GREEN BAY, Wis. – The biggest fish in the run-stuffing sea has chosen to relocate to near the Pacific Ocean rather than Lake Michigan.
The Seattle Seahawks are signing former All-Pro defensive tackle Damon Harrison to their practice squad, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. Harrison visited Seattle on Tuesday and was scheduled to come to Green Bay on Wednesday. That visit, obviously, won’t happen – a reality that was always an option.
Seattle and Green Bay appear to be the NFC heavyweights with 4-0 records. Super-aggressive Seahawks general manager John Schneider won the services of one of the NFL’s elite run-stoppers at the expense of a big conference rival.
Why the practice squad? That’s taking advantage of NFL rules allowing teams to carry veterans on practice squads this year. Harrison, a 350-pound man who hasn’t played or even practiced since the end of last season with Detroit, will need something resembling a training camp to get ready to play. By placing him on the practice squad, Harrison can get those practice reps without the Seahawks having to immediately eliminate a player from their 53-man roster.
Harrison would have been an immediate asset to a Packers run defense that is 23rd with 120.1 rushing yards allowed per game and 24th with 4.67 rushing yards allowed per attempt but played well against the Falcons. The return of Kenny Clark, who missed the last three games with a groin injury, will obviously help, but the run defense wasn’t good enough with him in the lineup last season.
Seattle, meanwhile, is third in the NFL in rushing yards per game (75.8) and per carry (3.40). The median rushing average in the league is 4.39.
“He’s a tough man to move,” Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari said on his weekly radio appearance on 1250-AM “The Fan” in Milwaukee. “He’s a very smart player, very instinctive, and he’s garnered the accolades. All that has been earned for him. So, yeah, it would be very exciting to see if we do get him. It would definitely help build depth … and definitely a big man in the middle for our team.
Last year, of 64 interior defensive linemen to play at least 200 run-defending snaps, Harrison finished ninth in ProFootballFocus.com’s run-stop percentage, a metric that essentially measures impact tackles. He ranked No. 1 in five consecutive seasons from 2014 through 2018.
According to Sports Info Solutions, his average tackle on running plays the past three seasons limited the gain to 1.5 yards. Compare that to Green Bay’s No. 2 defensive tackle, Dean Lowry. His average tackle the past three seasons limited the gain to 2.5 yards. Tyler Lancaster, whose forte is stopping the run, has made his average tackle vs. the run 2.1 yards downfield during his three-year career.
