While Chris Carson certainly had his share of preseason hype heading into 2019, it was often tapered due to concerns about Rashaad Penny’s role in Seattle’s offense in his second season. Those concerns are all but gone now, as Carson has out-touched Penny 109-25 and outgained him by over 350 yards through 5 weeks while also forcing 22 missed tackles thus far. Carson had put up just under 200 total yards in Weeks 3 and 4 while Penny was sidelined, but proving that he can pace Seattle’s offense with competition breathing down his neck, like he did Thursday night against the Rams, was a great sign. Carson finished the game with 118 yards on 27 carries, and while he only caught 1 of just 2 targets in the passing game, his 1 catch was a 5-yard game-winning TD with just over 2 minutes remaining in the contest.
He came dangerously close to dropping the game-winning TD pass, but he didn’t, and finished with 19.3 PPR points and an RB9 showing for Week 5. Even moving away from the stat sheet, Thursday night was a very promising performance for Carson — he looked strong, athletic, and confident, and seems to have at least begun to shake the fumble bug that infected him during the early part of his career. And Pete Carroll seemed completely content with letting Carson pace the team’s offense, which should only increase the confidence of Carson owners that he can maintain legitimate fantasy relevance throughout the entire 2019 season.
Carson’s upcoming schedule doesn’t feature many teams that are necessarily generous to opposing RBs, but they are a group of teams — Cleveland, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, etc. — that Seattle should be able to jump in front of and rely on their run game to stomp out any opposition. Regardless of opponent, Carson is Seattle’s clear top back, looks like a bona fide workhorse, and should be locked in as your RB2 moving forward.
To get our Stock Watches, Weekly Rankings and Podcast episodes on your iPhone, download our brand-new app in the App Store.
