KIRKLAND – As depth charts go, Cedric Woodard and Rashad Moore started training camp 20,000 leagues under the sea.
Woodard was buried behind Chad Eaton and Norman Hand at the nose tackle position, while Moore’s odds of making the Seattle Seahawks’ roster were even longer.
Three months later, the relatively anonymous duo is practically all Seattle has left inside.
For the Seahawks to be able to continue using John Randle primarily on passing downs, Woodard and Moore will have to carry the bulk of the run-stuffing load. A team that went into training camp expecting to rotate Randle, Eaton, Hand and Rocky Bernard at defensive tackle has had to rely on Woodard and Moore.
A series of surgeries on the same knee eventually knocked Eaton out for the season, while a torn bicep tendon has dampened Hand’s chances of playing again this year.
“It was a position, if you remember going all the way back to the draft, that we knew we needed to do something with,” coach Mike Holmgren said of Seattle’s defensive tackles. “And so we did a couple of things that kind of built the pile up, and it appears as though we needed every single one of them. I’m glad we did that.”
The pile actually began building a few days before the draft, when the Seahawks decided to keep Woodard. The New England Patriots had offered the restricted free agent a one-year, $800,000 offer, and Seattle surprised some by matching it on April 9. Woodard, who played three years as a Seahawks reserve, got almost $200,000 more than he was originally scheduled to be paid and received $300,000 up front.
But there were no guarantees. His role became even more confusing when the team made a draft-day trade for Hand, who plays the same position.
“I had heard of Hand, and I knew he was a big run-stopper, so I really didn’t know what was going to happen,” Woodard said. “I was just like, whatever. Just go out there and be ready. I tried to come in (to minicamps) in shape and ready to work.”
If Woodard’s role was a bit unclear, Moore’s was as fuzzy as an FM station on a lonely stretch of highway between Memphis and Knoxville. The University of Tennessee product was taken in the sixth round of the NFL draft, just a few minutes before the trade for Hand went down. Like Woodard, he was set to head to training camp near the back of a long line.
As if that weren’t enough, Moore became the pet project of new defensive line coach Dwaine Board. The former NFL lineman stayed on Moore every practice, trying to squeeze every ounce of ability out of the rookie.
“To his credit, he stayed with it, took the criticism, got in better shape,” Holmgren said. “I’m not sure he’s ever been pushed like he was pushed in training camp.”
Moore, who was often criticized at UT for not getting the most out of his ability, got himself into playing shape during the grueling month of August.
“I worked hard with the strength coach and all those guys, and I reached a point that I’ve never reached,” Moore said. “So it was a big step.”
Along the way, the 324-pound Moore earned an unflattering nickname. Teammates started calling him Booger, although no one really knows why. It could be because his stature resembles that of Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Anthony “Booger” McFarland, or the moniker was bestowed upon Moore to further humble the young rookie.
“It was real tough,” he said. “It was: ‘Booger do this, Booger do that.’
“… I’ve never been called Booger until I got here. It made me think my nose was nasty or something.”
In preseason games, Moore showed a nose for the football, which forced the coaching staff to take notice. The team already had 11 defensive linemen with NFL starting experience, so Moore’s chances of making the team still looked bleak.
Rather than keep eight defensive linemen, as Seattle had done at the end of the 2002 season, the Seahawks kept an extra defensive tackle heading into this year while shedding one wide receiver from the typical roster limit.
Moore was essentially the 53rd player added to a 53-man roster. In hindsight, the move has paid off.
“We normally haven’t done that in the past; we’ve kept five receivers,” Holmgren said. “But in that respect, it’s good that we did that this year.”
Moore continued to flourish after the season started, eventually moving ahead of Bernard on the depth chart. This week, with Hand sidelined by the injury, Moore has a chance to get his first NFL start.
Woodard, 26, has started the past two games and four overall this season. He has been the rock of the defensive unit, attending almost every practice of both training camp and the regular season. He has played in 37 of the Seahawks’ past 40 games, including all eight this year, but has remained under the radar.
“I’m just trying to go out and help the team,” the mild-mannered Texan said this week. “It doesn’t matter if everybody’s talking about me or not.”
Woodard is in his fourth season with the Seahawks but had never started until last month. While rookies like Moore expect immediate success, Woodard knows first-hand how much patience it takes for some players to get into the starting lineup.
“I just appreciate it so much,” he said. “Just to get the opportunity, that’s all I ever wanted.”
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