June 11, 2007

By Mike Kahn

Seahawks Insider

Seahawks.com

SEATTLE, Wash.--He ran with the Seattle Seahawks first team offense as the third down back next to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in Wednesday's Seattle Seahawks mini-camp, and was so excited about it, that third-year fullback Leonard Weaver was almost talking too fast to grasp what he was saying.

It's a far cry from the way the 2006 season unfolded for him, suffering a high ankle sprain in the final preseason game and spending the regular season and playoffs on injured reserve.

"Last year is really fueling me a lot right now," Weaver said. "It was very difficult to spend the year watching the game from the box, sitting on the sidelines or watching games on TV. I didn't like watching my guys go out there without me being able to help them. I'd never been hurt before, so obviously it's something I had to learn to deal with and learn from.

"Today, I'm very excited to be amongst the fellas running around, hitting each other, catching and running with the football. It feels great to be out here. I'm healthy and I'm feeling real good and want to build on it."

At 6-foot, 250 pounds, Weaver is the guy in the backfield showing plenty these days. With his speed, hands and power, he figures to be the successor to 35-year-old Mack Strong (if he ever retires), but at least spell him as they had hoped a year ago.

Initially, special teams is where he'll get the bulk of his time - as he did in every game in 2005. But if he stays healthy, he'll battle it out with Strong and tailback Mo Morris for that third down back spot - which is primarily a blocking position, with the occasional check-down pass or draw play.

"I was excited about the possibility of Mack being able to get a rest with Leonard getting his opportunity to learn during regular season games last year," running backs coach Stump Mitchell said. "But after Leonard got hurt, Mack ended up averaging 50 plays a game, which was entirely too much for him. He did a heck of a job, but it would have been good to have had Leonard there to spare him some. He would have had bigger plays, and Leonard would have made some plays as well.

"Obviously, he's going to be competing for the position. We know Mack can do it, Mo will be competing for the position. The best man who shows up wins the position - and hopefully that will not have to be Mack."

Everyone is on the same page about that. The reason for so many people trying to quell their excitement about Weaver is obvious. The former Division II All-American tight end at Carson-Newman has shown such explosiveness during practice, during training camps in 2005-06 and during preseason games, everyone expected him to be a factor last year. With bursts off tackle and around the end, plus great hands to catch the football and a stiff arm that resembles an oak branch, there was even talk about him playing some tailback last year.

It would have been particularly fortuitous had he been healthy when All-Pro Shaun Alexander went down with a broken foot in third game. It would have given the staff a look at Weaver playing tailback, which also has been a source of conversation.

"Leonard is such an amazing athlete that everybody forgot that he played at a small school and he played tight end," Alexander said. "For him to not only be a fullback but be a running back period - this being his first experience in the NFL - you would be naïve to think he could play in his first year and then last year he got hurt. I think this is a year where we will get to see him do a lot of stuff and help our offense out tremendously. I think he is going to do some really good things for us."

That's the way the plan has worked. He spent last season rehabilitating the ankle, attending all the team meetings, and serving as an assistant coach for former NFL running back/kick-returner Terry Metcalf at Renton High School. He began as an assistant with the running backs and special teams, then ultimately became the defensive coordinator. While he was teaching the players, Weaver was learning more.

"I got a lot out of that ... getting a chance to see what it's like for the first time from the coach's perspective dealing with a player," Weaver said. "Then I came back to be a player and dealt with a coach, and had a new understanding of what this is all about. I got the understanding of getting a player to understand what you want him to do, then learning ways to get him to respond the way you want him to respond. It's helping me learn the game a lot better."

There has been continuous talk about his blocking by the staff - almost ad nauseam - if only because the buzz never stops about the obvious skills of power, speed and hands that produced 80 yards on 12 carries as a rookie. The reason, however, is obvious - Alexander is a superstar, Strong has been the best blocking fullback in the game for years and Hasselbeck needs protection too against the intense pass rush.

All of those issues count in triplicate before Weaver will get a chance to flash those powerful spats.

"The biggest thing is he's a gifted kid obviously - a natural runner," offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said. "But he is a tight end from a small school and there is a difference there making the jump to fullback in the NFL.

"We've got to find out if he can learn it and he can block. If he can, we got a steal, because he's gifted at running and catching because it's easy for him to do that. Can he arrive? Can he be one of the guys and produce like this in a regular season game? Last year hurt a lot... it was time he would have gained experience at everything and learned more. It hurt him. It hurt us. We could look at our team differently. Let's say he played in eight or nine games - 10-15 plays. We'd really know what we have. It pushes it back a whole year. Still, he's a wonderful kid and loaded with talent."

But Weaver knows talk and appearances are cheap. Until he performs at the level that people hope, it's all just perception. He's dealing with reality, which came in a flash during the first quarter of the final preseason game in a blowout win over Oakland. Everything said about him now is the same as last year, with Mitchell emphasizing that until he proves he can do all of this in games, we just won't know.

"I understand all of that," Weaver said. "I agree with them. This is a great team and I have to prove I belong in that kind of role. I feel really great in the aspect of running and blocking. I feel much more knowledgeable of the game - why we do things in a particular way, why I hit someone this way instead of that way, and why we run the plays we do in different situations. That's a big thing. I understand concepts now and why we do what we do on a consistent basis instead of wondering.

"I know the playbook now, so I'm much more comfortable letting my talent run free and get done what I need to do. My expectations this year are to make the team first, then be a big part of it ... to see whatever I can do to help the Seahawks succeed. I'm still a young fullback in this league and I wasn't playing well enough to earn time. That's my goal for this year - to help Mack and contribute to taking some of the responsibilities off his plate. If it turns out that it's being a third down back, then I'm there. I'm here to do whatever they want me to do. I just want to be able to help any way I can."

Instead of teasing glimpses, it's time to get it on and Weaver says he's ready. The good news is everybody wants the same thing from him and he gets all of that.

"He does have all those things on paper and on film," Mitchell said. "But almost all of that has been before the regular season. It's all going to come down to how he performs to get to the regular season - he knows it's up to him."