Seahawks camp day 7: Poona Ford seizing his chance at DT; Jamar Taylor, George Fant excel
Poona Ford, from undrafted to one of the best nose tackles around?
That’s what center Justin Britt said Friday when asked about Ford, his Seahawks teammate who is poised for a big role in 2019 after his impressive rookie season with Seattle.
“I think Poona, he has a chance to end up being one of the best nose tackles that could have played,” Britt said following the seventh practice of training camp.
“He’s got that God-given leverage and knows how to use it. He knows how to control everything with his size and whatnot. He’s quick. He’s great with his hands.
“I don’t know a lot of people that would be better to practice against than Poona Ford to get me ready for Sundays... I’m very appreciative that I get to go against him.”
“God-given leverage” is a funny way to allude to Ford being short by NFL standards. The Seahawks list him at 5 feet 11. But if Ford’s 5-11, then his University of Texas Longhorns don’t like football that much.
His lack of height is why every one of the league’s 32 teams drafted 256 players last year, and not one of them was Ford. In his final season at Texas, Ford wrecked offensive lines and backfields as a nose tackle in a 3-4 scheme. He was the Big 12 Conference’s defensive player of the year in 2017.
But, again, he’s under 6 feet tall. So teams wouldn’t draft him.
But Seahawks coach Pete Carroll loved how hard Ford played at Texas. Carroll loves how Ford chases down the ball no matter where it is on the field, or late in the play it is. And he loves low the ground Ford is—lower than the taller offensive linemen who can’t move him, even in the NFL.
So what that the Seahawks use a 4-3, not a 3-4. They like at least one of their defensive tackles to basically play the nose, head up on the center, or barely shading to one side of him.
Last year Ford was that. He became Carroll’s latest undrafted rookie to contribute right away in Seattle, a league leader in rookie free agents for many years. When the Seahawks played better running teams such as the Los Angeles Rams, Ford was one of their defensive tackles. When Seattle played pass-first teams, Nazair Jones was active for the game in the defensive-tackle rotation, and Ford was inactive.
Ford’s play last season earned him the chance for more time coming into this year. Then Shamar Stephen, Seattle’s primarily run-stopping defensive tackle last season, left and signed with Minnesota. Then last month the league suspended starting defensive tackle Jarran Reed, who had 10 1/2 sacks last season as the Seahawks’ other starting defensive tackle, for the first six games of this season because of an alleged domestic-violence incident.
The door is wide open for Ford.
Friday, he again was charging through it and the line of scrimmage while on the starting defensive line, next to Reed.
He showed off his leverage advantage during the daily pass-rush drill. Ford got under Britt and pushed him back. When they went again on the next snap, Ford sped around Britt’s left side.
“You’re asking the offensive lineman to get lower than him. If he bends down, it’s almost impossible to get lower than him,” Britt said.
“He understands that, and he understands that that’s his strength. On (top of) that, he’s a strong player with a quick mind, quick hands.
“Like I said, he’s going to be really good.”
Here’s what else I saw, heard and thought of the seventh, shoulder-pads practice of training camp, which Russell Wilson missed for the first time ever.
TAYLOR EMERGING?: The Seahawks have questions about depth at cornerback and who will become their regular nickel defensive back.
Jamar Taylor is trying to answer those.
In a league with a collective bargaining agreement and coaches’ rules limiting contact and making an already-difficult job for defensive backs darn near impossible in practices, the veteran of the Broncos, Cardinals, Browns and Dolphins since 2013 stood out Friday.
During a drill of wide receivers versus defensive backs near the goal line, Taylor stayed chest to chest with Tyler Lockett as the Seahawks’ top wide out faked inside, then faked outside and tried to cut inside of Taylor. When Geno Smith’s pass arrived, Taylor was right there to bat it from Lockett at the goal line.
A few reps later, Taylor was against Lockett again. Lockett ran a fade route trying to separate from Taylor toward the back left of the end zone. Taylor refused to be left behind. He knocked away that pass from Smith, too.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” coaches and players yelled at Taylor.
During an 11-on-11 scrimmage in the red zone, Taylor raced up into the short right flat and broke up a pass to end the drive.
On Thursday, Taylor was the second nickel defense when the Seahawks went to five defensive backs. Rookie draft choice Ugo Amadi had been the backup nickel to current front-liner Akeem King.
WRs vs DBs: Taylor shined in a drill of wide receiver against defensive backs near the goal line. It had the competitiveness of the daily pass-rush drill between offensive and defensive backs.
Jaron Brown made a strong move inside with his hands to repel and beat starting cornerback Shaquill Griffin off the line for a catch from Smith. Griffin clapped his hands in frustration for that play. In their next face-off, Brown shoved Griffin into the back of the end zone before the ball arrived. With Griffin urging them to, the NFL officials who have been in practices this week flagged Brown for interference on that one.
Rookie wide receiver Gary Jennings leaped at the back corner of the end zone, grabbed Smith lofted pass and help on as cornerback Simeon Thomas crashed into him and they crashed into the end zone.
Undrafted free agent Nyqwan Murray, signed this week, jumped over fellow rookie Ugo Amadi at the goal line and took the ball off the fourth-round pick’s back for a score.
FANT STONEWALLS: For a college basketball power football who’s really only played the sport at a highly competitive level for three years—heck, for anybody—George Fant has been showing strong pass protection in camp. Friday the backup to Duane Brown at left tackle and extra tight end when Seattle wants to go to a heavy, run-blocking formation stood up 2018 third-round pick Rasheem Green on consecutive snaps in the daily pass-rush drill.
The second time, Fant’s punch to Green’s chest plate pushed the defensive end back two steps.
The offensive line won most of the day’s battles, a positive for Carroll, coordinator Brian Schotteheimer and line coach Mike Solari. They have set improving pass protection as a top goal.
Right tackle Germain Ifedi stopped fast edge rusher Jacob Martin twice, the second time staying with Martin when last year’s draft choice tried a spin move.
Left guard Ethan Pocic, who again started while Mike Iupati rested a sprained foot, repelled defensive end Branden Jackson on consecutive snaps.
Offensive tackle Jamarco Jones, last year’s fifth-round pick who missed all of 2018 after surgery to repair a high-ankle sprain, stymied defensive end Cassius Marsh on consecutive snaps, on inside and outside moves.
When Ifedi went again, he kept Marsh out of the backfield, too.
LUANI STRONG-SAFETY TIME: For the second consecutive practice, when the team had a run-heavy, 11-on-11 scrimmage, Shalom Luani was the strong safety instead of Bradley McDougald.
The starting safety pairing again was McDougald at strong and Tedric Thompson at free.
UP NEXT: The Seahawks’ annual mock game complete with game officials and a full pregame warmup routine is Saturday afternoon at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell. It is open to the public. There is no tackling in the mock game, as in all preseason practices.
A league source told me Wilson was due to fly back from the funeral in Virginia to the Seattle area Friday night and that he will participate in the mock game, as usual.
The first preseason game is Thursday night, against Denver at CenturyLink Field.
This story was originally published August 2, 2019 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Seahawks camp day 7: Poona Ford seizing his chance at DT; Jamar Taylor, George Fant excel."
