In the NFL, there are two kinds of players: key performers and role players. If you’re the latter, your team’s personnel department is always looking to replace you.
In the Seattle Seahawks’ championship season of 2013, a handful of part-time role players were called upon to play major roles. Here are three former role players that will play major roles in Seattle’s quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
Doug Baldwin
Sidney Rice is gone. Golden Tate is gone. Percy Harvin was mostly missing in action in 2013. The remaining top-performing Seahawks wideout, Doug Baldwin, began the 2013 season as the No. 4 wide receiver.
The Seahawks did not intend to have to rely upon the former free agent out of Stanford as much as they did. Despite his fourth receiver role on the depth chart, Baldwin managed to be the Seahawks’ second-most productive receiver for quarterback Russell Wilson. Baldwin became a surprise contributor to the Seahawks’ passing game right out of the gate, leading the 2011 Seahawks with 51 catches as a rookie. He all but vanished in the 2012 season due to injuries, so little was expected of him for 2013.
His 50 catches for 778 yards in 2013 (second only to the since-departed Tate) were a reflection of the disappearance of Rice and Harvin throughout most of the season. Clearly, he can produce at an effective starter’s level, when healthy.
He’ll need to do so again in 2014. With Harvin returning as the No. 1 receiving option, Baldwin is the default starter on the opposite end of the line. In all likelihood, Seattle will select a receiver in the early rounds of the upcoming NFL draft. Even if so, at worst, Baldwin will be expected to be the all-important No. 3 receiver, if not hold on to the other starter’s role until such time as the rookie can displace him.
Michael Bowie
Second-year offensive lineman Michael Bowie, the Seahawks’ last seventh-round draft choice in 2013, was called upon to fill-in for eight starts on the Seahawks’ offensive front. With the departures of former starting right tackle Breno Giacomini (New York Jets) and former starting guard Paul McQuistan (Cleveland Browns) Bowie is in line to leverage his surprise-starting experience into a full-time starting role in the upcoming season.
It’s worth mentioning that both Giacomini and McQuistan were former back-up / role players who fought their ways onto the top of the depth chart. Both former role players were replaced — or are about to be — by Bowie and/or a draft pick.
If, as expected, the Seahawks draft a receiver early, they may turn their attention to the offensive line for a starter of value. Until that time, Bowie is in prime position to make a claim for one of two legitimate shots at a starting role.
Jordan Hill
For second-year defensive tackle Jordan Hill, calling him a role player may be charitable. Hill never cracked the starting lineup and only played in four games total (1.5 sacks) before his season was cut short by injury.
With the departures of key defensive line contributors Red Bryant (Jacksonville Jaguars), Chris Clemons (Jaguars) and Clinton McDonald (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Hill not only has an opportunity to grab a prominent role in the defensive line rotation, he’ll be counted on to become a defensive line leader. It remains to be seen whether or not Hill is up to the task, but the Seahawks drafted the feisty hill in the third round last year for just this purpose. If there is ever going to be a “Jordan Hill time” it’s now.
On Seahawks.com, Seahawks General Manager John Schneider had this to say about the Seahawks’ offseason: “… we’re pleased with the way things are going … we expected some attrition along the way. It’s always very hard to make those decisions and move forward, but we’re very excited about the young players that we have on this team.”
If Schneider can be taken at his word, the Seahawks are probably not going to make any big free agent splashes before the draft. The only competition Baldwin, Bowie and Hill will face for their newfound key player opportunities will come from the 2014 draft. Let’s see how these three role players do now that they’ve been called to step up.
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