What are realistic expectations for Abe Lucas in potential return?

Nov 14, 2024, 11:53 AM

Seattle Seahawks Abraham Lucas Atlanta Falcons 2022...

Seattle Seahawks right tackle Abraham Lucas in action during a 2022 game. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

For the better part of the past six months, one of the biggest questions hovering over the Seattle Seahawks has been the status of starting right tackle Abraham Lucas.

At long last, Lucas could be on the verge of his much-anticipated return.

Seahawks activate Lucas off PUP list

After undergoing offseason knee surgery and being sidelined for the first half of the 2024 campaign, Lucas was activated off the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday.

The move in itself doesn’t mean Lucas will play in Sunday’s NFC West clash against the San Francisco 49ers, as Wednesday marked the 21-day deadline for him to be activated after returning to practice. However, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters on Monday it’s a “realistic expectation” that Lucas could make his season debut on Sunday.

It comes at a time with Seattle in desperate need of improvement along the offensive line. The Seahawks have struggled mightily in both pass protection and run blocking, due in part to a revolving door of injuries at right tackle behind Lucas.

If Lucas does return on Sunday, what would be realistic expectations for his first game action since Week 17 of last season? During a fill-in edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Tuesday, Wyman and Bob producer Mike Lefko was posed that question.

“Tempered,” Lefko said. “I don’t think you have Abe Lucas go in and all of a sudden, hey, snap your fingers, the entire offensive line is fixed. That’s the mistake we run into as sports fans is that when something is deficient and you have a reason or a solution to point to, you invest everything in (the idea) that this guy is the savior.

“Trying to combat an edge rusher is one of the toughest things in football, because these guys are freakish athletes,” he added. “So to say that Abe Lucas in his first game back – first live action in nearly a year – is gonna be able to go out and play 100 percent of the snaps and lock down every single pressure, I don’t think that’s realistic.”

Lucas, a WSU Cougars product and an alum of Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett, was a 2022 third-round draft pick by Seattle. He had a strong rookie campaign, starting 16 games and ranking No. 39 out of 81 tackles in Pro Football Focus grading.

But after suffering a knee injury in the 2023 season opener, Lucas ended up playing just six games last fall. He then underwent knee surgery in January and missed the entire offseason program before being placed on the PUP list ahead of training camp. Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in August that the team was being cautious and playing “the long game” with Lucas’ health.

Lefko expects Seattle to continue taking a cautious approach to Lucas’ potential return.

“I would imagine you see Abe Lucas for a few series (and then) maybe you rotate him out, see how he’s feeling and really ease him back into this,” Lefko said. “Because yes, it’s vital to get Abe Lucas back in there, but if you’re getting him back in there, you want him in for the rest of the season. … If you get him back in there and you rush that, he might reinjure it.

“(In baseball), we don’t just run a pitcher right out there and have him throw 120 pitches in the first start of the season. You’ve gotta ramp him up. So with Abe Lucas, you have to ramp him up.”

How much of an impact can Lucas make?

The hope is that Lucas can stabilize the right side of the offensive line, which has been the biggest source of the Seahawks’ offensive woes.

With Lucas on the PUP list, backup George Fant opened the season at right tackle. But Fant has only played 30 offensive snaps all season after injuring his knee in the season opener and then reinjuring his knee in his Week 9 return. With Fant out, third-stringer Stone Forsythe and fourth-string rookie Michael Jerrell have combined to play the rest of Seattle’s 588 snaps at right tackle this season.

Both have struggled, with Forsythe ranking 74th out of 76 tackles in PFF grading and Jerrell ranking 75th out of 76. Making matters worse have been the struggles of second-year right guard Anthony Bradford, who ranks 72nd out of 77 guards in PFF grading.

As a whole, the Seahawks rank 25th in PFF’s pass block grading and 25th in ESPN’s pass-block win rate. They also rank 21st in PFF’s run block grading and 29th in ESPN’s run-block win rate. As a result, Geno Smith has been pressured on 39.6% of his dropbacks, which is the fifth-highest rate in the NFL according to PFF. And Seattle’s ground attack has sputtered, ranking 27th with just 91.2 rushing yards per game.

“Any Abe Lucas is better than no Abe Lucas, so I do expect marginally better offensive line play, just from that position,” Lefko said. “But I don’t know if you could expect a huge difference in terms of Geno having a lot more time (and) a lot of stuff looking different, with a guy coming back in his very first start.”

If Lucas returns on Sunday, Bump and Stacy producer Curtis Rogers ultimately just wants to see him make it through the game and remain healthy.

“My one hope for this game, outside of a win for the Seahawks, is a clean bill of health for Abe Lucas,” Rogers said. “Just get through a full 60 minutes with a clean bill of health. … My biggest hope for Sunday is that you just don’t have to worry about Abe Lucas any more being a huge injury risk.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.