Seahawks’ Rees Odhiambo learning to block for a mobile Russell Wilson
Nov 22, 2016, 1:49 PM
Rookie Rees Odhiambo played 10 snaps at left tackle Sunday, his most extensive action of the season. (AP)
(AP)
Blocking for Russell Wilson is always an adventure. Especially a healthy, mobile Wilson. Seahawks rookie offensive lineman Rees Odhiambo found that out firsthand Sunday when he was forced into action protecting the quarterback’s blindside.
“If (the defender is) making his own move, he’s doing his own thing, and then all of a sudden he just has to adjust out of nowhere, and it makes no sense. It’s like, ‘OK, Russ, you know he’s moving,’” Odhiambo told “Danny, Dave and Moore’ on Monday. “You’ve just got to react.”
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And react he did. Odhiambo received praise from coach Pete Carroll for his fill-in duty at left tackle after starter George Fant went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter and missed 10 plays. Odhiambo was on his fifth play of the game when Wilson escaped left and floated a pass to tight end Jimmy Graham, who fought off a defender and rumbled for a 35-yard touchdown.
Odhiambo, a third-round pick out of Boise State, has practiced at left guard and both tackle spots. The 24-year-old said he feels most comfortable on the left side because that’s where he’s practiced the most, but he said he did feel a bit more pressure protecting Wilson’s blindside.
“You shouldn’t really feel pressure if you prepare right, you do everything right, but at the same time, it kind of is pressure because that’s kind of how it is just based off the quarterback not being able to see you,” he said. “He has to put a lot of trust in you for you to be able to go out there and block behind him where he’s not really looking.”
He added: “It felt good to get out and play because it’s been a while, because in practice we don’t really hit like that anymore. So it was nice to get out there and be able to go full speed and not have to worry about slowing down.”
On the “Pete Carroll Show” Monday, Carroll called Odhiambo’s play one of the “bright signs” from the game. It was his most extensive action of the season.
“Rees did a really good job,” Carroll said. “Rees specialized at left tackle; he’s been a left tackle in his career in college. We’ve been playing him at guard and tackle. When you just stick him right there back at home, he looked very comfortable and did a nice job, which just adds to the competition of it, which makes us better.”
Fant, a converted basketball player who is playing left tackle for the first time in his career, has also received praise from Seattle’s coaches for his play and is expected to stick as the starter. Odhiambo said he is staying patient and preparing for moments like the one Sunday.
“You’ve just got to stay on top of everything you do and not ever get lulled to sleep because you never know when something could happen and you’ve got to go in and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Oh,'” he said. “(Sunday) when it happened, it was like, ‘Oh, it’s here,’ but I’ve been working at it every single week and I know what I’m doing and I’ve been prepared and I’ve been ready.”
