Chris Carson fixed his fumbling problems in injury-shortened 2020

We don’t know if Chris Carson will remain with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021, but in his contract year he patched up one of his biggest issues from the 2019 season.

Last year Carson was dinged for seven fumbles (four lost) but really it was more than that. There were multiple botched handoffs between him and Russell Wilson that looked to be Carson’s fault but ultimately got charged as Wilson fumbles. Throughout all of this, Carson was never benched even though it certainly could’ve been justified regardless of his productivity.

Carson’s fumbling got him benched in junior college back in 2013 and that it resurfaced in the NFL was a bit worrisome. But in 2020, albeit with four games missed, Carson only had one fumble (which the Seahawks recovered) on 194 touches. That one hiccup against the Miami Dolphins was even understandable when you consider that he absorbed a brutal helmet shot that knocked him out for the remainder of the half.

Pete Carroll stresses that it’s “all about the ball” and I believe that aside from Carson’s durability, one of the key goals for him last season was to take better care of the rock. Mission accomplished, to say the very least.

The question heading into free agency is whether his injury history will be what gives Seattle pause as far as re-signing him. I’m not particularly worried about his hypothetical fit in Shane Waldron’s offense but that he’s had two serious season-ending injuries in four seasons and clearly was less than 100% for more than just the time he missed in 2020 is not encouraging given his physical, aggressive running style.