFL season playing for the Raiders. His former position has been taken by 2020 first-round draft pick Jordyn Brooks.

Wright is the second Seattle legend to retire in as many days. Running back Chris Carson was also forced to retire yesterday due to a neck injury.

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Where does Chris Carson rank among Seahawks RB’s?

Chris Carson’s career was short lived, but he did more than enough to establish himself as one of the best Seahawks running backs.

The Seattle Seahawks’ offseason of loss sadly continues. After parting ways with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner earlier in the year, Seattle is saying goodbye to running back Chris Carson.

After five productive years in the NFL, Carson is retiring due to a neck injury.

Chris Carson wasn’t just a brawler for the Seahawks, he became a revelation for the team. Following his injury after four games in 2017, the Seahawks ground attack cratered. Seattle’s once-vaunted running game quickly became among the league’s worst. The Seahawks only scored four rushing touchdowns all year, and three of them were by then-quarterback Russell Wilson.

Upon his return, Carson wasted little time establishing himself as one of the most bruising backs in the NFL. Carson revived Seattle’s anemic offense, bulldozing his way through defenses and into the collective hearts of the 12th Man.

Carson’s career may be cut short by recurring injuries, but he made the most of his time in the League. In his five years, Carson still managed to crack into Seattle’s Top 10 all time rushing leaders at No. 8. He also finished as the No. 6 all time rushing touchdown leader in franchise history as well.

Seattle’s running back stable looks to be in good shape moving forward with rookie Kenneth Walker and Rashaad Penny, who will look to build off his explosive finish in 2021. But Seahawks fans will certainly miss watching Chris Carson punishing the NFL’s best run defenders.

 

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Seahawks players past and present share tributes to Chris Carson

The Seahawks lost a special player yesterday when running back Chris Carson was forced to retire due to a neck injury.

The Seahawks lost a special player yesterday when running back Chris Carson was forced to retire due to a neck injury. A seventh-round draft pick from 2017, Carson was one of the most physical runners in franchise history and embodied the toughness that Pete Carroll has tried to instill in his teams’ DNA over the years.

Since the unfortunate news was reported a number of Carson’s former teammates have been sharing tributes on Twitter. Here’s a few.

QB Russell Wilson

FS Quandre Diggs

RB Rashaad Penny

WR Tyler Lockett

QB Geno Smith

LB K.J. Wright

LB Lofa Tatupu

RB Josh Johnson

 

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Seahawks release LB Ben Burr-Kirven after failed physical

The Seattle Seahawks released linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven after a failed physical designation in the wake of Chris Carson’s retirement.

In the aftermath of running back Chris Carson’s retirement from the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks have handed linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven his walking papers after a failed physical designation.

Seattle drafted Burr-Kirven in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of the University of Washington. Throughout his three-year career thus far, he has rarely seen the field on defense but has been used extensively on special teams, where he has thrived.

Burr-Kirven suffered a torn ACL in the preseason last year and missed the entire 2021 season as a result. He would be released by the Seahawks on July 26 after failing his physical.

Jordyn Brooks and Cody Barton are expected to lead the linebacker corps in 2022 with the releases of Bobby Wagner and Burr-Kirven, while Rashaad Penny and rookie Kenneth Walker III will receive significant playing time in replacing Carson at running back.

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