Renton, WA- The Seattle Seahawks opened their first week of training camp with a lot of questions about their offensive line and how Eddie Lacy would be committed with staying under 250 this season. The two players that are fighting for a starting job are Luke Joeckel and George Fant.
Luke Joeckel has had a great camp so far. Despite coming off a bum leg injury, Joeckel has impressed a lot of people, but will that be enough. He is a very big guy that has quick feet. His technique with keeping defenders locked in which makes it hard for them to get a great pass rush is very impressive. However he has to beat out George Fant, who has been by far the surprising stand out in camp thus far. Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll have been impressed by both of these players and he talked about both players in Friday’s press conference. “Well we have been very open minded about him,” Carroll explained. “It depends on how George Fant does too. We know Luke can start at left guard. We know Luke can start at left tackle as well. It is a tremendous asset to have that.”
However, George isn’t hearing it,” Carroll said with a smile. “George has come back in great shape. He is busting his tail and obviously is the most improved physical guy. He has put on over 20 pounds of strength and muscle and power and just as you have heard us say from year one to year two, his confidence is already above any point at any time last year. So he will have something to say when he plays too.“So Luke is just ready for both. He’s been great and open minded about it and we think it is a tremendous asset.”
Another concern with going into training camp has been Eddie Lacy’s weight. He is under 250, which the Seahawks want to keep him at. When asked if he was going to keep that weight, he responded, “The weight will be where it is needed to be.” He has dropped close to 30 pounds and looks faster during drills. Fans were excited when he broke to the outside and outran some of the defenders for a touchdown. That was very significant, because you could see that he was gaining his confidence. He is adjusting to the system in which he described as something new and different, which may take some time to get.
There were some highs and lows with camp. The lows this week was a fight that broke out between an offensive line and defensive lineman, which cost the players that were involved some playing time. “We do not tolerate fighting in camp. It is very disrespectful to the organization and we just do not do that.” I am very disappointed in the two players”, said Carroll.
With different personalities you expect a scuffle here and there, but hitting a player without a helmet on could call for that player to be dismissed. With the first week of training camp over, it will be interesting to see how this incident will play out for the players. Stayed tuned for the “personality saga that starts Sunday.”
