Line Health Suddenly the Key to 08'

by: Michael Steffes

The Seahawks, at the moment, find themselves in a very precarious position. Mike Holmgren's final season as coach may come down to line health. With Chris Gray retiring, the team is starting to look pretty thin on the o-line. Its not that they don't have bodies, because they do. Its just that the only player who projects as a back up right now, who has game experience, is Pork Chop. We all know how long he will last. Lets take a look at the position group...

Since 2002, the team has more often than not kept 9 linemen. One year they kept only 8 and in one season they had 10.

Starters: Jones, Wahle, Spencer, Sims, and Locklear.

Key backups: Ray Willis, Wrotto, Womack, Vallos

This appears to be the top 9. All four backups now offer some nice versatility. It is plausible that the team feels comfortable with this group, however someone else with some starting experience under their belt would be nice. Vallos, Willis, and Wrotto have a combined ZERO pro starts. Chop has 33 starts. The problem is that he is likely to go down as soon as he is inserted into the lineup. Its just his curse.

The problem is that there are no solid linemen out there right now. There were rumors that Larry Allen wants to play a year or two longer. There is the aforementioned LC Bentley. Hoping and praying a team releases a quality guy this time of year is fools gold. Teams will hold on to those players, especially with the shrunken rosters. Time for Timmy to get creative. Maybe the German guy and kick some butt? ~END~