Seattle Seahawks Expected to Activate Abraham Lucas From Injured Reserve
After making it through practice this week without any hitches, the Seattle Seahawks will receive a major shot in the arm along the offensive line with the return of right tackle Abraham Lucas to the starting lineup against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13.
Lucas, who has been sidelined by a knee issue since Seattle's season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams and received an injection back in September, is expected to be activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster before Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium. The team will need to make a corresponding move without any roster spots currently available.
“Abe had a good week," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said of Lucas' progress after Tuesday's practice. "Everything is kind of on schedule as we’ve planned it quite some time ago, aiming for this week, and he did his part.”
Interestingly, while Lucas' return will provide a much-needed boost, the Seahawks will still start their ninth different offensive line combination in 12 games in Arlington. Dealing with a toe injury that prevented him from practicing this week, guard Phil Haynes was ruled out on Wednesday, meaning rookie Anthony Bradford will start next to Lucas for the first time.
Selected 72nd overall in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Lucas became a day one starter for the Seahawks opposite of fellow rookie Charles Cross. Starting 16 regular season games together, the pair made history becoming only the third duo of rookie tackles to start a season opener in the league since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger.
Though Lucas did gave up nine sacks as a rookie, he performed at a high level for Seattle protecting Geno Smith, allowing 28 total pressures in 16 starts and receiving a stellar 76.2 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. He played some of his best football down the stretch, allowing two or fewer pressures in each of his final three starts, including a playoff loss to San Francisco in the wild card round.
Exceeding low expectations as a run blocker after playing his entire college career in pass-happy Air Raid and Run N' Shoot offensive schemes, Lucas also earned a respectable 65.1 run blocking grade from PFF, which ranked 31st out of 59 tackles.
After slowly being worked back into game shape on the practice field, the Seahawks should have Abraham Lucas back in the starting lineup on Thursday for the first time in more than two months.
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Before exiting with knee soreness early in the third quarter in the Seahawks opener, Lucas didn't allow any pressures on 19 pass protection reps. After his departure, the Rams started to feast on Smith and took advantage of the young tackle's absence as they shut down the home team in the final two quarters.
With Lucas out since mid-September, Seattle has started three different tackles - Stone Forsythe, Jake Curhan, and Jason Peters - multiple games at the right tackle position in his absence with mostly subpar results. Since Week 2, 39.8 percent of opposing pressures on Smith have come from the right tackle position, the highest mark among qualified quarterbacks in the NFL.
Compared to the rest of the league, Forsythe and Curhan struggled mightily in Lucas' stead, currently ranking 81st and 82nd out of 84 qualified tackles in pass protection efficiency with both players hovering under 94 percent. Peters has only been a slight upgrade starting the previous two games, posting a 94.8 percent pass efficiency rate. Between the three players, they have allowed 59 quarterback pressures, eight sacks, and 11 quarterback hits.
Since Lucas has been out for more than two months, the Seahawks may ease him back into action rotating Peters in for a handful of series against the Cowboys. When asked about that possibility, Carroll didn't tip his hand with a coy response, but confirmed he would have no reservations about continuing to mix the veteran in as part of a platoon.
"You’re going to have to wait and see on that one. Jason has been doing a really good job. I love when he’s out there playing for us. I have no problem with that.”
