Marshawn Lynch Retirement: End of Beast Mode Will Transform Seattle’s Offense For The Better

Is this the end of an era? Marshawn Lynch, better known by his nickname “Beast Mode,” could be retiring. And, it just might be the best thing that could happen to the Seattle Seahawks.

As reported by Herald Net, Seattle’s GM John Schneider went on 710ESPN-Seattle to discuss Marshawn’s future in the NFL. His prognosis for Beast Mode’s future on the team appeared grim.

“I’m under the impression he’s leaning toward retirement,” Schneider said on air.

If this was one, two or three seasons ago, a statement like that might have found Seattle fans cringing over the thought of losing their most powerful offensive weapon. But, the reality of the potential retirement for Beast Mode was seen this year with Lynch suffering from nagging hamstring injuries that kept him out of most of the latter of part of Seattle’s season. The result saw the team improve dramatically behind the emergence of Russell Wilson as the focal point of the offense.

“One of the brightest spots of the entire season was watching Russell Wilson establish himself as an elite quarterback,” the 12th Man Rising reported. “He showed he can lead this team and make every throw on the field from the pocket. As long as Russell Wilson continues to improve, the Seahawks should be competing for a Super Bowl each year.”

The stats don’t lie. According to Pro Football Talk, Russell Wilson’s performance down the stretch of the season without Beast Mode lining up behind him wasn’t just great. It was historic.

“Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson made league history…by throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions for the fifth straight game. Wilson is the first player in league history to do that.”

The final five games without Lynch saw a shaky Seattle team secure a playoff spot as Wilson threw a total of 19 touchdown passes with zero picks. Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett also emerged as go-to receivers for Wilson, who was also without the services of prized offseason acquisition Jimmy Graham after he went down with an injury around the same time Lynch was sidelined. With Graham returning next year, Russell Wilson expects to progress even more, with or without Beast Mode in the backfield.

According to ESPN, coach Pete Carroll agrees, telling the media that a heart-to-heart with Russell after the season wrapped found the 27-year-old hungry to become even greater.

“Russell and I talked about this last night,” Carroll said Monday. “I think this is really the right time to really turn his focus and broaden his awareness of what is going on in the game overall. And so he and I will spend a lot of time this offseason introducing him to the perspective of what it’s like to look at the defense from the defensive side of the ball. I want him to learn and understand what is going on schematically, rotation-wise, fits-wise even more than he knows now.”

Carroll also plans on elevating the defense with intense study in the offseason, but ultimately the Seahawks will live and die on Russell Wilson’s, not Marshawn Lynch’s, shoulders.

“We are going to school, and it will be a tremendous offseason for those guys. And they are ready for that.”

Ultimately, it still hasn’t been decided if Lynch will retire or not. Caroll told the Seattle Times that he isn’t sure whether or not this is the end of Beast Mode in Seattle.

“I don’t know how that’s going to go,” Carroll said of Lynch. “I don’t know how any of these guys are going to go right now. I don’t know.”

Would Seattle be stronger if it has Beast Mode in the backfield? Sure. But, will it be just fine if this is the end? Absolutely.

[Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]