Seahawks should look into trading for DE Aldon Smith

So, who is Aldon Smith?

Aldon Smith is without a doubt going to be a finalist for the comeback player of the year. After all, he hasn’t played an NFL snap in just about 5 years. He was out of the league, forgotten and cast aside. This award consideration isn’t just about the time being gone, but how productive he has been since he has been back.

Smith was the number 7 overall pick from the 2011 NFL draft for the San Francisco 49ers. It didn’t take long for him to establish dominance on the field. In his rookie year, he managed to accumulate 14 sacks, despite not starting a single game. In his second season, he was second in the NFL with 19.5 sacks and 18 tackles for a loss.

Unfortunately, from that point on there were flags everywhere. He struggled with health for the next two seasons, playing in just 18 of a possible 32 games for the 49ers. From there, he bounced from Oakland to Dallas before being suspended indefinitely by the NFL for substance abuse.

This past year, he got his life together and decided it was finally time after his 54-month hiatus to return to the gridiron. He signed a conditional contract with the Cowboys upon reinstatement into the league.

Now 6 games into the season, he has been phenomenal. He looks fresh and is making a major impact for the Cowboys. His stats on the season:

Stats                       Through week 6            Projected stats for 16 games
Tackles                                29                                              77
Sacks                                    4                                               11
TFL                                        3                                                 8
Passes defended              2                                                 5
Pressure rate                 17.50%                                      17.50%

His pressure rate is good for 4th in the NFL this year. That means that he is getting to the passer and doing so consistently. His 4 sacks are 9th in the NFL. This means he is capitalizing on his opportunities.

The Seahawks’ best pressure guy is Jonathan Bullard at 12.5%. However, that is off just 8 total pass-rushing snaps. Far too small of a sample to really count as gold. After Bullard, we drop down to Damontre Moore at 9.3%. The problem is he has only one sack to show for his pressure rate. Not ideal.

Acquiring Aldon Smith would unquestionably make the Seahawks better on the defensive line. Now the question is, what would it take?