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A forgotten Seattle Seahawks rookie is predicted to be “very active” vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football.
The Seattle Seahawks won’t get any payback against the Los Angeles Rams without a credible running game, and the ‘Hawks won’t have one of those unless a prediction about a forgotten rookie comes true on Thursday Night Football in Week 16.
It’s a prediction about first-year fullback Robbie Ouzts. He “will be very active” at Lumen Field, according to Gregg Bell of The Tacoma News Tribune.
Bell based his take on how much the Seahawks struggled to run the ball without Ouzts during Week 15’s 18-16 hard-fought win against the Indianapolis Colts. As Bell put it, “Ouzts was oddly a healthy scratch, inactive yesterday–and the #Seahawks ended up averaging a season-low 2.3 yards/carry against the Colts.”
This is worth the all caps, considering Robbie Ouzts was oddly a healthy scratch, inactive yesterday–and the #Seahawks ended up averaging a season-low 2.3 yards/carry against the Colts.
Methinks the rookie fullback will be very active Thursday night vs the Rams. https://t.co/1WftJIl3S7
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 16, 2025
Adding 6-foot-3, 274-pound Ouzts to the backfield would give the Seahawks the beef they need to finally assert themselves on the ground. Overpowering a talented but generally lightweight Rams front seven will be key to the game for a couple of significant reasons.
Seahawks Need to Trust Robbie Ouzts
He relied on information from an unlikely hero to beat the Colts, but Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald needs to finally put his faith in Ouzts this week. Especially since this isn’t the first time Macdonald has tipped the near 300-pound blocking back to key a rushing turnaround.
A revival in the running game is long overdue for an offense averaging 113 rushing yards per game. It’s a number ranked 22nd in the NFL, according to Team Rankings.
Combined with a modest 3.9 yards per rushing attempt, the Seahawks are getting a poor return from a solid 29.1 runs per game. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s ground attack not dominating, despite a healthy run-pass balance and the talents of backfield mates Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, indicates a problem with blocking.
The Seahawks’ struggles knocking open wide enough running lanes are summed up by a mediocre 2.3 yards before contact per attempt, according to Pro Football Reference.
Having Ouzts lead the way on some zone runs would surely improve that lowly number. Even having the fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft supplement the offensive line can help collapse edges and create double teams at the point of attack.
The Seahawks will need to do those things over and over to win a pair of key matchups against their NFC West rivals.
Seattle Offense Must Win 2 Critical Battles vs. Rams
Winning the time of possession of battle will be critical for the Seahawks. They boast a smothering defense, but keeping a high-powered and multi-faceted Rams offense on the sideline is still the smart play.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP level and he can still dominate, even with star wide receiver Davante Adams likely to miss out. Yet as well as Stafford is playing, the Rams also rely on a prolific running game yielding 4.7 yards per carry, as well as 186.7 yards in each of the last three games.
Limiting the amount of times Stafford gets to hand the ball off will make the Rams one-dimensional in a vital game. Being pass heavy is also something the Seahawks want to avoid after QB1 Sam Darnold threw four interceptions in the first meeting back in Week 11.
Darnold appeared jittery under pressure during a 21-19 defeat at SoFi Stadium, so the Seahawks must protect him. They can do it by following the same blueprint that worked in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Ouzts played 27 snaps and the Seahawks ran the ball 28 times for 125 yards.
James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko
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