Sorry, the OP wasn’t my best work typing from a phone on a 15 minute break.
But to add some actual context back in 2005 when Lofa came in hot as a rookie and helped set that defense on fire and bring it to a more consistent level. I remember thinking he was the best MLB I’ve ever seen in this Uniform but take in account my fandom started in 1997. And a lot of you probably felt the same, Lofa was great, he was an immediate legend and was able to solidify a blackhole in that defense for what felt like forever. But he only sustained his top level of performance for only 4 years of the 6 years he was able to play. In those 6 seasons he tallied 552 tackles.
Now just think about Wagner who is currently on pace to triple Tatupu’s tackle numbers of 1656 tackles in Year 12.
People keep saying he’s lost a step or not as good as he was in his prime, no argument, he’s 33 with currently 4 games in 12 physical seasons. But I don’t think he’s fallen off as much as he just had to reinvent his game and be put in opportunity to utilize his strengths, scheme him around his declining athleticism and get him more out of coverage assignments and sideline to sideline responsibilities.
You know I get why he was let go last season, his salary, the culture dump of moving on from the past to pave way for a new generation, but I felt like there were also reservations if he could translate to a new scheme at his age of decline. Then all he did was sign with a team that ran a 3-4 and once again proved to be one of the best at his position.
Consider the fact, Russell Wilson another HoF hopeful has struggled finding both consistency to his performance and respect within his new location. Bobby remained rock solid and steady as ever, highly revered, highly respected, even taking command of his new defense just as he would have done as a Seahawks, just like he’s doing now, no questions asked. Filling the leadership and captaincy blackhole on this defense that nobody last year could fill and in hindsight letting him go was a bad decision as Adams got hurt in the first game and Seahawks had to back track on the scheme they built for him and it was a mess, they found a way to band-aid it but it prove to be unsustainable without a hardened backbone.
The defense this year, especially this last game, people have the right to question it and they aren’t wrong in their reservations: is it for real, is it sustainable especially when we played one of the worst offenses we will see this season and definitely the worst we seen by far.
But Bobby gives me hope that it is sustainable. Just look at the Run Defense. I thought it would improve towards the average but in no way I thought it was going to be as dominant as it’s been. His leadership, doing all the little things like communicating the defense, getting guys in position, alerting guys to keep their heads up, and reigning guys in or holding them accountable and being the gravitating force holding guys together to be able to galvanize all these new or young faces to be a team together.
I’m not expecting the Defense to be elite or dominant, I thought Seattle was going win with a dynamic clock-control Offense and a more average defense that won with swarming to the ball with better tackling and punish teams with a smoke and mirrors pass-rush and hopefully force turnovers at a league leading clip. Somewhat similar to the 2005 defense. Not great but much better, more hopeful buoyed by functional dynamic offense.
Which brings me back to Tatupu, who was my favorite player from that era by far. I loved and still love him.
But in my opinion even Wagner’s down years, even in his decline that some people have to dramatize because of his high-ceiling he raised over the years with consistently dominant performance.
Just brings me to my bottom-line:
The very worst of Wagner to my untrained eye looks just as good, if not better and more productive on paper than some of Lofa Tatupu’s best years. That’s how good Bobby has been. That even in Wagner’s twilight perhaps he is performing on the same level if not more than one of my most favorite players ever did.
