08-09-2007, 09:02 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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Wallace matures at mixing it up
Wallace matures at mixing it up
Quote:
As Seneca Wallace rolled to his right, there it was: An escape hatch.
Looming before him was the kind of gap in the defense the Seahawks backup quarterback can easily exploit with his speed and quickness, but also the avenue he once used as an escape mechanism because he had yet to grasp the complexities of coach Mike Holmgren's offense.
Rather than explode through the crease, Wallace continued his rollout, pulled up and lofted a pass to wide receiver Ben Obomanu, who had used the time provided by Wallace's patience to get open behind two defenders in the end zone.
While it was one small pass in just another training camp drill, the play also was a giant leap in Wallace's progression.
Wallace, who turned 27 on Monday, has matured to the point that he's better able to utilize his ample athletic ability within the scheme.
"Seneca is now using his gifts to hurt you, both ways," said cornerback Marcus Trufant, who has been an eyewitness to Wallace's tribulations and now triumphs.
"He can hurt you with the deep ball, he's got a sweet deep ball," Trufant said. "But at the same time, he can run out of the pocket and get the first down any time he wants."
Wallace could always run, just like he always had that sweet passing touch. It's just that the two seldom converged at a harmonious juncture.
He ran too much when he first arrived. He didn't run enough last season, when he was trying to prove to everyone -- including himself -- that he could make plays in passing.
"Last year, Seneca hesitated to run. He wanted to show that, 'I can throw this. I can hang in there,' " quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn said. "But Seneca has an asset that not many other guys have, where he can go from coasting to running as fast as anybody on the team."
In half-a-blink.
"Last year, my war cry to Seneca when he started playing was, 'Why are you waiting?' " Zorn said. "Those are the things I'm hoping to see in the preseason. When the receivers are covered, go."
Zorn will get his first glimpse Sunday, when the Seahawks open the preseason against the Chargers in San Diego. Matt Hasselbeck is expected to start, but play sparingly. The coaches also need to take a look at No. 3 QB David Greene. But in between, it will be all Wallace.
When he arrived as a fifth-round draft choice in 2003, and as an option quarterback from Iowa State, Wallace struggled just to learn the verbiage in Holmgren's hybrid of the West Coast offense. Even when he could manage to get through a play call in the huddle, he didn't always know what it meant.
That now seems like a lifetime ago, if not someone else's life. "I don't even feel like the same player," Wallace said.
Through his persistence, and with hours of offseason tutoring from Zorn, Wallace has grown in the offense.
Wallace went 2-2 last season when Hasselbeck was sidelined with a sprained right knee.
"Now, I know when it's the right time to make a play, and use my arm," he said. "I know when it's the right time to bolt, and use my legs."
He's not there yet, but Wallace definitely has come light years from where he was as a confused rookie and an unsure second- and third-year player.
Other players now go to Wallace with questions about the complexities of the offense.
"And he has the right answers for them," Hasselbeck said.
Which also answers a lot of the questions that used to dog Wallace.
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Wallace matures at mixing it up
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