Rookie Bobby Wagner potential day 1 Seattle starting middle linebacker
Pete Carroll doesn't hand anybody anything. You win, and lose your job on the practice field.
Competition is key.
That certainly applies at middle linebacker for the 2012 Seattle Seahawks.
Rookie Bobby Wagner, a super-productive Utah St insider backer brings speed and hustle to the game.
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''The (MLB) spot is wide open and we have to see what happens. This is what Bobby is putting his sights on, but we'll have to see how it goes,'' Carroll said.
On his pro day he ran a 4.46 in the 40-yard dash, and had a vertical jump of 39.5 inches, and he did 24 reps with 225 pounds.
He had 100-plus tackles in each of the past three seasons for the Aggies, including 147 last season and 29.5 for losses in his four seasons as a starter. He earned all-league and all-CIF honors.
Seattle then drafted him 47th overall.
With the loss of David Hawthorne (The Heater) to the Saints in free agency Pete Carroll and John Schneider also brought in free agent Barrett Ruud and Matt McCoy, who played well before a knee injury last season.
After this weekends minicamp for the rookies it sounds like Pete Carroll is VERY eager to get Wagner's play-making skills on the field.
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"We'd love to get that speed on the field if we could," he said. "It's rare to find a linebacker that runs that fast."
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“He’s a guy that jumps out,” the team’s assistant director of college scouting said. “He definitely jumps out.”
Seahawks personal guy Eric Stokes offered this on Wagner.
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“I think it’s big,” Stokes said when asked about Wagner’s upside. “It’s as good as anybody in this draft, given especially what you’re getting from an athletic standpoint. He’s pretty special in that area.”
Seahawks linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. offered this.
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''It comes down to can he run, can he hit, can he fit into our profile and what we do best here. That's absolute,'' linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. said. ''He certainly looks the part, acts the part and he works the part and just a matter of handling all the installation as we go on day by day.''
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