Is Seneca Ready?

Click the picture to relive Seneca's brilliant Monday Night pre-season game last season.

Also view this video clip at Seahawks.com about Juggs Machine (as Hass calls him. Thanks to alba for the URL to the clip.).

I know that this is a topic which has come up before, but it's one I am simply not satisfied with yet. I was wondering why it is that the Hawks are looking for a veteran backup QB when in my mind, the vets available really aren't any better than what I have already seen from Seneca. I wonder if we have all forgotten just how good he really looked in the pre-season last year.

One of the biggest criticisms against Seneca has been the criticism that he likes to run too often and doesn't stay in the pocket when he should. So I looked to see if that really is the case, and I have discovered that, at least last year, that was not the case at all. Here are a some stats that support my theory.

Game 1 - At Packers:
Pass - 14/26 135 Yds 1 TD 0 INT
Rush - 3 rush -2 Yds

Game 2 - Denver:
Pass - 12-26 156 Yds 0 TD 0 INT
(couldn't find his rushing stats)
Game 3 - At San Diego
Did not Pass or Rush
[Dilfer] 9/16 79 Yds 0 TD 0 INT
1-rush 9 Yds

Game 4 - Minnesota
Pass - 15/25 148 Yds 0 TD 0 INT
Rush - 1 rush 7 Yds

What I remember from watching him play last year, was a very poised QB with a much better than advertised arm who could make things happen with his feet anytime, which the defenses were forced to respect. He made good decisions, good reads, and most importantly had a good sense of timing with the receivers.

I realize that there has been a lot of talk about getting him on the field any way they can, whether it's returning kicks, or in a slash type role as a receiver. My question is, since we drafted David Greene and we already have Wallace on the roster, what would really be the harm in using him as our number 2 and in all those other roles? Is he really that much more likely to get hurt than otherwise? Not really, players get hurt all the time in scrimmages, practices whatever. Also, do we really want to carry 4 QB's on our roster? A bit excessive IMHO. Considering all the rookies who have done well at QB, would we really be in that much more trouble, if something (God forbid), were to happen to Hasselbeck? Would someone like Tim Hasselbeck (no longer available, just an example) really provide that much more stability than Wallace or even Greene could? If so, then why bother drafting QB's anyway? If our QB's will always be thought of as too inexperienced to play, then when will they ever get the chance to show what they are capable of? Ben Rothlisburger did fairly well as a rookie just last season, and coming into the year, no one gave him much of a chance of doing much of anything. Happens all the time. I just think that we ought to be using what we draft.

I really want to know what you guys think, as for me, I would like to see Wallace get his shot at #2 AND be used in any way Holmgren can come up with. If worse comes to worse, and both Hasselbeck and Seneca went down with injuries, does anyone really believe that we would have any better a shot at going into the playoffs with someone like Jeff George, than David Greene? I certainly don't! I look at the vets who are available and there is simply not one single name I would rather start ahead of who we already have.