Analysis: Seahawks Maintain Commitment to Building O-Line Selecting Abraham Lucas
Aiming to get back to their roots with an athletic, physical offensive line and a strong run game, the Seahawks drafted their second tackle in as many days in Friday's third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting Washington State standout Abraham Lucas with the 72nd overall pick.
Like his new teammate Charles Cross, who Seattle selected only 24 hours earlier with the ninth selection to be its new blind side protector at left tackle, Lucas played two seasons in coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense. He started as a true freshman and earned Freshman All-American honors for the Cougars and even amid a pair of coaching changes, he continued to play at a high level in a Run N' Shoot scheme.
As expected coming from an offense built around volume passing games, the 6-foot-6, 315-pound Lucas excelled in pass protection throughout his college career and will enter the NFL far more polished in that department. According to Pro Football Focus, he only allowed a single sack on more than 600 pass blocking snaps over his final two seasons on campus while playing against quality Pac-12 competition.
Though refinement will be required in terms of syncing his footwork with his hands in pass protection and he battles persistent leverage issues due to his height, Lucas plays with a nasty edge and opponents will struggle to move him with bull rushes when he keeps his hands inside. A plus-athlete for his position with light, nimble footwork, he held his own against speed rushes as well and does a good job sliding and effectively using his length to mirror opposing defenders.
If there's an area for Lucas to improve upon protecting the quarterback, while he plays with plus-balance and rarely gets caught lunging, his hand placement was inconsistent throughout his time at Washington State. At the next level, he will have to do a better job of landing his strikes with precision or he could be vulnerable to counter moves such as spins and swim moves against seasoned rushers.
In another similarity to Cross, due to the offenses he played in over the course of his college career, Lucas didn't receive many opportunities to run block and never played out of a three-point stance, so there will be an obvious adjustment period transitioning to a pro-style offense. With that said, he looked comfortable with his hand in the dirt and firing out of his stance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile and the coaching staff has no reservations about him making that adaptation.
Despite his athletic traits, Lucas' mobility wasn't as apparent on his college tape in the run game. He had trouble with executing reach blocks, particularly when trying to reach a backside defender on zone runs, and his second level blocking proved to be unrefined with poor angles to linebackers and safeties. He has the movement skills to be effective on these concepts, but he will need to work diligently on his technique in this regard to win the positioning battle at the next level.
As far as his blocking on gap concepts, Lucas plays with a clear mean streak and while he isn't a stout drive blocker by any means, he finishes off his blocks in the run game with authority and will gleefully turn his opponent into part of the turf. The key for him moving into the NFL will be continuing to work on leverage, as staying low will help his effectiveness and prevent defenders from getting underneath his pads to stand him up.
As a day two selection, Lucas will have to earn his spot in the starting lineup for the Seahawks and will have quality competition to square off against with second-year tackles Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan likely vying for playing time on the right side. With his pass protecting expertise and aggressive demeanor, however, if he can quickly acclimate to a new pro-style system, he has a good chance to carve out a role as a rookie and become a fixture on the line for years to come.
