Would Branden Albert really change Seahawks line?
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks offensive line is struggling once again. Only one player, center Justin Britt, can be counted on week-to-week to play well. Seattle needs help. Is Branden Albert the answer?
The Seahawks have to get better on the offensive line. Possibly Branden Albert’s 2016 season was an outlier. According to Pro Football Focus’s grades over the course of his career, 2016 was by far his worst year. Is it possible that Albert slipped so much in one season? Or is he ready to come back healthy and motivated?
Branden Albert retired earlier today. He had a career year his first season in Miami, but his play had noticeably slipped since pic.twitter.com/t7ML2Avoum
— PFF (@PFF) July 31, 2017
Should the Seahawks risk signing him and spending the money if there is no immediate upgrade to their underperforming line? By signing Albert the Seahawks should be sure this would be the case.
One thing to note, Albert’s 49.0 grade for last year, while still bad, is better than either current Seahawk tackles Rees Odhiambo (26.5) or Germain Ifedi (48.3). And that would be Albert at his worst. Bottom line is, Albert is an improvement over both current Seattle tackles.
If Albert were to sign, ideally Odhiambo would move to left guard, his more natural position. Starter Luke Joeckel is out for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants and possibly beyond. Joeckel could miss up to four weeks.
The issues with Albert are several. One, he is not young anymore. He is 32 years old. Two, he has not had a healthy season since 2011. Of course, this would be a shortened year for Albert anyway, but he has shown he could be an injury risk immediately. Three, Albert over the last couple of years has been a much better pass protector than run blocker. Seattle needs linemen who can run block at this point. Russell Wilson’s pass protection has been decent at times. The run blocking has been good on one drive versus the San Francisco 49ers. (That last sentence may be an overstatement, but not much of one.)
Related Story: Seahawks bye-week grades: How is the offensive line doing in 2017?
Of course, Albert may just be a ploy to get the Houston Texans to trade Duane Brown to the Seahawks. That is the rumor anyway. For the record, I am fine with either Albert or Brown. They have to be an upgrade for Seattle.