Laken Tomlinson Signed

[nwHawk]

Hawks just signed a LG going into the draft.

 

[Shane Falco]

Just saw that on X. Another temp solution to get us through. Gotta at least have some bodies in there to compete. Nice to get it done before the draft to take the pressure off.

 

[kidhawk]

I’m fine with getting bodies in and experience is a plus but this doesn’t change the fact that our interior offensive line is our biggest hole on offense and until we get it fixed we won’t have the top 5 offense that our skill positions could achieve. I’m really hoping they draft well here this year.

 

[Shane Falco]

Yeah, it all matters what their plan is long term. I know under Pete these guys we are signing would be our starters and we'd be lucky if they drafted a guy in the 3rd or 4th round at the earliest. So let's hope the new regime puts a little more priority into the offensive line quality.

I should say IOL anyway. PC valued and invested in OT over the years.

 

[Jerhawk]

Another great signing in arguably one of the best off seasons in recent memory. Schneider continues to leave no stone unturned, solidifying himself as one of the league's top GMs.

Way to go Seahawks!

 

[sutz]

Laken Tomlinson - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Laken Tomlinson is an American football offensive guard for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. Wikipedia

6' 3" 320 ish. Good size. 32 years old.

JS is good at plugging bodies into holes so the draft isn't forced. Contract deets would tell us something.

 

[toffee]

He was pretty good two seasons ago, in fact, above average, oooops he's 32 now.

 

[RiverDog]

Another great signing in arguably one of the best off seasons in recent memory. Schneider continues to leave no stone unturned, solidifying himself as one of the league's top GMs.

Way to go Seahawks!

A great signing? There's a reason why the Jets cut him, and it wasn't just about money. If you go by PFF's player rankings...and I'm not saying that they're the gospel truth....this signing is a step down from Damien Lewis. Tomlinson was the #53 ranked guard, Lewis was ranked #37.

So go ahead and do your backflips and summersaults over our signing a player cut from the mighty New York Jets. I'll maintain my show-me stance.

 

[Jerhawk]

A great signing? There's a reason why the Jets cut him, and it wasn't just about money. If you go by PFF's player rankings...and I'm not saying that they're the gospel truth....this signing is a step down from Damien Lewis. Tomlinson was the #53 ranked guard, Lewis was ranked #37.

So go ahead and do your backflips and summersaults over our signing a player cut from the mighty New York Jets. I'll maintain my show-me stance.

He was a pro bowler in 2021

 

[Chawker]

Our Might is growing !

 

[Rat]

He's not good. At best, we're looking at the next Gabe Jackson. We should have made a run at Zeitler if we were looking for a vet.

 

[Scout]

Tomlinson is considered one of the better guards available in free agency at this point. But he is polarizing because he was on the market so long but I do not think he is worse than the other guards that were signed before him earlier in free agency. Some teams rather go with younger players at the position to further develop.

Tomlinson can step in as a starter day 1 and allow the team to not be forced to burn extra draft capital. But I hope JS doesn't ignore interior OL till the mid rounds like he usually does just because they signed Tomlinson.

Gabe Jackson is a fair comparison but I would say he has more in the tank than Gabe did.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Oh man not another free agent that is going to take a roster spot from a promising UDFA…

 

[nwHawk]

This feels like a JS move. Sign an iOL player on the decline and roll the dice.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Old

 

[JayhawkMike]

His rankings per the ESPN article:

Tomlinson finished 34th among all guards (left or right) in pass block win rate in 2023 and ranks 27th in PBWR as a guard over the past three seasons.

no complaints as we need bodies but I am reading that as average. Am I reading that right? Of course “average“ might be a step up.

 

[bileever]

Clearly not as good as he was in 2020 or 2021. It's hard to say if he's in decline or just suffered from playing on an overall terrible offensive line the last two years with the Jets. I don't fault JS for the signing. We clearly didn't have cap space for a more expensive player, and Tomlinson comes pretty cheap for a proven vet.

PFF grades over Tomlinson's career:

 

[onanygivensunday]

Another veteran signing just before the draft to give John and Mike the flexibility to draft the BPA when the time comes.

I'm onboard with that approach. Go BPA, defensive flexibility if BPA and strengthen the trenches on both sides. Football is a violent sport and let's get VIOLENT.

GO HAWKS!!

 

[Fresno Hawk]

This is a good solid vet, who played for a team with no QB or no running game. Definitely good for a year.

 

[Jville]

What? .................... No Phil Hayes?

I like the experience and durability iron man Laken Tomlinson brings to the team. Can't develop a dynamic blocking dual without good durability ..... as we witnessed last year.

Unfortunately, rankings built on top of the raw stats generated by third party outsiders are blind to many variations in team specific schemes from team to team and year to year and player to player. I doubt the various subscriber supported stat sites enjoy the kind of geo-tracking data coupled with the working software to get into the kind of detail that next gen stats hint at and that many NFL teams now possess.

How and where Laken Tomlinson lines up with regards to splits and levels is yet to be seen. What impact his experience brings to blocking chemistry in a new offense is also yet to be seen.

I'm thinking Tomlinson was signed in anticipation that he will prove to be a better fit with the 2024 Seattle blocking scheme than he was in 2023 New York blocking scheme. It's the kind of thing that successful organizations do by getting deeper into the weeds thru examination of all the details. Bleeding edge advantages make that possible.

We'll see what comes of this.