Is bringing Marshawn Lynch back to Seattle in 2020 worth the price tag?

Earlier this month, there was talk of Seattle being in conversation with Marshawn Lynch’s agent about a potential return for the upcoming NFL season. This was all but confirmed by Lynch, who is currently listed as a free agent, after his conversation with Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter saying to “expect the unexpected”. But with all the other free agents still available at this point in the offseason, is bringing Lynch back to Seattle in 2020 worth the price tag?

Marshawn Lynch has built quite the resume. Since his inception into the NFL with the Buffalo Bills in 2007, Lynch has rushed for 10,413 yards in his career – only the 31st player in the history of the league to rush for over 10,000 total yards. He is also ranked fourth all-time with post-season rushing touchdowns with 12 TDs and currently holds 18 franchise records for the Seattle Seahawks.

But he is human and running backs tend to regress over the years statistically quicker than any other offensive skilled position. So as impressive as his resume looks on paper, what does the data say about his individual performance in just the last few years?

How has Marshawn Lynch performed over the last several seasons?

We use Pro Football Network’s Offensive Share Metrics to better help us understand how vital an individual player’s performance was week-to-week, instead of just focusing on yardage. Back in 2017, Lynch’s first full season after coming out of retirement the first time, Marshawn finished the regular season with an overall OSM grade of 19.14. The average overall OSM grade was 17.03, making Lynch an above-average back compared to other running backs that season.

Across 207 attempts, Lynch rushed for 888 total yards which was in the top 15 of running backs that season – his 4.3 yards per attempt were also in the top 15. He added seven touchdowns to his stats over the course of the year with an up-field efficiency of 3.81.

Things in 2018 were a little more subdued for Lynch. He wasn’t utilized as often and only saw the field in six games that year. He rushed for 376 yards across 90 attempts. But, even with this limited action, he still managed to be one of the most up-field efficient running backs in the NFL with an EFF average of 4.11 – the 17th highest average among all running backs.

His overall season-long OSM grade did decline a bit from the previous year, down to a 14.17 which ranked him as 34th for individual productivity. His OSM grade was slightly below the RB average for that year which was 14.49. After the 2018 season, Lynch said he was going back into retirement for good.

But his second attempt at retirement was even shorter than the first. After the Seattle Seahawks found themselves needing a reliable running back late in the 2019 season, and with the post-season quickly approaching, Lynch once again came back out of retirement and made his debut during the final game of the regular season.

Lynch only played in three games in 2019 – two of those were during the post-season. But even though his 2019 season was over just as quick at it began, he showed that he can still be a reliable back. In just three games, Lynch added four more rushing touchdowns to his stat sheet.

Related | PFN OSM illustrates the sad decline of WR Antonio Brown

So what’s the verdict on Lynch for the 2020 season?

Lynch looks really good as a reliable back heading into 2020. He still has that “workhorse” running tough style that you want to bring in as a situational running back on your roster. He’s been able to prove that, even after 12 years in the NFL, he can still power through the toughest defenses and pick up those valuable up-field yards.

However, Lynch hasn’t completed a full NFL season as a starting running back since 2017. Even though he looks great as a situational piece, it’s hard to see him taking the bulk of any snaps as a starter on a roster in 2020. But bringing him back to Seattle to work in tandem with another back would be a strategic move for the Seahawks.

A Seahawks backfield comprised of Carlos Hyde, Marshawn Lynch, and Chris Carson working together would bring huge potential for a Seattle offense that struggled in the rushing department last season. Hyde and Lynch have complimentary play styles. Add in a healthy Carson as the younger lead back and you’re left with a pretty dangerous trio.

Lynch is still listed as a free agent as of today and for now the talks of coming back are still just talks. But he has performed very efficiently in the games that he’s been a part of over the last three seasons. It’s been quite some time since he has manned the workload as a starting back but, if you can bring him in with a complimentary back, he should be able to put up yet another year of impressive production numbers.

Thoughts on this feature? Something you would like to see during the offseason? Follow us on Twitter or join in on the conversation on Facebook. You can also check out my other articles from this season here.