Seahawks need Dion Jordan to be huge in 2018, but…

The Seahawks lost some productive pass rushers this offseason and need Dion Jordan to be great. Jordan, though, seems to have a history of health issues. 2018 is not starting off any differently.

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll mentioned Dion Jordan in his post-practice press conference on Thursday. And what he said was not overly exhilarating. This offseason, Seattle lost Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. These defensive ends were productive for several seasons. Seattle is counting on Jordan to be productive too.

But the Seahawks took a risk when they signed Jordan before 2017. Jordan has always had physical ability, but he has not shown the capability of staying healthy. The 2013 third overall draft pick washed out with the Miami Dolphins because they could not rely on him to play.

Jordan hasn’t really ever had an attitude problem, but an NFL team should not pay a player millions of dollars only to have him in the trainers room for most of the season. The defensive end has been this kind of player.

But there is very little doubt about his potential. Jordan had four sacks in five games with Seattle in 2017. Most of those sacks came in losses, unfortunately, when the Seahawks season was on the downturn. But one cannot blame that on Jordan. He was pretty good.

According to Carroll, Jordan’s surgery was minor but could keep him out a bit.

"He had a surgery, kind of an after surgery to correct a little something. Everything went really well, and we’re hoping that by camp time he’ll be ready to rip and all that. But (it is a) knee thing that…he’s had some complications over time, and so it was worth it to go ahead and clean this thing up. It was a really small issue, but it was one that was going to sit him down for six to eight weeks, so we went ahead and did it."

And that has always been the issue with Jordan: A team cannot assume he will be consistently healthy and productive. The Seahawks simply cannot take this chance. With only Frank Clark a proven pass rusher on the roster, Jordan has to be very good in 2018.

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If Jordan cannot be good this season, the Seahawks are in trouble. The secondary might be deep enough in the secondary to handle a pass attack, but if a quarterback has lots of time to throw, it doesn’t matter who is playing corner or safety. Jordan is being relied upon to help Seattle be successful. Now he just needs to stay healthy.