Thoughts on Michael Crabtree’s injury

Earl Thomas remember this moment

I remember speaking to a coach in another sport about a year ago and we ended up talking about injuries. I asked which was the more serious ‘common’ injury an athlete can get. I thought it was an ACL. He said it used to be. Times have changed though. Now it was the dreaded achilles.

It’s pretty much an injury that never really goes away. It can go again with relative ease. And it hurts like hell. It’s not impossible to make a full recovery — Demaryius Thomas has shown it can be done. But it’s a tricky one.

San Francisco are the definitive division rival, but I don’t want to see the Seahawks win the NFC West because of an injury advantage. That’s how close the teams are these days. An extra injury here or there could be the difference in 2013. And losing Crabtree is a big one.

Back in 2009 I was desperate for Seattle to draft Crabtree with the fourth overall pick. He wasn’t the fastest or the biggest receiver, but he had everything else. Amazing hands, the ability to catch away from his body, incredible control, the tendency to make difficult grabs in coverage and he was the key component in college football’s most exciting finish to a game in 2008 (Texas vs Texas Tech — not RS freshman Earl Thomas’ finest hour). Crabtree was a star in the making. I felt positive about that.

I remember shouting loudly and angrily at the screen when the Seahawks snubbed the best player in the draft for Aaron Curry. It’s easy to sit here and say that now, I guess. Yet it still hurts to this day. I remember getting excited that the reliable Mike Mayock had included Crabtree at #4 in his last gasp mock draft. I remember the split screen of Curry and Crabtree in the green room. I remember the blood curdling shout I made that probably woke the neighbours up when Curry’s name was called. It wasn’t a good day.

(I also just remembered that was a time before Twitter. Remember those days?)

Instead the Seahawks went safe — overpaying for an old veteran (T.J. Houshmandzadeh) at receiver. Crabtree was too risky for Tim Ruskell. He hadn’t worked out due to a metatarsal injury and there were some lingering character issues — although nothing too specific. Forget the fact Seattle was desperate for a dynamic receiver to help the ageing Matt Hasselbeck. Let’s spend over $100m on three linebackers instead.

*Stops rant because we’ve done this a million times already*

I think Crabtree should be a Seahawk right now. I think he’d fit very well as the bigger target in this offense. And I think a coach like Pete Carroll would’ve got the best out of him, much in the way Jim Harbaugh has in San Francisco. It’s no surprise either that when the 49ers had a settled offense and quarterback, Crabtree has played like the top receiver many expected he would be. Crabtree — just like Alex Smith — suffered with the bad leadership and constant change that franchise endured pre-Harbaugh.

Last year he struck up an instant connection with Colin Kaepernick and they threatened to become one of the best — if not the best — QB/WR combo’s in the league. So while it’s obviously good news for the NFC West and NFC in general that Crabtree may miss the season, nobody should take any satisfaction from that. You should want to beat the best to be the best. And that means facing San Francisco with the Kaepernick-to-Crabtree connection.

You build emotional attachment’s to players you respect in the draft process. Crabtree, even as a 49er, has my respect. And hopefully he’ll be back quickly for future battle’s with Richard Sherman and co.

Oh, and by the way, Jesse Williams can jump.

69 Comments

  1. kevin mullen

    Anyone else fear that Jesse Williams upper body is way bigger than his lower half? Dude’s legs are as skinny as mine… Hope he plays with leverage.

    • bjammin

      He played on a near nfl college program against the SEC etc. His tape is against current or future nfl lineman. Hopefully he’ll be fine. I think he’s a similar body type to Red, isn’t he? I could see him taking over at Red’s spot one day or in a pinch (in case of injury). He benches some crazy amount like 600 lbs so hopefully that could make up for lack of ass leverage.

    • Morgan

      I gasp a little when I see that jump…I tore my meniscus doing that in high school.

  2. Jon

    With those hops you have to think he has so power and would be able as a pass rusher on the line. That is impressive.

    Heres to hoping the Coaching staff can harness all that ability and coach up his technique!

  3. bjammin

    Sucks for Crabtree, SF and their fans but that’s nothing the rest of the NFC West hasn’t battled through over the last few years as SF stayed remarkably healthy. Hopefully it’s our turn for that (knock on wood). Rob, as for Kapernick/Crabtree possibly being THE best wr duo in the nfl soon, I have a hard time buying that. For one, Kap’s looked incredible but needs to prove he can sustain that. There have been some cracks in his armor, like when he played in Seattle about handling pressure, poise, etc. Plus we’ll see how he handles his “sophomore” year as a starter with defenses focused on him and his tape. Crabtree and Kap did have good chemistry and we’ll see if that resumes once Crabtree’s healthy (if he comes back fully healthy). At their best, IMO, there’s still a number of duo’s in front of them now and to come.

    Also Crabtree’s had his share of injuries, let’s see if that improves or not. Sort of difficult to argue about how a duo might be the best or not in the future, so I’ll just very respectfully mumble under my breath. For the record, for me, the jury’s still out on Kapernick. Not that he hasn’t been really good but let’s see how teams adjust to him and the tape that is building up on him. Let’s see if he gets better as some of his weapons like Vernon and Gore get older and there’s more pressure on him. He’s proven he can do it in some great comebacks so far. Sustainable? We’ll see. There’s been a lot of NFL qb’s who blew up for a bit than plummeted to earth. Derek Anderson, Vince Young and many others. Also I don’t like how he dives carelessly for yards on some of his runs. He’s faster than a jackrabbit but isn’t quite as savvy as RW at avoiding some bigger hits. He should not give Cam or BB a chance to lay a big hit on him. Ever.

    Neither KC or Crabtree suck, clearly, and they had great chemistry for over half a season. I’m withholding judgement for now but I see evidence for and against their near future greatness. And I am VERY biased because, you know, I love the Hawks and hate the 9ers fiercely. But they have my grudging respect. Now time to throw up for saying that.

  4. Miles

    Is that clip of Jesse Williams at the VMAC?

    • Rob Staton

      Alabama.

  5. Miles

    I think the conditioning staff will do the best they can to strengthen Jesse Williams’ legs. I think his body choices are the product of his own decisions to prioritize upper body over lower body workouts, but in the pros your body is a commodity of the team. So therefore the team will get a say in the kind of workouts Williams does. I wouldn’t want him to eliminate upper body, obviously, but in the NFL he’s going to need a strong frame overall.

    But I think the fact that he has a smaller base is reason to not draft him. The thing about muscle development is that it can be developed; there isn’t much discrimination in the ability for some players to have muscle in certain areas and not for others. I think this conditioning staff will do what they need to do.

    You never like to hear about serious injuries and I feel for Crabtree just like other players, but I won’t lie in saying that it doesn’t hurt our division rival is weaker. I know that’s an offensive thing to say, but the niners are the team standing in our way. And it’s not like Niners fans are sending any sympathy letters to us after the Bruce Irvin suspension. They are sending letters, but they are of the opposite tone.

    • Miles

      Sorry, I meant to say the fact Williams has a smaller base is NOT reason to not draft him.

    • pqlqi

      The flip side is that sometimes people become asymmetrically developed like Williams because chronic injury makes it too painful to work out the “weak” parts of their body. Williams dropped because of a knee issue, maybe, and maybe he can’t do the squats required to increase his lower body because of pain/instability.

  6. Cameron

    Doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with Jesse’s knees, that’s for sure.

  7. James

    The 2009 draft was probably the scout’s worst hour. All sorts of guys selected in the wrong order (in hindsight), and busts galore. I will take Seattle’s first round pick…not Aaron Curry, but Percy Harvin, over Matt Stafford, Michael Crabtree, or any of them. Harvin is without doubt the best player in the draft that year. Clay Matthews a good #2.

    • Michael

      Personally, I would take Matthews over Harvin any day…

      • Miles

        There were a lot of guys in that 2009 draft class that we passed up who turned out to be great athletes. It would have been crazy to see us take a guy like Clay Matthews at #4. I think people would have obviously considered it a reach at the time, but considering the kind of player he is now, people wouldn’t be complaining about it for long.

        The 2009 draft is different from the 2011 draft. In the 2011 draft it was really hard not to go wrong with your first round pick because there wasn’t very much talent overall. That’s why the Seahawks basically narrowed down their first-round pick to James Carpenter to fill a need with a big-bodied tackle or to draft a quarterback they didn’t really like in Andy Dalton. I’m glad they went with Carpenter, because I think it would have been hard for them to draft an impact player at that spot. Carpenter was a reach for Round 1, but the reach could have been much much deeper and it could have turned out to be a better pick. I’m not willing to write off Carpenter yet, but his career thus far has been an utter flop for a first round pick. I want to see him step up this year (and stay healthy).

        • James

          Remember, Okung was in the same spot as Carpenter just a year ago. Okung had shown flashes of promise in the few games where he was relatively healthy, but his first two years were a bust due to the injuries. Exactly the same with Carpenter. Let’s hope his third year is also like Okung’s: healthy and showing his skills on the field.

  8. Colin

    We went toe to toe with that team with no Russell Okung, no James Carpenter and no John Moffitt, and still put the first 100 yard rushing game on them and the first rushing touchdown, only so they could piss in our face and act like jackasses as they left.

    Show no quarter. Crabtree injury? Too bad. The Falcons didn’t get our best, but there’s no excuses, right?

  9. Turp

    I hate Curry. What a waste.

    Giants LB Aaron Curry — the former No. 4 overall pick of the Seahawks — admitted the money he earned as a high draft pick changed him and caused him to lose his motivation.
    “I was just selfish and self-centered,” he said. “I was more about me than I was the Seahawks at the time. I was more focused on my own desires versus the franchise and the team. It was immaturity, and Iโ€™m glad I got past that stage.” Curry inked a six-year, $60 million deal with $34 million guaranteed in 2009. He lasted just two and a half seasons in Seattle, and he surely isn’t the first or last rookie that felt invincible after a fat paycheck. Fortunately for NFL teams, the new rookie wage scale makes it a bit easier to compete and get rid of a first-round bust. Curry, 27, is now playing for the veteran’s minimum in New York.

    • Michael

      As much as I hated Curry while he was here, I have a hard time getting upset about it these days. Who knows what would happen in the alternate reality where the ‘Hawks take Crabtree instead of Curry? Maybe, with the addition of Crabtree, we show just enough in 2009 to get Jim Mora an extra year at the helm, and miss out on Pete Carroll!! If we miss out on Pete Carroll, we probably miss out on Russell Wilson!!! I don’t even want to imagine a world where Russell is not a Seahawk… Never underestimate the butterfly effect. Everything that has happened up to this point has contributed to where we are now, and I really like where we are now.

      Here’s hoping J.R. Sweezy and Tharold Simon turn into perennial All-Pro players, since those were the picks we got from the Raiders for Curry’s punk ass. Would that be something?

      • CiaranH

        I have a hard time believing Aaron’s comments, seems like he’s trying to make excuses for underperforming. The problems I had with him were plentiful, but lack of effort was never one. The Raiders had him on a much more reasonable deal and still cut him, and it’s not like there was a long queue forming in FA. “I was selfish but have now matured” just sounds a lot better than “I haven’t found a way to translate athleticism into performance”.

        • Rob Staton

          I tend to agree here. And to go off on a tangent, I find it a bit ridiculous that certain media types based in Seattle are saying how obvious it was Curry didn’t work hard enough in light of his comments. None of you EVER said this during his time here, never reported on it, never quizzed the team on it. Anyone can sit there after the event and call something. Yes, I’m still angry they didn’t ask any difficult questions about PED’s. The only media types in Seattle that show any chops are the guys who write columns who never have to speak to the team. Talk about an easy life. Turn up, sit through press conference, report bland quotes. Who wants that? That guy who travelled up from LA for a Seahawks presser and called out the Seattle media was spot on. It’s just a clique who are happy to let things drift along. Who wants to be the one person who asks the tough question? Nobody has the guts to be ‘that’ guy. Why is that?

          • kevin mullen

            You can say that about almost any team/market, with exception to New York. It’s like if the reporter were to “dare” ask anything remotely tough, he/she might not get an invite to next presser or even get to ask a question. Fear of being blackballed, I believe.

            • Rob Staton

              You can’t work like that. That’s not journalism. That’s becoming an extension of team PR. It’s not about going to every press conference looking to pick a fight. It’s choosing your battles. And with the Seahawks dealing with very serious PED/DUI issues, nobody asked the questions that need to be asked. Maybe it’s just me but I’d rather be blackballed for doing the job you’re paid to do than simply go through the motions. If New York is the only market willing to get stuck in, they’re the only ones doing it right.

              • kevin mullen

                Hey, I’m not disagreeing with you at all, in fact I wish more reporters would do this regardless of coverage. I feel like that the local media is there to keep that team/city/political agenda in the spotlight, regardless how minute the subject is.

                But understand that with a private organization, like the Seahawks or whatever, it’s all about getting in good graces with the organization and getting that “exclusive” interview. No liberal wants to get interviewed by Rush Limbaugh, nor does any conservative want to get interviewed with Rachel Maddow.

              • A. Simmons

                John Clayton talked about some of his own experiences as a sports journalist not too long ago. Apparently sports teams are not friendly to reporters that say anything remotely negative about the team. You will have a hard time getting into a locker room again if you bad mouth a team. Apparently John said something negative about a team during his time covering college football and the head coach wouldn’t give him another interview. He was banned from the campus.

                Teams are very controlling of their image. If a reporter seeks to harm that image, I guess they’ll get punished by the team. It sounds like one of those “unspoken rules”. The team has no obligation to speak with reporters and they will pick and choose reporters that protect their image. The ones that harm their image will get limited team access.

                It drives home the fact that sports teams are businesses first and they exert a great deal of control over their image including how the press covers them.

  10. PatrickH

    While Crabtree is important, I am not sure if he’s the crucial piece of Niners’ passing offense. I think Vernon Davis is actually more important to them, as the deep threat that draws the defensive attention. In the Seattle game, once Davis was knocked out by Kam, the SF passing game ceased to be effective the rest of the game. I think Anquan Boldin can fill Crabtree’s role adequately.

    BTW, I hope Ricardo Lockette doesn’t develop and becomes capable of running routes and catching balls consistently. It would be a nightmare to defend Vernon Davis and a capable Lockette at the same time.

    • Rob Staton

      I’d disagree slightly. While it’s true Davis commands constant attention, Kaepernick didn’t appear to have any rhythm with him. Crabtree was his go-to receiver while Davis’ numbers floundered considerably. They just didn’t look in-sync. Maybe that changes with time, but sometimes a QB and WR combo just works. And in Davis’ case, sometimes it doesn’t.

      • Miles

        That’s true. Crabtree’s numbers really started to pick up once Kap had been in there a couple weeks.

    • Michael Terry

      Our corners are way to physical for Lockette. If he had a super mental game to go with his speed, that’d be one thing, but he’s fully capable of being bullied, and our guys know a lot about his weaknesses there.

      • Michael Terry

        *too

    • A. Simmons

      Harbaugh always seems to manage. Normally losing your top receiver is a huge blow.

  11. Clayton

    I’m glad that this blog isn’t biased and doesn’t go about bashing any player that isn’t a Seahawk, especially one that is a division rival and credit is given where it is due. But with that said, I wouldn’t go that far in saying that Crabtree would have been a great fit with the Seahawks. In 2009, remember what happened after the draft where Crabtree was picked tenth overall by the Niners? He held out! He won many individual awards at Texas Tech (personally I thought that Texas Tech ran a run and shoot offense with Graham Harrell that inflated his stats) but that was college! If you’re just coming out of college and you believe you’re owed more than the NFL rookie contract you’re offered and you hold out, doesn’t that say something about yourself? Didn’t anyone think he was a diva by doing that? He eventually matured and turned out to be a great player, but at the time, I don’t think a diva would have been a good fit on any team.

    • Rob Staton

      I think he made a mistake holding out, but then I also think he was badly advised. He thought he was going to be a top five pick and expected top five money even when he fell to #10. The inflated contract he eventually signed hammered the ability to negotiate comfortably with the #10 pick for the next few years until the rookie pay scale came into place. But hey, he got a better deal in the end. He did what he had to do. His agent delivered a better than expected contract. I don’t think there’s been many diva tendencies from the guy since the 49ers installed a proper coaching staff.

    • Jeff

      Love it when people expect someone to take whatever they are offered. He was NOT a hold out, he was unsigned. No one is required to sign an NFL contract, he had every right to wait till he got the offer he wanted. Nothing about that makes him a diva. I am constantly amazed at what some fans expect out of other people. Take whatever is offered? Who does that? You get what you can get using whatever leverage you have. Its a business and this is their job, some fans seem to forget that.

      • Kenny Sloth

        Isn’t that exactly what holding out is? I guess it could be not playing under a contract with which you’re unhappy.

      • Michael Terry

        Many people make decisions that don’t strictly maximize their income. It’s OK to judge him for that.

  12. Michael

    “I donโ€™t want to see the Seahawks win the NFC West because of an injury advantage.”

    I get your point, but I have to respectfully disagree. I don’t think this will cheapen our eventual Superbowl victory one bit. Injuries are a HUGE part of this game, and the ‘Niners have had an unsustainable rate of health the last two years. Building a championship team is as much about being able to absorb injuries as it is about having good starters.

    Great teams take blows like this, and they find ways to accomplish their goals in spite of them. Osi and Tuck missed a combined 11 regular season games for the Giants in 2011, then they won the Suberbowl. Baltimore lost Lardarius Webb for the year in week 6 of last year, then won the Superbowl. Oh, and did I mention that Terrell Suggs tore his Achilles right about this time last year, and made his return by week 7 for the eventual champion Ravens?

    To quote Jeffrey Lebowski; “I didn’t blame anyone for the loss of my legs. Some chinaman took them from me in Korea. But I went out and achieved anyway!”

    • Kyle

      The bums lost, Lebowski! The bums lost!

    • Miles

      Is it possible that AJ Jenkins steps up this year? You know he’ll be asked to. He’s a former first round pick, and if he doesn’t show something this year in Crabtree’s absence, he’s a big fat bust. If AJ Jenkins doesn’t step up this year, the Niners have serious problems.

      • Kenny Sloth

        I think even then the 9ers have like 2 problems. Approximately.

        • Miles

          They going to have 99 problems and winning too much ain’t one after we’re done with them. Yah… … ๐Ÿ˜›

  13. Troy

    With the release of Josh Portis who do you guys expect/would like to see brought in as an additional arm during camp for competion @ backup QB?… Vince Young or Tyler Thigpen perhaps? Or maybe wait & poach a guy like B.J. Coleman off the Packer’s practice squad;)

    • bjammin

      I think in order to poach someone from another team’s practice squad, that you have to sign them to your active roster. Plus aren’t players put on practice squads after the last cuts after the last preseason games. They’ll need another arm in camp just for all the required drills and scrimmages and all that. i thought they need at least four qbs for that but maybe they can do less. And they’ll need a fourth sooner than later to be up to speed by training camp and possibly for part of ota’s.

      • Miles

        I have a really really good feeling about Jerrod Johnson, and I think the Seahawks do too. I think they’ll be comfortable enough to let Johnson and Quinn duke it out in camp. But then again, they could sign the UDFA Brockman to a deal just to spice it up a little more. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be between Johnson and Quinn. :]

        • Kenny Sloth

          I also like Johnson. I always like hearing ‘reworked throwing motion’. I hope I can get up to an OTA this year, see what that looks like. I just think all this talk of ‘wanting to bring in someone who can do simlar things to Russell’ doesn’t bode well for guys like Quinn.

  14. geoffu

    Ditto on the Crabtree pick. Not necessary because I thought he was worth going 4th overall, but I really didn’t like anybody else at that spot. Plus I loved Crabtree’s tape and production at Texas Tech and we needed a play making receiver. And as safe a pick as Curry was going to be, I hated taking a non-rush linebacker that high. If there was a pass rusher to grab, that might’ve been number one, but it seemed clear based on college tape Curry was no pass rusher.

    • Kyle

      I liked Crabtree at #4 as the BPA, but would’ve also looked at a LT, as it was clear Walter Jones’s days were coming to an end. As it turns out, it was best the team waited for Okung the following year: tackles in this draft were not the best (Michael Oher turned out OK for the Ravens, even tho’ he’s now at RT).

      • Rob Staton

        I thought it was a lousy year for LT’s personally. Oher was overrated as the guy from that book and Eugene Monroe was totally unspectacular. I really liked Jason Smith (bust) but he was destined to go #2 overall quite quickly after it became obvious Stafford was going #1.

        • Kyle

          Yeah, it wasn’t a great year for OT, but when you’re picking at #4, it makes sense to go with a franchise position. For me that means LT, CB, or QB, or an exceptional talent. Crabtree was pretty amazing at WR so I would’ve grabbed him too, but I did think LT was the other direction to go. (Thank God we didn’t pick up Sanchez!)

          Oher was underrated, if anything, because of the book. The Ravens don’t overdraft players–they got a guy who is a solid bookend at tackle, which is essential since Flacco is nearly a statue. He wasn’t a great LT, but in hindsight has turned out to be as good as any in that (weak) draft class.

          • Miles

            The funny part is that if our front office was a little more capable that year we may have drafted Mark Sanchez. Our FO at the time was naive enough to think we wouldn’t need a QB in the coming years because we still had Hasselbeck. And, while I wouldn’t blame a capable FO for not drafting a QB in that situation (especially in hindsight), you at least have to draft at a position that the team can build upon for the future.

            At the time I thought we were a team that was better than our record, and so did our front office. But the difference between me and our 2009 front office is that I was a 19 year old idiot who didn’t know a lot of tangible things about football. This FO should have, and their mindset was ridiculous. They were drafting as if they were going to be a contending team the next year, which (again, in hindsight), was an idiotic premise. That mindset was the damning principle in our 2009 collapse.

            Goodbye Mora. Goodbye Ruskell. Thanks for coming.

            • Kenny Sloth

              Hahaha I was 14 and I didn’t know who Curry was until the year after. This past draft was the first I looked at really at all. I mean I had looked at some first round guys last year. Marked Irvin as a third round steal for us. Aha.

  15. glor

    I just don’t agree with statement.. “but I donโ€™t want to see the Seahawks win the NFC West because of an injury advantage”

    It’s football, you play the best 11 guys you have on Sunday, nuff said. If the 9rs don’t have the depth to still pull it out, then they aren’t as good as a team as people make them out to be. (we were playing with practice squad players in different positions over the last few years.

    • Rob Staton

      So if Russell Wilson gets injured it’ll be a lack of depth that costs Seattle?

      I want to beat the best and for there to be no excuses when it happens. And that means an opponent at full strength.

      • Brett

        Well, neither squad will be at full strength on week 2, so there will be no excuses either way.

        • AlaskaHawk

          The niners have more depth than any other team in the West. So I hardly feel sympathy for them when they lose a player but have first round backups ready to go.

        • Miles

          Last year the Seahawks and 49ers were the least-injured teams in the league, as far as I know. They had as close to full-strength matchups as you could possibly have in the NFL, and even then you could argue neither team was necessarily at FULL strength. For example, I believe Walter Thurmond was down for one or both of those games, therefore we had to play Trufant who proved to be a liability at times last year. At the end of the day, injuries are part of football; that’s the way it is. We can expect to have injuries just as the 49ers can. So if you’re looking at it that way, rarely is a team ever at full strength.

          Just because neither side will have all their guys for that Week 1 match-up doesn’t take away from its dire importance. These are still two of the best teams in the league, and they’re still going to have to prove it, Crabtree or not, Irvin or not.

  16. Miles

    Anybody have a status update on Anthony McCoy? I heard he was carted off with an ankle injury last week.

    In other news the Seahawks signed Justin Veltung, WR, Idaho, a guy I really like (almost exclusively from his youtube highlight tape). And apparently we’re signing a big athletic tackle named Jake Bscherer.

    Don’t know if anybody cares.

    • Miles

      BY THE WAY, according to this yahoosports.com article, Veltung has a vertical leap of FIFTY-SIX INCHES (56″). Okay… what?!

      http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/justin-veltung-seahawks-sign-guy-jumps-really-really-003059586.html

      I saw the video in this article but had no idea it was that high of a jump. Is this a lie?

      • Davison Phipps

        That’s not his vertical, that’s his standing box jump. Vertical measures how high you elevate your whole body, Sbj measures how high of a box you can jump onto. If you’re good at tucking your feet you can get a very high box jump. Adrian Wilson’s was something like 6 feet.

        • Miles

          Oh I see. Yeah I verified with another article that reported Veltung’s vertical is 41″. Which is great; 56 inches would be other-worldly.

          Thanks for the education. I didn’t know about the standing box jump.

          • Michael Terry

            As far as I know, the highest official standing VJ at the combine was Gerald Sensabaugh at 46″, so 56″ being otherworldly is probably literally true.

  17. Kenny Sloth

    My brotha, Ryan Aplin remains unsigned, I believe…

    • Kip Earlywine

      Aplin signed with the Browns immediately after the draft. I haven’t found anything that says he’s been released. Maybe you were thinking of someone else?

      • CiaranH

        Don’t think he signed with the Browns Kip, he was going to but a medical issue came up. Last I eard the Skins were bringing him to camp but again, I don’t think they signed him

  18. James

    Since we are talking about a number of different players in this thread, how did this one get past me? Clare Farnsworth’s article on Seahawks.com about KJ Wright says that he has been moved to Will LB. Has anyone else heard this mentioned the past week? I wonder if Clare meant to say that KJ is working at both OLB positions, although that is not what the article says? Malcolm Smith does not seem like a Sam LB to me, so who would replace KJ? There have been hints that when the Big Three (Avril, Clemons and Irvin) are all available, then one of them might play a Sam/Elephant hybrid, but KJ’s move is a shock to me.

    • PatrickH

      From the report by Eric Williams (of Tacoma News Tribune) about the OTA earlier in the week, it seemed like Bruce irvin was getting a lot of reps at the SAM position, and so was Malcolm Smith. KJ was the WILL. The base-defense practices had Red Bryant at 5-tech, McDaniel at 3-tech, Mebane at 1-tech, Mike Bennett as the Leo, and Wagner as the Mike. During passing-down-situation practices, Red Bryant went inside and replaced McDaniel as the 3-tech, Irwin replaced Bryant as the SDE, Winfield came in as the nickel CB, while Mebane, Bennett, KJ, and Wagner stayed at the same positions. Also, Cliff Avril didn’t practice because of a foot injury, and Mike Morgan got some reps at the Leo position.

    • PatrickH

      It should be noted that Dan Quinn was the DL coach who came up with the idea of moving Red Bryant to the 5-tech position 3 years ago. Now that he’s back as the DC, it looks like he is experimenting again with players at various positions. It will be interesting to see how it all develops.

  19. A. Simmons

    I don’t care how the Seahawks win. I want one Lombardi trophy in Seattle before I die. I don’t care if the refs call a bad game on our opponent, a fluky injury to the opponent, a batted pass, or a clean game. I’ll take any win, any time, any way we can get it. I hope it finally leads to a Lombardi trophy. I don’t care about any other team but the Seahawks. I want an America’s Game with our guys sometimes during this era. If Carroll can’t get it done, we may see the Seahawks become like the Mariners: mired in losing with no light at the end of the tunnel.

    • Rugby Lock

      I’ve been waiting since 76 so I feel ya brotha! To win it all you gotta have some luck along the way! After SB XL and Game 6 I deserve to be on the other side!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  20. Jacob Stevens

    Heh. I was on Twitter, tweeting my thoughts for each pick, in 2009! Crabtree was also at the top of my list, but when the moment came down, in my heart I yearned for a QB and found myself hoping that they’d pick Sanchez. I knew it was illogical, but that’s what I hoped for.

    I also would have rather picked Eugene Monroe before Curry. Knee questions there, too, but at the time I predicated most of my draft opinion on the presumption that if the team were comfortable taking a guy at the spot, then that was enough for me. I certainly had no idea how much of a problem Monroe’s knees were, or Crabtree’s foot.

    So abandoning my long-entrenched hope for Crabtree, for Sanchez, I don’t feel fight about thinking I was right about Crabtree & Curry. But anyway, yeah, memories.

    I’m fascinated by the idea that achilles would be the new common NFL injury, and would like to know why that may be. Turf? Rule changes? Workout regime changes? I’m kind of skeptical. I know in the lockout offseason of 2011 there were a big rash or achilles tears (was is 11?) and then there was Thomas, Suggs and now Crabtree (and McCoy), but this could be some kind of cognitive bias. Anyway, yeah, achilles are more impactful than ACLs, for return probability & time tables, so I certainly hope this is not a new trend.

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