Seahawks Counting on Abraham Lucas to Fortify 'Best Version' of Offensive Line

Though rust should be expected in his first game in 11 months, the Seahawks hope Abraham Lucas will immediately reinforce their struggling offensive line.

Dec 10, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Abraham Lucas (72) blocks San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - In a process that has been slow and calculated, the Seattle Seahawks have bided their time with third-year tackle Abraham Lucas since he underwent knee surgery in January with the end goal of him returning to play without any further setbacks.

Following a long wait where timelines seemed to perpetually keep sliding back, the Seahawks will happily welcome Lucas back into the starting lineup for a crucial Week 11 road contest against the 49ers, bringing much-needed stability to the right side of a maligned offensive line. After three weeks of ramping up his activity on the practice field, the team activated him from the PUP list on Wednesday, setting the stage for him to suit up for the first time in nearly a calendar year.

Speaking on Lucas' status on Monday - two days before Seattle activated him - coach Mike Macdonald expressed his excitement about the possibility of Lucas making his season debut, fired up about his progress as he sprinted towards the finish line of an arduous rehab.

"I think that the best version of Abe is going to give us the best version of our offensive line," Macdonald told reporters. "We want to make sure that he's ready to go, but from what I saw today, it looked really good,  he looked good last week. There's a timeline here that we're kind of abiding by and there are certain milestones and hurdles you need to cross in order for him to play his best ball. So, hopefully, that's this week."

The Seahawks obviously would have loved for Lucas, a 2022 third-round pick out of Washington State who started 16 games as a rookie two years ago, to have been available earlier in the season. At one point, Macdonald suggested during the offseason program that he could return for the start of training camp, and it seemed possible at the time he would be ready for the regular season.

But as Macdonald and general manager John Schneider have reiterated from the start of OTAs up until this week, they weren't going to take any shortcuts with his recovery. Keeping the player's long-term health in mind, Seattle's brain trust stuck to the plan, resisting the urge to accelerate Lucas' timetable throughout the process, even as the team's offensive line has struggled to protect Geno Smith or open up running lanes for Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet amid a 4-5 start.

In his absence, the Seahawks have trotted out George Fant, Stone Forsythe, and rookie Mike Jerrell for at least two starts a piece at right tackle, with Fant failing to last more than a quarter in either of his starts due to a knee injury. As would be expected under such unideal circumstances with the expected veteran insurance policy limited to less than 30 snaps by his own injury issues, the revolving door at the position hasn't yielded positive results.

Per Pro Football Focus charting, Seattle's right tackle trifecta has allowed 39.7 percent of the pressures on Smith, the highest mark for any position in the entire NFL through 10 weeks. Starting five games before landing on injured reserve, Forsythe still leads all tackles with 35 pressures allowed, while Jerrell yielded 12 pressures and three sacks in the past three games, predictably enduring adversity as a rookie out of Division II Findlay. The two players rank 77th and 79th out of 83 qualified tackles in pass block efficiency rate.

Thrust into action due to Fant's lingering knee problems, neither of those two reserves have found much success in the run game either, with Forsythe and Jerrell both ranking 72nd or lower in run blocking grade. In comparison, a healthy Lucas finished with a respectable 65.2 run blocking grade in 2022, using his physicality and aggressive play style to help Walker eclipse 1,100 rushing yards as the two rookies shined for a surprise playoff team.

Remembering the instant impact Lucas had for Seattle's offense two years ago, while acknowledging Jerrell has given a valiant effort in a difficult situation, receiver DK Metcalf views his return as a game changer for the organization heading into the final eight games of the season.

"I think Abe just brings a type of physicality and toughness to the offensive line, especially at the right tackle position," Metcalf remarked. "I think Mike [Jerrell] has done a great job, and George [Fant] has done a great job [when healthy] but Abe is just different in the way that he views the game and views the position and how he plays the position. So it'll be fun just to have him back."

Playing for the first time since last December, Lucas won't receive a soft landing to ease his way back into action, drawing a challenging matchup against a familiar opponent in superstar pass rusher Nick Bosa right out of the gate. He won't have much time to shake off the rust and it's certainly possible his long layoff could create significant issues dealing with one of the NFL's premier defenders.

However, while Lucas did allow three sacks in three games against San Francisco as a rookie and struggled playing well below 100 percent against them last year, he has held up fairly well against Bosa in the past. He yielded six pressures on 131 pass blocking reps in the three contests in 2022, posting a rock solid 95.4 percent pass blocking efficiency rate while receiving the majority of his snaps dealing with the All-Pro rusher.

Unlike the past three times they have played the 49ers, the Seahawks also found moderate success mixing in their ground game against them during Lucas' rookie season. Most notably, they eclipsed 100 rushing yards in a wild card loss in Santa Clara, as Walker paced the attack with 63 yards and a touchdown behind stellar blocking up front.

Assuming Lucas will be able to generate power off the snap as he did before injuring his knee, his presence should allow Seattle to be able to discover a bit more balance on offense by helping create some push at the line of scrimmage in the run game, which will be crucial to winning on the road at Levis Stadium. If he's able to consistently win as a run blocker, it will help mitigate Bosa's effectiveness as a pass rusher and shorten the game time of possession-wise.

Of course, expectations need to be tempered, as Lucas likely will be on a pitch count to an extent in his first game action in 11 months. Jerrell could mix in for a few series over the course of the game to spell him, and even when he is in the game, mistakes should be anticipated as he gets his legs back underneath him against NFL competition, especially versus a stout front headlined by Bosa.

Nonetheless, even if Lucas isn't in midseason form and takes a while to round back into the best version of himself, the Seahawks should be much more confident in their ability to keep Smith upright and run the football effectively with him back in the lineup. His return couldn't come at a better time for an offensive line that has held the team back to this point and needs to dramatically improve for them to have any shot at clawing back into the playoff hunt in the second half.

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