The Seahawks have lost some major talent this offseason. It sure would be nice to go back in time and bring back one of these guys, wouldn’t it?
You may have heard of this little movie called Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t seen it but still plan on it, I’ll just say that there will be a sequel. There are some pretty heavy rumors that time travel will be involved in that adventure. Something about getting back some valuable team members. And I thought, huh. The Seahawks have lost some pretty valuable team members. If only Pete Carroll could jump into the Quantum Realm and snag one of the Seahawks all-time greats.
But which one? I’ll give you five that would be pretty nice to have going into 2018. Two caveats: Pete has to go back at least five years, and he can’t get a player who’s still active. Time travel always has some goofy rules. So no Marshawn Lynch from 2012. Oh, and Pete can’t change any of the past Seahawks drafts. That will take a lot more power than we have available for this little jaunt. So in no particular order, the five.
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Two great Seahawks for the defense
5. Kenny Easley, strong safety. Easley just had seven years in the league, but made six Pro Bowls and was named a first team All Pro three times. His career was cut short by a severe kidney disease, but he packed in some amazing play in that career, including 32 interceptions. No defensive back in the Hall of Fame played fewer seasons than Easley.
I recommend Pete jumps to 1984 to get Easley, the year he had 10 picks and returned two for touchdowns. Oh, and he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year then, too. Seattle looks like they could use some help at safety this season, after all.
4. Cortez Kennedy, defensive tackle. Like Easley, Kennedy player his entire career in Seattle. In a ten year career, Kennedy made the Pro Bowl eight times and was named first team All Pro three of those seasons. Kennedy had 58 sacks in his career, despite being routinely double-teamed. He was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1992, on a 2-14 team. That’s the year Pete wants to grab Kennedy, when he posted a ridiculous 14 sacks and 92 tackles. Our depth at defensive tackle is pretty good, but Kennedy was a monster.
Two awesome Seahawks for the offense
3. Steve Largent, wide receiver. He averaged 16.0 yards per catch over 14 seasons, all of them with the Seahawks. I’m sensing a theme here. Largent didn’t have great size at 5-11 and 187 pounds. He didn’t have blistering speed, either, turning a not-so-blistering 4.65 in the 40. So how exactly did he catch 819 passes for 100 touchdowns? He ran perfect routes and caught everything that came his way. He made the Pro Bowl seven times, and was named a first team All Pro in 1985. Despite that, I think Pete should go back to 1979 for Largent. He caught 66 passes for 1,237 yards and nine touchdowns that year.
By the way, not knocking Jim Zorn, but he was Largent’s quarterback for nine of those 14 seasons. Zorn only managed 20 touchdowns in a season once. How many times would Largent have found the end zone if Dan Fouts or Joe Montana had been behind center? Largent is an all time great, and he’d look pretty sweet opposite Doug Baldwin, wouldn’t he?
He was Beastmode before Beastmode was cool
2. Shaun Alexander, running back. When I wrote Pete couldn’t go get Lynch, I never said he couldn’t go after a monster back. It was a tough call between Alexander and Curt Warner, but I went with the younger man because he’s 20 pounds heavier, and that helps in the league these days. Both were excellent receivers out of the backfield, but Alexander was even more of a workhorse than Warner.
He had three straight seasons with over 320 carries, topped by his phenomenal 2005 campaign. Alexander ran the ball 370 times – no, that’s not a typo – for 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns. I’d ask Pete to spread the load, as the Seahawks do have some pretty solid backs this year. As we’ve seen, you can never have too many running backs. At least not in Seattle.
The one man we need to put the Seahawks over the top
1. Walter Jones, offensive tackle. I lied, there was an order to this article. If you didn’t see this coming, you haven’t watched the Seahawks over the past few seasons. Jones isn’t just an offensive tackle, he’s THE offensive tackle. He made the Pro Bowl nine times in his 12 year career, and was a first team All Pro in four of those seasons. How good was Jones? Mike Holmgren called him the best offensive player he ever coached. He also coached a guy named Brett Favre, so that’s not faint praise.
Jones wasn’t perfect, I’ll admit. He allowed 23 sacks – in his career. That’s 23 in 180 games, or about two per season. He probably held a lot to do that, though, right? Maybe not. He was called for holding nine times. That’s nine holding penalties in 180 games. Some current Seahawks would consider that a good year. And that’s why we need Walter Jones.
One problem: Jones was so good, which year do you take?
The Seahawks have an excellent left tackle in Duane Brown, but I’m pretty sure he’d be happy to move to the right for this guy. Pete’s only problem is figuring out which year to pick up Jones. I suggest 2005, when the Seahawks led the league in scoring. By the way, that’s the year the Sporting News named Jones the best player in the league at any position. Tom Brady threw for over 4,000 yards, Peyton Manning led the Colts to a 14-2 record, and Alexander had his phenomenal season. Yet an offensive tackle got the nod as the league’s best in the Sporting News. That’s as good as any year for the man who had never had a bad one.
Next: Three Seahawks to keep beyond this season
The Seahawks could certainly use some depth at safety and along the defensive line. It never hurts to have two top line wideouts either. And of all teams, Seattle knows you can never have too many running backs. Despite that, the offensive line has been the Achilles heel for the past few years. When you can have arguably the greatest Seahawk ever address your greatest need, that’s the call you make. Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get these Pym Particles in the mail to Pete right away.