Seahawks show faith in rookie linebackers as they cut Calitro
The Seahawks released linebacker and special-teamer Austin Calitro today. Clearly, Seattle has faith in their rookie linebacker tandem.
The Seahawks continue to tweak their roster as they close in on Sunday’s home opener. Earlier today they brought wide receiver Jaron Brown back to the team. They made another surprise move later when they re-signed fullback Nick Bellore. The real surprise was the corresponding release of linebacker Austin Calitro.
Calitro played in all 16 games last year. That includes five starts when K.J. Wright went down with his injury. Calitro saw 282 snaps on defense and 233 on special teams. He wasn’t bad by any means. In his five starts, he had 29 combined tackles, including three for a loss. As I said, not bad. But in two of those contests, he managed just one solo tackle in each. If you were wondering, Wright has never had a game with just one tackle his 112 career appearances.
Still, Calitro was steady last year. This tells me that the Seahawks coaches were blown away by the performances of their rookie linebackers Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kirven. That applies especially to BBK as he plays on the outside, the same as Calitro. Barton earned raves early in the preseason and all through camp. He’s been tagged as something special all along.
Burr-Kirven took a bit longer to launch his debut as he battled a minor injury. Once he hit the field healthy, he let everyone know he had arrived. I expected this from BBK when the Hawks drafted him in the fifth round. More to the point, Seattle expected this kind of performance. The release of Calitro shows the Seahawks have faith in both of their rookie linebackers.
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Seahawks saw more potential in others
It also demonstrates the Hawks see more potential in their other second-year linebacker. That would be Shaquem Griffin. The standout UCF product got a lot more notice than any fifth-round draft pick in history. I’m happy to say I did my part; he deserved the writeups. He didn’t play well at all in his single start last year, although he did record three tackles, not just one. He made his mark on special teams last year and continued to do so this preseason. Look s like he’ll continue that level of play in the regular season.
I suppose I should do more than just mention the player the Hawks picked up to start this discussion. Nick Bellore is far from an afterthought. The Seahawks love having a fullback in the backfield, and the eight-year veteran will ably fill that role. He played in 14 games with four starts for the Lions last year. That virtually mirrors Tre Madden’s 14 games and three starts with the Hawks last year. Bellore got 118 snaps on offense with another 238 on special teams.
Bellore is strictly a blocking back, as he’s touched the ball just seven times in his career. Two notes on that stat: he does have a touchdown catch among those seven plays. He also spent the vast majority of his career as an inside linebacker. He’s a blocker, special teamer, and a very part-time receiver. Sounds good to me.
Next. Close the book on Wilson vs Luck. dark
As with so many of these roster moves, the release of Austin Calitro was strictly a numbers game. The Seahawks have plenty of linebackers, and until today, they had zero fullbacks. Calitro was versatile, but that’s one thing he hasn’t done. We wish Austin Calitro the best wherever he winds up.