To the surprise of many - including me - J. R. Sweezy will be the Seahawks' starter in Week 1 at Arizona. For those who don't know the story, the Seahawks selected Sweezy in the seventh round of the draft as an offensive guard, despite him playing defensive tackle at NC State. The Seattle scouts identified him, Cable liked what he saw, and we drafted a guy whom most everybody expected to play on the practice squad. It's amazing that Sweezy made the 53-man roster and a near miracle that he's landed a starting role.
So, how did Sweezy do it? One word: quickness. The kid is physically quick. More importantly, he's a quick learner. Not only does he understand what he's told, but he's able to translate what he hears into physical action. Quickly.
Let's look at the combine numbers for Sweezy and Moffitt:
* Both are just over 6' 4" tall. Sweezy is 20 lbs lighter at 298, but has a frame that can handle more weight.
* Sweezy is a half second faster in the 40 yard dash at 5.01 seconds.
* Sweezy jumps 5-1/2 inches higher at 36" and jumps a foot further at 9'5".
* Sweezy wins the shuttle (4.41 vs. 4.53) and the 3-cone (7.40 vs 7.79).
* Moffitt is stronger. He wins the 225 Lb. bench press with 23 reps vs 18.
It's likely that Coach Carlisle can help Sweezy put on some weight and gain strength - probably quickly. It's less likely that the coaching staff can train Moffitt to be faster and jump further. In a power run scheme, you want size and strength. In Seattle's zone blocking scheme, you want quickness and leverage. Advantage Sweezy.
Speaking of leverage, Sweezy's stance is exceptionally low. Coach Cable has to love that. Sweezy raises up a bit on his first step and I expect that Cable is working on that. Giacomini starts higher than Sweezy but is a bit lower at the point of contact. Sweezy's quickness shows in his ability to get off the ball, step to the side, and drive his man laterally. That's the key to the zone blocking scheme - to force the defenders to move laterally.
But none of this would matter if Sweezy wasn't able to learn quickly and put his knowledge into action. Regarding his new guard, Tom Cable recently said, "there are no bad habits." This tells me that he sees Sweezy as clay that can be molded in Cable's image. If Cable can coach up a DT into an effective guard in a matter of a short few months, this is an amazing accomplishment. But I think this is more than a resumé builder. Sweezy's quick adaptability means that Cable can test his concepts on the field and refine them without the results being colored by any previous habits at all.
I expect that Sweezy will be durable as well. Take a look at his elbows. They're huge! Those big joints show that he can add bulk and withstand tough battles. You want to see Cable's prototype guard? J. R. Sweezy is the guy.
Sweezy still has a lot of room for improvement. When he pulls, he does it too tight, risking injury to his teammates' ankles and not giving himself the angle he needs to turn his momentum downhill. (It looks quick though.) He's not yet skilled at sticking his blocks in the 2nd level. He allows defenders to extend their arms and bounce blocks. And sometimes he gets shrugged to the side by stronger defenders. Well, that was in Preseason Week 3. He's had two and a half weeks to improve his technique, which is apparently like a season or two in Cable-years.
I think Carpenter taught Cable a lesson. He's big and played well in college, but if you listen to Carp speak, "quick" isn't the first word that comes to mind. He can get beat by quick defensive ends. He apparently wasn't able to learn right-side footwork well. Carp has his habits and they haven't been easy to break. Maybe he's got the physical skills to be a Pro Bowl lineman, but he's not going to become that player overnight.
So, rather than go after an experienced (or habituated) lineman with a higher draft pick, Cable took a page from Carroll's defensive playbook and drafted an underrated late-rounder who has unique physical traits, is hungry, smart, and able to learn quickly.
In retrospect, maybe Sweezy's quick rise shouldn't be a surprise to us at all.
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