With Chase Young and Washington’s pass rush, Brandon Shell’s status is key for Seahawks
Brandon Shell isn’t exactly showy.
“He’s real quiet. He’s really quiet,” his coach, Pete Carroll, said. “Doesn’t say a word.”
Yet Shell’s status for the Seahawks’ game at Washington is going to have a huge say in whether Seattle (9-4) wins and clinches an NFC playoff spot Sunday.
Shell has had a high-ankle sprain for almost a month. He missed two games with it. Last weekend he came back to start again at right tackle against the New York Jets. But he didn’t last half the game. Chad Wheeler, signed the day before from the practice squad, had to play 60% of the Seahawks’ offensive snaps in their 40-3 victory.
Some of that was precaution: getting him out of a blowout to preserve him.
Why so much attention and care on a quiet, steady right tackle this week?
Chase Young. Montez Sweat. Ryan Kerrigan.
Those three have 18 sacks between them for Washington rushing off the edges at offensive tackles. They are a large reason Washington (6-7) U-turned from a 1-5 start and has won four straight to take the lead in the NFC East with three games left in the regular season.
The pass rushers are a bigger deal for the Seahawks than quarterback Alex Smith missing Washington’s latest practice with a calf injury he got last weekend. Backup Dwayne Haskins took the first-team snaps Wednesday.
Young, Sweat and the swarming defense are why Washington is near a first playoff appearance in five seasons, in former Panthers’ coach Ron Rivera’s first season leading the previously wayward team without a nickname. Washington is ranked fourth overall on defense, and third against the pass.
Last week Young, the second-overall choice in April’s NFL draft, had a sack, two hits on the quarterback, two batted passes, a forced fumble and a 47-yard return of a fumble by San Francisco Nick Mullens off a sack. Young’s score sparked 23 unanswered points for Washington in its 23-15 road win over the 49ers.
Washington won that game without scoring an offensive touchdown. Its defense had four sacks, 11 pass break-ups, and a dozen hits on Mullens. Washington stopped San Francisco on 11 of 15 third downs.
Two weeks ago in Pittsburgh, Young tackled Steelers running back Benny Snell short of the goal line on fourth down from the 1-yard line.
Later that night as Washington was sending the Steelers to their first loss of the season, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin came up to Young after a play ended on the Steelers’ sideline.
Tomlin told the wondrous, 21-year-old rookie: “I don’t ever want to lose enough games to get a guy like you. ...
‘’Cause you gotta lose 14, 15 games to get a guy that looks like you.”
Sweat spent a lot of time with Young last Sunday in the 49ers’ backfield. Washington’s 26th-overall pick in 2019 had a sack, two hits on Mullens, and two tackles for loss.
The 32-year-old Kerrigan had 37 sacks from 2016-18. This season in 13 games the four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher has equaled his 2019 season total of 5 1/2 sacks despite playing in a career-low 39% of Washington’s defensive snaps.
Tim Settle has five sacks inside from his defensive tackle spot.
Washington is tied for fourth in the NFL with 40 sacks this season.
That would be an issue for Seattle’s offensive line if was fully healthy.
It’s not.
Wheeler and Cedric Ogbuehi have struggled in the games they’ve had to play with Shell injured. Shell has barely practiced this month.
An upgrade
Shell signed a two-year, $11 million free-agent contract this spring. He came from the Jets. He’s replaced Seahawks former first-round pick Germain Ifedi as quarterback Russell Wilson’s frontside protector at right tackle.
The 6-foot-5, 324-pound Shell hasn’t just replaced Ifedi, he’s been a clear upgrade. Shell is quicker off the snap. He has played more athletically getting outside to speedy pass rushers, plus down the line and to the sideline on sweeps and pulling run blocks.
Near the end of the Seahawks’ wild win over Dallas in September, Shell stonewalled three different pass-rush moves on the same play by Cowboys defensive end Aldon Smith, who had three sacks in the game. That gave Wilson more than 5 seconds to find DK Metcalf breaking free for the winning touchdown.
“He’s been really steady, strong, in the run game, in the pass game, assignment sound, accountable,” Carroll said.
“He’s in on everything, cares about everything.”
Ifedi led the league or was among its leaders in penalties during his four seasons starting for the Seahawks, until they did not pick up his fifth-year contract option and let him become a free agent after last season. He’s now with Chicago.
Shell is far down the list of penalized players in the league. He has four all season, only one for holding. Wilson has as many penalties this season as Shell.
Wilson may be trying a harder and longer snap count than usual in key situations Sunday. Sweat has been penalized eight times this season. Four of those are pre-snap fouls: offside and neutral-zone infractions. He’s had two fouls for roughing the passer.
As scheduled, Shell did not practice again Wednesday. Carroll said he is likely to stay off the field most of this week. The Seahawks are likely to list him questionable to play Sunday, then make a near game-time determination on his availability in Washington.
His status is becoming one of the more important aspects to Sunday’s game for Seattle.
“I love that acquisition,” Carroll said. “I think he’s so steady and he’s going to really—I hope he can be around for a long time with us.”
Friends galore
On an off-day Tuesday earlier this season, Shell hosted a dozen high-school-aged kids for an online Zoom question-and-answer session. It was to talk about their fears and struggles, about feeling picked on and overwhelmed because they stutter.
Just as Shell did when he was their age.
He still remembers classmates making fun of him, laughing and yelling at him to “get the word out!” He was afraid to talk. Kids picked on his silence by nicknaming him Jolly Green Giant, Big Softy, Big Teddy Bear.
Those are the printable names.
“That Zoom call, I know there are a lot of kids that struggle with the stuttering,” Shell said. “I just know that, being like a guy that I am, and I am using my platform to actually let them know that it’s OK if you have that problem. You can get through it. And it’s not going to define you and what you want to be in life.”
Asked about his favorite part of the call, Shell smiled as if he’d just pancaked a defensive end.
“Ah, man, just actually talking with the kids, and them asking me questions about how I got through it, about the things that I do to get by it,” he said.
“Just seeing those kids actually listening and locked in, just talking and asking questions — and seeing them taking the knowledge and just running with it — was great for me.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 5:15 AM.
