The Seattle Seahawks invested in their offensive line late Tuesday night: Seattle reached an agreement with ex-Giants-Lineman D.J. Fluker on a one-year contract.
This was confirmed by Fluker’s consultant Deryk Gilmore to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network: “He is in the best shape of his life and looking forward to this opportunity,” Gilmore added.
Fluker could directly replace Guard Luke Joeckel, whose contract had expired and who has been a free agent of the Seahawks since last week. Seattle could also plan him as a right guard – on the other hand – and try to get Joeckel back. An alternative would be to pull Ethan Pocic into the Joeckel slot.
Fluker undoubtedly gives the Seahawks more mass on the offensive line, which fits to a probable change in the blocking philosophy in the run game: After Tom Cable’s departure it can be assumed that the Seahawks will incorporate more power and man concepts. According to Pro Football Focus, Seattle had used a zone blocking scheme in 72 percent of cases in the pre-season.
In any case, the Hawks have seen a curious trend: over the past two years they have signed six players from the top 61 of the 2013 drag – Joeckel (2), Dion Jordan (3), Barkevious Mingo (6), Fluker (11), Sheldon Richardson (13) and Eddie Lacy (61) – partly in the Free Agency, partly via Trade.