When Grant Paulsen booked Seahawks writer Corbin Smith to appear on Thursday, it was supposed to be about the Commanders signing Bobby Wagner – and then, not long before Smith’s scheduled time, Washington traded Sam Howell to Seattle, making it a dual-topic appearance.
Smith went in-depth on that deal to start the segment and you can read about that here, but when it comes to Wagner, the Commanders are still getting a solid player, just one that wasn’t really what fit in Seattle anymore due to his skill-set.
“He was still really good defending the run and as a blitzer, but his game has evolved and changed as he's gotten older,” Smith said. “When he was younger, in his mid-to-late 20s, there was not a linebacker in the NFL that was better at coverage, but he has some schematic limitations at this point in his career, and I think that's the biggest reason that he's not coming back to Seattle. Mike Macdonald prefers really athletic linebackers like he had in Baltimore, and that's just not necessarily what Bobby Wagner is anymore. When it comes to getting downhill he still has plus athleticism, but side-to-side movement and zone stuff, he's not terrible in coverage, but he's just not close to the player that he used to be. There may be some schematic stuff that Dan Quinn will have to work through to maximize him, but he's still an outstanding run defender, and if you blitz him, he's as efficient as any linebacker in the NFL getting after quarterbacks. If you have the right calls and coverage, he can still do some things in that regard, but you just can't expect that he's going to cover large areas of the field at this point in his career.”
Grant remembered Antonio Gibson’s touchdown in Seattle that illustrated that point, and Smith noted how Wagner was the No. 2 run-stopping linebacker in the NFL last season via PFF, but his average depth of tackle was also in the Top 10.
Still, a productive player, but more importantly, a leader in the locker room for an emerging group.
“He is the best man that I have worked with in my seven years covering the Seattle Seahawks, easily,” Smith said. “He is nothing but class, and will take guys under his wing. The one thing is, if you've got rookie linebackers, he's gonna call them rookie, he's not gonna call them by their names – you gotta earn that right – but he is absolutely a phenomenal leader, and a guy that players all across the locker room look up to. He leads by example, he can be vocal when he needs to be, and then he's just an incredible dude off the field. He does an incredible amount of stuff off the field, and in terms of human being, you are getting a Hall of Fame human being to go with a Hall of Fame player.”
Is there a chance, though, that he could have a London Fletcher-like resurgence?
“Look at the numbers last year, he was still a second-team All-Pro, and I just don't anticipate that he's gonna go to Washington, especially in a scheme he'll be familiar with and playing for Ken Norton Jr. again, and suddenly be a player that's a major hindrance for your defense,” Smith said. “The coverage stuff, you're gonna have to work around that with him because he does have some athletic limitations at this point, but Dan Quinn is a really smart defensive coach and he's gonna know how to maximize him. He has shown no signs of slowing down to the other areas of his game, so I expect he's still gonna be one of those guys that’s an every down linebacker. They're gonna find ways to try to make that work, and I could see him play at a high level for another two or three years. He's got that kind of talent still, it just boils down to, he's not gonna be a guy that you can just throw out there and just do whatever you want linebacker with; you are gonna have to be adaptable trying to maximize on his strength at this stage of his career.”