KIRKLAND – When Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren walked into the team’s Monday press conference, he probably felt like the high school kid who had finally nailed down a date with the prom queen.
Ambling alongside Holmgren was 325-pound first-round draft pick Marcus Tubbs, who is just the kind of player that had eluded the Seahawks in the past.
“I’m thrilled to have him,” Holmgren said Monday when Tubbs was unveiled to the local media. “There has been a little frustration on my part over the progress of our defensive bulk up front.”
Like his name implies, Tubbs will fill that need in a big way. Although he’s by no means out of shape, Tubbs has the kind of size that has been missing from defensive lines of Seahawks past.
Whereas prom queens sometimes require constant attention, sturdy defensive tackles often come with some baggage of their own. Guys big enough to warrant a first-round draft pick are frequently saddled with labels like “underachiever” or “takes plays off.”
Anyone who has read scouting reports on Tubbs might realize that he’s no different.
But the knock on Tubbs in college might have had something to do with the fact that the University of Texas played him almost the entire game, which is hard to do for a big defensive tackle.
“Me and the other defensive tackle played 80 plays a game. That’s something that, unfortunately, we just had to do,” Tubbs said. “But it made us stronger people.”
Tubbs refuted the talk about him conserving energy while on the field.
“You never want to take a play off,” he said. “But you do get tired. I’m human, and I get tired just like the next person. It’s just something you have to do.”
In Seattle, Tubbs can expect longer periods of inactivity. The Seahawks’ defensive package doesn’t cause linemen to wear out as quickly because they rotate them frequently – particularly at the tackle position. Tubbs could shuffle in with as many as three other defensive tackles, including 2003 starters Rashad Moore and Cedric Woodard.
“When you are that big, you have to take care of them,” general manager Bob Ferguson said after Tubbs was selected with the 23rd overall pick Saturday. “Marcus is going to be a target; he is that big. If you’re really good and quick and strong, you can’t just have one guy block you; you have to have two guys.”
To look at Tubbs, he doesn’t have the appearance of some overweight linemen who have the reputation for being lazy. The 6-foot-4 Tubbs carries his weight remarkably well.
He is a different kind of tackle than the Seahawks could have drafted had they traded up a couple spots to get Vince Wilfork, a 344-pound widebody from the University of Miami. Wilfork’s questions had to do with staying in shape and keeping his weight down.
That has never been a problem for Tubbs, who was a basketball player in high school and doesn’t put on many excess pounds in the offseason.
“It’s not something I really need to focus on,” he said of maintaining his weight. “I’m a big guy, but just working out, it’s something that happens naturally.”
Tubbs has added about 80 pounds from his days as a high school basketball player and tight end.
“He grew into it nicely,” said Seahawks linebacker D.D. Lewis, who played two years with Tubbs at Texas. “He didn’t just balloon up to his current weight.”
Tubbs was dressed in a nice suit Monday, but he’ll show off his frame in a football uniform this weekend when the Seahawks hold a mandatory minicamp. The first-round pick is eager to get his NFL career started.
“I’m so excited,” Tubbs said. “When we were flying in, I saw the trees and the mountains. I’ve never seen anything like this, so it put a smile on my face instantly.”
Tubbs wasn’t the only one smiling Monday. The kid with the prom queen was pretty happy, too.
“We are excited about Marcus being part of the Seahawks,” Holmgren said. “I just know that this is going to be a good thing for this football team.”
The Tubbs file
A look at Seahawks first-round pick Marcus Tubbs:
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