Rashaad Penny Retires At Age 28. Was He A Bust?

[River Dog]

Running back Rashaad Penny is retiring from the NFL after six seasons.

The Panthers placed Penny on the reserve/retired list Tuesday and signed undrafted rookie wide receiver Tayvion Robinson in a corresponding move.

Penny, 28, signed with the Panthers in May, reuniting him with coach Dave Canales. He had his best season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 when Canales was the passing game coordinator and new Carolina offensive coordinator Brad Idzik was an offensive assistant. He rushed 119 times for 749 yards and six touchdowns.

Penny, 28, played last season for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he appeared in just three games and rushed 11 times for 33 yards.

Selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round (27th overall) of the 2018 draft, he has rushed for 1,951 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/406 ... ix-seasons

I'll say yes, he was a bust, but will put an asterisk by his name indicating that his career was at least influenced by injuries. But I never have liked spending high draft picks on running backs, something that Pete was notorious for doing and seldom worked out.

[c_hawkbob]

Yes, First rounder with 3rd to 5th rounder production.

[Stream Hawk]

Running back Rashaad Penny is retiring from the NFL after six seasons.

The Panthers placed Penny on the reserve/retired list Tuesday and signed undrafted rookie wide receiver Tayvion Robinson in a corresponding move.

Penny, 28, signed with the Panthers in May, reuniting him with coach Dave Canales. He had his best season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 when Canales was the passing game coordinator and new Carolina offensive coordinator Brad Idzik was an offensive assistant. He rushed 119 times for 749 yards and six touchdowns.

Penny, 28, played last season for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he appeared in just three games and rushed 11 times for 33 yards.

Selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round (27th overall) of the 2018 draft, he has rushed for 1,951 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/406 ... ix-seasons

I'll say yes, he was a bust, but will put an asterisk by his name indicating that his career was at least influenced by injuries. But I never have liked spending high draft picks on running backs, something that Pete was notorious for doing and seldom worked out.

Sadly, yes, Penny was a bust. I thought he finally broke out at the end of 2021. But maybe drafting K9 and injuries led to his final demise. I also was shocked that he got nothing going in Philly last year.

Penny had some horrible bad injury luck that was not foreseen when drafted. While hindsight says Chubb was the better choice, Chubb also had more of an injury history at Georgia - and tore his ACL again last year. RB is a tough position to excel in.

Sidebar. My 11-year old attended the Kenneth Walker camp this summer. I met him a few times and volunteered with the hydration crew. He is a very nice guy and a crazy elite athlete. After seeing K9 upclose I expect him to flourish in Grubb's offense.

[River Dog]

Sadly, yes, Penny was a bust. I thought he finally broke out at the end of 2021. But maybe drafting K9 and injuries led to his final demise. I also was shocked that he got nothing going in Philly last year.

Penny had some horrible bad injury luck that was not foreseen when drafted. While hindsight says Chubb was the better choice, Chubb also had more of an injury history at Georgia - and tore his ACL again last year. RB is a tough position to excel in.

Sidebar. My 11-year old attended the Kenneth Walker camp this summer. I met him a few times and volunteered with the hydration crew. He is a very nice guy and a crazy elite athlete. After seeing K9 upclose I expect him to flourish in Grubb's offense.

Yeah, I was surprised by his lack of PT in Philly, too. Running behind that OL and with a running QB I thought would be the perfect situation for him.

Interesting sidebar on K9, and its refreshing to hear your appraisal of him as being a nice guy. I wasn't as put off with his draft slotting as he had dropped, looked like he might be able to contribute to the passing game, more of a Christian McCaffery type as he had 88 receptions in his senior year at MSU. But then we follow it up in the next draft by taking Charbonnet in the 2nd round. Way too many resources being dedicated to an injury prone 2-down position IMO.

[Aseahawkfan]

Injury bust like Tubbs. Great talent, but couldn't stay on the field. Not much you can do when your body can't handle the NFL beating and it's hard to foresee when drafting.

[River Dog]

Injury bust like Tubbs. Great talent, but couldn't stay on the field. Not much you can do when your body can't handle the NFL beating and it's hard to foresee when drafting.

There were times when Penny came to camp overweight and missed time with some muscle pulls, so we can't attribute all of his injuries to just plain bad luck.

[4XPIPS]

I wouldn't go as far to label him a bust, but considering where he was drafted it's arguable. Injuries can seriously derail a player's career. When he was in peak form he did play pretty well, and had some decent games. I would lean on more towards not being a bust, but wish we didn't waste a 1st rounder on him. I think a bust is someone drafted in the first round and doesn't have any injuries to justify the poor performance, sort of like Aaron Curry.

[River Dog]

I wouldn't go as far to label him a bust, but considering where he was drafted it's arguable. Injuries can seriously derail a player's career. When he was in peak form he did play pretty well, and had some decent games. I would lean on more towards not being a bust, but wish we didn't waste a 1st rounder on him. I think a bust is someone drafted in the first round and doesn't have any injuries to justify the poor performance, sort of like Aaron Curry.

I agree. They need to have another category, injury bust or something. I can remember Steve Emtman, an All American DT out of UW who was drafted #1 overall by the Colts. He blew out his left knee in his rookie season then no sooner recovered from that injury, he blew out his right knee. True busts are guys like Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell, players that were drafted #1 or #2 overall, were completely healthy, and didn't do squat.

[Stream Hawk]

Don't forget our very own Rick Mirer and Aaron Curry. Mirer was #2 overall - I was young but always thought that was a huge reach. Curry was the ultimate "can't miss" prospect. Huge whiff.

[River Dog]

Don't forget our very own Rick Mirer and Aaron Curry. Mirer was #2 overall - I was young but always thought that was a huge reach. Curry was the ultimate "can't miss" prospect. Huge whiff.

Yeah, but we got a first round pick for Mirer in a trade with the Bears, so that took some of the sting out of that bust, at least from a Seahawks POV. Curry was the #4 overall, but I agree, he has to be included on a more comprehensive list.

[I-5]

There's different kinds of busts, like highly drafted guys who never produced in the NFL (Ryan Leaf). At least Penny produced when healthy. He was way above average when healthy, but yeah since he couldn't stay on the field much, it has to be called a bust of some kind. I feel bad for him.

[River Dog]

There's different kinds of busts, like highly drafted guys who never produced in the NFL (Ryan Leaf). At least Penny produced when healthy. He was way above average when healthy, but yeah since he couldn't stay on the field much, it has to be called a bust of some kind. I feel bad for him.

He produced some, had one very good, very brief 5-6 game stretch during one season that earned him a 2nd contract. Take that one stretch out and his production was well below first round expectations.

[Oly]

Yeah, I'd call him a bust, but in a different class of bust than Curry or Leaf because he showed real promise and had some production when healthy. But he's not quite the pure injury bust like Emtman—a guy who would have been stellar if not for bad injury luck—because Penny wasn't consistently great when healthy. The first phrase that comes to my mind is "bad pick" but I wouldn't argue with someone who immediately thinks "bust."

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

Yeah, bust. it didn't help that he was drafted in the 1st, and then the injuries derailed him. Had he stayed healthy, he had a shot to be worth it. And I'll second the surprise he couldnt' get anything going in Philly. With that line and skill positions to play with, he should have been able to show something. Instead he got buried on the depth chart and hardly surfaced. I don't know if that was health or just lack of desire after so many set backs. Hope he does well for himself in the next phase of life.

[4XPIPS]

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... ushing.htm

Here is the list of Seahawks all time running back list in the history of the Seahawks. I find some interesting stats here, of course some players were Seahawks longer then others, but Rashaad Penny is 12th on the list.

However, a funny one for me is that Matt Hasselbeck and Dave Krieg had more yards the Robert Turbin, who happen to be on our team for a decent time.

[NorthHawk]

I don't think he was a bust, but I do think he was cursed by injuries.
Here's a comment from PFT about Penny's career:

Here’s a trivia question few fans will get right: Among running backs with at least 300 carries, who has the highest yards-per-carry average in NFL history?

The answer is Rashaad Penny.

Penny, who retired this week after a brief stint in training camp with the Panthers, had 348 carries for 1,951 yards in his NFL career, an average of 5.61 yards per carry. That’s the highest of any running back in NFL history with at least 300 carries. Bo Jackson, who averaged 5.40 yards per carry in his NFL career, ranks second.

That's not a bust in my opinion. Just bad luck.

[River Dog]

I don't think he was a bust, but I do think he was cursed by injuries.
Here's a comment from PFT about Penny's career:


Here’s a trivia question few fans will get right: Among running backs with at least 300 carries, who has the highest yards-per-carry average in NFL history?

The answer is Rashaad Penny.

Penny, who retired this week after a brief stint in training camp with the Panthers, had 348 carries for 1,951 yards in his NFL career, an average of 5.61 yards per carry. That’s the highest of any running back in NFL history with at least 300 carries. Bo Jackson, who averaged 5.40 yards per carry in his NFL career, ranks second.

That's not a bust in my opinion. Just bad luck.

That's a cherry-picked stat if there ever was one. First of all, they're limiting it to running backs. Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, and Randall Cunningham all had 6.0+ yards per attempt. Secondly, 300 carries is a very low bar and was likely intentionally altered so as to include Penny with 348 carries. The below link requires 750 career carries in order to qualify. And lastly, according to this source, Marion Motley had a 5.7 ypc. But since Motley played from 1946-55, they likely overlooked him, either that or since Motley was technically a fullback, they could argue that he wasn't an RB.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... career.htm

[NorthHawk]

It's still a statistic that shows he wasn't a bad player but was felled by injuries thereby distancing him from those that don't have the desire or physical ability to compete at the NFL level.

[River Dog]

It's still a statistic that shows he wasn't a bad player but was felled by injuries thereby distancing him from those that don't have the desire or physical ability to compete at the NFL level.

It's still a reach, and a poor way to defend a player's career, asking a question like we should react by saying "Wow!"

Do you know which quarterback highest passing yards per game last year? Joe Flacco. "Really?!" Do you know which quarterback had the highest completion percentage? Mason Rudolph. "Holy cow, I didn't know that!"

Call it what you want and justify it if you feel it necessary, but Rashaad Penny was a huge disappointment and did not live up to first round expectations.

[NorthHawk]

I don't see Penny's play as being bad. His inability to be available to play was a huge disappointment and I believe that it's a necessary distinction.
Procise (sp) was also in that same boat but he never got healthy enough to really show if he was capable of playing. Was he a bust? His desire was there and his talent was there, but he couldn't get healthy for any stretch of play to really determine.
Penny showed he could consistently play at the NFL level if not felled by injury. He also showed he could be quite productive. His only bad trait was getting injured and from my viewpoint, that separates his career from being a bust.

That's probably where we view things differently. I think injuries for the most part disqualify a player from being a bust whereas not having the desire or talent does not.

[River Dog]

I don't see Penny's play as being bad. His inability to be available to play was a huge disappointment and I believe that it's a necessary distinction.
Procise (sp) was also in that same boat but he never got healthy enough to really show if he was capable of playing. Was he a bust? His desire was there and his talent was there, but he couldn't get healthy for any stretch of play to really determine.
Penny showed he could consistently play at the NFL level if not felled by injury. He also showed he could be quite productive. His only bad trait was getting injured and from my viewpoint, that separates his career from being a bust.

That's probably where we view things differently. I think injuries for the most part disqualify a player from being a bust whereas not having the desire or talent does not.

As was mentioned by several of us earlier in the thread, there needs to be an asterisk or some other category to differentiate a player like Penny from someone like Aaron Curry who was healthy but never lived up to first round expectations. Then there's other variables, such as being a top 5 selection as Curry was, or that we got well compensated in a trade as we did with Rick Mirer. There's no doubt that Penny's downfall had a lot to do with his injuries. No one is arguing that point.

But Penny's problems weren't all about injuries. Even when he was healthy, he couldn't beat out Chris Carson, a 7th round pick who was a much more versatile back, a better blocker and better short yardage runner. Plus, one has to consider that there were occasions where Penny reported to camp overweight then promptly strains a muscle. And to everyone's shock, in what ended up being his last season, a healthy Penny signs with the Eagles in what should have been a perfect situation with a great OL and a running QB, but hardly sees the light of day. So I'd question your last sentence about him having the talent and desire.

[NorthHawk]

I put not beating out Chris Carson in context in that Pete wanted another Marshawn and Carson played that style. It's another reason they missed the mark when bypassing Nick Chubb who is more in that style of player than Penny.
The overweight stuff is a bit of a red herring in that a lot of players add or subtract weight from season to season to try to stay healthy all year. It often doesn't work because it either slows them down or gets them pushed around depending of if they are adding or subtracting. I don't remember him being gassed in those years but I may be wrong. With his Eagles experience, I don't know what type of running Offense they deployed but Penny seemed to do well in a 1 cut and go type scheme when he played here. Good players in the wrong scheme won't do particularly well in most cases.

But getting back to the main point, I think injuries mitigate a lot of the reason to call someone a bust or not.

[River Dog]

I put not beating out Chris Carson in context in that Pete wanted another Marshawn and Carson played that style. It's another reason they missed the mark when bypassing Nick Chubb who is more in that style of player than Penny.
The overweight stuff is a bit of a red herring in that a lot of players add or subtract weight from season to season to try to stay healthy all year. It often doesn't work because it either slows them down or gets them pushed around depending of if they are adding or subtracting. I don't remember him being gassed in those years but I may be wrong. With his Eagles experience, I don't know what type of running Offense they deployed but Penny seemed to do well in a 1 cut and go type scheme when he played here. Good players in the wrong scheme won't do particularly well in most cases.

But getting back to the main point, I think injuries mitigate a lot of the reason to call someone a bust or not.

Your first two sentences don't make a lot of sense. If Penny didn't fit Pete's style, then why did we burn a #1 draft pick on him? Was this like the Adams trade in that we acquired a player without some type of plan as to how to use them? As illogical as some of Pete's reasoning can be, it's hard for me to believe that he didn't envision Penny as a feature back in our offense.

Since Carson was a 7th round draft pick, I don't think they had any plans for him except as a change of pace or insurance at that position. I don't think anyone expected him to beat out Penny.

But I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence, as do all of the other posters in this thread. That's never been a point of contention.

[NorthHawk]

Your first two sentences don't make a lot of sense. If Penny didn't fit Pete's style, then why did we burn a #1 draft pick on him?

That's been the question since they bypassed Chubb who does fit what Pete wanted to do in favor of Penny, isn't it? We talked about it at the time and thinking back, it seems to be another JS pick where he overlooked the obvious and took a player who was not as high on most radars.

Since Carson was a 7th round draft pick, I don't think they had any plans for him except as a change of pace or insurance at that position. I don't think anyone expected him to beat out Penny.

I'm not so sure they really expected Carson to become starting materiel. 7th round/UFA's aren't usually expected to become starters and very good players - but the knock on him was he couldn't stay healthy for a full season even in College.

But it's not Penny's fault where he was chosen and by whom. That's completely out of his control.

[River Dog]

But it's not Penny's fault where he was chosen and by whom. That's completely out of his control.

Of course, it's not Penny's fault. Nor were most of his injuries, although he did at times report to camp out of shape. But his attitude, willingness, et al isn't part of the criteria of whether or not a player is a 'bust.' It's related to a players performance vs, where they were selected or how they were acquired.

[NorthHawk]

Well, to me his on field performance showed he wasn't a bust, just unlucky.

[jshawaii22]

Say what you want, 7th round pick Chris Carson was better. But I agree that Penny may of had "bad luck" -- injuries usually undo a career.

[4XPIPS]

Not to segway from Penny, but talk about a bust on the current roster, is Dee Eskridge. I couldn't believe an article I read that says Dee has a total of 122 yards receiving in 3 years in the regulars season games. I know injuries have played a role, and he had a suspension and missed time, but goodness talk about crap return on a 2nd round pick.

If he is just reduced to a return man and some how makes the 53 roster, then I believe drafting him in the 2nd round is more of a bust than Rashaad Penny.

[River Dog]

Not to segway from Penny, but talk about a bust on the current roster, is Dee Eskridge. I couldn't believe an article I read that says Dee has a total of 122 yards receiving in 3 years in the regulars season games. I know injuries have played a role, and he had a suspension and missed time, but goodness talk about crap return on a 2nd round pick.

If he is just reduced to a return man and some how makes the 53 roster, then I believe drafting him in the 2nd round is more of a bust than Rashaad Penny.

Yeah, that was another pick I hated. Eskridge was our first pick in the draft having pissed away two first rounders on Adams.

[NorthHawk]

The Seahawks have had some real good drafts and also some incredibly bad drafts as well, not to mention the continued undervaluing of the IOL.
So far, Eskridge has been a big miss and for his sake I hope he shows he actually belongs in the NFL.

[4XPIPS]

Yeah, that was another pick I hated. Eskridge was our first pick in the draft having pissed away two first rounders on Adams.

I know this is off topic of the OP post, but you know how you did the scouting write up on Riq Woolen, do you have the one on Dee Eskridge? I am just curious what his draft profile was.
Recent article from fieldgulls

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2024/8/6/242 ... ining-camp

And speaking of drops...

It’s seemingly over for Dee Eskridge

Again, from Bell:

Tuesday, Howell threaded a pass between two defenders down the center of the field at the goal line. Eskridge went up between them for the well-placed throw. It went through Eskridge’s hands, incomplete. On the same possession, Howell threw to Eskridge breaking open in the back left of the end zone. The pass thudded through Eskridge’s hands off his stomach. Another incomplete pass instead of a touchdown.

There’s no need to hang onto slim hopes at this point if the 2021 second-round pick continues to struggle in second- and third-team looks.

time to cut him loose, holding onto Dee Eskrige is like keeping that gift card that has $0.87 left on it, and you know there is some value in that gift card but you know you have no intentions ever to redeem it or it's worth your time.

[River Dog]

I know this is off topic of the OP post, but you know how you did the scouting write up on Riq Woolen, do you have the one on Dee Eskridge? I am just curious what his draft profile was.
Recent article from fieldgulls

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2024/8/6/242 ... ining-camp

And speaking of drops...

It’s seemingly over for Dee Eskridge

Again, from Bell:

Tuesday, Howell threaded a pass between two defenders down the center of the field at the goal line. Eskridge went up between them for the well-placed throw. It went through Eskridge’s hands, incomplete. On the same possession, Howell threw to Eskridge breaking open in the back left of the end zone. The pass thudded through Eskridge’s hands off his stomach. Another incomplete pass instead of a touchdown.

There’s no need to hang onto slim hopes at this point if the 2021 second-round pick continues to struggle in second- and third-team looks.

time to cut him loose, holding onto Dee Eskrige is like keeping that gift card that has $0.87 left on it, and you know there is some value in that gift card but you know you have no intentions ever to redeem it or it's worth your time.

Here ya go! As with the Woolen report, it's from Walter Football, and all I'm quoting is what's listed as his weaknesses:

Weaknesses:
Very undersized
Short
Light
Needs to develop route running
Lacks strength; can get pushed around
Too many drops
A bit straight line
Could be limited to the slot

Eskridge is very undersized for the next level. He is short, light, thinly framed, and lacking strength. He could struggle with the length of NFL cornerbacks, and his small size could lead to him having issues maintaining possession through contact, and he can get pushed round to get knocked off routes. Eskridge needs to improve his hands, as he had too many drops, and he has refine his route-running for the NFL.

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingrepo ... kridge.php

Interesting in that the scouting report mentioned his problem with dropped passes.

[4XPIPS]

Here ya go! As with the Woolen report, it's from Walter Football, and all I'm quoting is what's listed as his weaknesses:

Weaknesses:
Very undersized
Short
Light
Needs to develop route running
Lacks strength; can get pushed around
Too many drops
A bit straight line
Could be limited to the slot

Eskridge is very undersized for the next level. He is short, light, thinly framed, and lacking strength. He could struggle with the length of NFL cornerbacks, and his small size could lead to him having issues maintaining possession through contact, and he can get pushed round to get knocked off routes. Eskridge needs to improve his hands, as he had too many drops, and he has refine his route-running for the NFL.

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingrepo ... kridge.php

Interesting in that the scouting report mentioned his problem with dropped passes.

thank you for that. I really questioned what team operations were looking for at this time. We wasted our first pick of the draft in the 2nd round on D Eskridge when we already had Freddie Swan and Penny Hart on the roster who by most reports fit that speedy undersized deep threat type of player. Could have used this pick on someone more useful. Well it's in the past and can't fix it now. It will look all but certain that he isn't making this team this year.

[River Dog]

thank you for that. I really questioned what team operations were looking for at this time. We wasted our first pick of the draft in the 2nd round on D Eskridge when we already had Freddie Swan and Penny Hart on the roster who by most reports fit that speedy undersized deep threat type of player. Could have used this pick on someone more useful. Well it's in the past and can't fix it now. It will look all but certain that he isn't making this team this year.

Yep. We already had Metcalf and Lockett on the roster and our first overall selection in a draft where we had just 4 picks was a player who at best would be the #3 WR. We spent a lot of time fussing about that pick as Creed Humphrey was available and we had a glaring need at center.

[Oly]

time to cut him loose, holding onto Dee Eskrige is like keeping that gift card that has $0.87 left on it, and you know there is some value in that gift card but you know you have no intentions ever to redeem it or it's worth your time.

That's just *chef's kiss*

[NorthHawk]

If I remember correctly Eskridge was expected to be a slot receiver and maybe a Deebo type and take the occasional handoff.
The catch issue and his head injury his first year seemed to put an end to it.

[4XPIPS]

If I remember correctly Eskridge was expected to be a slot receiver and maybe a Deebo type and take the occasional handoff.
The catch issue and his head injury his first year seemed to put an end to it.

Well I guess not all slot receiver's are created equal. I would imagine most are in there for their speed and quickness, but Deebo on the other hand is built way different than Eskridge. Eskridge is 190 lbs soaking wet, and Deebo is 216 lbs. If we were planning on deploying Eskridge like Samuel he would have wound up in a body bag by midseason. And this isn't and disregard to what you are stating. I am just thinking how poorly our scouting would have been to assume that Eskridge were to be used like a Deebo type of position.

[NorthHawk]

Well, taking chances in the draft is something the Seahawks have specialized in over the past 14 years with some success and some huge failures especially when they ignored a player that could have really helped them at a position of weakness.