RENTON — Who will be playing left tackle when the Seattle Seahawks take the field against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome on Sunday?
Will it be George Fant? Will it be Rees Odhiambo? J’Marcus Webb?
Could it even be Bradley Sowell?
As of Wednesday it remained up in the air who would have the primary responsibility of protecting Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s blind side.
“It’s wait and see, you’ll find out,” a non-committal Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “George is ready to play, Rees is ready to play, and we can use J’Marcus, too.”
Seattle was deprived its starting left tackle when Sowell went down in the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ 6-6 tie against the Arizona Cardinals with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee. Sowell had to be carted back to the locker room and did not return.
The choice to replace Sowell was Fant, about as unlikely a player who could be playing left tackle for a Super Bowl contender. Two years ago Fant, an undrafted rookie out of Western Kentucky, was a college basketball player. A year ago Fant was a barely-used tight end on the Hilltoppers’ football team. Last Sunday he was taking snaps at left tackle in overtime of an NFL game.
“I’m just blessed,” Fant said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity here.”
Fant was a standout on Western Kentucky’s basketball team, averaging 12.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during his career from 2011-15. When his basketball eligibility expired he decided to give football a crack. However, he was used sparingly in his one collegiate football season, and it wasn’t until his pro-day workouts that he caught the attention of NFL scouts. The Seahawks were intrigued by Fant’s long arms and athleticism, signing him as an undrafted rookie with the intention of turning him into an offensive lineman.
Little did the Seahawks realize his education would be tested in game conditions so quickly.
“I like where he’s developed and where he’s come from,” Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable said. “He did fine on Sunday, so it wasn’t too big for him, I think he played 24 snaps. The cool thing he had the opportunity to do was fix the issue as it happened. He got bulled one time and spun on one time, and then on the next time recovered on both of them.”
Fant isn’t Seattle’s only option at left tackle. Odhiambo, a rookie guard, has seen some time at left tackle in practice. Webb was in contention to start at right tackle before the season began. But Fant would appear to be in pole position, in large part because he’s practiced at left tackle since the beginning of training camp.
But it’s not out of the question that Sowell could be back in the starting lineup come Sunday. Sowell was expected to miss a few weeks after scans showed his injury didn’t require surgery. But apparently Sowell has made a miraculous recovery.
“Sowell looks like he’s not hurt,” Carroll said. “I don’t know how that’s happened. He’s in his stance, out of his stance. We’re going to see what happens another day from now, but he looks great. Whatever recovery he’s making he’s 1,000 miles ahead of schedule. I don’t know what that means as he starts to take a workload, but he’s barking at us right now, he thinks he can play. I don’t know how he’s able to do that, something’s in the water, I don’t know.
“You would never think (Sowell could start Sunday),” Carroll added. “He shouldn’t be able to, but he’s trying to talk us into it. I can’t imagine that’s going to happen, but we’ll see.”
And it just adds further intrigue to the question of who starts at left tackle for the Seahawks on Sunday.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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