New look Legion of Boom for Seahawks the rest of the way
All 12s knew the day would come when the Legion of Boom retooled, but that day came far too quickly. How will the Seahawks regroup?
The Seahawks lost Richard Sherman for the season a couple of weeks ago. Bad enough, right? Apparently not, as the football gods decided to take Kam Chancellor away for the season, too. That leaves Seattle with just one of the Legion of Boom’s original members on the field for Monday night’s game with the Atlanta Falcons, and the rest of the season. And Earl Thomas III has missed the last two games himself. This is the first time since September 25, 2011 that only one of those three All-Pros will be picking off passes and punishing receivers on crossing routes.
Simply put, you don’t replace two players of Chancellor and Sherman’s caliber. If the Seahawks had better players on the roster, they would have been starting instead. It’s that simple. That being said, it’s not like Kris Richard is just going walk into the stands and pull a couple of goofballs out to play. We’ve already seen the players who are going to step in to those All-Pro cleats. All is not lost for Seattle.
It’s the next men up for the Seahawks now
Jeremy Lane will play Sherman’s left cornerback position. Lane was nearly traded to Houston just a few weeks ago, of course. As we’ve mentioned before, Lane isn’t Seattle’s best corner. He’s lost his starting job more than once to other players over his career. Pro Football Focus grades him at 40.6. To put that in perspective, Sherman was at 82.7. That’s why Lane was traded in the first place. Now he has the chance to truly focus and earn the role he’s been given.
On the opposite side, Shaquill Griffin will continue to hold his own at right corner. According to Pro Football Focus, he currently grades out at 75.0. That’s a bit behind teammate Justin Coleman, who graded at 81.6. Coleman stays at the nickel slot he’s filled since Lane first went out with a groin injury weeks ago.
If Lane should falter – and I do not expect him to – new/old LOB member Byron Maxwell is ready to step in. There’s no replacing Richard Sherman, but the Seahawks have it covered.
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Seahawks have safety position in safe hands
At strong safety, Bradley McDougald steps into the strong safety role of Chancellor. The drop-off between Chancellor and McDougald as it is between Sherman and Lane, thankfully. Kam graded at 88.3, while Bradley comes in at 76.9. McDougald has already been a big factor for Seattle, but his contribution is about to get much bigger. As Pete Carroll said, reported by seahawks.com,
"“It was exactly what we had hoped for,” Carroll said of McDougald’s ability to fill in for either starting safety. “We had seen great versatility in him and playmaking and leadership and all that kind of cool stuff that you hope to see, and when he got here, he just proved it. So he has been able to play nickel, he has played the big nickel, and he has just been able to do everything on special teams and be a leader and all of that. So he has been a fantastic addition and a little bit of an unsung hero at this time for this season, that he has been able to be so versatile and be so successful at what he is doing.”"
When McDougald was first signed, I wrote that I saw him as at least as important as the higher profile signing of Eddie Lacy. Okay, so McDougald won’t come close to playing 600 snaps. And Eddie Lacy certainly isn’t about to endanger any of Shaun Alexander or Curt Warner’s records. Nevertheless, McDougald does indeed have the chance to help save the Seahawks season now.
It’s tough to recover from the loss of two future Hall of Famers. If any team can do it though, it’s the Seahawks and their new Legion of Boom.