More on Peterson v. Redding

by: Chris Sullivan

Peter King of SI writes today in his MMQB Column that he thinks the Hawks got the better of the deal with the Lions. While Peterson may be a better player overall, Redding is very good at his job, and with no one on the d-line to open up holes Peterson's strength may be somewhat muted as it was in 2008 for the Hawks (5 sacks after averaging about 10 the two years prior). Redding should help create those holes alongside Brandon "Seattle's Best Defensive Player" Mebane.

A number of us have been hoping to see Hill used as a pass rush threat again after his excellent rookie year. Redding should help him out in that goal if he can play as well or better than Rocky Bernard in the 2005 Super Bowl campaign.

Pro Football Talk has also said that the Seahawks got the better deal on this trade, and Seahawk Addicts agrees (but then, wouldn't we?). While Peterson is excellent, very few teams need three excellent linebackers, especially since, as a number of people have pointed out, Peterson and Hill's strengths and weaknesses were largely redundant in our defense. Grabbing someone like Ellison, or even plugging Will "Sam Gamgee" Herring (a former safety) in on passing downs should bolster our LB corps rather than weaken it due to the loss of Peterson. Peterson is undoubtedly one of the best athletes in the league, and an excellent player -- but you need a balanced, strong defense more than you need a defense with a few standouts. This move should help us along that path, I think. END