Hand timed at the 2013 NFL Combine, Luke Joeckel is still finishing his 10 yard split. We should have an official time any week now.

He's slow, you see.

Here's a handy comparison.

Players drafted to play left tackle in the last three years who succeeded, but also Luke Joeckel, sorted by 10-yard split

Terron Armstead 1.68

Taylor Lewan 1.71

Eric Fisher 1.72

Greg Robinson 1.72

Jake Matthews 1.75

Ronnie Stanley 1.79

Taylor Decker 1.81

Andrus Peat 1.81 (injury replacement)

Donovan Smith: 1.82

TJ Clemmings 1.82 (injury replacement)

Luke Joeckel 1.86

Ereck Flowers 1.90

Flowers is being fast-tracked to the slow side, and is included only for instructive reasons.

Lewan made the Pro Bowl. Which isn't the purest measure of individual ability but works in a pinch. Pro Bowl left tackles are quick.

Pro Bowl Left Tackles of the Last Three Years

Tyron Smith 1.69 (Pro Day)

Trent Williams 1.72

Jason Peters 1.73

Duane Brown 1.76

David Bakhtiari 1.77

Branden Albert 1.77

Joe Thomas 1.79

Andrew Whitworth 1.79

Ryan Clady 1.81 (Pro Day)

So Joeckel is slow in an absolute sense, and as coincidence would have it, Joeckel plays slow. Here he is failing to cut block Michael Pierce. Pierce is number 78 and can be found about dead center--the 8 more visible than the 7. Presnap alignment gives Pierce the angle, and that's all it takes. Pierce ran a 1.67 10 yard split.

That ineffectual lunge which forces the defender into a jaunty little step before he continues on his merry way should be quite familiar to Seahawks fans. If Tom Cable and Pete Carroll are dead-set on repeating mistakes of the past, we should see it dozens of times this fall, and vital cutback lanes will continue to be scarce.

Just to prove he can, should he ever be able to match the acceleration of his opponent, here he is cut blocking Brandon Williams (98).

A slight "hand punch" by Joeckel a split second prior helped to slow the morbidly slow DT, and Joeckel is able to deliver a punishing block to what Adam Archuleta confusingly refers to as the "thigh board." God bless the anatomical morass that comprises so much NFL jargon. Williams, as can be seen, doubles over and then collapses, pitting 90, Za'Darius Smith, against a two-way go and creating a pretty good cutback. It's a sight satisfying but rare, as I didn't see Joeckel succeed at another such cut block throughout the rest of the game.

Williams is very good, and, coincidentally, Williams is in a dead heat with Joeckel still finishing up that 40. (This comedic conceit is kind of lame and I will—oh look! They finished.) Joeckel and Williams ran identical 10 and 20 yard splits: 1.86 and 3.09.

Another fella of some indirect significance to Seahawks fans ran an identical 10 yard split, and just barely edges out Joeckel at the halfway mark: Ricky Wagner.

Wagner and Joeckel are remarkably similar. Both are 6'6". Both have pretty much the same reach and hand size, with Joeckel a bit longer and a bit larger. Such phrasing is catnip to search engines, you dirty dirty perverts. Both are likely to be labeled "country strong" for their large well-proportioned frames, heavy hands and lack of natural sunscreen. One was a supposed blue chipper. The other NFL.com compared to Breno Giacomini.

That one, selected in the fifth round rather than second overall, played to his ability on the right side rather than entrusted with a suicide mission on the left, was drafted by a smart organization. Today Wagner is a very rich man with a sterling reputation. The other—a failure, injured and, tragically, less than half as rich—is, hopefully, Seattle's new, better, bigger Breno Giacomini.

This is probably, or maybe I should say hopefully, Joeckel's future position with the team. A guy who isn't regularly exposed and embarrassed because of what he can't do, but who by excelling on the right earns dated but endearing terms of respect like blue collar, lunch pail, and road grader. My father wore a blue collar, and his profession was openly reviled and discredited. He took a lunch pail to work, and there wasn't a day he didn't wish he could eat out. You don't care and I will not further bother you. Road grader.

As you surely know, Joeckel "underwent a successful ACL reconstruction, MCL repair and lateral meniscus repair." The first two are relatively routine. However lateral meniscus damage is uncommon--the medial meniscus, which lies between the tibia and femur and works to both decrease friction and absorb impact, is much more commonly damaged. I do not know if that's significant. It seems significant. If I may exploit my amateur status, it seems like a good thing, as swelling and bone on bone friction are common symptoms of recurring knee injuries in athletes. But ... I'll leave it at that.

The Cubana girl outside my window is cooing "Pika! Pika!"

That Joeckel may not recover or may not recovery fully, and so will never be the player he was last season, is why I am not doing a full tape breakdown. Also, it's a long story. Maybe one day I'll share it. But, even just watching last season's matchup between the Ravens and the Jaguars, it was pretty clear what he could and could not do. Here, with a few visual aids, is the rundown.

He can reach block.

(Obviously, that's not a completed reach block, but it's the best visual evidence I could find, and he can in fact reach block.) Tho slow Joeckel coordinates his movements well and leaks into the second level without too much trouble getting caught in the wash of bodies.

He can whiff in space.

That's him rolling on the ground behind 54, Zachary Orr. You'd never guess how promising that pull into the second level looked. Or how at the critical moment he launches and misses and belly flops like E. Honda in the third night of a bender.

He's got a pretty good kick slide, recovery and "hand punch." Elvis Dumervil was out, and so the Ravens really didn't have an edge rusher, so I'll just say Joeckel wasn't really tested and eschew posting a screen grab. It looked fluid. It looked slow.

He anchors okay, in part because though relatively lean for an offensive lineman, Joeckel is broad and muscular through the torso and loins. He does not, however, have any ability to prevent Blake Bortles from running himself directly into a sack.

To Joeckel's credit, Bortles bortles in typical fashion here, choosing not only to scramble toward the clearly most dangerous pass rusher, but also choosing to rush to where Joeckel can not possibly restrain Suggs without holding him. But, at the same time, Suggs, who was weeks from 34 and recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, put Joeckel on skates and had little trouble disengaging.

That fault proved fatal later in the fourth quarter. Suggs disengaged with the simplest of push moves and pressured Bortles into an interception.

When Joeckel pops upright and fails to anchor, he transforms from Gargantua to Pantywaist. You can use that, Mr Cable. Just don't credit me. I have a wife, and would like to live to see the birth of my children.

Luke Joeckel is also known to bend men contrary their natural direction, but the Hornets game is on, and so I'm not going to hunt down the screen grab. Words, words will have to suffice.

I'm not going to get cute with this. Joeckel should not play left tackle. He may not be a great right tackle, really. But size and the natural power which comes with size, coordination and meanness, are talents the Seahawks seek in their offensive linemen and talents which survive age and injury. Championships are achieved through moves minor and major. This could be a relatively minor move that by replacing Garry Gilliam with a wrecking ball mauler type could have major benefits. Or it may be more of the same.