Is 2021 rookie Stone Forsythe the Seahawks’ LT of the future?
Jan 23, 2022, 9:55 AM
Offensive tackle Stone Forsythe of the Seattle Seahawks looks on during an NFL preseason game against the Denver Broncos at Lumen Field. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seahawks have a big decision to make at a premium position on offense this offseason.
Ray Roberts on whether Seahawks should re-sign their free-agent OL
Duane Brown, who has started for the Seahawks since coming to town via trade midway through 2017, is one of three starting offensive linemen from 2021 set to hit free agency. Brown just finished his 14th NFL season and he turns 37 in late-August.
Regardless of if the Seahawks bring Brown back for another season, they do have a left tackle on the roster in Stone Forsythe.
The 6-foot-8, 307-pound Florid product was seen by many draft analysts as a Day 2 (rounds 2 and 3) prospect, but he slid all the way to the sixth round, where the Seahawks selected him.
Forsythe played just 14 snaps on offense this season – all at right tackle – but played a decent amount during the preseason.
Someone who knows all about offensive line play is “Big” Ray Roberts, a 10-year NFL offensive lineman who is now an analyst on the Seahawks Radio Network. Roberts joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Wyman and Bob on Friday to discuss all things offensive line, including whether Forsythe could be a starting NFL left tackle in the future.
“Him playing (college ball) in the SEC, it’s not like he was playing against some scrubs,” Roberts said. “He’s played some big-time football against some some of the better football players in the country. I felt like he had the foundation of what could be a left tackle in the league.”
The plusses in Roberts’ eyes? Good footwork and long arms that he knows how to use to his advantage.
But the negatives?
“The thing I didn’t foresee was when a team was able to isolate him against a very fast athletic rusher and they got him out in space,” Roberts said. “He just wasn’t very good in space.”
Why is that such an issue for an NFL left tackle?
“A lot of times you want your left tackle to be that guy that can say, ‘Just put whoever over here, I don’t care if they’re in space or if they’re a power rusher or whatever. I’m the top dog on the offensive line, I’m going take everybody with no help, and then you can put the help somewhere else,'” he said, referencing extra blockers like tight ends or running backs. “I don’t know that he’s close to being that dude yet.”
Roberts said Forsythe being 6 foot 8 is actually a negative in some ways.
“Sometimes I think you just get too tall to play and you can’t quite bend enough to maintain leverage and stuff like that,” he said. “I think he might be a project for a couple years. I don’t really see him being a consistent starter in the league. Maybe he can get himself to being a quality backup when at first I thought maybe he had the foundation to be a starter in the league.”
Listen to the full interview with Roberts at this link or in the player below.
