Bad pick for the Carolina Panthers.
“I think everybody knows that when I'm healthy, I'm probably one of the best running backs in the league.” That's how Rashaad Penny (HB, Panthers) described himself last Friday, as the Panthers' training camp had just begun. Four days later, water seems to have flowed under the bridge. The Carolina franchise announced that its running back is retiring today at the age of 28.
A career undermined by injuries
Drafted in 27th position in 2018 by the Seattle Seahawks, Rashaad Penny was never able to exploit his full potential in the NFL. After a timid rookie season where the player participated in 15 games in the rotation, he never participated in more than 10 games in a season. The fault is due to repeated injuries to various areas (hand, knee, thigh, etc.). Having flashes of brilliance, like during the 2021 season where he ran for 749 yards and six touchdowns in only 10 games, Penny never managed to become the consistent running back on which a franchise can rely. Like him, the runner finally left Seattle on a stretcher at the end of 2022. Wanting to make up for it on the Philadelphia side last season, he was only entitled to a few crumbs, carrying the ball only 11 times for 33 small yards.
Arriving at the Panthers last May, Rashaad Penny then joined his former coach from Seattle, Dave Canales. The franchise saw in him, and in Jonathan Brooks (drafted in the second round of the Draft), a way to relieve the young quarterback Bryce Young. While the former is retiring, the latter is still recovering from a torn cruciate ligament. Everything has to be redone in Carolina.
