Let's not forget about Ziggy

[D-train]

Ziggy Ansah overshadowed?

Um... he’s 6 feet, 5 inches tall.

Yet that’s how mammoth the Seahawks’ trade with/heist of Houston last weekend to get Jadeveon Clowney is to Seattle’s defense.

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All of the Pacific Northwest has been buzzing this week over Clowney’s arrival. In fact, it was the talk of the NFL—at least until Antonio Brown threatened to knockout his Raiders general manager.

Even Ansah is thrilled, even through the trade moves him from centerpiece to Seattle’s 2019 pass rush to the bookend sharing the lead edge-rushing role with Clowney.

“We were talking about it before it all happened. We knew it was a possibility that it would happen,” Ansah said. “I’m pretty excited that we were able to acquire him and have him join us.”

Ansah spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since the Seahawks signed the 2015 Pro Bowl defensive end in May to a one-year contract from the Detroit Lions.


Why so long before talking?

He really hadn’t done anything for his new team until last week.

Play Video
Duration 1:13
Best Monday of Seahawks year: Jadeveon Clowney, Ziggy Ansah, L.J. Collier practicing together for first time

This was by far the best Monday of the Seahawks’ year: Jadeveon Clowney, Ziggy Ansah, L.J. Collier practicing together as a pass-rushing trio for first the time, just in time for the season opener SundayBy Gregg Bell
Ansah, 30, spent all of spring and most of summer in training rooms, weight rooms and on side fields conditioning his way back from shoulder surgery that ended his 2018 season and time with the Lions. Thursday was his fifth practice since December, though he remained limited on the official participation report. He didn’t practice from the first week of December until Aug. 27. After his restored full strength in his shoulder, he injured his groin running last month.

“I was excited. I didn’t now how to act returning to the field with the guys,” he said. “Sometimes, just staying out and watching got old at times.

“I’m just grateful that everything is getting better now, and I’m able to come out there and practice with the guys.”


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Ansah hasn’t played in a game—preseason, regular season, any season—since Dec. 9. He went on injured reserve two days later.

That will change Sunday. The Seahawks’ big offseason acquisition, the first of what with the Clowney deal become Seattle two-step to replace traded-away Frank Clark as the defense’s lead edge rusher, will make his Seahawks debut in the season opener as the “Leo” defensive end against Cincinnati at CenturyLink Field.

“What do you know about the ‘Leo’ spot?” Ansah replied, guardedly and with a grin, when asked about it Thursday.

The secret’s out. The Leo in coach Pete Carroll’s defense is the weakside edge rusher, customarily the primary pass rusher on the four-man defensive line. The Seahawks signed Ansah to replace Clark, who replaced retired Pro Bowl veteran Cliff Avril as Seattle’s Leo.

Clowney appears destined for the opposite, strongside edge with versatility to be an inside pass rusher faster than interior offensive linemen on passing downs, as Michael Bennett was in his Super Bowl and Pro Bowl years with Seattle.

“It’s been a long journey,” Ansah said. “I haven’t played football in a while, a long time, since last year. It’s something I’m really looking forward to.

“I just can’t wait to hit somebody.”

ansashsled
All-Pro Bobby Wagner (54) watches top sack man Ziggy Ansah (pushing into sled) drill early in the defensive end’s first practice with the Seahawks. Seattle signed the 2015 Pro Bowl pass rusher in May. He has been recovering from shoulder surgery last season that ended his time with the Detroit Lions. Gregg Bell/The News Tribune
As with Clowney, who because of a contract holdout with the Texans will be playing his first game in 8 1/2 months on Sunday, the Seahawks aren’t going to get from Clowney against the Bengals what they expect to get by midseason. Ansah hasn’t played as many as 500 snaps in a season since 2015. That’s an average of 31 snaps per game, about half an average day for a defense.

Twenty snaps on Sunday seems like a fair ceiling for his Seahawks debut, his first game in 10 months.

How ready is Ansah for that?

“I’ve been here since May. I’ve gone though a lot of walkthroughs and taken a lot of mental reps,” he said. “I’ve been in the league for a while, I know how it goes.

“But, I’m as ready as I can be.”

Carroll said he’s come up with a plan for how and how often he intends to use Ansah. But he’s not sharing it.

“Wait and see,” Carroll said, as he does for almost everyone when asked about playing time.

Play Video
Duration 2:08Pete Carroll just got “what every coach in the history of football” wants on eve of Seahawks’ season opener: a premier pass rusher

Coach Pete Carroll just got “what every coach in the history of football” wants on eve of Seahawks’ season opener: a premier pass rusher in Jadeveon Clowney, to go with Ziggy Ansah at defensive end.By Gregg Bell
Ansah and Clowney are already a pairing, even before playing their first game at opposite ends of the defensive line, which coaches intend to do often Sunday and all season.

How much?

“They’ll be on the field,” is all defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. would say, staying as coy as his boss.

Ansah is, like Clowney, 6-5 and an athletic freak. The both have arms as long as the Narrows Bridge.

Seahawks Pro Bowl veteran left tackle Duane Brown explained those long limbs give them the unique ability to keep pass protectors from getting into their bodies to slow them down. When Ansah and Clowney are able to keep offensive linemen off of them, they use their speed to get back them off the edged.

That’s largely how they have combined for 77 sacks in Ansah’s six NFL seasons and Clowney’s five.

“I’ve played against Ziggy. I know what he’s capable of,” said Brown, a 12th-year veteran who was Clowney’s teammate for 3 1/2 years in Houston. “I’ve practiced against Clowney, a lot. If you watch both of those guys on film, they stick out.

“You can do so much, because Clowney can play inside. You can put them both on the same side. The combinations are endless.

“I’m just excited to see what they can do.”

Play Video
Duration 2:30Veteran blocker Duane Brown details problems offenses have facing two elite pass rushers, as Seahawks have in Jadeveon Clowney, Ziggy Ansah

Veteran Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown details problems offenses have facing two pass-rushing threats at end, as his Seahawks have on Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah.By Gregg Bell
Ansah agrees being paired with Clowney will make him more dynamic than he was for Seattle’s defense before last weekend’s trade.

“I think when put that combination together it really speaks for itself. Both of us are excited for the season,” Ansah said.

“And you guys should be looking forward to something great.”

Ansah is native of Ghana. He still lists his hometown as Accra, the west Afican nation’s capital and largest city. He went to Brigham Young University. He tried out for BYU’s basketball team two years in a row, in 2008 and ‘09, but did not make the team either year. So he walked onto the Cougars’ track team. He ran the 100- and 200-meter sprints for it.

Then he walked on to BYU’s football team. His first time playing in a football game was as a sophomore in big-time college football, in 2010. By his senior year he was BYU’s second-leading sack man and first in tackles for loss.

Though he had played just three years of football, the Lions selected him fifth overall in the 2013 NFL draft. He had 48 sacks in six years for Detroit. His best year was that Pro Bowl one of 2015, when he had 14 1/2 sacks. In 2017, the fifth, option year of his $31.3 million rookie contract, he had 12 sacks.

Before the 2018 season the Lions made him their franchise player, to keep him from free agency, at a cost of $17.14 million. Detroit got four sacks and seven games from him last year before his season-ending shoulder surgery. The Lions then let him go to free agency after that.

The deal he signed with Seattle is full of per-game bonuses—one third of the $9 million he could earn this season is in per-game roster bonuses. He will earn $187,500 bonuses Sunday: $93,750 each for being on the 53-man roster for game day and for being one of the 46 Seahawks active for the game itself.

It’s Carroll’s, general manager John Schneider’s and top contract executive Matt Thomas’ way of hedging the team’s cost against Ansah’s health. After Ansah’s $2.5 million base salary they are, largely, paying a la carte for the pass rusher this year.

ansahcarroll94
Defensive end Ziggy Ansah, wearing his new-old jersey number 94 he wore for six seasons with the Detroit Lions, talks with coach Pete Carroll at the start of the Seahawks’ light practice Wednesday. Gregg Bell/The News Tribune
Sunday will be Ansah’s seventh opening game in the NFL. Yet he sounds as excited as if it was his rookie year of 2013 again.

“Truthfully, It’s a little bit of everything,” he said of his emotions. “I haven’t played football in a very long time, like I said before. I just can’t wait to hit somebody. I can’t wait to make my first tackle. I can’t wait to get my first sack, I just can’t wait to get out there and play with the guys here in this building. We have a bunch of great guys here, and I can’t see myself anywhere but here. And I’m really excited to be a part of this program.”

For him, his career is restarting. It’s refreshing for him to have his shoulder finally healthy.

“It is, yeah, definitely,” he said. “As a player, you want to go into the season feeling strong, feeling healthy so you can play freely and cause havoc.

“So, yeah definitely, I’m pretty excited for this.”

Ansah has played in Seattle multiple times, including Jan. 2017 in Detroit’s loss to the Seahawks in the NFC wild-card playoffs. He had two sacks of Russell Wilson in the Lions’ 26-6 loss that night.

He knows the noise that will for, rather than against, him on Sunday.

“Yeah, when I wasn’t playing here and I was on the away team, this stadium was one of the stadiums you just sit there and soak everything in,” he said. “You sit there and think, ‘Man, this vibration is untouchable.’ The fans go crazy.

“The 12th Man, it’s totally understandable why they have that nickname. I’m just excited they’re on my side now.”

[D-train]

Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY!

And Reed in the wings ready to come back week 7. Love it.

[ThePro]

Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY!

And Reed in the wings ready to come back week 7. Love it.

What a rotation

[D-train]

Reason #57 to love Clowney:

Adam Jude
@A_Jude
· 49m
Jadeveon Clowney scored 35 TDs in 9 games as a high school freshman running back. Then coaches asked him to move to D-end. "I was like, ‘You know what? F*** this.' ... ‘Man, girls don’t like nobody that don’t score touchdowns, you know what I’m saying?’"

[ThePro]

Reason #57 to love Clowney:

Adam Jude
@A_Jude
· 49m
Jadeveon Clowney scored 35 TDs in 9 games as a high school freshman running back. Then coaches asked him to move to D-end. "I was like, ‘You know what? F*** this.' ... ‘Man, girls don’t like nobody that don’t score touchdowns, you know what I’m saying?’"

The girls love him now. Especially after he re-ups after this year.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY! Clowney and Ziggy and Collier OH MY!

And Reed in the wings ready to come back week 7. Love it.

What a rotation

Collier ain't playing this week, and Ziggy/Clown aren't going to be up to speed. Good thing they're playing the Bangles.

[ThePro]

Collier ain't playing this week, and Ziggy/Clown aren't going to be up to speed. Good thing they're playing the Bangles.

Collier should be back soon but why wouldn't Ziggy/Clowney be up to speed? If they had of been here the whole time. How much would they of played or practiced?

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Didn't they both miss (most of) training camp, Ziggy because of the shoulder and groin, Clowney due to his contract dispute? They won't be ib great shape for a little while.

[D-train]

Didn't they both miss (most of) training camp, Ziggy because of the shoulder and groin, Clowney due to his contract dispute? They won't be ib great shape for a little while.

Ziggy was working out and you would assume Clowney was as well. I read the same thing you did and they are not going to play 50+ plays but I can't imagine them needing oxygen after playing two plays in a row.

[ThePro]

Didn't they both miss (most of) training camp, Ziggy because of the shoulder and groin, Clowney due to his contract dispute? They won't be ib great shape for a little while.

Ziggy was working out and you would assume Clowney was as well. I read the same thing you did and they are going to play 50+ plays but I can't imagine them needing oxygen after playing two plays in a row.

Clowney has been working out the whole time in Florida. He's in the best shape of his career. His Dline coach said he was running like a gazelle out there yesterday.

Those guys stay in shape year round now.