RENTON — The most promising development yet for the Seahawks’ worrisome offensive line is, fittingly, the best moment yet in this training camp.
It’s got to be the best moment yet in Germain Ifedi’s 22-year-old life.
The top rookie draft pick shuffled to his right and dug his spikes into the turf.
Opposite him, Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett kept charging like a helmeted bull. His face mask and shoulders barreled into the newbie.
Yet Ifedi refused to yield to Bennett. This pass-rush drill was a stalemate.
That infuriated one of the NFL’s best pass rushers. A rookie eight years his junior, from the same college program (Texas A&M), denying the speedy Bennett the free path into opposing backfields he’s enjoyed for most of the last couple of Seahawks seasons?
Not without Bennett getting in some extra jabs afterward.
The eight-year veteran became so incensed, he ripped off his helmet following the coach’s whistle that ended their draw.
Hatless, Bennett went after the still-helmeted Ifedi. Ifedi counter-charged at Bennett. Pushing and shoving ensued. Bennett continued screaming at the rookie — even after dozens of offensive and defensive linemen and their coaches intervened.
About five minutes later in the juicy, training-camp pass-rush drill, Bennett and Ifedi faced off again.
Ifedi stood up Bennett again, and this time the rookie won. Bennett could not gain ground on his team’s first-round draft choice. Some more pushing and jawing later, coaches had to separate the two former Aggies again.
The incident may go down as the time Ifedi proved he was worth the team’s first pick.
Not to mention the moment he cemented the starting right-guard job, which the Seahawks have just about handed him since day one of rookie minicamp.
Ifedi not only solidified his claim on that job with what he did to and against Bennett. He won over his new teammates — as he walked off the practice field, he was laughing and joking with center Patrick Lewis.
Ifedi also won over his new head coach.
“I didn’t get to see the pass-rush drill, but I know there was a little A&M issue going on down there, which is fun,” said Pete Carroll, who was about 50 yards away watching quarterbacks and receivers work against defensive backs at the time Ifedi and Bennett were skirmishing, but Ifedi’s performance was so noteworthy an assistant informed the coach about it.
“That’s who he is,” Carroll said of Ifedi.
“He’s shown that throughout.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s very aggressive, very tough.”
And big. Ifedi is listed as 6 feet 5 and 325 pounds. He looks even bigger than that in his blue, 76 practice jersey over shoulder pads. His wingspan is as wide as Shaquille O’Neal is tall (85 inches).
Now Ifedi’s Seahawks street cred is as big as he is.
“Being willing to stand up for himself on the first day,” the coach said, nodding and grinning approvingly, “pretty good.”
We would have asked Ifedi how that felt, but Carroll has a policy of prohibiting his rookies from speaking in the first days of training camp.
The Seahawks’ offensive line remains the large — make that, mammoth — issue within a camp that so far has been noticeably lively, fresh and sharp.
That line is likely to have new starters in all five positions, including former guard and tackle Justin Britt at center. That’s in the wake of left tackle Russell Okung signing with Denver and right guard J.R. Sweezy signing as a free agent with Tampa Bay this spring — for $24 million more than the $8.3 million Ifedi will earn in the first four years of his rookie contract.
But after what Ifedi did, the right guard spot looks settled.
Bennett was in good spirits after the two-hour practice.His veteran defensive-end partner implied Bennett may have been trying to test or send a message to the new blocker.
“It’s all about competing, trying to see where [Ifedi’s] head is at, also letting him know that, ‘Hey, we’re not soft,’ as well,” Cliff Avril said. “But it’s all fun and games, we keep it on the field.
“I’ll probably go punch [Bennett] in the gut once we get in the locker room or something.”
Avril might think twice about joking like that with Ifedi.
Ifedi had the reputation at Texas A&M for being nasty, not just in games but in practices while as a three-year starter in college at right tackle and at guard. He became known as a mean counter to the spread, no-huddle, finesse game the Aggies play. That’s precisely what attracted the Seahawks to him.
Against Bennett, Ifedi brought to mind what Schneider said the night the Seahawks made him their highest-drafted lineman since James Carpenter out of Alabama in 2011.
“He’s one of those guys that just moves people and plays with a nasty streak,” Seattle’s GM said on April 28.
“I went to Kansas [to scout] and that was my first school call this year, and Troy Kema is their academic advisor there. He was like, ‘You can ask me about all these guys at Kansas, and you can ask me about all the guys at Texas A&M, and I’m just going to tell you one thing: If you don’t draft Germain Ifedi you have no idea what you’re doing.’ I was like, ‘All right.’ That was our first conference and I was like, ‘I guess we’re drafting Germain Ifedi.’ ”
It wasn’t that simple, of course.
But it sure looked wise.
