Seahawks clearly concerned one young player might never show up again

The Seattle Seahawks OTAs are just underway and as almost all the coaching staff is new and the entire design of the offense and defense are new, players are still having to learn quite a bit. This is obviously different than the last decade because former head coach Pete Carroll was running the team. Players and staff knew what to expect from season to season.

Now that Mike Macdonald is in charge of the on-field product of the team, though, no one can assume anything. This goes for Macdonald as well. While he has been a highly successful defensive coach in the NFL, he has never been a head coach anywhere. He will have some on-the-job adjusting to do.

Some of this adjusting could very likely mean what his presumed starting offensive line is going to look like in 2024 and beyond. Sure, players such as Laken Tomlinson might leave in 2025 and might only be a one-year rental, but the players Seattle drafts are expected to stick around a while. This might not be the case with right tackle Abe Lucas.

Abraham Lucas might not need to be in the Seattle Seahawks' long-term plans

Lucas has had a knee issue since college, though he did not seem to have many problems in his rookie season of 2022 and he started 16 games. The right tackle had knee surgery in college, though, and in 2023 when Lucas missed every game after Week 1 until Week 13, Carroll revealed that the knee issue was, in his word, "chronic."

That means, of course, that no matter how many surgeries Lucas might try his knee issue might truly never go away. General manager John Schneider confirmed that Lucas had another surgery this offseason and "hoped" that the surgery would correct things. What is important to note, however, is that Lucas is only entering his third year in the NFL and is only 25 years old and already suffering knee problems.

A player with knee issues so early in his career does not normally portend a long career. Mike Macdonald told the media this week after a session of OTAs that he is not sure when Lucas will return.

According to ESPN's Brady Henderson, "It’s hard to tell. We’re shooting for camp right now. Abe’s getting after it in rehab, so I’m proud of his effort he’s putting in."

That seems as if Macdonald is simply being nice which is probably the right way to be. He has never worked with Lucas before. But being "proud" of effort and counting on Lucas to play are completely different things. This is likely one reason the Seahawks signed George Fant in free agency. Fant can backup Lucas if needed, but Fant can also start 17 games if Lucas can't play.

At this point, thinking Lucas is going to play most of the games in the next eight years seems illogical. 12s should want Lucas to play as he has shown to be a good right tackle when he is on the field. If he cannot play much or if he has to be rotated out often when he does play, which was the case in 2023, then Seattle needs to simply plan on Lucas not being a part of the team.

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