Most Intriguing Seahawks: No. 1, Kam Chancellor
Jul 31, 2016, 3:39 PM
The intrigue with Kam Chancellor is if he can bounce back this season with a full training camp. (AP)
(AP)
Each day until the start of training camp, “Brock and Salk” is talking with an NFL analyst and counting down the 25 most intriguing players on the Seahawks’ roster. “Two-a-days” concluded with ESPN’s Tim Hasselback as the guest and Kam Chancellor as the No. 1 most intriguing Seahawk. The segment on Chancellor is embedded above. My thoughts are below.
• Position: SS
• Height/Weight: 6-3, 225
• Experience: Seventh season
• Acquired: Fifth-round pick, 2010
Overview: Kam Chancellor may be the player who best embodies the way that the Seahawks have been rebuilt under coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider. Bigger, faster, stronger. That became Seattle’s motto in 2010, and Chancellor is a big-bodied safety who hits like a linebacker. His evolution from a fifth-round pick into a Pro Bowl player mirrored the Seahawks’ growth from a team that went 7-9 in Carroll’s first two seasons into the league heavyweight that appeared in back-to-back Super Bowls. His 2015 season was complicated. So was the team’s. He held out for more than 50 days, exposing himself to more than $1 million in fines. He came back and made an impact, forcing the fumble that saved Seattle’s Week 3 win against Detroit on Monday night, but he was never as consistent of a playmaker as he had been in the previous two seasons – a statement that was true for the team, as well.
The intrigue: Is Chancellor back? That’s not a literal question. He has been back with the team since the third week of the 2015 season, and he made it clear this offseason he didn’t want to be traded anywhere. But is Chancellor back to being the game-altering player that he was prior to last season? You remember that guy who knocked Pro Bowl guard Mike Iupati out of a game, changed the course of Vernon Davis’ entire career and leapt over Carolina’s offensive line in a single bound. Twice. Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman have been properly recognized as being two of the very best at their position, and while Chancellor hasn’t been ignored, he has been consistently underrated.
2016 outlook: Expect a big season from Chancellor. He was stung by what happened last year, and it would not have been a shock to many if he had sought a trade in the offseason. The fact that he didn’t is evidence of a renewed commitment and purpose. Expect that to be evident in the way he plays this season. Seattle’s secondary is a prideful group, and it wasn’t happy with the results last year. No one was more disappointed than Chancellor, its leader.
Most Intriguing Seahawks: 25, DL Quinton Jefferson; 24, WR Kasen Williams; 23, WR Paul Richardson; 22, G Mark Glowinski; 21, TE Nick Vannett; 20, CB Jeremy Lane; 19, DT Jordan Hill; 18, RB Alex Collins; 17, S Tyvis Powell; 16, G Germain Ifedi; 15, QB Russell Wilson; 14, FS Earl Thomas; 13, CB Tharold Simon; 12, WR Doug Baldwin; 11, WR Tyler Lockett; 10, LT Garry Gilliam; 9, DL Michael Bennett; 8, DB Brandon Browner; 7, OL Justin Britt; 6, RB C.J. Prosise; 5, DT Jarran Reed; 4, DE Frank Clark; 3, RB Thomas Rawls; 2, TE Jimmy Graham.
