The Seattle Seahawks may be getting key reinforcements back on the offensive line very soon.
On Wednesday, the team announced that both right tackles, Abraham Lucas and George Fant, have been designated to return to practice.
Lucas was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list at the start of training camp this year after getting knee surgery back in January. This knee issue sidelined Lucas to only six games in his sophomore campaign in 2023, including missing the must-win regular season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.
Being placed on the PUP list meant that Lucas did not count against the Seahawks' 53-man roster limit. In addition, for Lucas to return to the 53-man roster, Seattle would have to designate him to return to practice, as they did on Wednesday. From here, Lucas has a 21-day practice window open where he can practice with the team, but not count against the 53-man roster. By the end of this 21-day window, the Seahawks must either activate Lucas to the 53-man roster or end his 2024 season.
Lucas' return has been rumored for seemingly forever now. However, coaches (both Pete Carroll and Mike Macdonald) have been vague about putting a tangible date on his return. Just last week Coach Macdonald stated that the team has "an in-house timeline" on Lucas, and that he won't "put a timeline on him right now" when it comes to a possible return from his nagging knee injury. Well now that Lucas has been designated to practice, there finally is a tangible date for his return. Macdonald did say that Lucas won't play this Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
The Seahawks have a bye week in three weeks, so we'll know by the bye week if Lucas can make his debut against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 11.
Lucas wasn't the only right tackle designated to return to practice today. George Fant, who returned to Seattle as a free agent this offseason was also designated to return to practice today. Fant signed with the Seahawks with the idea that he would start at right tackle as the team eased Lucas back. Unfortunately, this plan did not pan out. Fant injured his knee himself in week one against the Denver Broncos. This injury placed Fant on injured reserve, meaning he was removed from the 53-man roster for at least four weeks. Fant would have been eligible to return last week, however the team determined he was not yet ready. Now that Fant has been designated to return to practice, just like with Lucas, he also has 21 days to practice before having to be activated to the 53-man roster or be shut down for the season.
This news of both Lucas and Fant returning to practice is huge for the Seahawks. The right tackle position has been a glaring weakness for Seattle all season. Stone Forsythe had been the third string option in place of both Lucas and Fant, and seemingly played like a third stringer. In his four starts, Forsythe allowed 35 pressures, easily the most in the NFL. Last week Forsythe was replaced by rookie Mike Jerrell who looked like an upgrade at the position. Despite the optimism around Jerrell's performance, both Lucas and Fant returning raises the floor at right tackle considerably and is critical for the Seahawks success this season. Time will tell if either are able to activate to the 53-man roster and be back to protecting Geno Smith and opening holes for the running game.