Rankin File

When the Seahawks face the Lions this week, there will be a new running back sharing snaps with Julius Jones. Louis Rankin, former UW Husky and more recently an Oakland Raider, has something that the other Seattle running backs don't: blazing speed. According to Clare Farnsworth, Rankin ran a 4.40 for the Seahawks in his try out. Oh, and that was in the rain. So, he's fast, which is great, but then, so what? Well, Rankin is also the biggest running back on this team at 6'1", 205 lbs. What does Knapp like from Rankin? “He does have some background experience in this zone run game that shows us some chances to hit that hole fast and get a big run for you,” Knapp said. “He’ll allow that block to get setup because he feels he can get that burst once the block has been made to get that inside gap or outside gap depending what the read is.” As Rankin put it, “That’s definitely something I’ve been blessed with, and I try to take advantage of it.”