Aaron Curry may be the most fascinating Seahawks player not named Matt. Drafted 4th overall with much fanfare, he has yet to live up to that lofty status. Some people criticized that pick for reaching too high for a LB. The defenders praised it for grabbing that proverbial "instant impact player." With two years in the bag, it's safe to say that Curry has indeed made an impact, for better or worse. His second year was more than disappointing. Most have assumed he would get over the rookie mistakes he made in '09, and most were discouraged that he continued those rookie mistakes in '10.
Is it time to give up on Curry, wash our hands of him, and chalk him up there with the historical draft busts? Or does he still require patience and hope that he will figure it out? Is there a way to bridge these two extreme opinions, examine his current progress (or lack thereof), and come to a solid, informed opinion of where he stands in the organization? I hope to find out, but it may take a while.
I started writing this as an "Assessing Need: OLB" post. Then I got to thinking of Curry, and started diving into game footage. The more I saw, the more I had to write, and soon this became an unwieldy project. A project that will require several posts. Our prized #4 draft pick deserves nothing less.
I plan to break down Curry's 2010 season game-by-game, with each post devoted to 2 or 3 games, depending on how much time I have. When we get to the end of it, I hope to have a complete, big-picture view of Aaron Curry, his current talent, and what his future holds. And I hope you readers do, too.
Stay tuned and strap in. It's going to be a fun ride.