Shaun Alexander's productivity tailing off

KIRKLAND -- It seems like only a couple years ago that Shaun Alexander arrived as a first-round draft choice, the glow of his unlimited potential matched only by the radiance of that trademark grin.

The Seahawks really didn't need Alexander, the workhorse running back from Alabama, because they already had Ricky Watters. But Alexander was simply too good to pass up with the 19th selection in the 2000 draft.

Eight seasons later, Alexander has become Watters.

A prolific back only two years ago, when he was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player after scoring a record 28 touchdowns and leading the NFL with 1,880 rushing yards, Alexander's production the past two seasons has been eroded by injuries and ineffectiveness.

Just like Watters before him. And Chris Warren before him. And Curt Warner before him.

The Seahawks and their leading rusher arriving at this keep-him/cut-him crossroads is not uncharted territory.

It's become a fact of life in this game -- especially for running backs. The human body can take only so much, and continue to deliver for only so long.

While Alexander turned 30 last August, Warner was 28 in his final season with the club, Warren 29 and Watters 32.

"At that position, you can't hide anything," is the way one league assistant coach put it. "If you get old, it goes away real fast. It's not like other positions. A runner who doesn't have it anymore has no place to hide."

From 2001-2005, Alexander averaged 367 touches for five seasons (rushing and receiving). The apex came in 2005, when he carried the ball 370 times and caught 15 passes.

In the past two seasons, when he missed the first games of his career because of injuries, Alexander's touches were down, and so was his productivity.

Just like Watters, Warren and Warner. Each produced his most productive season, only to follow it up with one (Watters), two (Warren) or three (Warner) seasons of diminishing returns that preceded their departure.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren came to Alexander's defense all season, and continued to do so last week during his season-ending news conference.

"Absolutely he is capable of -- maybe not getting the 1,800 yards he had in the great season in 2005 -- but being a very productive back," Holmgren said. "I believe he can."

Holmgren's support of a player who has done so much for this franchise seems justified, to a point. Alexander played with injuries all season. There was his left wrist, which he sprained in the season opener and then cracked when he fell on it in Week 3.

Alexander had surgery last week to repair the wrist. Holmgren has said that playing with a protective cast on the wrist affected Alexander's play more than anyone anticipated.

He also suffered a sprained left knee and ankle in Week 9, and the knee injury forced him to sit out three games.

His offensive line, meanwhile, did Alexander no favors. The Seahawks' season-long ineffectiveness in run blocking partially led to, and also magnified, Alexander's tentativeness.

"They have absolutely no running game, and their O-line is average to a little above average," one NFC scout said the week before the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the playoffs -- an assessment then supported by the Seahawks rushing for 28 yards on 18 carries in the loss at Lambeau Field.

But the same scout also pointed to another factor that links Alexander to Warner and Warren -- his extra-large contract. Alexander got a new eight-year, $62 million deal after the 2005 season. Warner and Warren also were rewarded after their best seasons, but were not around for the length of their contracts.

"A franchise back gets that big contract, and then he wants to make sure he's around to collect on it," former Seahawks coach Chuck Knox once said. "So instead of just hitting the hole, they're looking around to see if they're going to get hit.

"It's human nature. But it changes them, and the way they play the game."

As the NFC scout said, "Shaun got nicked, he got the new contract and he's not the same back -- not even close."

Another scout wasn't even that diplomatic, simply offering, "He's done."

It is against this backdrop of increasing age and injuries -- as well as diminishing productivity -- that the Seahawks must decide what to do with Alexander.

There are the obvious financial ramifications, because of the $11.5 million signing bonus that was attached to his new deal.

If Alexander is on the roster for the 2008 season, he will count $6.775 million against the salary cap. If he is released before June 1, the cap hit is $6.9 million. But if released after June 1, the hit is spread over two years -- $2.3 million this year, $4.6 million in 2009.

There also is the issue of chemistry. Teammates used to consider Alexander a "me" player in an "us" game. This was never more apparent than when he scored his record-breaking 28th touchdown in the '05 regular-season finale against the Packers in Green Bay. Rather than being mobbed by teammates in the end zone, Alexander was a solitary man as he pointed to the heavens.

Flash forward to the '07 regular-season home finale. After Alexander took a screen pass and weaved his way 14 yards for a score against the Ravens, well-wishing teammates engulfed him as he crossed the goal line.

Also viewed as signs of maturity have been Alexander embracing Holmgren's decision at midseason to veer away from the running game and return to his pass-first-and-foremost roots, and the way Alexander accepted the job-sharing approach with backup Maurice Morris down the stretch.

The other players even came to his defense when fans began venting their frustration at Alexander -- the player Holmgren labeled the "lightning rod" for the season-long problems with the running game.

"A player who's done what Shaun has for this franchise and they're booing him -- at home," Pro Bowl linebacker Julian Peterson said. "That's just not right."

So what is the right thing to do with Alexander?

Even if the club decides to go with him for another season, it needs to address the running back position in the draft. Just like the Seahawks did when they selected Alexander, but already had Watters.

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