One of the key areas that the Seattle Seahawks struggled with offensively last season was their lack of a legitimate running game. This was further emphasized with issues up front on the offensive line, which put more pressure on Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson to lead the charge.

Since the end of the 2017 season, the Seahawks have made changes to the coaching staff in that area while bringing aboard former San Diego State standout running back Rashaad Penny in the first round in this year's draft. All of this has elicited excitement from head coach Pete Carroll about what could lie ahead with the current group of running backs on the roster, according to Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk.

“Well, I’m really excited about that and that’s part of, it just feels different, just to have everybody healthy and out there working and all,” Carroll said following practice on Thursday. “We’ve had really high hopes for C.J. and we’ve seen Mike Davis play really good for us and we got excited about J.D. McKissic and now to see Chris back out there in really extraordinary condition, he’s had a tremendous offseason, and then add Rashaad in there as well. It’s just a really fine group and very versatile”

Seattle currently has a group of young talent at the position with Penny, C.J. Prosise, Mike Davis, and J.D. McKissic after parting ways with Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls. The team is hoping this group brings stability to the running game that finished 23rd last season, totaling 1,629 rushing yards.

In fact, Wilson led the team with 586 yards while recording three of their four rushing touchdowns. The only other rushing touchdown came from J.D. McKissic in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. All of this pushed the front office to take action, and as a first-round pick, Penny is the likely candidate to quickly grab ahold of the starting job.

Penny has shown that he is more than a capable running back, as he's coming off an impressive 2017 season at the collegiate level where he finished in the Heisman Trophy vote after leading the nation with 2,248 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. If he's able to translate that type of production and ability at the next level, it could finally bring much-needed balance back to the offense in 2018.