LB Lofa Tatupu has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery on both knees, the Seahawks announced Thursday. (I wonder how it gets announced when a surgery is unsuccessful.)
Those knees have been an increasing source of concern for the Seattle defense in recent years, and are a crucial player in its future. This is now the third year in a row that Seattle's "defensive quarterback" has been slowed by injury, first with a knee in 2008, then with a fluke pectoral injury cutting short his 2009, and then seeing Tatupu grit through 2010 and playing very much like he had two bad knees.
That's no small matter. Tatupu's decline has been quiet, his struggles much less spectacular than others' on this defense, and so less noticed. But it's huge. Tatupu has lost the punch with which he used to pop fullbacks, instead getting swallowed up on blocks and losing tackles far too often. His burst and agility have suffered, making him less effective on blitzes and coverage. He's lost a ton of speed; he looked painfully slow even in his biggest play of 2010,
a 26-yard pick six of Carolina QB Jimmy Clausen. Even his concentration seems to be suffering; he drops too many interceptions and bites more and more on misdirection and play-action. And the broken tackles are continuing to pile up, mounting in the form of long, inexorable drives in which nothing happens to disrupt the momentum of Seattle's opponents.
Tatupu simply hasn't been effective since 2007's defensive banner year, and a number of theories have been tossed around to explain Tatupu's regression. Part of it is the extra weight that Tatupu put on a few years to ago in order to withstand blockers and heavier ball carriers, robbing him of some of his agility in the process. Such weight would naturally wear down a smaller LB like Tatupu, placing extra load on those knees. His size is a big part of the reason he had so many detractors before 2005's season, when he seemingly silenced his critics with precocious instincts and field leadership.
