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Friday I took a quick look at what the Seattle Seahawks have looked for in terms of physical traits from the offensive linemen they have drafted since Pete Carroll and John Schneider arrived in 2010, and today we’ll take a gander at the offensive linemen that have been added as free agents. I’m not going to get too in depth with this piece, as it is more to simply lay the foundation for discussions later in the offseason. In particular, in the build up to the draft we’ll look at the differences between the additions the team has made in free agency as opposed to those that have been drafted, and see what, if anything, we’re able to discern from the patterns.
Obviously things are likely to be “subtly” different, as Carroll put it in his combine press conference Thursday, since new offensive line coach Mike Solari has subtle differences in what he looks for in offensive linemen compared to Tom Cable. However, at the end of the day, it’s Pete and John who have final say on the roster, and this offseason will give a chance to collect and evaluate evidence regarding how much say Cable truly had regarding the offensive line.
Getting back to the topic at hand, here is the athletic profile for the free agents signed by the Hawks since 2010 from the player’s combine or pro day.
Athletic profile of free agent linemen added by Seattle since 2010
| Player | 40 time | Bench Press | Vertical | Broad | Shuttle | 3-cone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | 40 time | Bench Press | Vertical | Broad | Shuttle | 3-cone |
| Bradley Sowell | 5.22 | 21 | 29 | 102 | 4.65 | 7.43 |
| Luke Joeckel | 5.3 | 27 | 28.5 | 106 | 4.68 | 7.4 |
| Drew Nowak | 5.25 | 17 | 25 | 95 | 4.4 | 7.25 |
| Oday Aboushi | 5.45 | 17 | 23.5 | 100 | 4.84 | 7.92 |
| J'Marcus Webb | 5.28 | 17 | 26 | 101 | 4.8 | 7.82 |
| Deuce Lutui | 5.44 | 26 | 28 | 97 | 4.76 | 8.04 |
| Frank Omiyale | 5.4 | 22 | 29.5 | 101 | 4.72 | 8.19 |
| Wade Smith | 5.17 | 24 | 32.5 | 112 | 4.75 | 7.62 |
| Eric Winston | 4.96 | 22 | 33 | 99 | 4.44 | 7.47 |
| Steve Schilling | 5.29 | 30 | 25.5 | 98 | 4.62 | 7.73 |
| Jahri Evans | 5.29 | 20 | 27 | 95 | 4.8 | 7.97 |
Obviously the players would not be expected to have the exact same athletic profile deep enough into their career that they have reached free agency, as years of workouts would have changed their bodies. However, this data at least gives fans a place to start when looking at the free agent offensive linemen that will be available this offseason and attempting to discern who the Seahawks might pursue.
In any case, only nine more days until Seattle can begin discussions with this year’s version of Bradley Sowell, Drew Nowak or J’Marcus Webb and disappoint fans by adding Brian Schwenke or Jeremiah Sirles rather than Nate Solder or Andrew Norwell. As always, it will be interesting.