By Bob Condotta / The Seattle Times
RENTON — This is what the Seahawks knew for sure they’d get from the return of Bobby Wagner.
Last spring, shortly after he re-signed following his year away in L.A., Wagner approached running back Kenneth Walker III, one of the players who had arrived while he was gone.
The two began talking about workouts and in-season recovery routines. Walker was forced to admit he didn’t really have one. Like many rookies he spent his first season in the NFL preoccupied with simply feeling his way around.
Out of that conversation grew an invitation from Wagner to join him in regular workouts along with receiver DK Metcalf.
“Just getting my routine down with stretching and recovery,” Walker said. “He’s helped me a lot.”
Said Metcalf: “He’s taken Ken under his wing.”
None of that is a surprise.
Wagner was renowned for similar acts during his 10-year run with the Seahawks, in which he was voted a captain of the defense by teammates six times.
Some wondered if the Seahawks would be getting the same player now that Wagner is 33 years old and entering his 12th season in the NFL.
He is the second-oldest position player on the team behind only special-teams captain Nick Bellore, and according to Pro Football Reference, the second-oldest active inside linebacker (Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David is six months older).
That the Seahawks signed Wagner to a one-year deal that guaranteed him $5.5 million compared to the $18 million average of his previous deal with the team (he can get another $1.5 million in incentives) was at least one indication that they were hedging their bets.
At the time of his signing, the team hinted that Wagner might not be an every-down player anymore.
“I think (coach) Pete (Carroll) and (defensive coordinator) Clint (Hurtt) have a really cool plan in terms of he doesn’t have to be out there 1,000 plays,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in March of Wagner, who had played 1,054 or more each of the previous four years and at least 93% of his team’s snaps every season since his rookie year. “They’ll be able to see how he does and be able to manage the situations and especially with the new guys coming in, with (free-agent signees) Julian (Love) and (Bush), like how they are going to rotate all those guys. It will be cool.”
There also didn’t appear to be a guarantee that Wagner would step right back into his role as the “green dot” helmet-wearing play-caller (the green-dot player is the one on defense who gets the calls in his headset to relay to the rest of the team).
It’s four games into the season, and if Wagner has lost a step, it’s not much of one, if at all.
The influential analytic site Pro Football Focus gives Wagner similar grades to every other season.
His overall defensive grade is 86.9 (on a scale of 0-100, with 90 considered elite) fourth among all linebackers. He’s only had three marks higher in his career for a full season.
He also has a 93.2 run defense grade, best of any linebacker and second-best of any front seven defensive player other than Nick Bosa of the 49ers.
While some have questioned if maybe the one area where Wagner might show some slippage is in pass coverage, his PFF grades and stats are similar to his career marks.
According to PFF, Wagner has allowed a passer rating off 107.0, which is higher than his last three seasons but lower than 2019 and not drastically higher than his career average of 95.9 (and also swayed by the disaster that was the Rams game for everyone, when he allowed a rating of 118.0).
Then there are the raw numbers.
Wagner has 50 tackles in four games, on pace for 212 for the season. Or if you prefer, 200 for a 16-game regular season, which was the norm until 2021.
Either would shatter the team single-season record of 183 set by Jordyn Brooks in 2021.
And it’s not a matter of simply making a lot of meaningless tackles.
According to the FTN Network, the average depth of Wagner’s tackles against the run is just 2.2 yards, second-best in the NFL. That means he’s making a lot of tackles at or near the line of scrimmage.
So yes, you can give Wagner all the credit you want for the team’s vastly superior run defense this year. The Seahawks have the best yards per carry allowed at 3.18 after ranking 26th last season at 4.86.
Wagner has played all but eight snaps while wearing the green dot, sitting out only the final two garbage-time series against the Giants when they sent in Jon Rhattigan to finish things out at middle linebacker.
“He’s doing everything he’s always been able to do, and he looks great doing it,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday. “We’re really fired up for him. He fits so well in the scheme and control and everything too. It’s just worked out great.”
Wagner insisted before the season he didn’t feel he had to validate himself in any way. Wednesday, he echoed that sentiment.
Asked if he pays attention to the grades of PFF or other such assessments, he said: “Not really. When it works in your favor you love it, when it doesn’t, you don’t love it.”
And when asked if he feels he’s playing the same way at 33 as earlier in his career, he first jokingly asked where the questioner had gotten his age and that maybe it was wrong.
He noted that while he’s pleased with the start; there’s a long way to go.
And, true, the Seahawks’ improved defensive stats of late have also been built against an 0-5 Carolina team and a 1-4 Giants team averaging just one TD a game.
“I feel pretty good,” Wagner said. “I feel like I’m making plays. I still feel like there’s things that I can do to improve my game, which is something that I always pride myself on, is trying to improve and get better. I think it’s hard to say whether or not someone’s doing good. There’s so much more season left. It’s off to a good start and there’s a lot more stuff to do. I’ll just leave that to you guys to judge it. But I won’t really care about it, no offense.”
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