Greene’s progress worth watching in Seattle

By Chris Cluff  |   Thursday, May 24, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Seattle Seahawks
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The Seattle Seahawks have forever talked about getting Seneca Wallace on the field in a capacity other than quarterback, but circumstances have always conspired against the possibility.

Wallace has elite athleticism, but you can count on one hand the number of times the Seahawks have tried to use it. A fourth-round pick in 2003, Wallace never got on the field in his first two seasons as he focused on learning how to play quarterback in the Seahawks' complicated West Coast scheme. Then the Hawks traded backup quarterback Trent Dilfer after the 2004 season, giving the No. 2 spot to Wallace heading into 2005.

Since then, the team has been hesitant to use Wallace elsewhere because it didn't want to leave itself short at quarterback if he were to get injured. Head coach Mike Holmgren did put Wallace in a few times during the 2005 playoffs, and he even made a great catch against Carolina; but with no other backup options, Holmgren has been hesitant to use Wallace much more than that.

The need to keep Wallace at quarterback was proven last season when Matt Hasselbeck missed four games with a sprained knee, and, because the Seahawks again did not sign a veteran this offseason, it appears Wallace's athleticism will wallow on the bench once more.

That is, unless David Greene makes strides in his third year.

A third-round pick out of Georgia in 2005, Greene looked completely lost in the offense as a rookie. He didn't look a whole lot better in the 2006 exhibition season, so the Seahawks are counting on him to show them something this year. If he can demonstrate some mastery of the offense in August, it could give Seattle some comfort in knowing it has three guys who can play the position.

With Hasselbeck limited as he recovers from shoulder surgery, Greene took a lot of snaps in the minicamp earlier this month. And the young QB probably will continue to get ample reps in the next minicamp, which begins June 4, and perhaps at the start of training camp as well.

With Wallace a free agent after the 2007 season, the Seahawks really need to find out what they have in Greene so they have choices next offseason. Wallace will not be offered a starting gig by anyone, but some team might pursue him to be its No. 2. And the Seahawks need to have a backup plan for their backup plan. The team will have Greene for at least one more season because he will be merely a restricted free agent next offseason.

Before the recent NFL draft, team president Tim Ruskell said the Seahawks are confident Greene can take the next step in the steep learning progression of the West Coast offense.

"He made some progress last year. This year he'll have to continue that and do more," Ruskell said. "It's a very hard system to develop in, and so it takes a little bit of time ... so you want to want to be patient with these guys. You do not want to have a quick trigger and pull the plug too early. We're not down on David. We like David. We're excited about David."

This summer, Seahawks fans will see whether Greene does enough to keep them excited -- and perhaps to put the athletic, playmaking potential of Wallace on the field at a spot other than quarterback.

Weekly Seattle Seahawks coverage, courtesy of RealFootball365.com
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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