Last season, the Seahawks averaged 89 rushing yards per game and 3.7 per carry. Only the Arizona Cardinals averaged fewer yards per game (86.8) and only the Cincinnati Bengals averaged fewer yards per rushing attempt (3.6).
That’s not the way coach Pete Carroll wants to play, and those far-less-than-average numbers are a good place to start in explaining why the Seahawks used their first-round pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night to select Alabama tackle 
The selection, made with the 25th pick overall, was the first to elicit those looks of Who? But the deeper you look at the Seahawks’ offense in its first season under Carroll, the easier it is to understand why Carpenter was their man – and had to be their man.
“We were nowhere near where we wanted to be,” Carroll said of the Seahawks’ running game in 2010. “Our intention is very clear – to build the running game, to make it a great complement to our whole football team.
“That really starts with attitude. That’s why James is a great fit for us, and I think Tom Cable is as well. I think this is a statement that should be very clear to our fans as to what we’re trying to get done.”
Last year, the Seahawks used the sixth pick in the draft to select left tackle
Consider it a double scoop of tenacity – and yes, even nastiness – for a unit that needs it.
The Seahawks too often were pushed around last season, as evidenced by the unsettling fact that some of best runs by leading rusher
That will change in 2011. Cable is here to insure that it does. The selection of Carpenter is insurance that it will.
“I like a lot of things about this guy – a big, massive guy; a lot of length and a lot of power,” Cable said. “I think we upgraded ourselves in terms of toughness and getting some mass on the offensive line, which I think we needed to do.”
The 6-foot-4, 321-pound Carpenter played left tackle at Alabama, and also lined up at left guard and right tackle during Senior Bowl practices in January. But he’ll start out at right tackle for the Seahawks, where he is expected to start – not just this season, but for seasons to come.
So the Seahawks have secured the ends of their line with Okung and Carpenter.
“And we’re not done,” Carroll said. “We have a lot of work to do here in this draft and through free agency to continue to work and get this right.”
Right, as in the way Carroll’s offense played at USC while the Trojans were winning seven Pac-10 championships in his nine-season tenure. Carroll wants a running game that is capable to controlling a game – on both sides of the line – and imposing its will.
“When you can run the football, it does affect the rest of your team,” Carroll said. “It affects the throwing game and the ability to protect and all of that. But it also has an influence on how you play on the other side of the ball, too.
“We’re always wanting to get our defense to play great, tough defense and do the things that we believe in. But I think when you can tie it together on the other side of the football – and in this league it’s so crucial that you have that ability to control that – we’re shooting for that until we get it done.”
Thursday night, Carroll’s quest also had an influence on who the Seahawks drafted in the first round.
“This is a bit of a statement,” he said. “This is a display of a continued commitment.”
