Three Seattle Seahawks that deserve more respect
By Lee Vowell
Seahawks middle of the defense: Poona Ford
Who is talking about Poona? And I mean this outside of Seattle or 12s who live elsewhere. And yeah, sure. The Seahawks respect Ford because they are paying him a lot of money. But is Ford going to Pro Bowls? No. Is he getting All-Pro votes? No.
And why? Because most followers of the NFL, and even people who write about the NFL, care about raw statistics, like sacks. Ford isn’t going to put up a lot of sacks and tackles for loss. But he does the job assigned to him exceptionally well on most plays and every once in a while adds a boost to the pass rush.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ford was the 19th-highest-graded interior defender in 2022. Ford was 15th-best against the run and in the mid-20s against the pass. It isn’t like Ford can only do one thing: Stop the run. And Ford has been consistently good since he came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
At Texas, Ford was the Big-12 Defensive Lineman of the Year his senior year. He was great but he was too short for NFL teams’ liking. But teams overlooked the fact that Ford doesn’t get hurt (he has started every game the last two years) and can bull rush his way with great strength. His low center of gravity only helps him.
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While Ford has only had 2 sacks in each of the past two years, he did have 9 quarterback hits in 2020 and 6 in 2021 so he can get pressure. But what Ford needs also is to get the due respect from the league that he is one of the best noseguards in the NFL.