Despite missing five games this season due to a torn ligament in his foot, Bobby Wagner became a first-team All-Pro selection this season. Wagner tallied 104 tackles in just 11 games, which lead to him earning 31 of 50 votes from media members.
Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are often thought of as the identity of the Seattle Seahawks’ defense, but his teammates understand just how important he is. K.J. Wright spoke about the importance of Wagner’s return from injury.
“… When Bobby did come back, we started rolling. We started clicking and that’s important on defense. We just took off from there.”
Wagner is known for his ability to flow sideline to sideline and make plays on the football. With that said, Wagner is also able to drop back in coverage or defend the curl-flat when necessary. As a result of Wagner’s supreme athleticism, he is now thought of as one of the NFL’s best linebackers and rightfully so.
In Super Bowl XLIX, Wagner and the Legion of Boom will face a formidable foe in Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski. While Wagner praised Gronkowski for all he’s accomplished in the NFL, he made certain that it was understood that he and his teammates are not backing down from the challenge. “They do a lot of good things with him,” Wagner said. “He does a great job of catching the ball. Sometimes he’s double teamed and catches the ball, but I definitely feel like we have the athletes to match up with him and the athletes to definitely hold him.”
When asked exactly how the Seahawks would contain Gronkowski, Wagner said, “I think we just need to be physical back with him. Make sure we get our hands on him. He does a good job and he likes physicality, so he’s going to put his hands on us.
“It’s going to be fun. When you go against a tight end like that it’s always fun because he’s not shying away from contact and neither are we. We definitely are going to have fun with this matchup.”
As his time with the media came to a close, Wagner was clearly becoming increasingly irritated by all of the questions regarding Gronkowski. Wagner finally said,
“We have a lot of athletes on this team that can take care of Grownkowski. We’re comfortable with everybody.”
Multiple member of the Seahawks’ defense have mentioned Gronkowski including nickel cornerback Jeremy lane who said,
“I actually don’t think he’s that good. He’s OK. He does have a big body. But from what I’ve seen on tape, he doesn’t like you putting your hands on him. So if we put our hands on him and shake him up a little bit, he won’t catch that many balls.”
Regardless of who ends up on Gronkowski, it’s fair to say that each member of the Legion of Boom is ready for a shot to prove their worth against who many consider the NFL’s top tight end.
Hang on to your hats NFL fans; the match up between Gronkowski and Seahawks defense is shaping up to be the most intriguing matchup in Super Bowl XLIX.
