Huard: What’s a realistic expectation for new Seahawks OT Jason Peters?

Sep 13, 2023, 11:18 AM

Jason Peters of the Bears awaits the snap against the Cardinals on Dec. 5, 2021. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks got banged up badly in their Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, especially on the offensive line.

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Left tackle Charles Cross injured his big toe and left the game, as did right tackle Abraham Lucas due to a knee injury.

It sounds like Cross’ situation is more severe, and the Seahawks have added a reinforcement in Jason Peters.

Peters, if he plays this year, will be the oldest player in the NFL at 41 years old. He’s a nine-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro who most notably spent 12 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was with the Chicago Bears in 2021 and the Dallas Cowboys last season.

Peters signed to Seattle’s practice squad on Tuesday, and there’s a chance he could play as soon as Sunday in Detroit, especially if Cross is out of action.

“What’s a reasonable expectation for him coming off the couch?” Mike Salk asked his Brock and Salk co-host Brock Huard on Wednesday.

Replied Huard, a former NFL quarterback, “Yeah, this is gonna be hard.”

Peters was not part of any team’s offseason training camp, and Huard said that right now, Detroit is one of the five hardest places to play considering the Lions are coming off a big Week 1 road win over the Kansas City Chiefs, who won last year’s Super Bowl.

“All of the noise, all of the hype. They went into Arrowhead (and won),” Huard said. “… The amount of juice that those people are going to have is off the charts.”

Huard thinks an elite homefield advantage means that a home team’s defensive line has about a half-step advantage over the road team’s offensive line.

“Those tackles have got to have their eyes in on (the ball). They can’t hear anything. So they’ve got to be looking at the ball and then coming out of it,” he said. “And oh, by the way, who’s rushing you? They’re gonna put (2022 No. 2 overall pick) Aidan Hutchinson over his nose all game long. So it is a brutal environment in that way.”

Huard called Peters a “mythical creature” as he’s still been able to play at a pretty high level well into his 30s, and now he’s about to suit up at 41 years old.

“He’s savvy, he’s a pro, he’s – as I said yesterday – that old man at the racquetball court that knows angles and how to position himself to at least get in the way and to at least be in the right spot,” Huard said. “With his size and his girth and his experience, it shouldn’t be just a total turnstile. But he’s probably going to have a holding call, probably going to be a false start, there’s probably going to be some challenges.”

The main thing Huard wonders is how many snaps Peters could play right away.

“Can he come off the couch and play 60 plays? Is that realistic?” he asked. “Maybe for a mythical creature. But it’s gonna be a steep challenge. Unfortunately, not a whole lot of better alternatives.”

Huard added that Stone Forsythe, a 2021 sixth-round pick of the Seahawks, “may get first crack at it” this week with Peters as an insurance policy. Huard noted that Forsythe is now in his third NFL season with Seattle, and he felt the young tackle played well this preseason.

“(Maybe) this mythical creature will be more of a backup plan than just thrown right into the fire (in Detroit),” Huard said. “To be determined.”