Seahawks' Abe Lucas is so important: The increasing value of a great right tackle
Seattle knew what they were doing by drafting Lucas so soon after picking Charles Cross: Seaside Bonus 1/29/2023
Lane Johnson was one of the most surprising picks of the 2013 NFL Draft, going to the Philadelphia Eagles with the fourth overall pick even though left tackle Jason Peters was still a 32-year-old Pro Bowler in his own right. Peters stayed at left tackle for the Eagles for the next seven years and then he was replaced by Jordan Mailata—not Johnson as many assumed was the long-term plan—in 2021.
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Johnson went to the Eagles as a top-5 pick. He’s now going to his second Super Bowl in the last six seasons—both years in which Lane Johnson was named as a first-team All-Pro, after beating the San Francisco 49ers (another team that spent a top-10 pick on a right tackle) 31-7 in the NFC Championship.
Is it a coincidence or were the Eagles simply ahead of the curve before other teams in thinking that right tackle is now just as important as the guy protecting the blind side?
Yes.
There were complaints on Sunday that Johnson was “false starting” on nearly every play and ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio chimed in on a tweet by former offensive lineman Alan Faneca that the Eagles “get away an early start almost every pass play?”. (Someone get Faneca some tweeting help.) If I’m interpreting him right, Florio said that the league ignores these false starts because offensive tackles are at a talent disadvantage to edge rushers.
I agree that there are more good edge rushers than there are offensive tackles.
But is it actually a false start? Not according to Duke Manyweather, a highly regarded personal coach and consultant for offensive linemen, including Charles Cross among many other early draft picks in recent years. He says that refs are simply following the rules.
We see movement from right tackles before the snap so we assume that it must be a false start. However, I think that Florio and Manyweather both have a point…and that’s why Abraham Lucas is so important to the Seahawks.
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