Seahawks sticking with George Fant at LT, competition on at RT

The Seahawks are sticking with George Fant at left tackle.

There was some question as to what Seattle would do at that spot now that Bradley Sowell is returning from a knee injury that has pressed Fant into action. That answer came Wednesday when offensive-line coach Tom Cable told reporters that Fant will remain Seattle’s starter at left tackle while Sowell competes with Garry Gilliam on the right side.

It’s another significant development in Fant’s improbable rise as an undrafted rookie who is relatively new to football in general and brand new to the offensive line in particular. He played basketball at Western Kentucky, where he finished his four-year career ranked 13th on the school’s all-time scoring list and eighth in rebounds. He hadn’t played football since the eighth grade when he joined WKU’s football team for his fifth season of eligibility, playing sparingly as a backup tight end.

The Seahawks signed him after the draft and were encouraged by the quick strides he made in his switch to the offensive line. They inserted him at left tackle when Sowell sprained his MCL in Week 7 at Arizona even though veteran J’Marcus Webb was the much more experienced option. Fant remained the starter there the last three games, and while he’s had issues with penalties, coach Pete Carroll said this week that he didn’t miss any assignments for the first time Sunday night against New England. Carroll called that a “great sign of progress.”

“Most of the guys have a mistake in there somewhere,” Carroll said, “but he made it through the game graded out beautifully in terms of his assignments. That’s just getting better, doing things right more.”

Sowell was listed as a full participant Wednesday, another sign that he should be available to play Sunday against Philadelphia for the first time since injuring his knee in Week 7. He had started the first six games at left tackle after signing a one-year deal with Seattle over the offseason. His 12 previous NFL starts – all with Arizona in 2013 – were also at left tackle. Cable told reporters that he has enough experience on the right side to be a viable option there.

And so Gilliam will have to compete to keep his job. The Seahawks’ plan after losing Russell Okung in free agency was to move Gilliam to left tackle and play Webb, a free-agent addition, on the right side. But after both players missed time over the offseason with injuries, Seattle pulled the plug on that plan, inserting Sowell at left tackle and moving Gilliam back to the right side.

And now Seattle’s tackle situation could change once more depending on how the competition between those two plays out.