The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the NFL’s most successful teams over the last decade, but they have, more often than not, fielded offensive lines that have ranked at or near the bottom of the league. Having former offensive line coach Tom Cable in charge of personnel for that group from 2011-2017 certainly didn’t help, and outside of the occasional expenditure, the front five hasn’t seemed to be a top priority for head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.
Now, as the Seahawks are in the throes of a complete rebuild, Carroll and Schneider are all about getting the best possible guys — at least, in the draft. They selected Mississippi State left tackle Charles Cross with the ninth overall pick in 2022, and Cross projects to be an immediate outstanding starter. No worries there.
The right tackle spot may very well be filled by third-round pick Abe Lucas from Washington State. Lucas was debited in the eyes of some as a player with deficiencies in the run game, and limitations as a pass-blocker based on the Cougars’ offense. But I did not see those things. Lucas was my fifth-ranked offensive tackle in this class, and here’s some of what I had to say about him.
The extent to which you grade Lucas as a first-year starter will depend a lot on the type of offense you prefer. If you’re all about headbanging your way to sustained running plays, he won’t be your first choice, despite his thrash-metal preferences. But players of Lucas’ ilk are becoming more and more important in the NFL as the league transitions to more RPOs, quick-game concepts, and offenses are facing defenses that make the front-side protector as important as the blind-side guy. In any of those offenses, Lucas will fit like a proverbial glove.
So, given Carroll’s preferences for a balanced offense, it may have come as a surprise that Lucas, who lined up for 749 pass-blocking snaps in 2021, would be Seattle’s preferences.
But the nasty streak I noticed was an integral part of Lucas’ NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Saturday. In Seattle’s 32-25 loss, Lucas allowed no sacks, no quarterback hits, and one quarterback hurry on 52 snaps, and 33 in pass sets. As a run-blocker, though? Lucas was absolutely dominant, opening up gaps for Seattle runners, and punishing Steelers defenders at every turn.
“What was really exciting was to see Abe on the backside, Abe had some dominant blocks on the backside,” Carroll said Tuesday. “I think he had three takedowns and blasted the linebacker coming up on the second level, which was really nice. It was really good stuff, but it was not different than what we’ve seen.”
Lucas made my Secret Superstars list for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason, and the tape was impressive enough for its own detailed study.
As Carroll said, Lucas’ takedowns were indeed among his most impressive plays, so let’s start there.