NorthHawk wrote:The travesty of that trade was two fold.
1) They didn't have a viable replacement for Unger (and still haven't found a long term answer)
So we really got nothing out of that trade except long term lack of production at Center.
That they would draft players hoping that if they washed out at G or T then they could try them at Center says a lot about how they look at the position.
The only thing Jimmy G. provided was mostly unfulfilled excitement at what RW could do with Grahm in the Red Zone...by the time he became important his contract needed an expensive extension and our GM wanted to move on from what had become a "black mark" for his eagerness to "roll the dice"...and Jimmy got released only to punctuate his pain by being the "hero" for his new Green Bay Packer team in a clutch game we needed to win...so bad with an exclamation point. Justin Britt wasn't drafted in the "hope" of playing center if he didn't fit at T/G...he was a highly touted run blocking 6'6" tackle. Many teams slide drafted tackles inside to G if they can't handle pass pro at RT. He only was moved to center because Patrick Lewis was waived. Justin Britt played so well at center that his contract was renewed and only an ACL injury allowed Pocic to step in and keep the job after Britt was waived on failed physical. Both Britt and Pocic were productive centers without being all-pro caliber...pretty high bar for any O-line member to achieve.
(From wikipedia)
With Pro Bowl center Max Unger battling injuries, Lewis received more playing time than expected. In the 2014 season, he played in six games for the Seahawks, who kept a 4–0 record with Lewis as starting center. Even though Unger was traded to the New Orleans Saints in the offseason, Lewis was not named the starting center before the 2015 season. However, he regained the starting job from Drew Nowak prior to Week 10. He did an excellent job after regaining the center spot. On August 30, 2016, he was waived by the Seahawks Patrick Lewis was being "counted on" to be "next man up"
As for 2015 and 2016 production our team finished 10-6 and 10-5-1 (won NFC West) losing in 2nd playoff game of each year. Both years RW was able to throw for over 4000 yards and 2015 Thomas Rawls as an UDFA rookie had 800+ yards while in 2016 he split time with Christine Michael for 800 yds combined. Did we suffer losing Unger? No Doubt! Our resulting O-line wasn't stellar...but it wasn't embarrassing either as Justin Britt played well after taking over with Patrick Lewis's release.