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NFC West teams loaded up on halfbacks (as opposed to pure fullbacks) during the recently completed 2013 NFL draft.

The division selected six of them, two more than any other division selected.

A quick look at how the six could figure into their teams' plans:

• Second round, 62nd overall: Christine Michael, Texas A&M. Michael heads to the Seattle Seahawks as the third back behind Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin, with a chance to challenge Turbin for the No. 2 role initially. Michael provides longer-term insurance for the position, but he could be talented enough to get carries as a rookie.
• Fourth round, 131st overall: Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina. The San Francisco 49ers plan to give Lattimore as much as one full season to complete his rehabilitation from a career-threatening knee injury. Lattimore factors into the 49ers' longer-term plans at the position, possibly as a replacement for Frank Gore down the line. There will be no rush to get him on the field in 2013.
• Fifth round, 140th overall: Stepfan Taylor, Stanford. The Arizona Cardinals already have Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Williams, but both have had injury problems. Taylor, the career rushing leader at Stanford, provides immediate insurance at the position. His credentials as a power runner could make him a candidate to handle short-yardage duties. Durability has been a strength for Taylor, differentiating him from Mendenhall and Williams. Coach Bruce Arians values three-down backs. He considers Taylor one of them.
• Fifth round, 160th overall: Zac Stacy, Vanderbilt. The St. Louis Rams plan to use Stacy in committee with Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson. Stacy is heavier and stouter than the others. He appears better suited for handling a workload on early downs and in short-yardage situations. Stacy could wind up getting more carries than any of the other rookie backs in the division.
• Sixth round, 187th overall: Andre Ellington, Clemson. The Cardinals expect to keep four running backs on the roster, giving Ellington a very good chance to stick as a change-of-pace back with big-play potential and value in the return game. The Cardinals said they weren't planning on drafting another back, but they thought the value was strong and that Ellington provided a style the other backs on the roster did not provide.
• Sixth round, 194th overall: Spencer Ware, LSU. Ware was a halfback for the Tigers, but he has also played fullback. The Seahawks expect the 230-pound Ware to push veteran fullback Michael Robinson. They value Robinson as a lead blocker and for his contributions on special teams. Ware would be the better runner of the two.

Good morning, NFC West. After spending some of Wednesday discussing the long-term future for Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, we should update the short-term future as well.

Lynch's 2012 DUI case is scheduled to continue with a May 22 motion for dismissal. The case is otherwise scheduled for trial June 21, although attorneys routinely succeed in securing continuances.

Eric Williams of the Tacoma News Tribune has the details. Meanwhile, Danny O'Neil and Brock Huard of 710ESPN Seattle offer thoughts on the court information and Lynch's absence (so far) from voluntary offseason workouts.

The takeaway is pretty simple. There's not enough information to know whether Lynch faces additional discipline from the NFL in the form of a possible suspension, but in the bigger picture, Seattle had ample reason to consider drafting a running back as insurance.

Seattle's use of the 62nd overall choice for Texas A&M running back Christine Michael provides protection for the short and long term. It puts the team in position to remain fully committed to its ground game without being overly reliant on Lynch. Michael and second-year pro Robert Turbin could carry a full workload if necessary.

Lynch has always done things his own way, whether it's attending offseason workouts, refusing to fulfill league-mandated media obligations or engaging in risky off-field behavior.

The Seahawks can live with small inconveniences as long as Lynch remains a highly productive player. There is no way to know how long Lynch will remain a highly productive player, however. Back spasms have limited his availability for practices, threatened his availability for games and prevented him from playing once.

Jump ahead to 2015 and put yourself in John Schneider's seat as the Seattle Seahawks' general manager.

By then, you will have re-signed or lost elite players such as safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman.

Your quarterback, Russell Wilson, will be entering the final year of his rookie contract. Wilson will be eligible to sign a new one for the first time under the NFL's labor rules.

The same goes for Bobby Wagner, your starting middle linebacker, and Bruce Irvin, your highly drafted pass-rusher. All will cost much more than they're costing right now.

Your Pro Bowl left tackle, Russell Okung, will also be entering a contract year.

One receiver, Percy Harvin, will have a contract counting $12.9 million against the salary cap. Another, Sidney Rice, will have a deal counting $10.2 million.

Oh, and one other thing about this 2015 adventure: You'll have to decide whether to pay a $2 million roster bonus and $5.5 million salary for a running back entering his ninth season.

Marshawn Lynch is that running back, and right now, in 2013, he's about as good as they come, this side of Adrian Peterson. But you'll need younger, more economical alternatives for some of your best players down the line. These aren't the sort of immediate needs that show up in draft previews, but they're always lurking.

Now, thanks to one of the more surprising moves in the 2013 draft, the Seahawks have bought insurance for their future at the position most vulnerable to age.

Christine Michael, the Texas A&M running back Seattle unexpectedly selected 62nd overall Friday, must by rule sign a four-year contract through 2016. His deal will run past the contracts that Lynch and backup running back Robert Turbin signed last offseason. It will count far less against the cap than the $9 million Lynch's deal is scheduled to count in 2015.

Seattle probably did not draft Michael with the distant future in the front of its mind. One explanation trumps all others when determining why the Seahawks used a second-round draft choice for a running back with two perfectly good ones on the roster already. The team thinks Michael can be special.

"He was the highest-rated player on our board and we lost Leon Washington, so we were looking for a little bit of depth there, and he is just our kind of runner," Schneider said. "He's a tough, intense, up-field, one-cut guy, and he's just a very good football player, competitor."

Adding Michael does not imperil Lynch for the 2013 season, of course. It does provoke natural tendencies to wonder whether there's more to this story.

"I could be far-fetched here," Kevin from McKinney, Texas, wrote to the NFC West mailbag, illustrating how far the mind can wander, "but is it possible John Schneider and [coach] Pete Carroll are concerned with Lynch's future effectiveness due to the new lowering of the crown rule? It seems to me that is a big part of his game and significantly contributes to his yards after contact."

There is no way the rulebook pressured Seattle into drafting a running back.

Carroll and other coaches fear officials will struggle enforcing the new rule preventing runners from lowering their heads and delivering an aggressive blow to the opponent with the top of the helmet. The rule could affect Lynch, but league officials said they discovered only a few would-be violations per week when studying tape from last season.

The Seahawks selected Michael because they thought he was the best back in the draft and well-suited to their offense. They wanted additional depth for their running game, which will remain the focus of their offense. They have to realize that Lynch's back spasms, while manageable to this point, could become more problematic with additional wear and tear. And they surely realize that Lynch's occasional off-field troubles dating to his time with the Buffalo Bills could recur, inviting sanctions.

Adding Michael doesn't mean the team thinks less of Lynch or Turbin, a 2012 fourth-round choice. There are no indications the team is anticipating a Lynch suspension in relation to his DUI arrest last offseason.

Still, I would bet against Lynch playing out the final year of his deal when Michael and Turbin figure to be available at a significant discount.

Seattle was fortunate in 2010 to have a running back of Lynch's caliber and young age (then 24) become available by trade at reasonable cost. The team was wise to re-sign Lynch one year ago to a four-year deal featuring $17 million in guaranteed money.

This marriage should be good for both parties for the next couple of seasons.

Lynch's deal pays him $7 million in salary with an $8.5 million salary-cap charge in 2013. It carries a $5 million salary and $7 million cap number in 2014. The team will have a decision to make at that point because Lynch's deal includes a $5.5 million salary and a $2 million roster bonus with a $9 million cap figure for 2015, the contract's final year.

Michael, a luxury buy at present, should be much more than that by then.

RENTON, Wash. -- The more the Seattle Seahawks watched game tape on Tavon Austin, the more they realized the West Virginia receiver would not last long in the 2013 NFL draft.

Back in mid-March, the Seahawks could not know Austin would land with the NFC West-rival St. Louis Rams. They had recently traded the 25th overall choice to the Minnesota Vikings to acquire another multidimensional wideout, Percy Harvin.

John Schneider, the Seahawks' general manager, felt relief Thursday when the Rams traded up eight spots in the first round to make Austin the first skill-position player selected.

It's not that Schneider was happy to see such an elite talent land in St. Louis. Quite the opposite. Even the Seahawks' suffocating secondary could have its troubles against a receiver as gifted as Austin. It's just that the way the first round played out affirmed the Seahawks' decision to acquire Harvin. They could not have secured another wideout with as much playmaking potential had they held onto the 25th overall pick.

Austin wasn't going to be there for them.

Once the Rams moved up from 16th to eighth for Austin, no NFL teams selected a wideout until the Houston Texans drafted Clemson's DeAndre Hopkins at No. 27. Cordarrelle Patterson went to the Vikings two picks later.

"Quite honestly, it made me feel at peace just because of where we were with the Percy deal when it started," Schneider said following the third round Friday night.

Both Hopkins and Patterson are obviously talented, but if they had struck evaluators as fitting into the Austin/Harvin mold, teams would have been tripping over one another in a rush to draft them earlier.

Schneider's thinking came into clearer focus in the weeks since Seattle made the move for Harvin before free agency opened March 12.

"I really wasn't quite sure, didn't feel really strongly about the difference makers at the receiver position at that level of the first round [in the 25th-pick range]," Schneider reflected. "And then the closer we got to the draft, the tape on Austin, it just kind of became obvious that he was going to be an extremely high pick."

That commentary should please Rams fans and Seahawks fans alike. Each team's leadership thought Austin was special. The Seahawks knew they had to deal for Harvin if they hoped to land a similar player. Not that Austin and Harvin are interchangeable. While both threaten the end zone as receivers, runners and returners, Harvin has a much sturdier build. He's part running back and part receiver in a much fuller sense. But touchdowns are touchdowns, and both teams expect their new wideouts to supply them multiple ways.

"We really do think Percy is our No. 1 pick," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "He is part of this class."

Acquiring Harvin and addressing other areas of the roster during free agency left Seattle without significant needs entering this draft. That allowed the Seahawks, already loaded in the backfield with Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin, to indulge in Texas A&M running back Christine Michael.

This was a luxury pick and arguably a nonsensical one. It's also the sort of move smart organizations make. Seattle didn't have a need at quarterback when the team used a third-round draft choice for Russell Wilson last season. That move worked out pretty well.

The Seahawks could realistically be in the market for a new back two years down the line if Lynch's bruising style shortens his career. Having Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter on the roster didn't stop the San Francisco 49ers from using a second-round choice for LaMichael James last year. The 49ers took some heat when their 2012 draft class failed to produce much, but such is life for contending teams.

"We'll let these guys go at it, make sure everybody is aware of the competitive opportunity and hopefully that continues to make them elevate," Carroll said. "Sometimes there is a subtle way they help us by making other guys play well."

Not that Seattle was without needs entirely.

"Defensive tackle was definitely a need for us -- adding depth to the position," Schneider said. "That was the one spot that quite honestly, when you're putting it together, you are nervous you are maybe pushing players because of the need."

Seattle used its third-round choice (87th overall) for Penn State defensive tackle Jordan Hill. He'll probably contribute more as a pass-rusher than a run stuffer, differentiating him clearly from Alan Branch, who left in free agency. The Seahawks felt the talent at defensive tackle was about to drop off quickly as the third round gave way to the fourth. That gave them additional incentive to grab Hill.

The Seahawks hold 10 picks in the fourth through seventh rounds. Schneider and Carroll previously found K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor in that range. Others such as Turbin, Walter Thurmond, Jeremy Lane, Anthony McCoy, J.R. Sweezy and Malcolm Smith came to Seattle in those rounds.

There might not be a Tavon Austin or Percy Harvin out there, but as the Seahawks and Rams discovered, that was the case eight picks into the draft.

The Seattle Seahawks entered the 2013 NFL draft with few (if any) pressing needs.

The team flaunted it a bit, it seemed, by using a second-round selection for a running back even though Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin combine to make that position one of great strength.

Seattle addressed one of its needs in the third round by selecting Penn State defensive tackle Jordan Hill with the 87th overall choice. San Francisco traded into the 88th slot to take pass-rusher Corey Lemonier from Auburn, and fellow division rival St. Louis was set to be on the clock shortly at No. 92.

The Seahawks will be saving money at defensive tackle in 2013 after letting Alan Branch leave in free agency. Seattle added free-agent defensive tackle Tony McDaniel in a modest deal. Hill will join the rotation. Scouting reports suggest he's better at rushing the passer than defending the run. We'll hear more from coach Pete Carroll in a bit.

The Seattle Seahawks have selected a running back, Christine Michael of Texas A&M, with the final pick of the second round after trading back.

This one should catch everyone off-guard.

Seattle appears stacked at running back with Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin. The team could use a defensive tackle, an outside linebacker, a tight end and possibly depth for the offensive line.

NFL teams drafted no running backs in the first round. Michael was the fifth and final one taken in the second round.

I'll be interested in hearing the Seahawks' explanation for this pick. I'm guessing we'll hear the team talk about taking the best player available.

Seattle had no first-round pick after trading it to Minnesota for Percy Harvin. Now, it's looking like the team's second-round choice won't play much right away, assuming Lynch and Turbin are on course to be the primary backs, as expected. Perhaps Seattle has a specific role in mind.

Re-signing strong safety Kam Chancellor was a priority for the Seattle Seahawks this offseason.

Coach Pete Carroll said so during the NFL owners meeting in Arizona last month.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the Seahawks have reached agreement on a new contract with Chancellor, who otherwise could have become an unrestricted free agent following the 2013 season. The Seahawks have called a news conference for 5 p.m. ET at team headquarters. ESPN's John Clayton reported the agreement Monday. I'll make sense of financial terms once they're on file with the league and easier to examine in their full context.

"It's a great day today," Chancellor tweeted before news broke.

Chancellor, a fifth-round choice in 2010, becomes the first Carroll-era Seahawks draft choice to sign an extension.

Left tackle Russell Okung and free safety Earl Thomas, the team's first-round picks in 2010, remain under contract. Golden Tate, a second-rounder in 2010, is entering the final year of his deal amid questions about how the team might allocate its finances at receiver for the long term following Percy Harvin's acquisition this offseason.

Chancellor, Okung and Thomas have earned Pro Bowl honors, making Seattle the only team with three such players from its 2010 draft class. A foot injury slowed Chancellor last season. He underwent surgery in January and was expected to be at full strength in 2013.

The Seahawks under Carroll and general manager John Schneider have re-signed Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane, Chris Clemons, Marshawn Lynch and Max Unger to significant contracts. Bryant, Mebane and Unger were draft choices left over from the team's previous leadership. Clemons and Lynch were acquired by trade.

Harvin signed a new deal following his acquisition by trade. Zach Miller and Sidney Rice were high-profile signings in free agency previously.

Chancellor carries added value beyond the typical safety for his unusual combination of size (6-foot-4 and 230 pounds) and coverage ability. His coverage seemed to suffer through injury last season, including when the Atlanta Falcons' Roddy White got behind the coverage for a touchdown in the playoffs. But when healthy, Chancellor covers ground better than anticipated for a safety with such unusual size. And he has remained a tone-setting presence in the secondary, including when he blasted San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis during a prime-time game late last season.

While the Seahawks could reasonably find another starting-caliber safety -- the 2013 draft supposedly has quite a few of them -- they would have a hard time finding one able to provide specifically what Chancellor provides to their defense. The team also seems to value Chancellor for his leadership and approach to the game. The Chancellor-Thomas pairing is one they want to keep.

Three of four starting NFC West left tackles have been named to start a Pro Bowl over the past few seasons.

The fourth, Levi Brown, was drafted fifth overall in 2007.

From 2009 through 2011, NFC West teams used five first-round selections for offensive linemen, more than any other division.

Results have been mixed. Overall, however, the lines in this division should be on the rise. There is still quite a bit of variance top to bottom.

Matt Williamson, who scouts the NFL for ESPN.com, picks up the conversation from there as part of our ongoing series ranking NFC West position groups.

Williamson: San Francisco has the best offensive line in the league. The 49ers bring back all five starters. They are loaded. Arizona has one of the worst lines in the league, although I think it will be better. Brown is back from injury. Bobby Massie and Nate Potter will be better in their second seasons. All the draft analysts seem to think the Cardinals need a tackle. They really need a guard. That is the weakest spot on the line, right guard.

Sando: I was pretty surprised when the Cardinals gave decent starting money to Adam Snyder in free agency last offseason. He's most valuable for his versatility and would be ideally suited as the sixth man for any line.

Williamson: Snyder is terrible. I don't think they'll draft Chance Warmack seventh overall. They need an outside pass-rusher. Still, they should strongly consider Warmack. He would help their line more than anybody.

Sando: Arians and general manager Steve Keim think the line will be vastly improved this season for some of the reasons you outlined. I tend to agree. The line already improved once D'Anthony Batiste left the lineup. Beyond Arizona, you've got Seattle with the second-best line in the division. Was that a tough call for the second spot?

Williamson: I think you could make an argument between the Seahawks and the Rams O-lines. The Rams' line has been so bad for so long that it's easy to say they stink. But look at them player by player. They have four quality starters now that Jake Long is the left tackle. Age and/or injury is a big issue for three of the four. I think they should draft Warmack on Jonathan Cooper over a wideout. Add one of those guards to the line and you'd have five solid starters. Not many teams can say they have that.

Sando: There is definitely a tendency for people to pencil in a wide receiver for the Rams in the first round. If there is a truly elite WR prospect available, I'd have no problem with that. But there's absolutely no need to force a wideout in the first round. The Rams already have developmental prospects at the position. Using a first-round pick for another Brian Quick really wouldn't make sense if an immediate starter were available for the line.

Williamson: Guard is a bigger need than wideout, with safety being the biggest need. Rams fans will go crazy if they end up with Cooper and Kenny Vaccaro, but to me that would be a home run. Jared Cook is a wideout. Quick will be a good player. Givens already is good. He emerged. And if you can protect, Givens will be that much better.

Sando: Let's get back to the debate between Seattle and St. Louis for the No. 2 line in the division. The Seahawks have two Pro Bowlers on their line in center Max Unger and left tackle Russell Okung. They're not all that great elsewhere on the line.

Williamson: Seattle has the two best guys from either team's line. If you asked 100 people to rank these guys, 98 would put Seattle over St. Louis, but it's much closer than people think. That right side of the offensive line in Seattle scares me. Before the Percy Harvin trade, I would have said D.J. Fluker was who I would add to Seattle -- the biggest, nastiest pure right tackle and guard to compete with the physicality of the Niners.


Sando: The Seahawks don't have a first-round pick now, and I'm not sure they see the line as a primary need. For reference, NFC West teams have drafted 10 offensive linemen in the first three rounds over the past five drafts. Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis, Okung, Unger and Rodger Saffold became starters. Chilo Rachal, James Carpenter, John Moffitt, Jason Smith and John Greco haven't produced and have moved on in some cases.

Williamson: No picks for Arizona in there.

Sando: Right. That will presumably change this year. To your point about the right side of Seattle's line scaring you, we should note that right tackle Breno Giacomini gives the Seahawks a physical, nasty presence. He has played to negative reviews, but I think Seattle likes him.

Williamson: Breno has been serviceable. Marshawn Lynch has room to run. I think they have two good players and then a bunch of guys. I do think the whole is greater than sum of the parts. There is some truth to that in Seattle, which goes to coaching.

Sando: That really was true for the Rams last season as well. Adding Long lets them move Saffold to right tackle, an upgrade from Barry Richardson last season. Scott Wells' return to the lineup for the final seven games last season went under the radar a little bit. His presence for a full season could help Sam Bradford. But there are injury concerns across the board for the Rams on their line. Adding a starting guard through the draft would certainly improve the outlook.

Quarterbacks give way to running backs as Matt Williamson and I discuss the NFC West positional rankings Williamson provided in his role as scout for ESPN.com.

Those rankings are available in the chart at right.

Matt ranks the Seattle Seahawks No. 1 at running back, followed by the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams.



Williamson: This one was easy for me. I'd be shocked if anyone put them in different order.

Sando: We can always revisit this position after the draft. The Rams will presumably select a bigger back to round out their backfield by committee. Even then, however, St. Louis will be proceeding with largely unproven players at the position. That is by design. It also makes it tougher to justify ranking the Rams higher without additional evidence.

Williamson: To me, St. Louis' backfield is utterly unproven. I don't think Isaiah Pead or Daryl Richardson is a lead back. Both are committee guys, but we haven't seen enough from either one to say either is as good as Rashard Mendenhall in Arizona. And I've always liked Ryan Williams a lot. In Mendenhall and Williams, the Cardinals have two guys you could hit a home run with.

Sando: A couple years ago, you suggested Steven Jackson had lost a step. Jackson is now gone from the Rams. The 49ers' Frank Gore is actually a couple months older than Jackson. Both will be 30 this offseason. Do you see Gore declining? Is that why you ranked the Seahawks No. 1 at running back?

Williamson: Seattle has the best back in the division in Marshawn Lynch, and Robert Turbin is a heckuva backup. It's not a knock on Gore. I like LaMichael James and like Kendall Hunter, too. So, the 49ers have three guys to talk about instead of two for Seattle.

Sando: James and Hunter look like keepers. The 49ers are in position to limit Gore's carries to keep him fresh.

Williamson: I would lighten his load, give him 90 percent of a full workload. The 49ers are a contender. They need 20 games from Gore, not 16. I'd be thinking big picture.

Sando: Gore had 351 touches in 2012 and 341 in 2011, counting playoffs. That's up from 271 per season from 2008 through 2010. Gore missed nine games to injury over that span. He has missed one game over the past two seasons combined. But that postseason workload is something to keep in mind for the upcoming season.

We'll look at wide receivers next.

Carson Palmer is the 27th veteran player NFC West teams have acquired since 2010.

The Seattle Seahawks have acquired 13 of them, including current contributors Percy Harvin, Marshawn Lynch, Chris Clemons and Clinton McDonald.

Palmer, acquired by the Arizona Cardinals from the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday, joins Vonnie Holliday, Kevin Kolb and Kerry Rhodes as veteran acquisitions for the Arizona Cardinals over the past three seasons.

The chart lists all 27 for NFC West teams. Shading identifies players still on the acquiring teams' rosters.

The plays NFC West quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson made with their legs last season added a wrinkle to their teams' offenses.

The chart should help us keep that aspect of their games in perspective. It shows Seattle running zone read, option and option pitch plays 5.6 percent of the time, according to game charting by ESPN Stats & Information. The figure was 4.5 percent for the 49ers.

Even if those figures doubled in 2013, neither player would be primarily a running quarterback. Neither would be running a potentially unsustainable offense unless both invited contact with unusual frequency (on the contact subject, note that opponents hit Andrew Luck while throwing a league-high 51 times last season, compared to nine times for Wilson and six times for Kaepernick).

Wilson and Kaepernick were dangerous runners, of course. They were passers first, however. Both were effective from the pocket. Wilson was particularly effective from outside the pocket.

So, the next time someone implies that offenses featuring run-oriented quarterbacks might be tough to sustain over time, make sure they're really talking about such an offense. The ones in San Francisco and Seattle wouldn't qualify based on what we've seen to this point.

Note: Some have asked about percentages late in the season, particularly after Kaepernick became a starter. The 49ers' percentage was 5.7 from Week 10 through the end of the regular season. Seattle's percentage jumped to 11.8 over that span.

Remember, though, that running backs can carry the ball on these plays, not just quarterbacks. Marshawn Lynch had 25 carries on these plays over the full season, compared to 19 for Wilson. The 49ers' Frank Gore had 16, compared to 13 for Kaepernick.

This was about the time last offseason when the San Francisco 49ers added running back Brandon Jacobs in free agency.

The signing got our attention because Jacobs was a relatively big-name player coming off a Super Bowl season, and he improved the 49ers' depth in the backfield before San Francisco used a second-round draft choice for LaMichael James.

I'm circling back to that signing because Jacobs was also 29 years old at the time. His addition to the NFC West gave the division yet another older back.

A year later, Jacobs is long gone. Two of the other backs getting up there in years, Leon Washington and Steven Jackson, are also gone.

The 49ers' Frank Gore, who turns 30 in May, is the only older halfback in the division. The Seattle Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch, who turns 27 next month, ranks second in age. The Arizona Cardinals' Alfonso Smith, who turned 26 in January, ranks third.

The average age for halfbacks in the division is 24.6. The median age is 24.4.

A question for us to consider as the 2013 season approaches: How much does Gore have left? His contract runs through 2014, by the way.

PHOENIX -- Like a lot of NFL coaches, the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll thinks officials will have a hard time enforcing a new rule banning ball carriers from initiating contact with the crowns of their helmets when outside the tackle box.

Carroll supports the rule anyway while acknowledging that his own running back, the exceedingly punishing Marshawn Lynch, might have to adjust some.

"It's a challenging proposal in that it's for the officials to determine whether there was intent," Carroll said Wednesday from the NFL owners meeting. "We feel as coaches that it’s going to be very challenging for those guys to call. But it’s a good move to teach football players of all levels how to not lead with their helmets."

Earlier in the week, St. Louis Rams coach and competition committee member Jeff Fisher joined vice president of officiating Dean Blandino in walking reporters through a video presentation on the rule. I raised the same point Carroll made about officials having to determine intent.

"We are not officiating intent," Blandino replied "We are looking for the lowering of the head and the delivering of the blow with the crown. We look at the helmet as four sides: there is the facemask, there [are] the sides, there is the hairline-forehead, which is just above the facemask, and then the crown. If you put a beanie on top of your head, that would be the crown there."

The league evaluated every play from every game of Week 16 last season. It found 34 cases of helmet-to-helmet collisions, five of them in violation of the new rules.

The rule applies only to collisions outside the tackle box, which extends 3 yards past the line of scrimmage between the offensive tackles.

"It's that play where two players are coming together like this and dropping their helmets where they make contact with the top crown of the helmet," Fisher said. "Basically, the best way to phrase this is we're bringing the shoulder back in the game. We all know the helmet is a protective device; it's not designed to be used like it's being used as of late and we want to protect our players, specifically out in space."

Carroll expects a sometimes bumpy transition period where made and missed calls will generate controversy. But he thinks the NFL's commitment to improving safety justifies the change.

"This is one of those areas that has been accepted for years and years and years in the league," Carroll said, "as a play that is just part of the game that we are going to try to affect."

As for Lynch?

"He's a mixture, a very unique talent in the way he plays," Carroll said. "But he is not a guy that definitely leads with his helmet all the time."

The annual salary-cap figures for Percy Harvin's new contract with the Seattle Seahawks provide an opportunity to take a bigger-picture look at how he fits.

The chart shows annual totals for prominent skill position players on the team. There are columns for Harvin, Sidney Rice, Zach Miller, Marshawn Lynch, Golden Tate and Russell Wilson. I've highlighted the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons to show how the combined totals rise incrementally over that span.

Tate becomes a free agent after the 2013 season. He set career highs last season with 45 receptions for 688 yards and seven touchdowns.

Harvin's arrival has the potential to create better matchups for Tate, who is adept at breaking tackles, and for others. It's fair to wonder what kind of deal Seattle might offer him with healthy sums committed to other skill players.

The figures in the chart represent salary-cap charges. They reflect base salaries plus roster bonuses plus portions of signing and option bonuses. They do not necessarily represent how much cash a player receives in a given year.

The NFL salary cap is around $123 million this year. Seattle's spending limit is closer to $136 million after the team carried over $13.2 million in unused cap space from last year.

Drafting and signing good players allows teams to avoid absorbing cap charges for players no longer on the roster. That is one key to pushing forward unused cap space. Seattle also benefits from having Wilson signed to such a reasonable deal as a Pro Bowl quarterback.
 

NFL teams rarely part with highly talented young players. When they do, the Seattle Seahawks are going to have some interest.

Seattle's move to acquire Percy Harvin from the Minnesota Vikings on Monday marked the fourth time in two years Seattle has added a young, highly talented and highly priced offensive player age 25 or younger. Harvin, Marshawn Lynch, Sidney Rice and Zach Miller were all selected among the first two rounds of their draft classes. All became expendable despite having enjoyed at least one highly productive season.

The Seahawks are counting on these four young players, but with quarterback Russell Wilson in place, some of the pressure is off. The addition of Wilson last season puts the Seahawks in better position to maximize the value of these acquisitions.