Max Unger in the Trenches; Josh Wilson on the Sideline
by John Morgan on Dec 7, 2009 4:49 PM PST
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PrintIt's hard enough to get a read on a corner in quarter, but when that corner subs out, it's impossible. Jordan Babineaux played left cornerback and Marcus Trufant right. Lawyer Milloy substituted for Babineaux at safety. So it was for most of the quarter. Josh Wilson made one important play, contacting Josh Morgan on a short pass on third and 10, and throwing Morgan out bounds to end the drive and stop the clock.
Unger didn't have anymore big moments during the half, but at least he was getting snaps. He single blocked twice to open the next drive. He held on both plays and on the first, finished by chucking his man right. Power, the missing component in Unger's game. He moved left with the pocket on the next play and controlled the left defensive end. Unger struck the nose tackle, lost the block, recovered and buried him on a run up the middle that went nowhere. Chris Spencer helped double the nose on Matt Hasselbeck's long pass to Nate Burleson, a pass that fell one yard short of awesome and one yard long of interception.
Unger has improved as a pull blocker. He is no longer driven back. He doesn't struggle to release or release too late. Unger pulled forward and engaged Patrick Willis, but Willis stood tall and kept the struggle in the hole. Justin Forsett ran left for five.
The 49ers blitzed on the next play, and with superior numbers and overloading the edges, caved the exterior pocket and threatened a group sack. Unger let Ray McDonald achieve a stride on him. McDonald slashed around Unger's right shoulder and towards Hasselbeck, but as the pocket warped and collapsed around him, Hasselbeck stepped forward and negated the entire rush. Unger shadowed McDonald and cleared as Hasselbeck stepped up and scrambled for 23. Moments like this remind that Seneca Wallace may have the legs, but smarts make smart quarterback scrambles.
The entire Seahawks line surged left and Spencer blew back Aubrayo Franklin. Unger never got a chance. The cutback lane tore open to the offensive right, but Julius Jones skipped the hole and hit the pile. The run went for two.
Hasselbeck pumped and scrambled himself into pressure on the next play. It was ugly all around, but Unger kept his head in it and his quarterback clean.
The drive ended with Unger reading and picking up a defensive end stunt. To his left, Michael Lewis exploded through the line untouched and forced a fumble. It was a curious play to say the least. Spencer pointed left, identifying the blitzer. Then Hasselbeck looked like he was audibling and Forsett shifted from left to right. It's the second time we've seen Forsett on the wrong side attempting to pick up a blitz. The announcers commended him for it the first time. He didn't luck into a recovery this time.
There wasn't much more of the quarter to speak of. Seattle regained possession, but managed little before running out the clock. Unger released well on the screen attempt right, but the rest of Seatle's line was AWOL. Jones slipped out of bounds for a loss of two. Unger controlled his man on another nice looking deep route by Deion Branch, but the pass sailed nowhere and luckily to no one. Unger finished with a good block on McDonald. McDonald, you might remember, owned Unger in week two.
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I really hope Spencer comes back next year.
I feel like he’s really starting to come into his own, and with Unger growing up beside him those two could form a very good core going forward.
Me too
and I like the exterior. We may be 1 good tackle away from having a very good offensive line in 2 years.
I'd like to see move Lock move back to the right side
But yeah, the line is a starting tackle and some depth away from being pretty good.
Depending on how much you trust them
Profootballweekly doesn’t think the Seahawks will go out of their way to resign Spencer. Although I really don’t see why not. He’s not a liability and shouldn’t break the bank.
Yeah, I agree.
If not who would we slide over? Unger at center would negate some decent progress at guard, and open up another hole. Don’t see why Spencer wouldn’t be a target as long as he finishes strong and healthy.
Bring Your Game, Leave Your Name.
as has been mentioned before
there is probably not a player on the team who has taken more unfair criticism than Chris Spencer. I’d love to see him back.
It's Great to be a Florida Gator!
"I never met a llama I didn't like." - TJ Duckett
All I want for Christmas is Joe Haden, Eric Berry, and Nandamukong Suh in Seahawks blue.
by Wayward Llama on Dec 8, 2009 3:46 AM PST up reply actions
"insider sources"
As in, they don’t really know.
I don’t know why the Hawks would just let go of Spencer. I doubt he’s going to be expensive, he’s already here and starting to know the system. Silly.
I think the situation is opposite
Franchise tag typically implies a team wants to retain a player but is unable to negotiate a contract that appeases both sides (the player typically wants more than the team offers).
In this case it’s likely the opposite: Spencer will want to stay but the Seahawks might not want to keep him, or pay him FAIR value (typically franchise tags land on players that are demanding what is perceived to be above market value).
The demise of the Broncos in '09 is our future. Pray hard.
The bad thing about the franchise tag in this case
is the franchise tag is the average of the top 5 offensive lineman in the NFL, not the top 5 centers. Last year the franchise tag would’ve cost $8,451,000 for an offensive lineman. For this year, Chris Spencer’s base salary is $850,000. That would be almost a 1000% increase. No offense to him, but he’s not worth that much money.
His contract probably will approach the value of Jason Brown's...
…though it should be less. It might be less, but they’re similar style players and prices only seem to escalate. If we can’t sign him for less, all I’m saying is that the tag could be an option. I think Tapp is a more likely candidate for the Tag, though.
How about one of those, um, "restricted" tags?
That way, if someone wants to sign him to big bucks, we get a pick in return?
Yes you did
Sam Bradford, future Seattle Seahawk.
by Carl Shinyama on Dec 7, 2009 9:36 PM PST up reply actions
I don't see Spencer being re-signed.
I think he has played well since coming back from the injury and I really would like to see him come back.
Reading about how a rookie is playing standout football against a division opponet makes me so happy. Watching it is even better. Unger at C, gets me excited about the line and it’s future. Seattle needs a dynamic player at LT and I’m not sold on it being Lock. But I could live with it. G would be the position that I focus on if I were not going to invest much into the offensive line, RG, specifically.
I worry that Unger simply doesn't have the strength to play center.
Part of his struggles this year have been strength related, and recently he seems to have figured that out a bit. But Center is a position with even higher strength requirements, and that’s never been Unger’s cup of tea. Even if he makes the transition well, he would always have issues with large, dominant NTs. That’s my opinion at least.
I agree.
I like the ‘mauler type’ at C. Spencer can be that, in the mould of Gurode, Mangold, Mawae, Kreutz, etc.
I do like Unger as possible center depth
if we can get some depth at guard.
You know – just in case.
In case of what? Sorry I don't follow.
:P
The demise of the Broncos in '09 is our future. Pray hard.
I think he doesn't want to use the "I" word...
The Seahawks have been bitten by that word enough in the last couple years.
Bring Your Game, Leave Your Name.
Actually...
I was really going for “in case our defense and offense are so good that our O-lineman get tired out by having the ball SO SO much”.
That’s believable… right?
…
Anyone?
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