The Seattle Seahawks knew that adding help on the edge should be a priority for them this offseason -- especially after trading Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs. Seattle selected former TCU edge rusher L.J. Collier with the No. 29 overall pick in last month's NFL draft, but they were not done adding talent to the defensive line. On Wednesday, the Seahawks inked former Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah to a one-year deal.
And while Ansah should help them on the edge when he gets on the field, that day might not come until a few weeks into the season. According to a report from ESPN.com's Adam Schefter, Ansah may miss as much as a month of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery.
New Seahawks’ DE Ziggy Ansah still is recovering from shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him out of training camp or longer; some league sources believe Ansah could miss the first month of this season, at least.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 9, 2019
Ansah played just seven games in 2018 due to the shoulder injury, recording four sacks, three tackles for loss, and seven quarterback hits. He has been known to be somewhat inconsistent in terms of sack production during his career (8.0, 7.5, 14.5, 2.0, 12.0, 4.0) but as Pro Football Focus noted, he has almost always been excellent at generating pressure and at defending against the run.
Aside from an injury-shortened year in 2018, Ezekiel Ansah has put forth double-digit totals in both pressures and defensive stops in each year of his career.
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) May 9, 2019
His career-high 71 pressures in 2014 were 8th-most among edge defenders that season. https://t.co/715V59acBY
That's exactly the kind of thing the Seahawks like to see out of their edge rushers, and it should make Ansah a good fit whenever he gets on the field. They just might have to wait a while before that actually happens.