I’m officially done with wanting Seattle to get a higher draft pick and just all-in on rooting for Donkeys to lose out LOL. Ahhh great win, and maybe someone on the Seahawks did read your post on how to beat the Chargers Rob. RUN THE DAMN BALL. GET MONEY. WIN. Go Hawks!
DJ 1/2 way
Yes! Exactly! Blow Donkeys!
KurtZ
Folks,
Because my job I watched mostly early college games last year.
When I heard we drafted KWIII, I knew we had something special after seeing what he did, almost-singlehanded to a michigan, we had the next star running back
12th chuck
anybody have any updates on DK?
Sea Mode
PFF
@PFF
·11m
Ken Walker III in his last 3 games:
🔹 52 rushes
🔹 353 yards
🔹 4 TDs
SoCal12
Really hope that Seahawks Analytics Twitter kept their receipts about that “waste of a pick” on Kenneth. Never been happier to see such smug people eating crow.
clbradley17
Just barely under 7 yards a carry. Fantastic!!
TomLPDX
Gawd! What a great game today! I was glued to the TV throughout.
Sea Mode
Posting again cause why not!
Next Gen Stats
@NextGenStats
Kenneth Walker reached a top speed of 22.09 mph on his 74-yard TD run, the fastest speed reached by a ball carrier this season.
Trevor
Trying to think of a comp for Woolen and Walker but can’t really come up with a good one. Unique talents with second level speed we have not really seen in a Hawks uniform before.
pdway
don’t have one for Woolen.
But Walker has some Lesean McCoy in him
Ben
I think that Corbin Smith made a Gale Sayers comp not that long ago.
Not before my time. I watched the game in which he scored 6 touchdowns against the 49ers. Walker is very, very but good but he is not Gale Sayers.
Seattle Person
Woolen reminds me of Sherman a bit because he is so sound but he reminds me more of Antonio Cromartie. A.C was really quick and fast when he first broke in. Smooth runner and pretty physical at the line.
Seattle Person
His patience at the line reminds me of Le’Veon Bell. His cuts are a little bit like McCoy. It’s more like Dalvin Cook though. I’m not sure we’ve seen a RB cut quite as hard and sudden like Walker. They just seem so violent at times.
I see that too. Sanders was just so smooth though. The acceleration from Walker is the freakiest thing about him. He can stop and go from 0 to 60 real quick.
Hawkhomer1
I think he looks very Barry Sanders ish as well. Actually told my wife that and she didn’t know who Barry was so we watched a couple greatest runs videos. Ken Walker has a lot of Barry Sanders moves. He is special. What an incredible draft.
Silly Billy
Maybe I’m running on a little nostalgia from last week, but K9 is running like he should have a big 37 on his chest. Some of his runs today looked just like old Shaun Alexander highlights. The way he can glide, bounce outside, and shoot through holes.
I do see same “flaws” Shaun had… K9 sometimes will spend too much time “dancing” in the backfield, and struggles to push though the line when nothing is there (see the safety play). Those flaws caught up to 37 in 06-08 as injuries slowed him down and the OL had some key loses. But 01-05 was incredible.
K9 has the same tools (and ideally a similar OL!) to have a great start to his career.
Wonderful win! I see you first place. Freaking amazing! 3-5 wins was my thought at the beginning of the season. I love the style of play from this team. K9 has burst!
Volume12
Pete’s owed some apologies. This rookie class is the blueprint for re-loading into contenders
Trevor
At this rate it could go down as one of the best non QB drafts in the last 20yrs.
Volume12
Great point
Matthew
He is, but most will obfuscate in any way possible.
Thomas Wells
I would have bet my house that trading Russ and sticking with Pete was a bad call. I thought his faith in Geno Smith was naked tanking at best or delusional at worst. I didn’t have any confidence the staff he put together could develop young talent. Very happy to have been absolutely wrong on all three.
Pete isn’t owed anything. This team is on a path towards resurgence but honestly they have not accomplished anything in a long time. Nothing this year makes me think they are favorites to win a playoff game and THAT has been the issue.
The Seahawks are 4-3 having squandered the last however many years
They still start every season a defensive shambles
They have still made their cap unnecessarily wasteful
They still did the Jamal Adams trade
It’s a shame I have to list any of this on a night when we should just be fans united together enjoying a win
Peter
Fun as hell win. The team is hitting a ton of benchmarks for me. Interesting. Check. Young guys. Check. The offense, per Adam on the podcast, is moving from “yeah, but….” to just actually good.
Old Pete however isn’t getting an “I’m sorry,” from me. Pissing around with whiffed drafts when your qb is objectively good to great regardless of fans feelings to dither aimlessly while your division foes go to the big games……
Now, if he can actually pull off the trick of a lifetime and and go out on top in a year or two that’ll be a different tune from me.
Roy Batty
And on the same day the Niners lose, big. The Bucs lose, big, to the Panthers. The Packers self destruct against the Commanders.
Denver’s pick is creeping up that board. More and more crap teams are gutting out wins, except for Denver. They have a truly brutal schedule ahead of them. Maybe the hardest in the league.
Volume12
I was just gonna say.
Who in the media had the Hawks in week 7 w/ a better record than GB, TB, SF, Denver, and Arizona? I remember when they said this was a 2-3 win team
Volume12
TBF though no one thought the Jets would be 5-2 either
509 Chris
I thought the jets would be good. They had a KILLER draft. Almost every guy they took was a blog favorite. (I’m still curious why Jermaine Johnson fell to their later round 1 pick) All they needed was a step forward from Wilson and it’s looking like they got it.
Tien
The Jets did have a great draft but IMO, the reason why the Jets have a winning record was due to them having a good defense and effective running game. I agree that Zach Wilson does have to take the next step for them to be a legit playoff contender. So far, it’s inconclusive because they hardly ever ask him to throw the ball. Breece Hall, their stud rookie RB, is reportedly done with a torn ACL so they may lean on their passing game more and if so, we’ll have a better idea if Wilson is good.
Seattle Person
Great team win. Really complete and you’re starting to see a formula building here for the team.
1) TE/WR/RB: Someone is getting the ball if they are open. Geno is doing a great job keeping the chains moving and staying on schedule. He’s getting everyone involved and using the whole field. The Oline is doing a great job holding on. There are some ugly lines around the NFL and we aren’t that. Ken Walker is monster. He’s a juiced up Le’veon Bell with Barry Sanders quickness. Yikes.
2) Bear fronts on early downs. Removing Barton on passing downs. This completely shut down Ekeler and the run game. The outside contain was much better. Wasn’t perfect but it was much better than before. The packages with Neal roaming around is working. I imagine this was designed for Adams but then again Neal is proving you don’t need to be paid top dollar to do the job. I keep going back to the Saints game. The silver lining was they found the recipe of how to stop some of the run game. Of course they sucked but it felt like they began to unlock something. The defense isn’t “fixed.” Exciting to see what it’s becoming though.
3) The young dudes continue to blossom. They aren’t just playing like rookies but they are playing like “dudes.” I get to see a lot of NFL games and the rookies around the league make their share of mistakes. Our guys aren’t doing that. 1,2,3,4,5,6. The top 6 picks from last draft are contributing and playing like dudes in this league. Love to see it.
how have the Seahawks stopped the run? what changed these past 2 games on the deeline?
Dregur
Scheme change. Instead of 2 gapping, they’re switching to Bear fronts with 1 gap responsibilities, allowing the dline to penetrate and attack instead of trying to read and react.
Heh, yes. Less Cody Barton. I thought I had written that, but I guess I wanted to block him out of my memory completely.
glor
D stepped up this game, but imagine if we can get another ET or bambam in this next draft.
Sea Mode
Is there a video on this?
Dregur
This was based on comments made by Jefferson that stated that the Dline is no longer reading and reacting, but rather 1 gapping and attacking the Oline which gave them more freedom.
Sea Mode
Ok, thx.
Looks like that on the defensive side and the 3 TE sets on the offensive side are the big difference-makers right now.
HOUSE
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE Freakin’ IRVIN is back!!! That’s what. He’s lighting a 🔥
A healthy dollop of facing Arizona without their top 2 RBs and the Chargers giving Ekeler only 9 runs this week really helps, particularly after facing a whopping 48 runs vs New Orleans.
805Hawk
Just got home from the game. What a fantastic game to see live! (Also, my son’s first whilst season game.) Good contingent of Hawk fans at SoFi. Hearing the Sea! Hawk! Cheer echoing in an opponent’s stadium is pretty fun. I wasn’t going to, but now I’m actually considering going to the Rams game at SoFi, too.
Just want to throw this out there again with a link.
The only time in NFL history that two rookie offensive tackles have made the Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team was in 1982. Tootie Robbins and Luis Sharpe of the St. Louis Cardinals hold that honor.
But I think that is a realistic goal for Cross and Lucas.
It’s possible but I’m not sure we’re seeing enough from Cross for that yet. On tge other hand to witness Lucas becoming tge best drafted olinemen of this regime is quite amazing.
Gross MaToast
Excuse my ranting, but I’m in severe Dangerwich withdrawal and nothing is making sense.
About this time last year, I said that it would be interesting if the Seahawks did the sensible thing and kept RW, allowed Pete to walk and hired a younger, more offensively-inclined head coach – somebody like Nathaniel Hackett. It was a recipe for greatness, I said. Well, dear reader, this is why I don’t sit in a GM’s chair in the NFL. Pete Carroll has put together a nice team that looks a little better each week. They could win 10, they may not win another, I honestly don’t know. Either way, bravo.
You’re likely thinking, wow, Gross has no complaints…that’s never happened.
Wrong.
Let’s play, “What If.”
What If Pete had his feet held to the fire in the drafts from roughly 2017-2021 – The Travesty Years. Could he have drafted this well all along and decided instead to goof, be cuter and smarter than everyone else, flipping trades, losing his priority targets for an extra 5th? Seems like it. This is a bedrock class that he’s drafted – one that may be viewed as epic in a few years. Can he do it again if he’s dialed in? I think he can. The Travesty Years were an unnecessary travesty, like throwing the ball from the one yard line – an unforced error. I’d like to see Pete run off a string of about 3 more drafts approaching this quality before retiring happily in Malibu.
509 Chris
If Pete nails 3 drafts straight that are even close to the 22 class forget putting a Carrol statue at the stadium, I’ll put one in my yard. Takes a big man to admit he’s wrong though Gross. I’ve personally been struggling with the words still haha.
Blitzy the Clown
To Adam’s question about Geno Smith and whether he’s this diamond hiding in plain sight all this time or could someone like Marcus Mariota do as well…
Geno’s made some throws this season that surprised me. He’s also had success running. Which is to say he’s a good athlete with a pretty talented arm.
But don’t forget he’s been running this system behind Wilson for years. He knows it inside out, both without — and now with — a decent OL.
I don’t know that someone like Mariota could come in and in one offseason integrate so well into the offensive scheme. That’s a huge advantage for Smith.
Which raises another question: how good could Willson have been with Lucas and Cross protecting him? He was pretty good with Okung and Giacomini.
You know who Charles Cross reminds me of? Ray Roberts.
Elmer
I watched it happen, but I marvel at how they let the roster get so poor. Reminds me of the 2019 draft, where JS was being hailed as a hero for going into the draft with a few draft picks and coming out with many drafted players. They were Metcalf and …? You have to draft GOOD players. I hope they are on track now.
I’ll stand by my take that Geno’s early years were plagued with poor offensive coordinators and a dysfunctional organization, meaning we’ve never had an accurate idea of what this guy can do.
People keep saying this but he’s been around for so long now. Teams have have had him in their building and never seen anything in him — thus the never ending minimum contracts for one year
It’s ok for this to be a pleasant surprise
Zach
A better O-line might have helped Russ some but honestly their O-line wasn’t terrible last year – many of the sacks came from Russ being unable/unwilling to check down or throw the ball away.
The biggest issue is that Russ does not seem able/willing to attack the middle of the field either as a thrower or as a runner. The lack of throws to the short/intermediate middle is nothing new, but once he stopped being a willing scrambler his weakness to that part of the field has really been magnified, particularly because the en vogue style of defense now will give the QB a lot of those throws.
I don’t think just any QB could do this – I think the truth is that Geno was perhaps on his way to being an average-ish starting QB before injuries (including getting punched in the face by his teammate) changed the narrative. The fact that his only real starting chance came with the ultra-disfunctional late-era Rex Ryan Jets should tell you that teams stuck him with the “backup QB only” label too early.
Which raises another question: how good could Willson have been with Lucas and Cross protecting him? He was pretty good with Okung and Giacomini.
I dont think PC playcalling would allow Wilson to be that much more efficient as Geno was today due to the limited pass attempts. RW3 would probably have similar stats as Geno did today because the system does not encourage 40+ pass attempts just purely on philosophy alone.
i think RW3 would be just as efficient as Geno due to the style PC likes to run the offense.
the REAL question i would wonder is … would RW3 be HAPPY playing this style with this new Oline and RW3 labeled a game manager?
From a protection point of view yes he would be good but could RW3’s ego handle it? Would he temper his attitude of the “my Legacy” point of view?
the final season RW3 wanted to make it about HIM AND HIS LEGACY which in many ways worked out for the Seahawks because PC proved his style of offense can work
Hats off to Geno he has earned a lot or respect and proving doubters wrong. Happy to see how the Seahawks have grown this season and hopefully this upcoming draft they can gain more blue chip pieces like they did this draft.
Peter
I don’t know about Mariota but more to Adam’s other point about players choosing where they go in the draft….I think we are watching an absolute showcase about the dedication to craft from Geno. And how incredibly important coaching is. Geno was exciting in college. A little reckless but fun to watch. And the Jets were a rank awful team across the board.
In the nfl grind to extract as much blood from a stone I think a lot of players year over year are miscast then discarded. The league is comprised of about 4-5 “trees,” so everyone’s perspective becomes the same. No one had the time or inclination to work through a players deficiencies.
It’s part of the reason why I think there’s something to Waldron. While Rob is right that the whole league passed over Geno as much as they could (appreciate 300 teams/times) Waldron has turned Geno Smith into Alex Smith which is high praise and not meant as snark.
Zach
I generally agree that it doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Seahawks to look to add talent in-season via trade, but I do wonder if the one guy who might make my change my stance is Brian Burns. Unclear if Carolina really wants to blow it all up, but if he’s available, he’s maybe the one guy I’d consider giving up a first-round pick (plus more, probably) to go get, because he’s so dynamic and still very young (24). Granted, if the rumors that the Panthers turned down two first-round picks for him are true then I’d probably stay away, but if it’s a 1st and a 3rd or something I’d at least think real hard about it. Adding an elite pass-rushing edge and bumping Nwosu and Taylor down a spot would be pretty awesome, and given that it sounds like the EDGE prospects this year are underwhelming, it’s not something you can count on doing in the draft.
I would hope that the hawks would trade up to 4 in this scenerio and grab Levis. Nevertheless, I think Levis will go first overall as Rob projects.
HOUSE
That’s what I mean. He goes #1 and we had no shot of getting him cause #1 wants him, I can live with that. He makes it to #5 and we pick #6, I would be so sad. 🤣
Anyone have any clue what Pete Carolls hand gesture to Geno was all about
?
Tim
Calm down, keep your composure.
Vanhawksfan
Telling Geno to calm down.
GoHawksDani
What others said. Or a jedi mind trick. Or maybe to find the inner balance, his center or some chakra, or something like that. If I remember well, Pete is a bit into spiritualism (positive thinking, visualization, etc)
Indeed he is. Pete was reminding him to breath down through the solar plexis, stay grounded and not lose focus. I’ve said it before: Russ is Skywalker and Pete is Yoda. But Luke stopped listening; why did he need his own inner game coach? That was the master’s sign to let go and move on.
Should have traded him years ago and spared us all the Mr. Unlimited / Jamal Adams experience.
Agreed. It was obviously a discussion they have had. I admire and respect Pete for those reasons.
I work on being more centered everyday. Tai Chi, Mediation, reminding myself we accomplished things more efficiently when we have a positive mind set vs a negative one.
That moment may be the catalyst that turns me over to being a fan of Geno. Not cuz he’s such a good QB but because him and Pete seem to have a good relationship. Chemistry is everything when it comes to winning . Russ is still better than Geno. But Denver is a shit show right now and the Hawks look like a sure fire playoff team in the NFC.
I will miss Pete when he retires. And yes, in that same breath I hope this is his last contract…
Glor
It’s a classic clam gesture, indicates taking a deep breath through the diaphragm, etc.
Thomas Wells
I thought it was also an “I got this. I’ll handle the refs. You focus on the next play.” Immediately afterwards pete looked at the ref, threw his hands in the air, and said “come on!”
B
Great show guys. Adam is a nice addition, very thoughtful insight on Woolen (how hard do you coach a guy with great natural instincts without realizing negative returns) and the future of the draft with paid college players and the clout they may have. Interesting perspectives because although us outsiders can never know what’s really happening on the inside, it makes for excellent conversation topics with friends over beers while watching Monday night football. Excellent work Adam.
Twoteams04
Geno is benefitting from sitting in the QB room for two years watching tape after tape of RW missing the check down or the 2nd/3rd read especially if over the middle, or just choosing not to because he was able to make the hero play. He is also benefiting from a head coach who WANTS a “point guard”. Which is to say he is extremely confident he can get the job done without having to be the hero. It’s a perfect storm – 10yrs exp, 3yrs to become intimate with the system, improved o-line, game changing running back, elite receivers, and a coach who believes you can do it.
Drafting from the top with multiple picks without a “franchise QB” and his salary, is a lot lot easier than drafting from the bottom with few picks, and the belief you just need to fill one or two holes to win a SB, or to satisfy a “franchise QB”
I’m really glad we don’t have a ‘franchise QB” which really really surprises me.
Adam
Thanks man, I really appreciate that
UkAlex6674
What impressed me the most yesterday was how Geno rebounded from his early pick. I genuinely thought he was going to crumble early on. How wrong was I.
MattyB
So far this season is a great watch, these guys are playing with a good feeling. Well done, all talk on here about a rebuild not starting until the next draft, I would suggest it’s already started with the previous draft and trade.
GoHawksDani
This was an awesome game. Flawless? Nope. But we cannot expect perfect games from any team.
Coaching/playcalling was really sound in all aspect. Sure, unnecessary challenge, some time outs early, a questionable pitch to Eskridge, but all in all I really liked the offensive and defensive gameplan too.
Geno was on fire. Not saying he’s the love-child of Manning-Brady-etcetc, but he’s not just a “not suck, can manage some games”. Decisive, made good reads, nice throws even on the run, can stand tall in the pocket. He’s not a youngster, but if he keeps playing like this, I would extend him as soon as I could, and even a 25m APY doesn’t feel like too much (especially a bit back-loaded and with front-loaded GTDs)
K9 flashed some awesome runs. He’s the type of guy that’ll either frustrate the hell out of you with negative yards or double fistpump jump up the couch. He likely won’t ever be a 4-7 yard guy. If he has a hole, he breaks one, if not, it’s -2. I hope he’ll become more decisive, sometimes feels like he dances a bit too much in the backfield. If he does a one-cut, or clear-vision-change-of-direction he’s truly special. It was a great day for him. Especially since he’s still a young pup, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be even better in the future
Love the spreading-the-ball concept, and feels good including the TEs. Parkinson looks especially good. It was awesome that even though DK went down, it didn’t stop the offense. It’s not a one-man-band, it’s a team game and they can adapt and overcome.
How about dem OTs? Amazing game for them…and LAC is not a weakling on the DL either. It truly feels this OT tandem could be there for the next 8-10-15 years
My man, Neal. Adams who? Great game from Ryan Neal, feels close to a DPotW with the INT, couple of PBUs, great tackles. Awesome that we can get such production from a safety. And we didn’t even had to break the bank…weird
Woolen is still amazing. That pick play of the LAC was nasty. Not sure you can do anything about it. But other than that he was sticky in coverage, had some nice PBUs, tackles, a tipped pass that would led to an INT without the flag, so kudos again
Bryant almost had an INT and made some nice tackles, so I’m starting to warm up to him as nickel.
Nice job for Nwosu, finally Taylor makes an awesome play, loved Mone getting a push a lot of time from the interior, Poona played nice with the batted passes and some tackles, Woods is just a monster. How the heck do you get a double team and still make a tackle for no gain?
ST was good apart from the tackle on fair catch. No mishaps, solid punting, good kicking
Let’s see what happens vs Giants and NFCW opponents, but if these tendencies continue, I’m happy to eat crows and say that I was too early to completely write PC and Geno down. They might not be perfect, they might not stay long with the Hawks, but they might not be totally done either.
Couple of quick “could work on” notes:
– Dee Eskridge. Not in love. Goodwin played well, but I still want a WR3 in next year’s draft. If DK/Lockett goes down, it is a must to have someone almost at the same level of quality
– Barton. Either less in love. Really need a step up in the LB department. I want Barton gone, and a solid ILB to get either in FA or through the draft
– Diggs. Was not a liablity, but didn’t add to the game much either. I’d like to get a FS probably from the draft and pair him with Neal. Cut/trade Diggs
– #30 Mike Jackson. Not hating on him, but not really a fan either. He’s a really good backup, but don’t feel like he’s a clear starter. We could use someone a bit better, I’d try to draft 1-2 CBs for competition
– I’d really like guys like Mone and Woods for DT/NT rotation, more please!
– iOL upgrade. They are not totally awful, but not good either. Hard for them to open lanes, Blythe can miss blocks and while they’re the vets, they underperform vs the OTs
So if this team is on the current path and they continue to play similarly to this, my wishlist for next offseason in this order: ILB, iOL (OC and 1 OG), WR3, FS, DT/NT, CB
Great, because none of these guys really needs to be R1, most not even R2
Extend Geno. If the opportunity is there, draft a young QB
“How about dem OTs? Amazing game for them…and LAC is not a weakling on the DL”
Cha mentioned in his watch points yesterday morning how important it was to not let Kahlil Mack take the game over. The rooks did a fantastic job in not letting that happen. I will assume they had some help in the blocking schemes and kudos to Waldron for that, but I have no doubt they were the main reason I hardly knew he was playing yesterday.
Mick
If I’m not mistaken, we scored the first TD on a 3rd and 15 after a timeout. This seems to be the difference to me, instead of hoping that Russ works some magic, we rely on the OC to pull out a play. That’s why we spread the ball more, that’s why not having DK doesn’t completely destroy us. It is on Geno too, fair play for how he can execute, but I think the game plan is making the difference here, and that’s why we perform better than Denver or Green Bay.
Yesterday we won against a team that could actually make it to the playoffs and we were clearly ahead the whole time. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to beat the Rams once and to even the score with 49ers.
Dear Pete,
I know you see the Center position as fungible, but I implore you to watch the film of your offense giving up a Safety and focus on your present person playing the position getting utterly blown up which lead to said Safety being scored by the Chargers. I know your punter bailed you out by sending the ensuing kick clear to the opponents 30 yard line, but please think about what had happened at that point had he had a less stellar kick. I’m concerned that it could have kick started an LA comeback.
Signed, A Concerned Fan who Knows the Rams Have Aaron Donald
Sea Mode
Re-posting from the other day:
As much as we can rightfully criticize his blocking at times, it’s possible a good bit of the young OL making strides forward is due to his leadership. The calls, talking guys through it before and after plays, giving them that confidence they need. Credit where it’s due.
And adding to that from yesterday, the way PC hugged him after K9 sprang the long TD run. You can tell he’s a coach-on-the-field type player for the young OL around him, plus he knows how to run Waldron’s scheme well.
So, I’m torn. Am I attributing too much of the OL success to him? Perhaps. Is all of that worth the occasional negative play due to his limitations? Probably. Even coming at the worst time, like on the goal line? Maybe.
I’d be interested in hearing everyone’s thoughts.
Peter
Early guess is Blythe is resigned. He’s not the mauler I want inside but if he’s really the captain of the line that’s the center’s job..
Not sure what the do with Lewis and Haynes moving forward.
Maybe nothing. Rob has said repeatedly that guard is a low priority for this system. Lewis isn’t the body type but he’s already there and it seems he isn’t doing too poorly.
It’s crazy, but after 6 games, our good old Ethan Pocic ranked 3rd out of 37 centers by PFF.
Blythe was the 34th… Pff doesn’t value off field leadership of course.
Scott Crowder
Shame our oline coach never let Pocic play at center for years. Inverse of Lewis, who was great at RG so he got moved to LG where he has withered.
I’d like to think Blythe will just improve as the year goes on. He does do a lot of good things, it’s just there are some notable ugly plays as well. He’s got Leonard Williams on Sunday, Aaron Donald 2x, Quinnen Williams and Chris Jones.
Weird stat of the day: Ken Walker had 6 official runs that were no gain or loss. 7 if you count the stop that was nullified by a Fant holding penalty.
Absent those 6 he ran 17 times for 176 yards.
That’s crazy.
Ross
I hadn’t seen that Mic’d up with Blythe before. Seems like a really good guy to have communicating and coaching up the younger players. I have to believe those leadership qualities really help a young group and is part of this OL success. I’m a fan.
At this point we should be considering signing Geno to a 2-3yr deal and drafting a redshirt qb to work behind him for a year or two. It is clear we can compete with Geno and will not be getting a look at a top 3 qb without trading up and out of valuable picks we need to build the D. Could we get Geno on 3yrs 36mln? something like that would be ideal and you draft a Richardson type or even more of a project and let em sit for 2yrs learning the game.
There is an odd jump at QBs from the midlings who dont perform to 100mln+ contracts. Could Geno get a 100mln deal? Most of those deals go out to younger players or older names who were always good like Matt Ryan. Then again Wentz is on 100mln +.
So the q is what is Geno rally worth? Would another team be willing to pay up for his services at age 33 considering him their game changer?
Word, I am just curious what his market would be saying he completes the year as hes started it, very efficient with a winning record.
Looking at QB contracts there is a massive jump if you look at total value from Trev Lawrence at 37mln to Ryan Tannahill at 118mln. There are no total value deals in between which is wild. Cousins is on 35mln, that is a good comp. Wentz on 128mln a bad comp. Where is his market? Will be interesting to see.
AlaskaHawk
Isn’t Lawrence still on his rookie contract? Those first rounders get good pay.
AlaskaHawk
I would actually prefer to sign Geno Smith now to a 2 year extension with a bump in pay this year. But only if the price was right. Probably the agent will hold out for maximum value in free agency at the end of the season.
Probably not advisable to sign Geno this year just due to their cap constraints.
They only have $2.9m of room currently. To take on any Geno bonus money they’d have to create room, and that means restructuring which means taking money away from 2023 and 2024 and probably adding to the future dead cap money on whoever they restructure.
I’ve been hoping to see Adams and Neal get more snaps. Good to see them deliver and hopefully continue to get more snaps. Interesting that Irvin was the the 7th (?) highest PFF score on defense, a week removed from being in street clothes.
[q] DK Metcalf update? “Really good report this morning. Does not need surgery. Hurt Patellar tendon. Old injury maybe complicating it. Great report. With him in training room, very positive. Not sure what means for timeline. He’s determined to practice Wed. Told him not to be hard-headed about it. Respect the process.”
[q] Any other injuries? “Phil Haynes and Bellore in tent for concussion stuff. Won’t know for a few days.”
Roy Batty
When I watched Zeke have his knee hyperextended at full speed, I thought he was a goner. Instead, he plays the rest of the game.
On the flip side, when I saw DK walk off the field with a limp, I thought he tweeked something. Then they show him carted off the field.
Then, after Geno’s kneel down, I checked all the scores and saw absolute carnage, league-wide.
[q] Confident team? “Clear shift in self-awareness. Nice FB game yesterday. Guys had a blast. Really physical and tough. ST did their job. Ran the FB nice. Geno good choices, 70% something again. OT’s did job on Khalil Mack, kept him from being factor. Fun.”
[q] Third and 2, fourth and short stopped Chargers opening seq, significant? “Great start. Under duress immediately (Geno INT). First play, threw, next run played well. On 4th we killed it. Statement ready to play. Played LOS great yesterday. Progress obvious. No mystery.”
[q] What’s it like to coach this group? “No different, I tend to be on the optimistic side. Energy about the group, lightness about them, willingness to work. Never taken a step back due to the challenges. Positive, all through early games. So happy to see confidence coming out. Recognized things have changed. Important, shows you improvement available. Just getting started. So many areas to get better at. I’m going to keep pounding them to realize, yes that’s still there.”
[q] Feel reinvigorated with youth? “That would mean I wasn’t invigorated. Thrilled to be part of challenge again. Every year like a whole new life. Hard to explain how immersed we are in FB. So many extraordinary things that can take place, relationships, growth, experience. Losing the horrible part of the thing, it sucks. Opp to live on the other side to get wins is totally invigorating. I don’t know if different.”
[q] New QB, Geno questions in offseason, what you feel? Not vindication? “It’s been a challenge. Expectations higher than this start. Taken us some time to get on the other side of this things. We live on the ego side of things, being proud of our work. This is an unusual opp with changes taken place, chances taken to make change happen. Both John and I invigorated by challenge of it. We believed we could get it done. See it being recognized, I like that. It’s OK with me to admit that. Ability to focus when circumstances, I’m too old, stuck in the mud running the ball, I do love showing we know what we’re doing. Frickin blast. Best yet to come. Not even close to where we’re gonna go.”
[q] Is Geno one of the best QB’s in the NFL? “No doubt, why question that. Geno knows only 7 games in. Go at it again, get back to work. We’re doing OK. We’re in first place by ourselves. Up to us to hold onto.”
[q] Work week like, old days guys fighting and scratching, Luke Willson music, like now? “Techno Thursday, still alive in the building. Great place to be now. Fun as hell. Good time every day. Challenge guys to compete every day. They look fwd to coming into the building. We don’t know what will happen each day. Favorite teacher at school, no idea what each day he would bring. Can’t wait to get here. At USC, invited everyone to practice. Environment enjoying every moment. Share it with community. Wish we could do it here too. See guys practice, fun, jawing at each other. Exciting and fun.”
[q] Six rookies contributing big way now, why so fast success? “Part of it, need had opp there. Accuracy of picks John and guys fit right into where need. Best player available to fit need.”
[q] Process different this year? “No, no. We finally had draft picks this year! John took adv of opp. Best yet to come. Next year’s draft 2 ones, 2 twos, 2 fives. Character of players chosen, they can handle it. Excited to be part of something, humble – you don’t hear these guys yapping at all – and like Tariq handling it. I talked to him in parking lot last night, he was back to work and right at it.”
[q] Move with Geno on sideline ? “Closer with Buddha thing LOL. I don’t know what it is. Just a motion – Geno and I have good communication – working together at it. He looked and me and nodded. Knew exactly what it was.”
[q] Walker run? “He told me he had a good day when we got on the plane last night LOL.”
[q] NFL upside down this year, what do you see? “Opportunity. Huge. Chance for somebody to elevate. Evened out. So many losses early. We’re 4-3 and in first place, we’re good. Opp to make a run is here. Giants this week? Awesome. 6-1 playing great. Daboll doing great job. Amazing stuff they’re doing. Fired up about this opp.”
[q] 3 TE sets strategy? “TEs change edge of LOS. Split end there open side, more room to chase passer. TEs push the guy wider. More variables control the edges of LOS. Limits you can’t spread D out. Kyle S in Washington there started formations. Shorten width of formations, more blockers and receivers available to work inside out instead of spreading. Rams great about it. I really like it. Guys are good. Colby looked great. Highlights of his day were blocks. TD run block and another toss outside run. Impressive. Really good game for him.”
[q] Bruce Irvin? “See first play tackle in backfield? Time of his life. Connects me with our guys. One fortunate enough to be here. Good in all directions.”
[q] Taylor job after fumble? “I don’t know, just ran out of juice LOL.”
[q] Goodwin long jump celebration? “Awesome. Fine with me, he does flips too. Have fun.”
“We finally had draft picks this year! John took adv of opp.”
That statement tells me a lot. I think it was an unconscious acknowledgement that he stepped away from the process for the most part and let John take the reigns. Many of us suspected as much. Maybe I’m reading more into this than is actuality, but maybe not.
FYI He did say something about “picking at 25th” that I couldn’t quite translate into English very well. I think he was nodding more towards having good picks than having picks at all.
I think that picking 25th thing is an excuse for a bunch of bad drafts that Groos MaToast called “The Travesty Years” up above (brilliant as usual Gross). And as I’ve said before, most of the stars they drafted back in the day were not first rounders. I’ll stand by my assertion that he stepped back at least somewhat and let John take the lead. There have been reports, though I admittedly don’t remember where, that too often he wouldn’t listen to his scouting dept. and overruled those folks at times.
Roy Batty
DK won’t need surgery.
That is good news.
HOUSE
Matt Ryan just benched for season… what a whacky year
Irsay thinking he knows more than the football people he hires.
TomLPDX
I was surprised by this. I was really hoping Matt Ryan would have a good season but the turnovers have just killed any chance for the colts this year. Wonder if Ehlinger will be any better.
HOUSE
It really looks like a changing of the guard in so many quarterback rooms. Brady and Rodgers are on struggling teams, the Panthers are a dumpster fire with every quarterback they have on the roster other than PJ Walker and now this. Stafford is struggling with the Rams and Russell Wilson has looked horrible with Denver. It looks like a lot of teams are assessing what they have at quarterback in non–superstars
TomLPDX
Maybe Geno will have a hotter market for next year, which is bad for us but good for him. Really hope we can keep him a few more years until we get our QBOTF.
Nathan W.
Hey Rob! Have you evaluated Bralen Trice, DE at UW? Seems like an interesting pass rusher… 6.5 sacks on the season so far.
Thanks for all your work! What a wild ride of a season so far
[q] 3 TE sets strategy? “TEs change edge of LOS. Split end there open side, more room to chase passer. TEs push the guy wider. More variables control the edges of LOS. Limits you can’t spread D out. Kyle S in Washington there started formations. Shorten width of formations, more blockers and receivers available to work inside out instead of spreading. Rams great about it. I really like it. Guys are good. Colby looked great. Highlights of his day were blocks. TD run block and another toss outside run. Impressive. Really good game for him.”
Baldy just highlighted that, and I was happy he noticed Parkinson blocking too:
Since I now know Rob is on a bit of a delay watching HOTD I will simply say that I think the season one finale of HOTD is equal to the season one ending of GOT. And the season one ending of GOT was bloody brilliant.
I did think at the end though that I’m ready to bloody watch something that begins and ends in a series and isn’t drawn out forever
Part of me wants to just read the book to find out what happens — and I’m led to believe it’s not a particularly well crafted book
Starhawk29
I’ve heard from book fans that the show has been more entertaining. The book supposedly reads a lot like a history textbook.
Kinda funny that your perception is that it was drawn out, when a lot of people thought it moved really fast and could have slowed down a bit. I’d have signed up for a 12 episode season personally, but this stuff is a bit more subjective. I don’t know how it ends myself, but I’ve been told that it is similar to the Anarchy of the 1100s in England.
Group Captain Mandrake
The book is indeed written like a history text which I think has hurt the writing of character development in the series. I also think the time jumps don’t help, but they are necessary to get where the story is going. I am assuming that the next season will begin the dance of the dragons and if that is the case, shit is going to go down. It’s a bummer that the next season probably won’t be until 2024 since they won’t begin shooting until next summer.
TomLPDX
I stopped reading the books a decade or more ago when George decided to stop writing about this particular story line. Are these new books written by GRRM or someone else? I gave up on GOT in the last season because it just got off kilter too much. I don’t get HBO so can’t watch this new series and am stuck with Ring of Power, which is hard to watch.
Group Captain Mandrake
It’s what he was writing instead of finishing Ice and Fire. I read all those books but have lost interest and probably won’t finish them on the off chance he ever actually publishes any more. The season is over, so Subscribe to HBO and watch all 10 and cancel it. I tried to watch rings. Got 2 eps in and pretty much lost interest.
Group Captain Mandrake
You don’t need to read the book. Just go look at A Wiki of Ice and Fire and read about the dance of the dragons. It’s a lot easier than wading through George’s 700+ pages of text.
HOUSE
So it looks like Bruce Irvin played about 1/3 of the defensive snaps yesterday. For a guy who has been out of football for over a year and just got elevated from the practice squad, him getting two tackles yesterday looks like he has provided some help. https://twitter.com/BradyHenderson/status/1584616125601615879
AlaskaHawk
I don’t recall him playing , but it’s a good sign that he is contributing already. Linebackers seem like the last group they need to address to make this defense stronger. Perhaps they can find a linebacker and another young safety to add to the practice squad.
AlaskaHawk
Looking at recent players brought up from practice squad to regular squad, they also brought up linebackers Chistian Jones and Cullen Giaspia in addition to Bruce Irvin. Looks like the Seahawks are really trying to strengthen that area.
AlaskaHawk
If I’m reading this right Cullen Gillaspia is from Texas A&M and has played both linebacker and running back. Interesting history there.
AlaskaHawk
Good news, our old center Joey Hunt is back on the practice squad. Management is getting worried. LOL
HOUSE
I think Joey Hunt being back could be a good thing. He does size-wise fit Waldron’s scheme and had some decent agility from what I remember. No stone left unturned…
He may not have fit the best the last time around with previous coaching. Hell… Pocic is doing alright in CLE and could be seeing a big payday
AlaskaHawk
Hunt was weak and ended up getting bull rushed alot. Probably only picked up because he knows the plays.
HOUSE
True. I haven’t heard anything about Kyle Fuller and potential injuries or anything like that. You’re probably right that Joey Hunt is just there because he’s a body and he knows how to snap a ball
I’m getting the same vibe post-Chargers that I got post-Broncos
Too many Seahawks fans/media taking a victory lap, trying to start wrong vs right arguments, acting like anything has been determined because the team got a good win and is 4-3 after seven games.
Come on
It’s divisive and unnecessary. It makes the fan base feel toxic and at each others throats all the time.
Let’s just enjoy a good win
HOUSE
Great point. I think humility is an amazing trait and not only does our team need to stay humble, but we as fans need to do that as well. With how all things have panned out this year, no one could’ve predicted this. The whole right/wrong thing is just silly. We just need to enjoy our team playing a good game and winning. If they lose, they dust off and try again. I believe the game plan with the draft still needs to happen. A quarterback needs to be drafted for the future of this team
Matthew
I think it’s been somewhat determined that jettisoning PCJS in favor of 34 year old RW would have been a catastrophic mistake, and the trade loos to be historically great. Why are discussions around these things a problem? Some people were right, some were wrong.
Matthew posted something very similar yesterday as well. Guess he was unhappy cuz no one bit.
Will it help if I stand up and say you were right and I was wrong Matthew?
Matthew
Yes, thank you. Haha Seriously though, I appreciate these comments here, and didn’t intend to bait or be passive aggressive. Will respect Rob’s wishes and be more mindful
In any future posts here from me.
Matthew
Sorry Rob, I see how that reads as passive aggressive.
Starhawk29
Simply, because it’s too early. We’ll only know the true value to both teams years from now. Early signs are nice, but we have a long way to go before anyone can say they were definitively right. For all we know, next year Russ goes on a revenge tour with a new HC and wins the Super Bowl. Is the trade lopsided then?
Best we can say now, is that the Seahawks have done a great job using their capital to build a team. We’ve got some hunger and some success, but we need more players still before this roster is complete. If we don’t get there…that changes the calculus of the trade as well.
Tien
Great response, Starhawk!
I was very wrong about Geno and he’s played so much better than I could ever imagined! Is he a great QB? Not based on what I’ve seen of these 7 games but hey, he can certainly prove me wrong with his performance the rest of the season. I think he’s probably an average NFL starting QB (which is still better than what I thought he could be at the beginning of this season) who is productive if there is a good team built around him. I’m still skeptical that he can pull off miraculous plays to rescue the Hawks if they’re down by multiple scores but that’s ok, most NFL QBs can’t play at that level. I’m still hoping that the Hawks can draft a young QB of the future that they can sit and groom behind Geno (if he can be re-signed at a reasonable price) or another veteran for a year or two.
The Hawks are just one game over .500 and the fact that they’re leading the division says more about how mediocre the NFCW is this year than that they’re good. We need to see how the Hawks do the rest of the season before getting too excited how good/great they are. It looks like they have building blocks in place at OTs and RB (yay!!) but as many have pointed out on here, we could use a better center and guards. On defense, the Hawks started out horribly again and in the last couple of weeks, they’ve managed to be not terrible, which is great, but I’m not sure anyone would describe our defense as scary or tough. I totally agree with you. Let’s see how the rest of the season and what the Hawks do with the extra picks in next year’s draft AND how Russ and the Broncos for the rest of the season and next year before making any conclusions about which team won this trade.
In any case, I’m still very skeptical if Pete the right coach for this team but again, depending on how well we do the rest of the season and how well we draft to fill all the other holes on the team, I’m willing to eat crow and admit I was wrong about Pete, if warranted. For now, I’m really enjoying the very unexpected good play from this now fun team to watch!
Peter
Exactly this.
I care pretty much only if the hawks get to contention. So far the young moves look incredible. The Geno story is amazing.
Last I saw a pcjs built team contend was when the iPhone 6 was out.
The broncos are currently the big losers in this. And I loved the former qb since this team was almost talking “suck for luck.”
Hard to crown Seattle big winners until they get to the big dance with last year’s and this year’s upcoming picks making the bulk of the talent on the field.
Other than that it’s just some team saving money that isn’t my own so I couldn’t care less.
Well said Starhawk and well said Peter. Agree with both of you. To SO FAR be wrong about Russ, Pete, etc. means MY team since the awarding of the franchise was announced in 1974, the Seattle Seahawks, are having some unexpected success makes me VERY happy to at this point be wrong about the whole situation.
There are factors that formed my opinion and that of others that were legit as it concerns the way this franchise has been run the last half decade+. As Gross MaToast called it, “The Travesty Years”. The arguments to move along from Russ at this point are legit too. The real bottom line here is that everyone who had differing opinions still felt the way they did because they felt their approach would be the best way to see this franchise begin to move toward another Super Bowl. And after all, isn’t that the point here?
Peter
It’s the only thing that matters. Superbowl or bust.
Just being a team….thats not for me after getting near the promised land three times this century.
James Z
Why ya dissin’ da iPhone 6, Bruh, still lovin’ mine… ’tis a bit slow on the download, though.
Peter
Does it even work still 🤣
BruceN
I agree Rob. Why keep rehashing the past instead of looking forward. I didn’t care for the anger that some fans showed toward Russ when he came back. He was a big piece of the past 10 year glory. We parted like most divorces, not in the best of terms. Time to move on and enjoy where we are while we build the foundation for the future.
Jordan
Exactly. Well said by all.
Look forward. Look forward with positivity. We’re getting exactly what we want from this season and then some – the team in playing hard and competing, new young stars and core is emerging, playing for each other instead of as individuals; and bonus, it looks like it is going to be the Broncos pick that it is top 5 instead of the Hawks and they somehow got better, younger, and cheaper at QB.
The decisiveness is silly. Except for the anti-Kenneth Walker crowd lol they can go suck a lemon. I kid.
Easthawk
Agreed in all accounts Rob. Enjoy the win, ignore the noise. Thank you for keeping this blog a great atmosphere and community as well as you do!
Pugs1
I agree 100% look forward! It’s been my opinion on the Adams trade. It hasn’t worked, talented player hasn’t really fit and has been injured. It’s time to move on from complaining about it. I say this not to start an argument but to say there is nothing we can really do about the sunken cost. It’s time for people to let it go if they haven’t.
Gaux Hawks
Rob, have you studied Joey Blount? …or Isaiah Dunn?
[q Boyle] Waldron job he is doing? “Really been on the money with our guys. Utilizing all personnel. Preparation sharp and on it. See our game plans early have been effective. Good balance through problems – scoring in second half for instance. Geno’s strengths being utilized. Lot of room to get better.”
[q Condotta] DK Metcalf update? “Don’t know when, don’t have a clue. He’s anxious. Wants to practice Wed, not even sure that’s possible. Pretty sore today. No immediate process like surgery, have to see how he responds to treatment. Sorry for being vague.”
[q] OL yesterday? “Protected really well, held up against Khalil Mack. Ran for a bunch of yards, controlled game, good effort across board.”
[q Maz Veda] Goodwin similar to Geno never got a shot, now good? “Amazed he hasn’t been really productive before. Natural feel, good hands, timing, phenomenal speed. Still really fast. Don’t know why he hasn’t been more available for a lot more production earlier. DK slowed down, his opps will go up. Command of all offense.”
[q] Defensive improvement? “Aggressive at LOS. Run and pass rush. More rush lanes. Everybody benefited.”
[q Mueller] Meeting w WR’s about not showing dropoff in room, leadership? “Tyler great voice in the room, keeps everybody on point. Direction when needed. DK works so hard. Involved in all convo’s. Less likely to direct group, performs high level and consistently. Gotta go, they’re going. Leadership in own ways.”
[q Niko] Deejay Dallas value to team? “Marvelous part of this team. Great force spiritually, great attitude, aggressive, confident, tough. Saw running game first couple runs all the way until last time he carried ball. We’re 1-2 punching with him and feeling really good about it. One of my favorites. Infectious attitude.”
[q Tim] Move at WR to shore up depth? “Open to possibilities. John’s on it, talked about some already. Going with our guys though.”
[q] Ryan Neal game yesterday? “Oh man, 7 tackles 4 pass pro, all over FB. Really well. Sick as a dog yesterday, had IV’s and everything. Woke up and made it through anyway. Sometimes famous stories about players at their best when sick, that’s one of his. Active, confidence growing. We’re putting him in good spots to produce.”
[q MS Dugar] TE’s have comparable skill sets? “In sense we can rely on them yes. All three guys can catch, all three block. Colby effort in game physical, tough. Comfortable that we have a variety of them. Want to be versatile with guys because it is difficult for opponent.”
[q] Changes at DL impacted LB’s? “Freedom to move, system calls for them to fit in gaps as flow happens. They were available. Starts with Al, Poona had a good game. Shelby too. If LBs clean, they will make hits. But in this game, DL had the hits. Didn’t run the ball much.”
[q Gregg Bell] Ryan Neal said defensive players had meetings, has that alone helped? “Everything helps. They’re the ones who have to talk on the field. More comfortable and on same page, better they’ll be. Encourage them to communicate. Working hard. Seeking ways to play well.”
[q] Parkinson blocking better than thought, motioning help? “Basic part of our stuff, move our guys around. They match up. Colby work in progress, slot receiver in college. Time to make adaptation. Did it when he was hurt earlier. Hunting them up good yesterday on blocking. Finish on blocks. One guy, got to next level, finished next guy. Showing him off all week.”
[q Corbin Smith] Rookie class, reasonable to say Mafe setting edge top list of surprises? Not known for that in college? “I wouldn’t say top surprise. Real power. Overall strength and explosiveness showing up right off the bat. Earned a lot of playtime now. Handle assignments. Like him at LOS but can do all stuff. Stuff to learn, continue to grow, not finished product. Really exciting to have him out there.”
[q Brady] Walker impression? “Natural, wants to stay on field, tough, elusive, creative. Speed is incredible. All elements we’re looking for. Good game for him with 20 carries. Looked comfortable, picked his moments, cool instinctive things. Just getting started, haven’t done anything twice yet.”
[q] Homer this week in practice? “Yes. Get guys back this week. Interesting to see who will make it and can take the workload this week. We’re gonna get guys back.”
[q ? Shane] Depth WR’s see? “Eskridge comfortable. Explosiveness, toughness, still shows us his newness. Goodwin, nothing he can’t do in system. Opp, he will jump at it. If DK can’t play this weekend, need guys to come through.”
[q Curtis Crab] Speed manifesting in game? “All guys you mentioned have made plays and stood out. Obvious guys are fast. Chase things down, make things happen. Joey Blount came to us as a FA, good start. Bunch of tackles, factor for us. Working to get play time too. Defensive coach’s best friend when you can run.”
[q Bob Condotta] Irvin play yesterday? “Well. Play right off the bat. Aggressive, just missed a couple. Felt good about it, timing was there. Ready to go.”
[q] Blythe FS and Geno calm down? “They said Blythe influenced the guy to jump offsides, so. Doing something he always does, that’s the way they saw it. Not to complain, that’s just the way they called it.”
[q John Boyle] Bryant more nickel than base? “Depends on what other guys doing. Trying to run can dictate some things. Also try to change things up. Coby enough flexibility to make tackles in run, come off edge, improving understanding of nickel. Knocked ball out 3-4 games in a row, we want him out there.”
[q Gregg Bell] Unlikely Metcalf plays sunday? “Can’t call it. Give us a couple days to let it cool down. Won’t get extensive work on Wednesday. We’ll see.”
Sea Mode
I remember when I used to do these. Thanks for taking the time to save us the time!
TomLPDX
And it is (and was) much appreciated. I’ll probably watch his presser tonight before I go to bed but I, for one, really appreciate the effort it takes to get this stuff down. I can never hear the reporters questions and this helps a lot!
I wonder if Diggs got reamed by his teammates in that meeting? His play has picked up SOME since we saw Brooks going off on him on the sideline.
pdway
If DK is out, are we not going to pick up a WR at least to have another body for next week?
I know we have the rookie Young, but is that really going to be our on the field guy if someone goes down?
Also – it all worked so who cares, but anyone else notice that w DK out – the remaining trio of Lockett/Goodwin/Eskridge has got to be the smallest receiving corps in the league?
Starhawk29
This question is sparked by some analysis I’ve seen elsewhere, but I’m curious Rob if you have an idea why.
Why do 1st round TEs tend to be busts? Looking at the players drafted in the first round at that position, few seem to be anything other than decent. Players like Noah Fant, OJ Howard, Evan Engram, Njoku, the list goes on, have not been nearly as successful as their draft grade suggests. Meanwhile, later round picks Kittle, Kelce, and Andrews have been the best at the position. Any idea as to why that is?
What was the last tight end that Aaron Rodgers made look bad?
Starhawk29
Sure, but name the last TE drafted in the 1st that was worth the pick. Closest I can think of is Hockenson, and he’s been more good-average than great. We see freakish WRs play well with bad QBs too. So why do TEs drafted early never live up to the hype?
JN
Just looked it up, looks like Olsen in 07 or Davis in 06. YIKES
I don’t have all the answers but two thoughts immediately come to mind:
First round tight ends is a pretty small group. I’d wager in the last 25 years, at least 4-6 of those years there wasn’t a TE drafted in the first round at all, and in most of the others only one was selected.
Plenty of those guys have put up good years and might still develop, so I wouldn’t write them off.
Whereas the third through fifth rounds (where the Kittles and Kelces etc have been found) scores of TEs have been drafted, so the pool to draw from to call players successful is much, much larger and busts from those rounds are far more easily shrugged away than first rounders.
And second, those first round tight ends have had very little in the way of support and coaching.
Noah Fant has worked with Drew Lock, Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Flacco in a different OC every year.
OJ Howard has worked with Jameis Winston in the Dirk Koetter and pre-Brady Bruce Arians years.
Evan Engram? Eli Manning and Daniel Jones on the Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge teams.
Njoku has played for Cleveland, enough said.
Meanwhile
Kittle has played with Jimmy G in Shanahan’s offense
Kelce has played with Mahomes and coached by Andy Reid
Andrews has played with Lamar Jackson and has been their top weapon in a Greg Roman offense
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t call it so much the players and the draft position so much as the system, QBs and coaching staffs they work with.
BruceN
Kyle Pitts seems like a keeper. If they don’t mess him up in ATL.
BruceN
But I wouldn’t pick a TE as high as they picked him. Regardless of how talented he is.
Starting to think they should resign Neal soon. They bought out Mone’s RFA year early, they can do it for Neal. Especially since it’s a safe bet he’ll play more games (and just as good or better) than JA in 2023.
HOUSE
We need to get rid of JA at darn near any cost. Could we manage eating $7.2M in dead cap for three years in a row to rid ourselves of JA? I don’t know what it would cost to get Ryan Neal under contract, but I just want Adams’ deal in the rear view mirror and I never want to look back
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I’m officially done with wanting Seattle to get a higher draft pick and just all-in on rooting for Donkeys to lose out LOL. Ahhh great win, and maybe someone on the Seahawks did read your post on how to beat the Chargers Rob. RUN THE DAMN BALL. GET MONEY. WIN. Go Hawks!
Yes! Exactly! Blow Donkeys!
Folks,
Because my job I watched mostly early college games last year.
When I heard we drafted KWIII, I knew we had something special after seeing what he did, almost-singlehanded to a michigan, we had the next star running back
anybody have any updates on DK?
Really hope that Seahawks Analytics Twitter kept their receipts about that “waste of a pick” on Kenneth. Never been happier to see such smug people eating crow.
Just barely under 7 yards a carry. Fantastic!!
Gawd! What a great game today! I was glued to the TV throughout.
Posting again cause why not!
Trying to think of a comp for Woolen and Walker but can’t really come up with a good one. Unique talents with second level speed we have not really seen in a Hawks uniform before.
don’t have one for Woolen.
But Walker has some Lesean McCoy in him
I think that Corbin Smith made a Gale Sayers comp not that long ago.
before my time…..
Not before my time. I watched the game in which he scored 6 touchdowns against the 49ers. Walker is very, very but good but he is not Gale Sayers.
Woolen reminds me of Sherman a bit because he is so sound but he reminds me more of Antonio Cromartie. A.C was really quick and fast when he first broke in. Smooth runner and pretty physical at the line.
His patience at the line reminds me of Le’Veon Bell. His cuts are a little bit like McCoy. It’s more like Dalvin Cook though. I’m not sure we’ve seen a RB cut quite as hard and sudden like Walker. They just seem so violent at times.
His cuts and hesitations are like Barry Sanders.
And our own Curt Warner
Yes. Rookie year Curt Warner. Special back.
I see that too. Sanders was just so smooth though. The acceleration from Walker is the freakiest thing about him. He can stop and go from 0 to 60 real quick.
I think he looks very Barry Sanders ish as well. Actually told my wife that and she didn’t know who Barry was so we watched a couple greatest runs videos. Ken Walker has a lot of Barry Sanders moves. He is special. What an incredible draft.
Maybe I’m running on a little nostalgia from last week, but K9 is running like he should have a big 37 on his chest. Some of his runs today looked just like old Shaun Alexander highlights. The way he can glide, bounce outside, and shoot through holes.
I do see same “flaws” Shaun had… K9 sometimes will spend too much time “dancing” in the backfield, and struggles to push though the line when nothing is there (see the safety play). Those flaws caught up to 37 in 06-08 as injuries slowed him down and the OL had some key loses. But 01-05 was incredible.
K9 has the same tools (and ideally a similar OL!) to have a great start to his career.
Wonderful win! I see you first place. Freaking amazing! 3-5 wins was my thought at the beginning of the season. I love the style of play from this team. K9 has burst!
Pete’s owed some apologies. This rookie class is the blueprint for re-loading into contenders
At this rate it could go down as one of the best non QB drafts in the last 20yrs.
Great point
He is, but most will obfuscate in any way possible.
I would have bet my house that trading Russ and sticking with Pete was a bad call. I thought his faith in Geno Smith was naked tanking at best or delusional at worst. I didn’t have any confidence the staff he put together could develop young talent. Very happy to have been absolutely wrong on all three.
Pete isn’t owed anything. This team is on a path towards resurgence but honestly they have not accomplished anything in a long time. Nothing this year makes me think they are favorites to win a playoff game and THAT has been the issue.
Pete isn’t owed anything
The Seahawks are 4-3 having squandered the last however many years
They still start every season a defensive shambles
They have still made their cap unnecessarily wasteful
They still did the Jamal Adams trade
It’s a shame I have to list any of this on a night when we should just be fans united together enjoying a win
Fun as hell win. The team is hitting a ton of benchmarks for me. Interesting. Check. Young guys. Check. The offense, per Adam on the podcast, is moving from “yeah, but….” to just actually good.
Old Pete however isn’t getting an “I’m sorry,” from me. Pissing around with whiffed drafts when your qb is objectively good to great regardless of fans feelings to dither aimlessly while your division foes go to the big games……
Now, if he can actually pull off the trick of a lifetime and and go out on top in a year or two that’ll be a different tune from me.
And on the same day the Niners lose, big. The Bucs lose, big, to the Panthers. The Packers self destruct against the Commanders.
Denver’s pick is creeping up that board. More and more crap teams are gutting out wins, except for Denver. They have a truly brutal schedule ahead of them. Maybe the hardest in the league.
I was just gonna say.
Who in the media had the Hawks in week 7 w/ a better record than GB, TB, SF, Denver, and Arizona? I remember when they said this was a 2-3 win team
TBF though no one thought the Jets would be 5-2 either
I thought the jets would be good. They had a KILLER draft. Almost every guy they took was a blog favorite. (I’m still curious why Jermaine Johnson fell to their later round 1 pick) All they needed was a step forward from Wilson and it’s looking like they got it.
The Jets did have a great draft but IMO, the reason why the Jets have a winning record was due to them having a good defense and effective running game. I agree that Zach Wilson does have to take the next step for them to be a legit playoff contender. So far, it’s inconclusive because they hardly ever ask him to throw the ball. Breece Hall, their stud rookie RB, is reportedly done with a torn ACL so they may lean on their passing game more and if so, we’ll have a better idea if Wilson is good.
Great team win. Really complete and you’re starting to see a formula building here for the team.
1) TE/WR/RB: Someone is getting the ball if they are open. Geno is doing a great job keeping the chains moving and staying on schedule. He’s getting everyone involved and using the whole field. The Oline is doing a great job holding on. There are some ugly lines around the NFL and we aren’t that. Ken Walker is monster. He’s a juiced up Le’veon Bell with Barry Sanders quickness. Yikes.
2) Bear fronts on early downs. Removing Barton on passing downs. This completely shut down Ekeler and the run game. The outside contain was much better. Wasn’t perfect but it was much better than before. The packages with Neal roaming around is working. I imagine this was designed for Adams but then again Neal is proving you don’t need to be paid top dollar to do the job. I keep going back to the Saints game. The silver lining was they found the recipe of how to stop some of the run game. Of course they sucked but it felt like they began to unlock something. The defense isn’t “fixed.” Exciting to see what it’s becoming though.
3) The young dudes continue to blossom. They aren’t just playing like rookies but they are playing like “dudes.” I get to see a lot of NFL games and the rookies around the league make their share of mistakes. Our guys aren’t doing that. 1,2,3,4,5,6. The top 6 picks from last draft are contributing and playing like dudes in this league. Love to see it.
how have the Seahawks stopped the run? what changed these past 2 games on the deeline?
Scheme change. Instead of 2 gapping, they’re switching to Bear fronts with 1 gap responsibilities, allowing the dline to penetrate and attack instead of trying to read and react.
thanks for the explanation
Less Cody Barton?
Heh, yes. Less Cody Barton. I thought I had written that, but I guess I wanted to block him out of my memory completely.
D stepped up this game, but imagine if we can get another ET or bambam in this next draft.
Is there a video on this?
This was based on comments made by Jefferson that stated that the Dline is no longer reading and reacting, but rather 1 gapping and attacking the Oline which gave them more freedom.
Ok, thx.
Looks like that on the defensive side and the 3 TE sets on the offensive side are the big difference-makers right now.
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE Freakin’ IRVIN is back!!! That’s what. He’s lighting a 🔥
A healthy dollop of facing Arizona without their top 2 RBs and the Chargers giving Ekeler only 9 runs this week really helps, particularly after facing a whopping 48 runs vs New Orleans.
Just got home from the game. What a fantastic game to see live! (Also, my son’s first whilst season game.) Good contingent of Hawk fans at SoFi. Hearing the Sea! Hawk! Cheer echoing in an opponent’s stadium is pretty fun. I wasn’t going to, but now I’m actually considering going to the Rams game at SoFi, too.
Just want to throw this out there again with a link.
The only time in NFL history that two rookie offensive tackles have made the Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team was in 1982. Tootie Robbins and Luis Sharpe of the St. Louis Cardinals hold that honor.
But I think that is a realistic goal for Cross and Lucas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Football_Writers_of_America_NFL_All-Rookie_Team
From the same team.
It’s possible but I’m not sure we’re seeing enough from Cross for that yet. On tge other hand to witness Lucas becoming tge best drafted olinemen of this regime is quite amazing.
Excuse my ranting, but I’m in severe Dangerwich withdrawal and nothing is making sense.
About this time last year, I said that it would be interesting if the Seahawks did the sensible thing and kept RW, allowed Pete to walk and hired a younger, more offensively-inclined head coach – somebody like Nathaniel Hackett. It was a recipe for greatness, I said. Well, dear reader, this is why I don’t sit in a GM’s chair in the NFL. Pete Carroll has put together a nice team that looks a little better each week. They could win 10, they may not win another, I honestly don’t know. Either way, bravo.
You’re likely thinking, wow, Gross has no complaints…that’s never happened.
Wrong.
Let’s play, “What If.”
What If Pete had his feet held to the fire in the drafts from roughly 2017-2021 – The Travesty Years. Could he have drafted this well all along and decided instead to goof, be cuter and smarter than everyone else, flipping trades, losing his priority targets for an extra 5th? Seems like it. This is a bedrock class that he’s drafted – one that may be viewed as epic in a few years. Can he do it again if he’s dialed in? I think he can. The Travesty Years were an unnecessary travesty, like throwing the ball from the one yard line – an unforced error. I’d like to see Pete run off a string of about 3 more drafts approaching this quality before retiring happily in Malibu.
If Pete nails 3 drafts straight that are even close to the 22 class forget putting a Carrol statue at the stadium, I’ll put one in my yard. Takes a big man to admit he’s wrong though Gross. I’ve personally been struggling with the words still haha.
To Adam’s question about Geno Smith and whether he’s this diamond hiding in plain sight all this time or could someone like Marcus Mariota do as well…
Geno’s made some throws this season that surprised me. He’s also had success running. Which is to say he’s a good athlete with a pretty talented arm.
But don’t forget he’s been running this system behind Wilson for years. He knows it inside out, both without — and now with — a decent OL.
I don’t know that someone like Mariota could come in and in one offseason integrate so well into the offensive scheme. That’s a huge advantage for Smith.
Which raises another question: how good could Willson have been with Lucas and Cross protecting him? He was pretty good with Okung and Giacomini.
You know who Charles Cross reminds me of? Ray Roberts.
I watched it happen, but I marvel at how they let the roster get so poor. Reminds me of the 2019 draft, where JS was being hailed as a hero for going into the draft with a few draft picks and coming out with many drafted players. They were Metcalf and …? You have to draft GOOD players. I hope they are on track now.
I’ll stand by my take that Geno’s early years were plagued with poor offensive coordinators and a dysfunctional organization, meaning we’ve never had an accurate idea of what this guy can do.
People keep saying this but he’s been around for so long now. Teams have have had him in their building and never seen anything in him — thus the never ending minimum contracts for one year
It’s ok for this to be a pleasant surprise
A better O-line might have helped Russ some but honestly their O-line wasn’t terrible last year – many of the sacks came from Russ being unable/unwilling to check down or throw the ball away.
The biggest issue is that Russ does not seem able/willing to attack the middle of the field either as a thrower or as a runner. The lack of throws to the short/intermediate middle is nothing new, but once he stopped being a willing scrambler his weakness to that part of the field has really been magnified, particularly because the en vogue style of defense now will give the QB a lot of those throws.
I don’t think just any QB could do this – I think the truth is that Geno was perhaps on his way to being an average-ish starting QB before injuries (including getting punched in the face by his teammate) changed the narrative. The fact that his only real starting chance came with the ultra-disfunctional late-era Rex Ryan Jets should tell you that teams stuck him with the “backup QB only” label too early.
Which raises another question: how good could Willson have been with Lucas and Cross protecting him? He was pretty good with Okung and Giacomini.
I dont think PC playcalling would allow Wilson to be that much more efficient as Geno was today due to the limited pass attempts. RW3 would probably have similar stats as Geno did today because the system does not encourage 40+ pass attempts just purely on philosophy alone.
i think RW3 would be just as efficient as Geno due to the style PC likes to run the offense.
the REAL question i would wonder is … would RW3 be HAPPY playing this style with this new Oline and RW3 labeled a game manager?
From a protection point of view yes he would be good but could RW3’s ego handle it? Would he temper his attitude of the “my Legacy” point of view?
the final season RW3 wanted to make it about HIM AND HIS LEGACY which in many ways worked out for the Seahawks because PC proved his style of offense can work
Hats off to Geno he has earned a lot or respect and proving doubters wrong. Happy to see how the Seahawks have grown this season and hopefully this upcoming draft they can gain more blue chip pieces like they did this draft.
I don’t know about Mariota but more to Adam’s other point about players choosing where they go in the draft….I think we are watching an absolute showcase about the dedication to craft from Geno. And how incredibly important coaching is. Geno was exciting in college. A little reckless but fun to watch. And the Jets were a rank awful team across the board.
In the nfl grind to extract as much blood from a stone I think a lot of players year over year are miscast then discarded. The league is comprised of about 4-5 “trees,” so everyone’s perspective becomes the same. No one had the time or inclination to work through a players deficiencies.
It’s part of the reason why I think there’s something to Waldron. While Rob is right that the whole league passed over Geno as much as they could (appreciate 300 teams/times) Waldron has turned Geno Smith into Alex Smith which is high praise and not meant as snark.
I generally agree that it doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Seahawks to look to add talent in-season via trade, but I do wonder if the one guy who might make my change my stance is Brian Burns. Unclear if Carolina really wants to blow it all up, but if he’s available, he’s maybe the one guy I’d consider giving up a first-round pick (plus more, probably) to go get, because he’s so dynamic and still very young (24). Granted, if the rumors that the Panthers turned down two first-round picks for him are true then I’d probably stay away, but if it’s a 1st and a 3rd or something I’d at least think real hard about it. Adding an elite pass-rushing edge and bumping Nwosu and Taylor down a spot would be pretty awesome, and given that it sounds like the EDGE prospects this year are underwhelming, it’s not something you can count on doing in the draft.
The panthers turned down two first rounders for him and declared through Schefter yesterday he isn’t for sale
About to get PAID
Why are people in on Burns? That’s more of what got Seattle to it’s mini implosion last year.
Time to continue on with the new, good direction they are in.
If the top of the draft fell like this, I would be so sick to my stomach…
1. Lions: Bryce Young
2. Texans: Will Anderson
3. Panthers: CJ Stroud
4. Eagles: Myles Murphy
6. Texans: Will Levis
6. Seahawks: Bryan Bresee
https://thedraftnetwork.com/2023-nfl-mock-draft-young-anderson-stroud/
I would hope that the hawks would trade up to 4 in this scenerio and grab Levis. Nevertheless, I think Levis will go first overall as Rob projects.
That’s what I mean. He goes #1 and we had no shot of getting him cause #1 wants him, I can live with that. He makes it to #5 and we pick #6, I would be so sad. 🤣
There’s no way it goes like that top six
I don’t have all the answers, far from it
But I can say with confidence there’s so much wrong with that projection.
Agreed Rob. 100%
Anyone have any clue what Pete Carolls hand gesture to Geno was all about
?
Calm down, keep your composure.
Telling Geno to calm down.
What others said. Or a jedi mind trick. Or maybe to find the inner balance, his center or some chakra, or something like that. If I remember well, Pete is a bit into spiritualism (positive thinking, visualization, etc)
Indeed he is. Pete was reminding him to breath down through the solar plexis, stay grounded and not lose focus. I’ve said it before: Russ is Skywalker and Pete is Yoda. But Luke stopped listening; why did he need his own inner game coach? That was the master’s sign to let go and move on.
Should have traded him years ago and spared us all the Mr. Unlimited / Jamal Adams experience.
Agreed. It was obviously a discussion they have had. I admire and respect Pete for those reasons.
I work on being more centered everyday. Tai Chi, Mediation, reminding myself we accomplished things more efficiently when we have a positive mind set vs a negative one.
That moment may be the catalyst that turns me over to being a fan of Geno. Not cuz he’s such a good QB but because him and Pete seem to have a good relationship. Chemistry is everything when it comes to winning . Russ is still better than Geno. But Denver is a shit show right now and the Hawks look like a sure fire playoff team in the NFC.
I will miss Pete when he retires. And yes, in that same breath I hope this is his last contract…
It’s a classic clam gesture, indicates taking a deep breath through the diaphragm, etc.
I thought it was also an “I got this. I’ll handle the refs. You focus on the next play.” Immediately afterwards pete looked at the ref, threw his hands in the air, and said “come on!”
Great show guys. Adam is a nice addition, very thoughtful insight on Woolen (how hard do you coach a guy with great natural instincts without realizing negative returns) and the future of the draft with paid college players and the clout they may have. Interesting perspectives because although us outsiders can never know what’s really happening on the inside, it makes for excellent conversation topics with friends over beers while watching Monday night football. Excellent work Adam.
Geno is benefitting from sitting in the QB room for two years watching tape after tape of RW missing the check down or the 2nd/3rd read especially if over the middle, or just choosing not to because he was able to make the hero play. He is also benefiting from a head coach who WANTS a “point guard”. Which is to say he is extremely confident he can get the job done without having to be the hero. It’s a perfect storm – 10yrs exp, 3yrs to become intimate with the system, improved o-line, game changing running back, elite receivers, and a coach who believes you can do it.
Drafting from the top with multiple picks without a “franchise QB” and his salary, is a lot lot easier than drafting from the bottom with few picks, and the belief you just need to fill one or two holes to win a SB, or to satisfy a “franchise QB”
I’m really glad we don’t have a ‘franchise QB” which really really surprises me.
Thanks man, I really appreciate that
What impressed me the most yesterday was how Geno rebounded from his early pick. I genuinely thought he was going to crumble early on. How wrong was I.
So far this season is a great watch, these guys are playing with a good feeling. Well done, all talk on here about a rebuild not starting until the next draft, I would suggest it’s already started with the previous draft and trade.
This was an awesome game. Flawless? Nope. But we cannot expect perfect games from any team.
Coaching/playcalling was really sound in all aspect. Sure, unnecessary challenge, some time outs early, a questionable pitch to Eskridge, but all in all I really liked the offensive and defensive gameplan too.
Geno was on fire. Not saying he’s the love-child of Manning-Brady-etcetc, but he’s not just a “not suck, can manage some games”. Decisive, made good reads, nice throws even on the run, can stand tall in the pocket. He’s not a youngster, but if he keeps playing like this, I would extend him as soon as I could, and even a 25m APY doesn’t feel like too much (especially a bit back-loaded and with front-loaded GTDs)
K9 flashed some awesome runs. He’s the type of guy that’ll either frustrate the hell out of you with negative yards or double fistpump jump up the couch. He likely won’t ever be a 4-7 yard guy. If he has a hole, he breaks one, if not, it’s -2. I hope he’ll become more decisive, sometimes feels like he dances a bit too much in the backfield. If he does a one-cut, or clear-vision-change-of-direction he’s truly special. It was a great day for him. Especially since he’s still a young pup, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be even better in the future
Love the spreading-the-ball concept, and feels good including the TEs. Parkinson looks especially good. It was awesome that even though DK went down, it didn’t stop the offense. It’s not a one-man-band, it’s a team game and they can adapt and overcome.
How about dem OTs? Amazing game for them…and LAC is not a weakling on the DL either. It truly feels this OT tandem could be there for the next 8-10-15 years
My man, Neal. Adams who? Great game from Ryan Neal, feels close to a DPotW with the INT, couple of PBUs, great tackles. Awesome that we can get such production from a safety. And we didn’t even had to break the bank…weird
Woolen is still amazing. That pick play of the LAC was nasty. Not sure you can do anything about it. But other than that he was sticky in coverage, had some nice PBUs, tackles, a tipped pass that would led to an INT without the flag, so kudos again
Bryant almost had an INT and made some nice tackles, so I’m starting to warm up to him as nickel.
Nice job for Nwosu, finally Taylor makes an awesome play, loved Mone getting a push a lot of time from the interior, Poona played nice with the batted passes and some tackles, Woods is just a monster. How the heck do you get a double team and still make a tackle for no gain?
ST was good apart from the tackle on fair catch. No mishaps, solid punting, good kicking
Let’s see what happens vs Giants and NFCW opponents, but if these tendencies continue, I’m happy to eat crows and say that I was too early to completely write PC and Geno down. They might not be perfect, they might not stay long with the Hawks, but they might not be totally done either.
Couple of quick “could work on” notes:
– Dee Eskridge. Not in love. Goodwin played well, but I still want a WR3 in next year’s draft. If DK/Lockett goes down, it is a must to have someone almost at the same level of quality
– Barton. Either less in love. Really need a step up in the LB department. I want Barton gone, and a solid ILB to get either in FA or through the draft
– Diggs. Was not a liablity, but didn’t add to the game much either. I’d like to get a FS probably from the draft and pair him with Neal. Cut/trade Diggs
– #30 Mike Jackson. Not hating on him, but not really a fan either. He’s a really good backup, but don’t feel like he’s a clear starter. We could use someone a bit better, I’d try to draft 1-2 CBs for competition
– I’d really like guys like Mone and Woods for DT/NT rotation, more please!
– iOL upgrade. They are not totally awful, but not good either. Hard for them to open lanes, Blythe can miss blocks and while they’re the vets, they underperform vs the OTs
So if this team is on the current path and they continue to play similarly to this, my wishlist for next offseason in this order: ILB, iOL (OC and 1 OG), WR3, FS, DT/NT, CB
Great, because none of these guys really needs to be R1, most not even R2
Extend Geno. If the opportunity is there, draft a young QB
“How about dem OTs? Amazing game for them…and LAC is not a weakling on the DL”
Cha mentioned in his watch points yesterday morning how important it was to not let Kahlil Mack take the game over. The rooks did a fantastic job in not letting that happen. I will assume they had some help in the blocking schemes and kudos to Waldron for that, but I have no doubt they were the main reason I hardly knew he was playing yesterday.
If I’m not mistaken, we scored the first TD on a 3rd and 15 after a timeout. This seems to be the difference to me, instead of hoping that Russ works some magic, we rely on the OC to pull out a play. That’s why we spread the ball more, that’s why not having DK doesn’t completely destroy us. It is on Geno too, fair play for how he can execute, but I think the game plan is making the difference here, and that’s why we perform better than Denver or Green Bay.
Yesterday we won against a team that could actually make it to the playoffs and we were clearly ahead the whole time. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to beat the Rams once and to even the score with 49ers.
Dear Pete,
I know you see the Center position as fungible, but I implore you to watch the film of your offense giving up a Safety and focus on your present person playing the position getting utterly blown up which lead to said Safety being scored by the Chargers. I know your punter bailed you out by sending the ensuing kick clear to the opponents 30 yard line, but please think about what had happened at that point had he had a less stellar kick. I’m concerned that it could have kick started an LA comeback.
Signed, A Concerned Fan who Knows the Rams Have Aaron Donald
Re-posting from the other day:
As much as we can rightfully criticize his blocking at times, it’s possible a good bit of the young OL making strides forward is due to his leadership. The calls, talking guys through it before and after plays, giving them that confidence they need. Credit where it’s due.
Seahawks Mic’d Up: Austin Blythe – Week 6 vs. Cardinals
https://youtu.be/_CYq1eVksEc
And adding to that from yesterday, the way PC hugged him after K9 sprang the long TD run. You can tell he’s a coach-on-the-field type player for the young OL around him, plus he knows how to run Waldron’s scheme well.
So, I’m torn. Am I attributing too much of the OL success to him? Perhaps. Is all of that worth the occasional negative play due to his limitations? Probably. Even coming at the worst time, like on the goal line? Maybe.
I’d be interested in hearing everyone’s thoughts.
Early guess is Blythe is resigned. He’s not the mauler I want inside but if he’s really the captain of the line that’s the center’s job..
Not sure what the do with Lewis and Haynes moving forward.
Maybe nothing. Rob has said repeatedly that guard is a low priority for this system. Lewis isn’t the body type but he’s already there and it seems he isn’t doing too poorly.
I would guess Blythe is re-signed too
It’s crazy, but after 6 games, our good old Ethan Pocic ranked 3rd out of 37 centers by PFF.
Blythe was the 34th… Pff doesn’t value off field leadership of course.
Shame our oline coach never let Pocic play at center for years. Inverse of Lewis, who was great at RG so he got moved to LG where he has withered.
I wouldn’t say he has withered
But he was better suited to RG
I’d like to think Blythe will just improve as the year goes on. He does do a lot of good things, it’s just there are some notable ugly plays as well. He’s got Leonard Williams on Sunday, Aaron Donald 2x, Quinnen Williams and Chris Jones.
Weird stat of the day: Ken Walker had 6 official runs that were no gain or loss. 7 if you count the stop that was nullified by a Fant holding penalty.
Absent those 6 he ran 17 times for 176 yards.
That’s crazy.
I hadn’t seen that Mic’d up with Blythe before. Seems like a really good guy to have communicating and coaching up the younger players. I have to believe those leadership qualities really help a young group and is part of this OL success. I’m a fan.
At this point we should be considering signing Geno to a 2-3yr deal and drafting a redshirt qb to work behind him for a year or two. It is clear we can compete with Geno and will not be getting a look at a top 3 qb without trading up and out of valuable picks we need to build the D. Could we get Geno on 3yrs 36mln? something like that would be ideal and you draft a Richardson type or even more of a project and let em sit for 2yrs learning the game.
There is an odd jump at QBs from the midlings who dont perform to 100mln+ contracts. Could Geno get a 100mln deal? Most of those deals go out to younger players or older names who were always good like Matt Ryan. Then again Wentz is on 100mln +.
So the q is what is Geno rally worth? Would another team be willing to pay up for his services at age 33 considering him their game changer?
There’s no rush here
Let the league dictate his market at the end of the season
Ideally you keep him (if he keeps this up) and draft a redshirt guy
Word, I am just curious what his market would be saying he completes the year as hes started it, very efficient with a winning record.
Looking at QB contracts there is a massive jump if you look at total value from Trev Lawrence at 37mln to Ryan Tannahill at 118mln. There are no total value deals in between which is wild. Cousins is on 35mln, that is a good comp. Wentz on 128mln a bad comp. Where is his market? Will be interesting to see.
Isn’t Lawrence still on his rookie contract? Those first rounders get good pay.
I would actually prefer to sign Geno Smith now to a 2 year extension with a bump in pay this year. But only if the price was right. Probably the agent will hold out for maximum value in free agency at the end of the season.
The agent can hold out for whatever he wants
You need to find out what his market is
Right now you’re bidding against yourselves
Probably not advisable to sign Geno this year just due to their cap constraints.
They only have $2.9m of room currently. To take on any Geno bonus money they’d have to create room, and that means restructuring which means taking money away from 2023 and 2024 and probably adding to the future dead cap money on whoever they restructure.
Another blog favourite:
https://twitter.com/PFF_Mike/status/1584537854515892224
👌
This is pouring water all over my dream of two all rookie tackles. How did he run block?
PFF team
https://i.redd.it/2rf6taio3sv91.png
PFF Offense
https://imgur.com/mCtSbtv
PFF Defense
https://imgur.com/DQ1raW0
Ryan Neal and Myles Adams with the love
I’ve been hoping to see Adams and Neal get more snaps. Good to see them deliver and hopefully continue to get more snaps. Interesting that Irvin was the the 7th (?) highest PFF score on defense, a week removed from being in street clothes.
Pete Carroll Show with Brock & Salk
[q] DK Metcalf update? “Really good report this morning. Does not need surgery. Hurt Patellar tendon. Old injury maybe complicating it. Great report. With him in training room, very positive. Not sure what means for timeline. He’s determined to practice Wed. Told him not to be hard-headed about it. Respect the process.”
[q] Any other injuries? “Phil Haynes and Bellore in tent for concussion stuff. Won’t know for a few days.”
When I watched Zeke have his knee hyperextended at full speed, I thought he was a goner. Instead, he plays the rest of the game.
On the flip side, when I saw DK walk off the field with a limp, I thought he tweeked something. Then they show him carted off the field.
Then, after Geno’s kneel down, I checked all the scores and saw absolute carnage, league-wide.
Yesterday was a day of days for injuries.
[q] Confident team? “Clear shift in self-awareness. Nice FB game yesterday. Guys had a blast. Really physical and tough. ST did their job. Ran the FB nice. Geno good choices, 70% something again. OT’s did job on Khalil Mack, kept him from being factor. Fun.”
[q] Third and 2, fourth and short stopped Chargers opening seq, significant? “Great start. Under duress immediately (Geno INT). First play, threw, next run played well. On 4th we killed it. Statement ready to play. Played LOS great yesterday. Progress obvious. No mystery.”
[q] What’s it like to coach this group? “No different, I tend to be on the optimistic side. Energy about the group, lightness about them, willingness to work. Never taken a step back due to the challenges. Positive, all through early games. So happy to see confidence coming out. Recognized things have changed. Important, shows you improvement available. Just getting started. So many areas to get better at. I’m going to keep pounding them to realize, yes that’s still there.”
[q] Feel reinvigorated with youth? “That would mean I wasn’t invigorated. Thrilled to be part of challenge again. Every year like a whole new life. Hard to explain how immersed we are in FB. So many extraordinary things that can take place, relationships, growth, experience. Losing the horrible part of the thing, it sucks. Opp to live on the other side to get wins is totally invigorating. I don’t know if different.”
[q] New QB, Geno questions in offseason, what you feel? Not vindication? “It’s been a challenge. Expectations higher than this start. Taken us some time to get on the other side of this things. We live on the ego side of things, being proud of our work. This is an unusual opp with changes taken place, chances taken to make change happen. Both John and I invigorated by challenge of it. We believed we could get it done. See it being recognized, I like that. It’s OK with me to admit that. Ability to focus when circumstances, I’m too old, stuck in the mud running the ball, I do love showing we know what we’re doing. Frickin blast. Best yet to come. Not even close to where we’re gonna go.”
[q] Is Geno one of the best QB’s in the NFL? “No doubt, why question that. Geno knows only 7 games in. Go at it again, get back to work. We’re doing OK. We’re in first place by ourselves. Up to us to hold onto.”
[q] Work week like, old days guys fighting and scratching, Luke Willson music, like now? “Techno Thursday, still alive in the building. Great place to be now. Fun as hell. Good time every day. Challenge guys to compete every day. They look fwd to coming into the building. We don’t know what will happen each day. Favorite teacher at school, no idea what each day he would bring. Can’t wait to get here. At USC, invited everyone to practice. Environment enjoying every moment. Share it with community. Wish we could do it here too. See guys practice, fun, jawing at each other. Exciting and fun.”
[q] Six rookies contributing big way now, why so fast success? “Part of it, need had opp there. Accuracy of picks John and guys fit right into where need. Best player available to fit need.”
[q] Process different this year? “No, no. We finally had draft picks this year! John took adv of opp. Best yet to come. Next year’s draft 2 ones, 2 twos, 2 fives. Character of players chosen, they can handle it. Excited to be part of something, humble – you don’t hear these guys yapping at all – and like Tariq handling it. I talked to him in parking lot last night, he was back to work and right at it.”
[q] Move with Geno on sideline ? “Closer with Buddha thing LOL. I don’t know what it is. Just a motion – Geno and I have good communication – working together at it. He looked and me and nodded. Knew exactly what it was.”
[q] Walker run? “He told me he had a good day when we got on the plane last night LOL.”
[q] NFL upside down this year, what do you see? “Opportunity. Huge. Chance for somebody to elevate. Evened out. So many losses early. We’re 4-3 and in first place, we’re good. Opp to make a run is here. Giants this week? Awesome. 6-1 playing great. Daboll doing great job. Amazing stuff they’re doing. Fired up about this opp.”
[q] 3 TE sets strategy? “TEs change edge of LOS. Split end there open side, more room to chase passer. TEs push the guy wider. More variables control the edges of LOS. Limits you can’t spread D out. Kyle S in Washington there started formations. Shorten width of formations, more blockers and receivers available to work inside out instead of spreading. Rams great about it. I really like it. Guys are good. Colby looked great. Highlights of his day were blocks. TD run block and another toss outside run. Impressive. Really good game for him.”
[q] Bruce Irvin? “See first play tackle in backfield? Time of his life. Connects me with our guys. One fortunate enough to be here. Good in all directions.”
[q] Taylor job after fumble? “I don’t know, just ran out of juice LOL.”
[q] Goodwin long jump celebration? “Awesome. Fine with me, he does flips too. Have fun.”
“We finally had draft picks this year! John took adv of opp.”
That statement tells me a lot. I think it was an unconscious acknowledgement that he stepped away from the process for the most part and let John take the reigns. Many of us suspected as much. Maybe I’m reading more into this than is actuality, but maybe not.
FYI He did say something about “picking at 25th” that I couldn’t quite translate into English very well. I think he was nodding more towards having good picks than having picks at all.
I think that picking 25th thing is an excuse for a bunch of bad drafts that Groos MaToast called “The Travesty Years” up above (brilliant as usual Gross). And as I’ve said before, most of the stars they drafted back in the day were not first rounders. I’ll stand by my assertion that he stepped back at least somewhat and let John take the lead. There have been reports, though I admittedly don’t remember where, that too often he wouldn’t listen to his scouting dept. and overruled those folks at times.
DK won’t need surgery.
That is good news.
Matt Ryan just benched for season… what a whacky year
Irsay thinking he knows more than the football people he hires.
I was surprised by this. I was really hoping Matt Ryan would have a good season but the turnovers have just killed any chance for the colts this year. Wonder if Ehlinger will be any better.
It really looks like a changing of the guard in so many quarterback rooms. Brady and Rodgers are on struggling teams, the Panthers are a dumpster fire with every quarterback they have on the roster other than PJ Walker and now this. Stafford is struggling with the Rams and Russell Wilson has looked horrible with Denver. It looks like a lot of teams are assessing what they have at quarterback in non–superstars
Maybe Geno will have a hotter market for next year, which is bad for us but good for him. Really hope we can keep him a few more years until we get our QBOTF.
Hey Rob! Have you evaluated Bralen Trice, DE at UW? Seems like an interesting pass rusher… 6.5 sacks on the season so far.
Thanks for all your work! What a wild ride of a season so far
I haven’t, apologies
Baldy just highlighted that, and I was happy he noticed Parkinson blocking too:
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1584549164452495361
Since I now know Rob is on a bit of a delay watching HOTD I will simply say that I think the season one finale of HOTD is equal to the season one ending of GOT. And the season one ending of GOT was bloody brilliant.
Good… just about to watch it now
Enjoy the show!
Just absolutely fantastic. Loaded with good character moments and the correct use of shock value. Exactly the finale they needed!
Just finished it
It was a good finale
I did think at the end though that I’m ready to bloody watch something that begins and ends in a series and isn’t drawn out forever
Part of me wants to just read the book to find out what happens — and I’m led to believe it’s not a particularly well crafted book
I’ve heard from book fans that the show has been more entertaining. The book supposedly reads a lot like a history textbook.
Kinda funny that your perception is that it was drawn out, when a lot of people thought it moved really fast and could have slowed down a bit. I’d have signed up for a 12 episode season personally, but this stuff is a bit more subjective. I don’t know how it ends myself, but I’ve been told that it is similar to the Anarchy of the 1100s in England.
The book is indeed written like a history text which I think has hurt the writing of character development in the series. I also think the time jumps don’t help, but they are necessary to get where the story is going. I am assuming that the next season will begin the dance of the dragons and if that is the case, shit is going to go down. It’s a bummer that the next season probably won’t be until 2024 since they won’t begin shooting until next summer.
I stopped reading the books a decade or more ago when George decided to stop writing about this particular story line. Are these new books written by GRRM or someone else? I gave up on GOT in the last season because it just got off kilter too much. I don’t get HBO so can’t watch this new series and am stuck with Ring of Power, which is hard to watch.
It’s what he was writing instead of finishing Ice and Fire. I read all those books but have lost interest and probably won’t finish them on the off chance he ever actually publishes any more. The season is over, so Subscribe to HBO and watch all 10 and cancel it. I tried to watch rings. Got 2 eps in and pretty much lost interest.
You don’t need to read the book. Just go look at A Wiki of Ice and Fire and read about the dance of the dragons. It’s a lot easier than wading through George’s 700+ pages of text.
So it looks like Bruce Irvin played about 1/3 of the defensive snaps yesterday. For a guy who has been out of football for over a year and just got elevated from the practice squad, him getting two tackles yesterday looks like he has provided some help.
https://twitter.com/BradyHenderson/status/1584616125601615879
I don’t recall him playing , but it’s a good sign that he is contributing already. Linebackers seem like the last group they need to address to make this defense stronger. Perhaps they can find a linebacker and another young safety to add to the practice squad.
Looking at recent players brought up from practice squad to regular squad, they also brought up linebackers Chistian Jones and Cullen Giaspia in addition to Bruce Irvin. Looks like the Seahawks are really trying to strengthen that area.
If I’m reading this right Cullen Gillaspia is from Texas A&M and has played both linebacker and running back. Interesting history there.
Good news, our old center Joey Hunt is back on the practice squad. Management is getting worried. LOL
I think Joey Hunt being back could be a good thing. He does size-wise fit Waldron’s scheme and had some decent agility from what I remember. No stone left unturned…
He may not have fit the best the last time around with previous coaching. Hell… Pocic is doing alright in CLE and could be seeing a big payday
Hunt was weak and ended up getting bull rushed alot. Probably only picked up because he knows the plays.
True. I haven’t heard anything about Kyle Fuller and potential injuries or anything like that. You’re probably right that Joey Hunt is just there because he’s a body and he knows how to snap a ball
I’m getting the same vibe post-Chargers that I got post-Broncos
Too many Seahawks fans/media taking a victory lap, trying to start wrong vs right arguments, acting like anything has been determined because the team got a good win and is 4-3 after seven games.
Come on
It’s divisive and unnecessary. It makes the fan base feel toxic and at each others throats all the time.
Let’s just enjoy a good win
Great point. I think humility is an amazing trait and not only does our team need to stay humble, but we as fans need to do that as well. With how all things have panned out this year, no one could’ve predicted this. The whole right/wrong thing is just silly. We just need to enjoy our team playing a good game and winning. If they lose, they dust off and try again. I believe the game plan with the draft still needs to happen. A quarterback needs to be drafted for the future of this team
I think it’s been somewhat determined that jettisoning PCJS in favor of 34 year old RW would have been a catastrophic mistake, and the trade loos to be historically great. Why are discussions around these things a problem? Some people were right, some were wrong.
Congratulations on emphatically proving my point Matthew
Why enjoy a win when we can be passive aggressive and argue with each other eh?
If people want to indulge in this — bore off and do it somewhere else
Matthew posted something very similar yesterday as well. Guess he was unhappy cuz no one bit.
Will it help if I stand up and say you were right and I was wrong Matthew?
Yes, thank you. Haha Seriously though, I appreciate these comments here, and didn’t intend to bait or be passive aggressive. Will respect Rob’s wishes and be more mindful
In any future posts here from me.
Sorry Rob, I see how that reads as passive aggressive.
Simply, because it’s too early. We’ll only know the true value to both teams years from now. Early signs are nice, but we have a long way to go before anyone can say they were definitively right. For all we know, next year Russ goes on a revenge tour with a new HC and wins the Super Bowl. Is the trade lopsided then?
Best we can say now, is that the Seahawks have done a great job using their capital to build a team. We’ve got some hunger and some success, but we need more players still before this roster is complete. If we don’t get there…that changes the calculus of the trade as well.
Great response, Starhawk!
I was very wrong about Geno and he’s played so much better than I could ever imagined! Is he a great QB? Not based on what I’ve seen of these 7 games but hey, he can certainly prove me wrong with his performance the rest of the season. I think he’s probably an average NFL starting QB (which is still better than what I thought he could be at the beginning of this season) who is productive if there is a good team built around him. I’m still skeptical that he can pull off miraculous plays to rescue the Hawks if they’re down by multiple scores but that’s ok, most NFL QBs can’t play at that level. I’m still hoping that the Hawks can draft a young QB of the future that they can sit and groom behind Geno (if he can be re-signed at a reasonable price) or another veteran for a year or two.
The Hawks are just one game over .500 and the fact that they’re leading the division says more about how mediocre the NFCW is this year than that they’re good. We need to see how the Hawks do the rest of the season before getting too excited how good/great they are. It looks like they have building blocks in place at OTs and RB (yay!!) but as many have pointed out on here, we could use a better center and guards. On defense, the Hawks started out horribly again and in the last couple of weeks, they’ve managed to be not terrible, which is great, but I’m not sure anyone would describe our defense as scary or tough. I totally agree with you. Let’s see how the rest of the season and what the Hawks do with the extra picks in next year’s draft AND how Russ and the Broncos for the rest of the season and next year before making any conclusions about which team won this trade.
In any case, I’m still very skeptical if Pete the right coach for this team but again, depending on how well we do the rest of the season and how well we draft to fill all the other holes on the team, I’m willing to eat crow and admit I was wrong about Pete, if warranted. For now, I’m really enjoying the very unexpected good play from this now fun team to watch!
Exactly this.
I care pretty much only if the hawks get to contention. So far the young moves look incredible. The Geno story is amazing.
Last I saw a pcjs built team contend was when the iPhone 6 was out.
The broncos are currently the big losers in this. And I loved the former qb since this team was almost talking “suck for luck.”
Hard to crown Seattle big winners until they get to the big dance with last year’s and this year’s upcoming picks making the bulk of the talent on the field.
Other than that it’s just some team saving money that isn’t my own so I couldn’t care less.
Well said Starhawk and well said Peter. Agree with both of you. To SO FAR be wrong about Russ, Pete, etc. means MY team since the awarding of the franchise was announced in 1974, the Seattle Seahawks, are having some unexpected success makes me VERY happy to at this point be wrong about the whole situation.
There are factors that formed my opinion and that of others that were legit as it concerns the way this franchise has been run the last half decade+. As Gross MaToast called it, “The Travesty Years”. The arguments to move along from Russ at this point are legit too. The real bottom line here is that everyone who had differing opinions still felt the way they did because they felt their approach would be the best way to see this franchise begin to move toward another Super Bowl. And after all, isn’t that the point here?
It’s the only thing that matters. Superbowl or bust.
Just being a team….thats not for me after getting near the promised land three times this century.
Why ya dissin’ da iPhone 6, Bruh, still lovin’ mine… ’tis a bit slow on the download, though.
Does it even work still 🤣
I agree Rob. Why keep rehashing the past instead of looking forward. I didn’t care for the anger that some fans showed toward Russ when he came back. He was a big piece of the past 10 year glory. We parted like most divorces, not in the best of terms. Time to move on and enjoy where we are while we build the foundation for the future.
Exactly. Well said by all.
Look forward. Look forward with positivity. We’re getting exactly what we want from this season and then some – the team in playing hard and competing, new young stars and core is emerging, playing for each other instead of as individuals; and bonus, it looks like it is going to be the Broncos pick that it is top 5 instead of the Hawks and they somehow got better, younger, and cheaper at QB.
The decisiveness is silly. Except for the anti-Kenneth Walker crowd lol they can go suck a lemon. I kid.
Agreed in all accounts Rob. Enjoy the win, ignore the noise. Thank you for keeping this blog a great atmosphere and community as well as you do!
I agree 100% look forward! It’s been my opinion on the Adams trade. It hasn’t worked, talented player hasn’t really fit and has been injured. It’s time to move on from complaining about it. I say this not to start an argument but to say there is nothing we can really do about the sunken cost. It’s time for people to let it go if they haven’t.
Rob, have you studied Joey Blount? …or Isaiah Dunn?
Monday Press Conf w Pete Carroll
[q Boyle] Waldron job he is doing? “Really been on the money with our guys. Utilizing all personnel. Preparation sharp and on it. See our game plans early have been effective. Good balance through problems – scoring in second half for instance. Geno’s strengths being utilized. Lot of room to get better.”
[q Condotta] DK Metcalf update? “Don’t know when, don’t have a clue. He’s anxious. Wants to practice Wed, not even sure that’s possible. Pretty sore today. No immediate process like surgery, have to see how he responds to treatment. Sorry for being vague.”
[q] OL yesterday? “Protected really well, held up against Khalil Mack. Ran for a bunch of yards, controlled game, good effort across board.”
[q Maz Veda] Goodwin similar to Geno never got a shot, now good? “Amazed he hasn’t been really productive before. Natural feel, good hands, timing, phenomenal speed. Still really fast. Don’t know why he hasn’t been more available for a lot more production earlier. DK slowed down, his opps will go up. Command of all offense.”
[q] Defensive improvement? “Aggressive at LOS. Run and pass rush. More rush lanes. Everybody benefited.”
[q Mueller] Meeting w WR’s about not showing dropoff in room, leadership? “Tyler great voice in the room, keeps everybody on point. Direction when needed. DK works so hard. Involved in all convo’s. Less likely to direct group, performs high level and consistently. Gotta go, they’re going. Leadership in own ways.”
[q Niko] Deejay Dallas value to team? “Marvelous part of this team. Great force spiritually, great attitude, aggressive, confident, tough. Saw running game first couple runs all the way until last time he carried ball. We’re 1-2 punching with him and feeling really good about it. One of my favorites. Infectious attitude.”
[q Tim] Move at WR to shore up depth? “Open to possibilities. John’s on it, talked about some already. Going with our guys though.”
[q] Ryan Neal game yesterday? “Oh man, 7 tackles 4 pass pro, all over FB. Really well. Sick as a dog yesterday, had IV’s and everything. Woke up and made it through anyway. Sometimes famous stories about players at their best when sick, that’s one of his. Active, confidence growing. We’re putting him in good spots to produce.”
[q MS Dugar] TE’s have comparable skill sets? “In sense we can rely on them yes. All three guys can catch, all three block. Colby effort in game physical, tough. Comfortable that we have a variety of them. Want to be versatile with guys because it is difficult for opponent.”
[q] Changes at DL impacted LB’s? “Freedom to move, system calls for them to fit in gaps as flow happens. They were available. Starts with Al, Poona had a good game. Shelby too. If LBs clean, they will make hits. But in this game, DL had the hits. Didn’t run the ball much.”
[q Gregg Bell] Ryan Neal said defensive players had meetings, has that alone helped? “Everything helps. They’re the ones who have to talk on the field. More comfortable and on same page, better they’ll be. Encourage them to communicate. Working hard. Seeking ways to play well.”
[q] Parkinson blocking better than thought, motioning help? “Basic part of our stuff, move our guys around. They match up. Colby work in progress, slot receiver in college. Time to make adaptation. Did it when he was hurt earlier. Hunting them up good yesterday on blocking. Finish on blocks. One guy, got to next level, finished next guy. Showing him off all week.”
[q Corbin Smith] Rookie class, reasonable to say Mafe setting edge top list of surprises? Not known for that in college? “I wouldn’t say top surprise. Real power. Overall strength and explosiveness showing up right off the bat. Earned a lot of playtime now. Handle assignments. Like him at LOS but can do all stuff. Stuff to learn, continue to grow, not finished product. Really exciting to have him out there.”
[q Brady] Walker impression? “Natural, wants to stay on field, tough, elusive, creative. Speed is incredible. All elements we’re looking for. Good game for him with 20 carries. Looked comfortable, picked his moments, cool instinctive things. Just getting started, haven’t done anything twice yet.”
[q] Homer this week in practice? “Yes. Get guys back this week. Interesting to see who will make it and can take the workload this week. We’re gonna get guys back.”
[q ? Shane] Depth WR’s see? “Eskridge comfortable. Explosiveness, toughness, still shows us his newness. Goodwin, nothing he can’t do in system. Opp, he will jump at it. If DK can’t play this weekend, need guys to come through.”
[q Curtis Crab] Speed manifesting in game? “All guys you mentioned have made plays and stood out. Obvious guys are fast. Chase things down, make things happen. Joey Blount came to us as a FA, good start. Bunch of tackles, factor for us. Working to get play time too. Defensive coach’s best friend when you can run.”
[q Bob Condotta] Irvin play yesterday? “Well. Play right off the bat. Aggressive, just missed a couple. Felt good about it, timing was there. Ready to go.”
[q] Blythe FS and Geno calm down? “They said Blythe influenced the guy to jump offsides, so. Doing something he always does, that’s the way they saw it. Not to complain, that’s just the way they called it.”
[q John Boyle] Bryant more nickel than base? “Depends on what other guys doing. Trying to run can dictate some things. Also try to change things up. Coby enough flexibility to make tackles in run, come off edge, improving understanding of nickel. Knocked ball out 3-4 games in a row, we want him out there.”
[q Gregg Bell] Unlikely Metcalf plays sunday? “Can’t call it. Give us a couple days to let it cool down. Won’t get extensive work on Wednesday. We’ll see.”
I remember when I used to do these. Thanks for taking the time to save us the time!
And it is (and was) much appreciated. I’ll probably watch his presser tonight before I go to bed but I, for one, really appreciate the effort it takes to get this stuff down. I can never hear the reporters questions and this helps a lot!
Today’s was done via Zoom. I wish they did them all like that.
“Ryan Neal said defensive players had meetings”
I wonder if Diggs got reamed by his teammates in that meeting? His play has picked up SOME since we saw Brooks going off on him on the sideline.
If DK is out, are we not going to pick up a WR at least to have another body for next week?
I know we have the rookie Young, but is that really going to be our on the field guy if someone goes down?
Also – it all worked so who cares, but anyone else notice that w DK out – the remaining trio of Lockett/Goodwin/Eskridge has got to be the smallest receiving corps in the league?
This question is sparked by some analysis I’ve seen elsewhere, but I’m curious Rob if you have an idea why.
Why do 1st round TEs tend to be busts? Looking at the players drafted in the first round at that position, few seem to be anything other than decent. Players like Noah Fant, OJ Howard, Evan Engram, Njoku, the list goes on, have not been nearly as successful as their draft grade suggests. Meanwhile, later round picks Kittle, Kelce, and Andrews have been the best at the position. Any idea as to why that is?
Better scouting. Offensive system. Better quarterbacks.
What was the last tight end that Aaron Rodgers made look bad?
Sure, but name the last TE drafted in the 1st that was worth the pick. Closest I can think of is Hockenson, and he’s been more good-average than great. We see freakish WRs play well with bad QBs too. So why do TEs drafted early never live up to the hype?
Just looked it up, looks like Olsen in 07 or Davis in 06. YIKES
I think it’s situation more than anything
But tight end is not typically a position I would draft early
I don’t have all the answers but two thoughts immediately come to mind:
First round tight ends is a pretty small group. I’d wager in the last 25 years, at least 4-6 of those years there wasn’t a TE drafted in the first round at all, and in most of the others only one was selected.
Plenty of those guys have put up good years and might still develop, so I wouldn’t write them off.
Whereas the third through fifth rounds (where the Kittles and Kelces etc have been found) scores of TEs have been drafted, so the pool to draw from to call players successful is much, much larger and busts from those rounds are far more easily shrugged away than first rounders.
And second, those first round tight ends have had very little in the way of support and coaching.
Noah Fant has worked with Drew Lock, Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Flacco in a different OC every year.
OJ Howard has worked with Jameis Winston in the Dirk Koetter and pre-Brady Bruce Arians years.
Evan Engram? Eli Manning and Daniel Jones on the Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge teams.
Njoku has played for Cleveland, enough said.
Meanwhile
Kittle has played with Jimmy G in Shanahan’s offense
Kelce has played with Mahomes and coached by Andy Reid
Andrews has played with Lamar Jackson and has been their top weapon in a Greg Roman offense
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t call it so much the players and the draft position so much as the system, QBs and coaching staffs they work with.
Kyle Pitts seems like a keeper. If they don’t mess him up in ATL.
But I wouldn’t pick a TE as high as they picked him. Regardless of how talented he is.
Why bloody trade for Jamal Adams and then pay him when you had this BAMF waiting in the wings:
https://twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1584701747762991106
Starting to think they should resign Neal soon. They bought out Mone’s RFA year early, they can do it for Neal. Especially since it’s a safe bet he’ll play more games (and just as good or better) than JA in 2023.
We need to get rid of JA at darn near any cost. Could we manage eating $7.2M in dead cap for three years in a row to rid ourselves of JA? I don’t know what it would cost to get Ryan Neal under contract, but I just want Adams’ deal in the rear view mirror and I never want to look back