Do the Seahawks really need Marshawn Lynch?

Marshawn Lynch has been one of the most interesting characters the NFL has seen in a long time, which makes how he announced his retirement on Sunday normal for his standards. “Beast Mode” decided to literally hang it up when he posted a Tweet during the Super Bowl saying goodbye to the NFL with his cleats hung up. It was such a Marshawn Lynch-way to go out, and actually caused a stir about whether he did it for more attention or to take attention away from himself. The biggest question to me, though, is whether or not the Seahawks really need Marshawn Lynch?

“Beast Mode” was obviously a great player in his time in Seattle, putting together some of the most impressive plays the NFL has ever seen. Between the start of his fame in the playoff game against the Saints where he broke a million tackles on a 67-yard touchdown that helped the Seahawks upset the then-Super Bowl champions. He did the same thing, if not crazier, in a game against the Cardinals on a 79-yard touchdown. He was one of the best in short-yardage situations, and teams really had to game plan for what he could do.

However, I personally think Lynch lost something in the last year that made him less important to the Seahawks’ success. You knew he was lacking motivation to play; evident by the retirement scares after the past few seasons. You knew he wasn’t healthy; evident by his sports hernia surgery back in November that took him out for the rest of the regular season and some of the playoffs. He wasn’t the same running back that terrorized defenses every week, and everyone knew it.

The Seahawks seemed to move on quickly from Lynch with multiple different running backs. Seattle has Thomas Rawls, who had a great season before suffering a season-ending injury, and they still can utilize Robert Turbin, Christine Michael, and Fred Jackson.

People can say all they want about how these aren’t big names and they can say the Seahawks are in trouble, but look at the results they had without Lynch. They went 7-2 in the regular season games Lynch didn’t play in, and 3-3 in the games he did. They won a playoff game without him, and utilized more of a passing game because they couldn’t get production out of him in the close Divisional game against the Panthers.

I loved watching Marshawn Lynch play, and he was a dangerous player when motivated and when he actually produced for the Seahawks. He could’ve won Seattle another Super Bowl if they had just given him the ball at the goal line, which not many running backs have the guaranteed ability to do. Despite all of that, the recent results haven’t exactly been great for Beast Mode. I think his retirement is justified, and I’m positive the Seahawks will be fine without him.