Deft Move Taking Risk On Fauria

At draft time, two tight ends impressed all scouts.

But Notre Dame’s Kyle Brady and Washington’s Mark Bruener were both off the board when the Seattle Seahawks reached their second pick.

That left the Hawks to take Colorado’s Christian Fauria.

Fauria had shown potential, but he had suffered some injuries and had run sluggish 40 times, leaving some to wonder if the Seahawks had reached too far to fill a need.

They look like geniuses now.

Fauria made four catches for 41 yards Sunday and scored the team’s only touchdown against San Diego.

And by doing so, Fauria showed more promise than any tight end the Hawks have had in quite a while.

“He’s getting better all the time, and he made a great catch on that touchdown,” Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said.

Fauria tried sneaking out of the Seahawks’ locker room without interviews, but was stopped short of the door. “That was my first (touchdown); let’s hope it isn’t my last,” Fauria said.

The pass came on a Rick Mirer bootleg left. Mirer saw Joey Galloway covered in the left corner of the end zone and turned to catch Fauria coming across the middle.

“I was dragging across and he threw behind himself right to me,” Fauria said. “And I just scooted into the end zone.”

Actually, Fauria dove over a defender at the goal line.

“He’s got a real good feel,” Mirer said of the rookie. “He finds holes and gives you something to aim at, and this time made a few yards after the catch.”

Fauria proved himself as a competent blocker Sunday, as well, flattening Leslie O’Neal so completely one time that he was rewarded with a dubious holding flag.

Martin and Means

For the second straight week, the Seahawks turned an opposing receiver and running back into Pro Bowl candidates.

Last week, Kansas City’s Greg Hill rushed for 109 yards and Willie Davis had 155 yards in receptions.

This week, Charger Natrone Means picked up 115 yards on 26 carries and Tony Martin made a career-high 13 catches for 163 yards.

“He looked like the Natrone of old; he was running tough and we were using him a lot,” Chargers coach Bobby Ross said.

“I thought the offensive line played a lot better, which makes my job easier,” said Means, who notched his 10th career 100-yard game.

Martin abused the Hawks corners on short timing routes to better his career-high of nine catches in a game.

“They were rolling their coverage to the strong side and leaving me open on the other side,” Martin said.

Notes

Former Washington State linebacker Lewis Bush got his second start of the season, but for the second straight game, he had no tackles.

Bush stepped up to that starting role when David Griggs died in an off-season car wreck.

, DataTimes