| 31 July 2009
A majority of observers figured that Seattle was going to draft an offensive lineman in the 2009 draft at a fairly high position. Some figured the team would draft more than one and there was talk that their first choice could be an offensive lineman. When the dust settled, Ruskell had at first seemed to bypass the opportunity to draft one of the best offensive line prospects by trading the Seahawks second round choice to Denver for their first rounder in 2010 but he kept making calls and kept the Seahawks in the game until another opportunity presented itself. He then traded the Seahawks third and fourth round choices to move back into the second round and grab Max Unger of Oregon.
Unger, who played tackle and center in college, will initially work at guard for the Seahawks. He was one of the top 50 guard prospects in the nation coming out of high school despite only playing organized football since the ninth grade. He recorded close to 100 pancake blocks as a junior for the 2002 BIIF champions. Although he hasn’t had experience playing guard in college, he projected as a guard/center with most NFL teams. Considered one of the two elite centers in this draft along with Alex Mack, Unger was expected by some scouts to go in either the bottom of the first round or early in the second. As Unger kept falling past the top of the second round, Ruskell kept trying to make a deal to get back in the round and nab him knowing he wouldn’t last long and he finally got his lineman with the 49th overall selection after making the trade. Seattle figures to have gotten very good value by acquiring Denver’s first rounder next year and drafting Unger too for whom they would have gladly spent the high second round pick they traded to Denver if the draft had gone in a different direction.
Ruskell has a history of trading up in the first three rounds and spending one of Seattle’s first four picks in the process to nab a player he covets. He did it with Lofa Tatupu who then made the Pro Bowl his first three seasons with the Seahawks. He then did it again last season with John Carlson who then set most of the current Seahawk single season tight end records in just his rookie season. Now, you can add Unger to that list of players that Ruskell spent picks to move up and grab before another team could move in and steal the player away from him. He also traded up to acquire Deon Butler in the 2009 draft. Both players warrant keeping your eyes on this season to see if Ruskell once again spent draft picks wisely to acquire special players as his prior acquisitions turned out to be. Unger has that kind of ability according to most scouts. To continue reading press Read more... below.Unger has impressed coaches in OTA’s this off-season and has been working behind Mike Wahle at left guard even though he is listed on the depth chart as the third center. Expect him to also see time at center in training camp as he prepares to become Seattle’s backup center for the 2009 campaign. A lot of football related observers, sportswriters, and fans alike feel that it will be difficult to keep him out of Seattle’s starting lineup before the season is over.
Unger’s main strengths coming out of Oregon was his combination of size, toughness, solid technique and short-area quickness. Unger started 51 consecutive games and earned all-conference honors in every one of his four seasons. He was named first-team All-Pac-10 the past two years and even more impressive is that he earned those accolades at both primary positions he played. He earned honors at left tackle in 2005 and 2006 and center in 2007 and 2008. With his ability to play any position on the offensive line, Unger becomes Seattle’s most versitle lineman. He fills the void that “Pork Chop” Womack recently vacated after many years as Seattle’s “jack of all trades” lineman.
NFL.com has this to say about Unger from his profile after the combine:
Positives: Understands positioning and can turn and seal his opponent away from the ballcarrier. Sustains his block through the whistle. Excellent hand placement, balance, anchor and mirroring technique as a pass blocker. Good technician who relies on his short-area quickness rather than size or strength for his success. Recognizes blitzes and picks them up consistently. Quick off the snap and able to get his hands into the defender's chest smoothly. Outside at tackle, has at least adequate quickness out of his stance to maintain a wall for the passer. Effective cut blocker inside and gets off the ground quickly. Few collegiate centers have his size and effectiveness on inside traps as well as pulls outside the tackle. Excellent quickness and balance getting out of his stance. Good foot speed to find targets downfield. Athletic enough to adjust to linebackers and safeties in space. Uses his feet and proper angles, instead of pure strength, to sustain. Very durable. Team leader on and off the field. Versatile enough to play left tackle and center at Oregon, moving inside to make room for JUCO transfer Feneki Tupou before 2007.
Negatives: Oregon's offensive scheme hid his deficiencies in drive blocking. Better suited inside than out. Adept at the shotgun snap, but needs experience with the quarterback under center. Will whiff in space when he overextends.
Seattle is installing the zone blocking system as its main run platform this season in its second year under Mike Solari, it’s offensive line coach emeritus. Unger projects to have the necessary skills to excel within that system because of his excellent cut blocking skills and ability to get to the second level downfield. He can handle linebackers and safeties in space once he gets past the first level of blocks. He has demonstrated an above average skill at pulling and getting outside the tackles from the center position with good foot speed. He’s also shown himself to be a leader in the locker room. Some scouts had Unger as the top center prospect in the 2009 draft instead of Alex Mack.
Unger’s negatives mostly stem from his playing at the tackle position with it having been noted that he’s better suited to inside play. At center, he needs more experience at snapping the ball when the quarterback is under center as Oregon played the shotgun formation and he therefore has more experience as a shotgun snapper. Proper coaching should correct those deficiencies quickly and clear the way for Unger to become very productive in his rookie season at either the guard or center position.
Seattle definitely needed to upgrade the interior of its offensive line this season and there were quite a few opinions floating around that they should have replaced at least one guard and their center with new blood. (See yesterday’s Seahawk Addicts article on the guard position). Unger can play both positions and eventually should find a home at whichever position is truly the neediest. That hasn’t been determined yet and probably won’t be until training camp is well under way or even until the season starts and they begin playing serious football in earnest. Spencer and Sims are both penciled in as starters at the beginning of training camp at center and right guard. Both are expected to benefit from the zone blocking system as they attempt to take their play to the next level. Unger will push both players as well as Wahle to pick up the level of their play if they want to keep their status as starters. Wahle is not expected to play this year by some observers due to his season ending injury from last season and Unger would probably be the most likely candidate to become the starting left guard in his place.
He is undoubtedly a good first step in the restoration of Seattle’s offensive line to the excellence it displayed in 2005 when it was touted to be one of the very best in the league if not the best. If other players like Sims, Willis, Spencer, and Wrotto who are all young offensive linemen, can pickup the zone blocking system and flourish along with finding a suitable replacement at left tackle when Walter Jones retires, Seattle could very well develop a group of players who once again will spend many seasons playing together and emerge as one of the best in football. Expect Unger to be one of the lynchpins of the interior of that hypothetical line. He appears to have exceptional talent and is expected to develop into one of the best draft choices Ruskell has made while in Seattle.
Many analysts still consider Seattle’s offensive line to be their weak spot particularly the interior. If there are still weak spots in the offensive line as the season progresses, expect the Seahawks to continue to add young talented offensive linemen to their roster through the draft or veterans through free agency in 2010. This season, Max Unger should become one of the main building blocks as the season progresses.
Hasta,
BillT
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I thought everyone was high on Unger.