Jones paves way for Seahawks history

Class of 2014 Enshrinee Walter Jones was the dominant leader of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line from 1997-2008. Extremely durable, he started in every game that he played (180) and was the first Seahawks lineman to earn a Pro Bowl berth. During his 12-year career, Jones was called for holding just nine times and surrendered a mere 23 sacks. Both are incredible stats for a left tackle charged with protecting the vulnerable blind side of a quarterback.

His outstanding play on the field directly affected the performance of the offense. The Seahawks ranked in the top 10 in total offense six times during Jones' career. He also led to the way for eight 1,000-yard rushers and seven 3,000-yard passers.

In 2005, Jones opened up many holes for running back Shaun Alexander’s NFL MVP performance. Alexander rushed for a team-record 1,880 yards and an NFL-record 28 total touchdowns (27 rushing, 1 receiving). That year, Jones also blocked Seattle to a club-record 320 rushing yards in a 42-10 drubbing of the Houston Texans on Oct. 16. That game featured two Seahawks 100-yard rushers – just the third that had occurred in franchise history.

Here is a breakdown of the Seahawks offense during Jones’ career.

Year	Team	Total Offense	Rushing	Passing	1000-yard rusher	3,000-yard passer
1997	Seattle	3	13	1	x	Warren Moon (3,678)
1998	Seattle	23	22	24	Ricky Watters (1,239)	x
1999	Seattle	23	24	16	Ricky Watters (1,210)	John Kitna (3,346)
2000	Seattle	19	22	21	Ricky Watters (1,242)	x
2001	Seattle	25	9	27	Shaun Alexander (1,318)	x
2002	Seattle	7	20	3	Shaun Alexander (1,175)	Matt Hasselbeck (3,075)
2003	Seattle	6	10	7	Shaun Alexander (1,435)	Matt Hasselbeck (3,841)
2004	Seattle	8	8	13	Shaun Alexander (1,696)	Matt Hasselbeck (3,382)
2005	Seattle	2	3	13	Shaun Alexander (1,880)	Matt Hasselbeck (3,459)
2006	Seattle	19	14	20	x	x
2007	Seattle	9	20	8	x	Matt Hasselbeck (3,966)
2008	Seattle	28	19	29	x	x