ESPN tips Seattle Seahawks to sign second coming of Ziggy Ansah

Most 12s likely remember Ziggy Ansah. He played for the Seattle Seahawks for one season in 2019 and the hope was that he would help reignite a defense that had lost almost all of the Legion of Boom members. The prior year, Ansah dealt with injuries and his production declined. Seattle wanted to take a chance on him, though, because he had twice had seasons with double-digit sacks.

The issue was that even though Ansah was just 30 years old when he played for Seattle, he might as well have been 40. He was well past his prime, and he did not help the team. In an injury-riddled season, Ansah played inconsistently and contributed only 2.5 sacks in 11 games and just 10 total pressures.

The 2024 Seattle team differs quite a bit from the 2019 version. The average age of the roster is much younger. Still, the Seahawks could always use more edge rusher depth. The team will start Boye Mafe and Uchenna Nwosu but the depth is suspect. Darrell Taylor is consistently inconsistent and Derick Hall did not prove he could do much of anything in his rookie year.

ESPN believes the Seahawks should chase Carl Lawson in free agency

In a recent article about one signing each NFL team should do before training camp, ESPN's Aaron Schatz has an idea for Seattle. Schatz dismisses the team signing a veteran center because he knows that the Seahawks want to give Olu Oluwatimi every chance to earn the long-term job. The team also signed Nick Harris this offseason in order to backup Oluwatimi.

Instead, Schatz thinks Seattle should bring in edge rusher Carl Lawson. General manager John Schneider should steer off that course, though, and remember what happened with Ansah. There are a lot of similarities between the two players. They don't trend toward the positive.

Prior to playing for Seattle, Ansah had spent six seasons in the league and at his best was very effective. He was inconsistent, however, and he battled injuries through most of his first six years. He also was more of a pure pass rusher instead of a player who was good against the run. Ansah struggled with tackling as well missing 15 percent or more of his attempts in four of his first six seasons.

Lawson is a year younger than Ansah was when Seattle signed him. In other words, there is little difference in their relative ages. He has also spent six years in the league and has excelled at times as a pass rusher but has been mediocre against the run. In three years, he has missed 19.2 percent or more of his tackle attempts. In two seasons, he has played seven games or fewer.

This was the case in 2023 when Lawson only appeared in six games for the New York Jets. After having seven sacks in 17 games in 2022, he had zero sacks and zero quarterback hits last season. Lawson seems much older than his actual age.

Seattle doesn't have much money to spend in free agency now anyway, but if they do sign a player then that should not be Lawson. The Seahawks don't need to take such a risk. Lawson would likely be the second coming of Ziggy Ansah anyway.

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