dopeboy206":3gv31i4n said:
I'm one of those haters but I don't believe Carpenter is a good football player. I just don't see it in him. Hope he proves me wrong.
You're right in context... James Carpenter hasn't been a quality football player because he hasn't been able to develop the last three years.
Year 1: Carpenter was drafted and because of the lock-out there were no rookie mini-camp, voluntary OTAs, mandatory mini-camp. The team could not speak to him about his role nor could he work out at the facility. Then on a shortened off-season scheduled after the lock-out was dealt with, Carp had to transition from being an LT to RT. It seems like a small thing but the learning curve is different for every player. Carp himself said he was more comfortable on the left side. As rookie, when Robert Gallery was questionable with a sprained knee, Carp took some LG reps, and this is what he said,
"I'm pretty comfortable because I played on the left side for like my whole life before coming over here. I'm more comfortable on the left, but I'm just going to do my job, what I have to do to help my team win."
After 9 games, 9 starts (playing next to rookie RG as well) Carp severely injures his knee in practice and is done for the season. To my understanding this was the most significicant injury Carp suffered in his playing career that has been relatively healthy prior.
Year 2: Seahawks didn't clear Carp to play until September 1st meaning he spent about 10 or so months in rehab. In Cables words, they said they kind of rushed Carp back too soon or didn't handle the rehab process all too well. Carp, came back, at LG, missed a few games because of concussion symptoms but made 7 starts before he was shelved re-injuring or having complications with the same knee.
Year 3: The rehab was somewhat faster this time as Carp was up and running by training camp, IIRC. However, he was severely overweight, poorly conditioned at 350. And in my totally unprofessional opinion he was shell shocked and fearful. There is a certain psychology in everything where one has to overcome the stress of something traumatic. In sports, its usually severe injuries and I'd suspect out of all athletes, O-lineman and DTs have the biggest wall to climb. And you could see it in Carp's play... he was slow and tenative on the field which made him inconsistent. But on the brightside he was able to play in 18 of 19 games starting 12 of them, I believe. A huge stepping stone for his career. And likely a big accomplishment for someone who had to grind out the last 2 years in injury rehab.
Year 4: This year. I think being able to actually workout and train during the off-season has done wonders in reducing that injury stress and fear. It was reported in late Feb, I believe or early March that Carp was down to 320 by a tweet from Carp himself. Then in OTAs, it was reported that Carp slimmed down about 15 pounds. For a guy who came in at 350 pounds last year to probably come into the season at a 315-320 is huge. And you're hearing a lot of a great things from Cable, teammates, and reporters: Carp looks slimmer, faster, smarter, more confidence, he's hustling and working hard, looks more effective. Just good things and Unger also said the team is expecting a lot from Carpenter this year.
And I do too... I feel that if he can just play naturally with confidence, put the injuries behind, continue to work hard, getting into the best shape that he possibly can, leaving it all out on football field, and be ALL IN every single snap (which he should since its a contract year)... the sky is the limit for Carpenter. He has all the tools, the size, and the power to be as dominant as any guard in the NFL. He just needs to play fearlessly, get back that nasty, play intelligently, and be consistent. And I believe he's on that path finally after a couple years of set-backs.
We'll see different James Carpenter this season and hopefully he'll be able to stay healthy.
