Why was this the biggest day yet for Seahawks this summer? Ziggy Ansah.
The Seahawks’ desperately needy pass rush finally has its top pass rusher.
Defensive end Ziggy Ansah fully participated in position drills with fellow defensive linemen and new teammates for the first time Tuesday. He’d been sidelined in the training room or conditioning on a side field for the 3 1/2 months since signing with Seattle.
Shoulder surgery last year ended his 2018 season and time with the Detroit Lions. This month, while conditioning back into shape for Seattle, Ansah injured his groin.
“He’s on his way back,” coach Pete Carroll said following the Seahawks’ practice Tuesday. “Shoulder is healed. His groin is healed. He’s ready to battle. ...
“He made it.
“He’ll probably play past the third quarter this week,” Carroll said of Thursday night’s final preseason game, at home against Oakland.
“No. I’m kidding. We’ll wait till next week.”
It was that kind of jovial mood around the team Tuesday. Its prized offseason acquisition was finally on the field.
It’s not overstating to say Ansah practicing made Tuesday the biggest day for the team since it traded Frank Clark in April. For the Seahawks to get back to the playoffs and, as they have again set as their goal, beyond, their defense must pressure quarterbacks with its front four linemen.
Ansah is the Seahawks’ best and most accomplished one. A 2015 Pro Bowler, Ansah has earned $52 million sacking quarterbacks in his seven-year career. He has 48 career sacks in six NFL seasons, all with Detroit.
Without him on the field, and with defensive tackle Jarran Reed suspended for the first six games of this season, Seattle has had no pass rusher who’s had more than 5 1/2 sacks in an NFL season. This preseason, defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. has been blitzing far more than past Seahawks defenses have under Carroll, to try to bolster the pass rush. Blitzing linebackers and defensive backs has the potential to expose a changed, unproven secondary this season.
The Seahawks feel Ansah rushing off the edge has the potential to single-handedly mitigate that risk.
The 30-year-old veteran repeatedly took off his helmet and threw back his head to reset his long braids under his lid. He was noticeably rusty with his footwork in drills firing out of his three-point stance into a padded sled. Defensive-line coaches worked with him on the side of the drill on his balance and leverage.
That’s the importance of him practicing for the first time this week. It gives him a couple of days to literally better get his feet under him before the first game-week practices of the regular season next week.
Seattle opens the season Sept. 8 at home against Cincinnati.
“It is (big), just to get the information about him and how he...just to get the newness out of him and have a couple days back to practice I would think will be really important for him,” Carroll said.
“I wish we had two, three (weeks). I would have taken them all. But we will make the most of this. ...
“We feel very secure that he is ready to go now.”
But ready for what, exactly?
Ansah has not played as many as 500 snaps in a season since 2015, his Pro Bowl year for the Lions. That’s 31 snaps per game, about half of what a defense plays in a contest.
What is the Seahawks’ use plan for Ansah, especially in games early this season while he re-acclimates?
Carroll wasn’t about to give away state secrets about that.
“No, you’ve got to wait and see on that one, OK?” Carroll said. “I’ll let you know as we get there. I don’t know enough yet, but I do have some thoughts in mind about it.
“But I’m not ready to reveal those.”
Seattle traded Clark, its top sack man, to Kansas City this spring because they decided to pay the almost $20 million per year Clark wanted in a new contract to All-Pro Bobby Wagner instead. Then the NFL suspended Reed for the first six games of this season following an alleged domestic-violence incident. Reed was second to Clark on the Seahawks with 10 1/2 sacks in 2018.
Without Ansah on the field, the only player on Seattle’s 90-man preseason roster who has as many as five sacks in any league season has been defensive end Cassius Marsh. He had 5 1/2 sacks for San Francisco last season. He’s been with the Seahawks, Patriots, 49ers and now Seahawks again since 2017.
That’s sub-optimal in this passer-and-sack-the-passer NFL.
Yes, the Seahawks’ 2019 season got a little brighter on Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 2:18 PM.
