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Bobby Wagner takes first shot at Rams after being released by L.A., returning to Seattle

“I got the right colors back on,” says the Seahawks linebacker

By Kenneth Arthur
/ new
Houston Astros v Seattle Mariners Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Bobby Wagner was by many accounts the best and most reliable player on the Rams during his one season with Los Angeles in 2022, but the veteran linebacker had words about his change of scenery during his first practice back with the Seattle Seahawks.

“I’m excited I got the right colors back on,” said the 11-year veteran who spent his first 10 seasons with the Seahawks.

You might think that Wagner would hold a grudge against Seattle for releasing him last year, which opened the door for him to join their NFC West rivals on a five-season contract shortly thereafter. But after the Rams released Wagner after just one year with the team, he immediately retreated back to the Seahawks on a new contract. The 33-year-old linebacker who was a second-team All-Pro last season, could be playing his final year in the NFL and is apparently putting a very good campaign with the Rams behind him already.

In his lone season in L.A., his hometown, Wagner posted 140 tackles, six sacks, two interceptions, and 10 QB hits. It was the first time he didn’t make the Pro Bowl since 2013, but Wagner has been a first or second-team All-Pro in each of the past nine years.

In Seattle, Wagner is being counted on to improve one of the NFL’s worst run defenses, but that probably was a weakness of his, if anything, during his 2022 campaign with the Rams. In fact, Ferragamo15 posted a great comment about that in a recent Turf Show Times article.

Ferragamo15
Watching some defensive plays from last season:
1. Greg Gaines is a good player. Sorry to see him go to the Bucs, wish he could have stayed. Sure, his stats are nothing special, but he consistently contributes, even if his job is sometimes is only to eat up blocks to free up other guys.
2. When Taylor Rapp was in deep coverage, he was lost. I have no idea what he thought he was doing, he'd just randomly run away from the action for no reason, just zero instincts for where to position himself.
3. Jordan Fuller was painfully slow to the point of being a liability vs both the run and pass. If it weren't for the hope that with more time he could continue to rehab and improve, I would have been tempted to cut him. If you can't run, you can't play football.
4. Both Wagner and Jones sometimes make mistakes and attack the wrong gap, losing leverage against the ball on runs. EJ is understandable as a young player, but it's kind of frustrating to watch such a great LB like Wagner not be more consistent.
5. IMO the issue isn't how Morris deployed the CBs it was how they played their off technique. Ramsey, Long, Durant, those guys showed examples of how to read the play/QB and jump the routes in front of them. "Soft" coverage can quickly become "dangerous" coverage if the CB has ball hawking instincts, intelligence and athleticism. Our CBs as a group just weren't talented enough to create those types of plays consistently last season.

To highlight that point again:

Both Wagner and Jones sometimes make mistakes and attack the wrong gap, losing leverage against the ball on runs. EJ is understandable as a young player, but it’s kind of frustrating to watch such a great LB like Wagner not be more consistent.

So while the Rams may not necessarily be “better off” on defense this season than last season, they’re probably also happy that Bobby Wagner put his old colors back on again this year.

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