Seahawks reportedly sign free-agent offensive lineman Tyrus Thompson
SEATTLE – The Seahawks have reportedly made their first personnel move in the wake of a season-ending injury to left tackle George Fant on Friday, signing free agent Tyrus Thompson, according to a report from Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
The 6-5, 330-pound Thompson started 26 games at left tackle at Oklahoma before being taken in the fifth round of the 2015 draft by Minnesota. Thompson, though, did not stick with the Vikings and has been with four other teams since, most recently with Carolina, which waived him last week. He has yet to appear in an NFL regular season games.
Thompson was one of three offensive linemen the Seahawks had in for visits this weekend, the others were Richard Levy and Mitchell Van Dyke.
The Seahawks are in need of depth at tackle with Fant now done for the season (and likely to soon be placed on injured reserve though no official move has been made yet.
Given that Thompson has been with five teams without making a regular-season roster indicates that the Seahawks are mostly adding depth and taking a flyer on a player they will hope they can get more out of than other teams have. Fant suffered an ACL injury in the second quarter after having appeared to have won the starting left tackle job in his second season with the Seahawks.
Thompson was an All-Big 12 first-team pick as a senior at Oklahoma in 2014 when he started all 13 games at left tackle.
NFL.com originally pegged him as a possible third- or fourth-round pick before he fell to the sixth round.
Wrote NFL.com: “Has NFL talent and athleticism. Is able to climb up to the second level and engage assignments. Effective wall-off blocker. Can change direction in pass protection and is able to adjust in space to get to moving targets. Light on his feet for a big guy. Has the feet and length to be a starting left tackle in the league. Has athleticism to recover when beaten in pass protection. Can move laterally and make tough blocks when needed.”
The Seahawks will return to practice on Monday when coach Pete Carroll is expected to address the media and potentially give more details on how the team will go about replacing Fant.
Second-year player Rees Odhiamo went most of the rest of the way in Friday’s 20-13 win over the Vikings at left tackle after Fant was injured.
But Carroll also said that Luke Joeckel, who has been playing left guard, could go back to the left tackle spot that was his primary position during most of his four-year career with Jacksonville.
“I don’t know,” Carroll said initially when asked how the team moves forward at left tackle. “We’ll see. We’ve very fortunate that Luke Joeckel is on our team. Luke can start at left tackle or left guard. We’re just fortunate that he’s with us. We have some choices and we’ll figure that out in time.”
As for Odhiambo, Carroll said: “He’s been a little bit up and down. He’s been playing both spots, guard and tackle of the left side. We like his physicality. He’s a good athlete. He’s strong and tough and all that. Just cleaning up his game so he can be real consistent is what we’re concerned about, and how soon will that come. And, will he be able to clean it all up in time to win one of these spots. We’ll see what happens.”