Seattle finished 26th in the league last year in rushing, averaging just 97.9 yards per game. They were tied for 25th with a 4.0 yard per carry average and they were tied for 27th with just seven rushing touchdowns.

The NFL is a passing league but the Seahawks’ shortcomings on the ground had to be at least part of the reason why the team finished 25th in the league in scoring with just 280 points.

The Seahawks’ problems in the run game can’t be completely blamed on Julius Jones (leading rusher with 663 yards and a 3.7 yard per carry average. Future likely Hall of Famer Walter Jones missed the season. Matt Hasselbeck missed two games and was certainly not healthy all year. But Jones is hardly inspiring as a team’s top running back option. He’s more typically the type of guy coaches are always looking to replace in the starting lineup (witness Dallas and Marion Barber III when Jones was still there).

The Seahawks took steps to address that shortcoming this weekend with low-risk trades that added former Tennessee Titan power back LenDale White and injured Jet Leon Washington. The former ran for 1,110 in 2007 and 15 touchdowns in 2008 – and those numbers were achieved before he actually got in shape for the 2009 campaign.

White lost most of his opportunities to Chris Johnson in Tennessee last year. But LenDale – welcome back to relevance. What kind of a workload he gets likely depends on a number of factors, including continued commitment to fitness, what last year’s backup Justin Forsett looks like in camp and the healing timetable for Washington, who adds a breakaway threat to the mix … if his broken leg fully heals.

Washington reportedly is likely to miss some time at the beginning of the season. His leg injury was gruesome. But if he can regain his old form, the Hawks acquired on the cheap a back who has averaged 4.8 yards per carry on 370 carries over four seasons and a guy who was carving out more time with the run-heavy Jets before his leg broke.

White and Washington both come with questions. There is no guarantee that these guys are going to turn those numbers around. But the team gave up a fifth and acquired a seventh to take on Washington and traded down in the fourth and sixth rounds to acquire White – and his teammate, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson. The upside of both of these trades clearly made them excellent gambles.

Couple the trades with the acquisition of left tackle Russell Okung in the first round of the draft and the Seahawks’ offense should be much improved in 2010. I don’t necessarily think they necessarily solved all their problems. But the run game, in my opinion, will at least actually exist as a threat in the season ahead.