Join Rob & Robbie for a new live stream this Wednesday 19th May with a 2pm (PST) start time. If you want to ask a question of the guys, use the super chat feature on YouTube and get involved!
Also, I joined Brandan Schulze this week on the Seahawkers podcast:
Don’t know too much about athletic trainers but it looks like Russ has been spending the last 4 months working out with Tim Grover who worked with MJ, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade. Thought it was interesting but not sure if that’ll change anything on the field.
Nice! Can yall discuss the SAM lb position? Is KJ a good fit? He doesn’t fit the Bruce Irvin role. Taylor & Aldon appear to be better matches.
Taylor and Aldon are absolutely horrible SAM options. That’s almost like saying Parkinson is an option to replace DK at WR if he’s ever hurt or Pocic taking over at LT if Duane Brown ever goes down. Their skill set is Leo, not SAM.
I don’t think with Taylor it is a huge stretch. You’re right that Parkinson is not a WR. He probably has never played WR so I get what you’re trying to say. Aldon has played OLB in a 3-4 scheme so he has experience standing up at the LOS. Playing SAM is different though because you have to drop in coverage.
It is fair to make that point with A. Smith. However, Taylor played SAM in college and played it well in small samples. We don’t know if he can or cannot play SAM at the NFL level. I disagree that Taylor doesn’t have the skill set of a SAM. He is pretty big compared to the average LB in today’s NFL. He is fast and quick so it’s a matter of making sure he drop and his footwork is good. Who knows if he can or cannot. I might even argue he doesn’t have a full skill set of a LEO and all of the pass moves necessary to beat one-on-ones at this point.
Lets get him on the field and let him play before we react too much….
Taylor has lost over 20 lbs: he’s at about 240 something, fine for a SAM but light for a LEO. Seattle may be trying him there to give him a chance to gain confidence in his leg, and to gain weight slowly. He isn’t ready to play DE full time yet. The mental aspect of his injury has apparently been a big deal. This is Seattle making chicken salad out of chicken poop.
Taylor played OLB in a 3-4 in college and his tape wasn’t bad. If he outperforms the competition at SAM he should get a shot. It’s not going to be a gift, he’ll have to earn it.
While I’d love to see Taylor as what we envisioned when drafted… a hand on the ground, speed pass rusher… , at this point, if we can get any value out of him, I’ll be happy.
If that value is equivalent to Bruce Irvin, I think we I’d be satisfied.
Bruce Irvin was like the best sam we had. It would be great if Taylor can get close to that level or exceed it.
Interesting that a lot of people cannot fathom Taylor at the SAM. Reminds me of the pundits who thought our 2012 draft sucked because the players we drafted did not fit prototypical standards.
Interesting response BobbyK. Surprised you haven’t looked into D. Taylor’s college career. Wasn’t Irvin primarily used on the Dline?
I was listening to Jim Nagy on Corbin Smith’s podcast earlier and he wasn’t very high on Stone as our potential left tackle of the future. In fact, he didn’t even invite him to the Sr. Bowl this year…pegging him as a swing tackle at best, not even able to move inside as a guard if needed.
Who cares. He’s 6’8 and was able to hang with the best pass rushers in the SEC. we took him late round 6. A project but a worthwhile one, even if he didn’t get a senior bowl invite (which is all politics)
I wonder if Nagy thinks L.J. Collier could beat him around the edge?
Borrowing from this trend going around Twitter
Most Overrated: Jamal Adams
Most Underrated: Michael Dickson
Best Players: Russell Wilson-DK Metcalf-Duane Brown-Bobby Wagner
Key New Addition: Gerald Everett
Could Surprise: Cedric Ogbuehi
Takes A Leap: Jordyn Brooks
Prove It Year: L.J. Collier
Most Overrated – Jamal Adams
Most Underrated – Tyler Lockett (nationally tho maybe not with Hawks fans)
Best Players – Wilson, Metcalf, Brown, Lockett (note that I chose all offense)
Key New Addition – toss up between Everett and Gabe Jackson
Could Surprise – BJ Emmons (way out on a limb here but he has the tools in a thin position group)
Takes A Leap – Damien Lewis
Prove it Year – Collier, Collier and oh yeah LJ Collier
2021 New Additions Only:
Most Overrated – Kerry Hyder
Most Underrated – Stone Forsythe
Best Player – D’Wayne Eskridge
Key New Addition – Gerald Everett
Could Surprise – BJ Emmons
Takes A Leap – Robert Nkemdiche
Prove it Year – Akhello Witherspoon
Most Overrated – Poona
Most Underrated – Lockett (wish I could put KJ though)
Best Players – Wilson, Brown, Lockett, Dickson, Carson
Key New Addition – Hyder
Could Surprise – Swain
Takes A Leap – Alton Robinson
Prove it Year – Penny
Have to agree with Poona as an overrated player. But more overrated by the coaching staff than by the fans.
Who is rating Hyder highly? I’m not as tapped into the Seahawks sphere as I used to be.
There’s a narrative that this DL is as good as the SB49 DL and Hyder is the Michael Bennett of the group.
https://www.espn.com/blog/seattle-seahawks/post/_/id/34945/seattle-seahawks-free-agency-patience-pays-off-with-pass-rush-bonanza
*SB 48
This D-Line and team as a whole is nowhere close to that team’s level. The last time the Seahawk’s D-Line was compared to 2013 was 2017, where they had acquired Sheldon Richardson. That D-Line was nowhere close to 2013, and 2021’s won’t be either.
One man’s quote speaks for the whole Hawks nation. Smh
How did I miss the Nkemdiche signing? I was absolutely enamoured with him during his draft year and absolutely gutted when we didn’t draft him. Pretty cool that he reached out to the hawks and they at least saw enough to warrant a contract.
Most Overrated – Adams
Most Underrated – Dickson
Best Players -Wilson/Brown/DK/Dickson/Lockett
Key New Addition – Eskridge
Could Surprise – Everett
Takes A Leap – Brooks
Prove It Year – Penny
Most Overrated – Jamal Adams
Most Underrated – Brandon Shell
Best Players – Wilson, Metcalf, Brown, Lockett, Bobby Wagner
Key New Addition – Everett
Could Surprise – Ugo Amadi
Takes A Leap – Jordyn Brooks
Prove it Year – L. J. Collier
Most Overrated – Chris Carson (if you can’t even carry the ball 20 times per game ever – you’re overrated)
Most Underrated – Poona Ford
Best Players – Wilson, DK, Lockett, Brown, Wagner, Adams (even though overrated, too)
Key New Addition – Eskridge (could really contribute with that speed with defenses focusing on DK and Lockett)
Takes A Leap – Colby Parkinson
Prove it Year – Collier has already proven to me that he sucks (but decent for a 5th round pick), so I’ll say Alton Robinson – Flashed in spurts year one, year two will prove if he’s legit moving forward
Most Overrated – Jamal Adams (hard to pick someone else when we treat him like a second Kam)
Most Underrated – Carlos Dunlap
Best Players – Wilson, Metcalf, Lockett, Wagner
Key New Addition – Gabe Jackson
Could Surprise – Tre Brown
Takes A Leap – Jordyn Brooks
Prove it Year – tough, between Marquise Blair and Chris Carson
Most Overrated – Carson (by Seahawks fans)
Most Underrated – Lockett (by national fans)
Best Players – Wilson, and it’s not close
Key New Addition – Eskridge. Or Taylor, if he’s anything like advertised.
Could Surprise – Alton Robinson. He already did last year, and he definitely seems to have the physical tools
Takes A Leap – Jordyn Brooks (I hope)
Prove it Year – Adams by a mile. This guy’s is supposedly a franchise cornerstone and looks nothing like it.
I like your selections Cha. I’ll do a different player at each spot for mine:
Most Overrated: DK Metcalf (second to Adams, drops, shut down by Ramsey in the playoffs)
Most Underrated: DJ Reed on D, Brandon Shell on offense
Best Player?: Russell Wilson (can’t get clever here)
Key New Addition: Gabe Jackson
Could Surprise: Colby Parkinson! I hope
Takes A Leap: Alton Robinson (good start, expectations are on him now)
Prove It Year: Rashaad Penny. Now or likely out of the league.
Most Overrated: Brandon Shell
Most Underrated: Quandre Diggs
Best Players: Wilson, Lockett, Metcalf, Brown, Myers, Dickson, Adams
Key New Addition: Gabe Jackson
Could Surprise: Darrell Taylor
Takes A Leap: Cody Barton
Prove It Year: Rashaad Penny
Thanks for those Rob (and Robbie)!
QB – Wilson… B+ (would have given him an A or A- early last season)
RB – Carson/Penny… B (drops drastically after the inevitable injury or injuries)
WR – Lockett/DK/Eskridge… A-
TE – Everett/Dissly/Parkinson… B
LT – Brown… B+
LG – Lewis… B
C – Pocic… D (B- in pass pro, F in run blocking)
RG – Jackson… B-
RT – Shell… C+
With those grades (my opinion) and a new OC who is supposedly innovative – there’s no reason for this unit to ever have many 3-and-outs. The biggest problem is Pocic sucking as a “blocker” in the middle of the OL in the run game, imo.
Aaron Donald agrees with your assessment of Pocic.
Talking about the defense needing to perform at least to mid-pack level is both interesting and optimistic. I don’t disagree that it’s all in Pete’s hands, but, for the most part he’s let his sense of loyalty get in the way. I’ve not been a big fan of Norton as DC, and in six seasons, on two teams, as a DC he’s consistently been bottom third of the league in outcomes. The first half of last season was woeful (obviously) as a combination of his personal limitations as DC and the imposition of limited training camp and preseason practicing. The counter argument to that observation is that once Dunlap came on board the defense became considerably better………..and statistically they did. Dunlap is not an insignificant add, but I think I saw something else going on in addition. Along with watching each play unfurl, I like to watch some of the sideline action, or at least as much as creeps into the picture frame that is rightfully focused on the players. I saw a lot of interaction from Pete with both Wagner and Diggs, Diggs especially on more obvious passing downs. I would suggest that Pete knows he’s got to “make up” for coaching deficiencies in order to bolster the defense. A good counter to that would be that he did little to change his coaching staff on defense beyond what was forced by departures. But that’s where his loyalty gets in the way from my perspective. We’ll see if anything positive results from the limited changes in coaching, or if they persist in producing bottom third results.
On the offensive side the big change was Waldron. That’s the wild card in favor of the Seahawks for that rough appearing season schedule. The opposing teams will only have a little info from the preseason activities to develop an effective defensive strategy/plan in the first quarter season. But if Waldron brings in the razzle dazzle that McVey is known for, will the offense have had enough practice time to implement all that? If they can master a diverse offensive game plan then the advantage can tip to the Seahawks, even on the road heavy schedule. Could be an interesting year.
I agree.
What you said about the defense makes sense. I think Pete and his staff are also starting to realize that playing just a base cover-3 def all of the time just isn’t going to work. Teams just don’t attack vertically but they stretch you out horizontally often times to open things up. Tre Brown and DJ Reed might be a switch in philosophy? Getting quicker CBs that can cover and run with guys?
Sorry, but I couldn’t resist posting this:
https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1395372686377897984?s=20
Looks like he dropped a few pounds since his days in Seattle.
Looks like Damon Harrison….lol!
Something that will have me feeling calmer about the Seahawks this season:
We will have an OC who will hopefully get the ball into players hands in the open, no more having DK have no targets in the first half
Instead of plays coming down to Jacob Hollister and David Moore, those positions are filled by Everett and Eskridge. Talk about an upgrade.
John Clayton with his finger on the pulse of this team…highlighting the savvy trade for defensive lineman “Carlos Dunbar”. https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1391846/clayton-darrell-taylor-star-seahawks-rookie-minicamp/
“When Taylor couldn’t play at the beginning of the season, the Seahawks didn’t have enough pass-rush talent to generate sacks. That changed when the Seahawks make a trade for Carlos Dunbar and the pass rush turned into one of the better pass-rushing groups in the league. With the returns of Dunlap and Benson Mayowa, the addition of Kerry Hyder at five-technique and Taylor’s contribution, the pass rush might even get better in 2021.”
Things on D aren’t entirely rosy though. The secondary is going to have to replace stud DB Quinton Dunlap somehow. 🙂
It always an adventure reading his articles now days haha
I like how Clayton goes on the air and says he didn’t attend the rookie camp, after writing an article saying Taylor was the star of camp.
I’d love to know what’s going on behind the scenes with Clayton at 710 espn.
They clearly tried to get rid if him during the “purge” several months ago.
Then suddenly he was back, with no explanation.
My totally speculative, wildly unfounded conspiracy theory (sorry if this crosses a line Rob) is that he possibly got canned, layered up, claimed age discrimination, and Espn hired him back as part of a settlement.
PC on Rich Eisen on Russ asked about what their relationship is right now:
https://twitter.com/RichEisenShow/status/1395787199132487685
“Even though that discussion lasted so long. And you had certain guys that just decided to keep the story going, just they just wanted to keep feeding it. It really was much bigger than it was for us internally, I thought we handled it really well.”
Oh, that darn, pesty media again!
If only they didn’t keep “feeding” this non-story!
Has *anyone* asked Pete if he thinks the media would have backed off if Pete himself had spoked about this himself?
I mean, it’s been “such a long time”.
Similar offense to Rams? Sets where defense has no idea what’s coming? Let Russ Cook?
https://twitter.com/RichEisenShow/status/1395802751372722176
“I don’t know about the cook part”
SIGH. Our hope that Pete steps back and let’s Waldron and Russ mostly run the offense just took a hit with that statement imo.
Not saying you’re wrong, but even if he lets Waldron and Russ cook, I wouldn’t want him to announce it in the media. One of the pluses of having a new OC is that your opponents don’t really know what to expect. We shouldn’t blow that advantage.
Hope you’re right. Have my doubts.
Ooh cool, ostrich football mgmt 101.
I actually don’t think Pete’s really hiding his head in the sand but using the media as whipping boys is just so stale. When the agent goes public with a list of acceptable trade teams this is not the media blowing jack shit out of proportion.
https://www.nfl.com/news/nfc-west-projected-starters-top-heavy-rams-trey-lance-led-49ers-each-have-super-
The jab at the end is an inside-joke to Seahawks Twitter.
you mean… this?…
“Also popular with Seahawks fans: Any shoutout to their status as a special breed of humanity, more knowledgeable and inexplicable than any other collection of people on Earth.”
Does Greg have a history of sparring with Seahawks fans?
It’s a jab at Mina Kimes more than anyone else.
Can you elaborate? I don’t really do twitter
They appear on each other’s podcasts and on air and there’s quite a bit of teasing between them.
Admittedly it’s very odd to drop it into an official article. That is confusing and whoever his editor is, didn’t make a good choice by including it.
Dang, I was feeling special haha. Thanks for the info cha
🤔
Raiders cut David Irving. If Nkedimche is worth a look, so is Irving.
I think I’ve had enough troubled ex-cowboys for one offseason.
Seahawks 2021 preseason schedule:
8/14 — at Las Vegas, 6 p.m.
8/21 — vs. Denver, 7 p.m.
8/28 — vs. Chargers, 7 p.m.
Trip to the shiny new Vegas stadium then two home games. I’ll take that.
Seahawks still have $7 million in cap space. Who do you think they’re targeting for a post June 1 or cap casualty signing? Maybe a Center? SAM? Any good candidates out there who fit the mold?
Center is a need. KJ Wright will be no brainer
Improve at RT would also be an idea.
Morgan Moses or Mitchell Schwartz lining up at RT for the Hawks next season would genuinely make me excited about our o-line.
Yes! I agree on this. Think we need to take the risk of Mitchell Schwartz being a top tackle again if we are really serious about a Super Bowl.
Schwartz or Moses at RT and C Austin Reiter. Reiter’s 80.7 Pass-Blocking Grade ranks 5th among centers since 2019.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1370121395125035013
DT please
Geno Atkins
👍
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1370121395125035013
Ex-Chiefs Center Austin Reiter is the top rated FA center still available. “Reiter’s 80.7 Pass-Blocking Grade ranks 5th among centers since 2019.” We didn’t get one in the draft or FA, sign him and let him compete with Pocic. Fuller and Lundblade are practice squad players.
They can actually use less than half that figure.
A DT, a SAM/DE, a center, a RB, or a corner i think helps fill in weaknesses.
But, as crazy as it is, I think restructuring RW and trading for Julio would honestly change my opinion of the team. We are decently strong in a number of areas. But superbowls are won by teams with something unstoppably dominant. Julio and Metcalf is the most insane WR duo i can imagine. Both are physical freaks. Add in lockett and eskridge.. scary. It also probably makes RW really want to stay. He would have the best weapons in the league. It almost as much to keep RW happy than anything else.
https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1396204519911051281
Wilson & Jets OL at the Islanders playoff game.
lol… you should clarify *which* “Wilson”.
That’s so funny, Dan Feeney was the pick I had for the Hawks in the 2017 2nd round when they selected Ethan Posic (and then the Chargers took Feeney a little later). It still blows my mind that they took Posic in the 2nd round. In my opinion he looked like a 5th rounder when I watched the combine. I think they liked that he went to LSU and they said after the pick that he didn’t give up a sack. But, it looked like a major reach at the time (and to this day).
We should have signed FA center Austin Blythe from the Rams early in FA. Not only are Waldron and our other ex-Rams OL coach familiar with him, but he constantly practiced against and knows techniques to use for Aaron Donald, plus he rarely missed any games He was the 13th rated center by PFF last year and the Chiefs signed him for 990k total. We re-signed frequently injured Pocic, the 26th rated center for a 2 mil. cap hit, 3 mil. with bonuses. Makes no sense.
For a fun stroll down memory lane + insomnia I checked out some old Brandon Browner videos, and it really reminded of something Rob said a while back. This team really does lack any sort of BAMFs. While the NFL has changed drastically since he played for us, we just lack that kind of physical specimen and attitude on defense. We don’t have to have a player who will take out 3 cardinals players in one play, but you can really see the difference in those past teams and one that had Stephen Sullivan playing snaps at defensive end
I’ve also been watching a lot of old games and 100% agree. If I sum up the difference in one word, it’s INTENSITY. On both sides of the ball. The speed of the D, gang tackling, celebrating after big plays etc – it’s all just up a notch versus what we’ve seen over the last 2 or 3 years.
I think league rules, especially due to LOB, all shifted to prevent that style of play. I think if you want to be the bully, getting BAMFs on offense is more critical than on defense. There’s just too many safeguards on defense to consistently have that wearing down effect. You end up getting penalized too often, so guys have to play cautious.
On offense though, you can definitely lay on the hits and make them scared of being burned by speed. Its an offense’s league now. Bot saying having a dominant d-line doesn’t have an effect, but its just different now.
The rules have changed, but the energy and the just overall feel of the defense is just so different these days.
Yep, it used to feel like everyone had that juice and attitude.
Last season, most weeks, it seemed like the handful of guys who were really emotionally dialed in and playing with some fire every game were DK, Jamal, DJ Reed, Damien Lewis, and Brooks towards the end. Not enough.
“for now”
https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/05/24/mmqb-matt-ryan-atlanta-falcons-uncertain-offseason-good-place
PC and JS are playing with fire if they think they can throw RW under the bus with ‘Russ opened his mouth in a moment of frustration, and the media blew it out of proportion’ and ‘we never had any intention of trading Russ, but we did send our top man to look at Trey Lance’ and think things are going to be fine.
This ain’t goin’ away unless the Seahawks at least get to the NFCCG and more likely would need to get to the SB.
This source summed it up perfectly IMO:
AFTER they didn’t get the offer they wanted, they told Russ they weren’t trading him this year, end of discussion. Russ saw there was no way out beyond the nuclear and decided to make the most of it and not tank his image. So why wouldn’t PC/JS just come out and tell everyone: “we’re not trading him”? Because they were secretly more open to a trade than they cared to show fans and the locker room and didn’t mind if the phone kept ringing just in case a team were to get desperate.
Same reason they still haven’t exercised their option to restructure Russ’ contract, which could have allowed them to retain Jarran Reed and/or sign KJ: they are leaving the trade door wide open.
Barring an extremely successful season and prolific new offense under Waldron, we will be re-living the whole drama over again in 2022.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10003490-russell-wilson-rumors-qb-was-very-happy-with-seahawks-moves-in-free-agency-draft
Friends dont let friends read bleacher report
This was my first thought. But similar stories are being written in multiple spots. Once again it all comes down to performance.
sure looks better than the QB/Team relationship in GB or Houston….so at least we’re out of the headlines for a while.
It’s been awhile since I posted but am a 20 times a day reader.
Rob, you by far are the most sane and honest writer of all things Seahawks and draft analyzing. Please rob don’t ever quit writing, even if it’s a hobby don’t let the mongrels and bottom feeders of the interweb (I’ve used that saying since Richard Rawlings on gas monkey lol) scare you away from what you love doing!!
My question to the blog is FA DE Melvin engram is visiting the dolphins, what would everyone think about signing him to the Seahawks?
Let’s put football on the back burner for a second…
🙏
Or leave football in the trash when it comes to much more important things like this…
So which contender makes a move for Julio?
Probably not likely, but that might be one way to for the Packers to get Aaron Rodgers back in the building… (along with a shiny new contract/restructure, of course)
Davante, Julio, Aaron Jones, and rookie Amari Rodgers would be quite the weapons.
If Atlanta trades Jones before the end of Matt Ryan’s prime window… that would be the dumbest trade of all time. I don’t think he gets traded.
While nobody might pony up their R1 asking price, this sounds like a guy with a foot well out the door and they might have to make do with the best they can get:
https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/1396856236734390272
I’d be all over that if I was Cleveland.
Agree about them, but
1) how much does Julio see them as a true contender?
2) with OBJ and Landry (and 2021 R3 pick Anthony Schwartz), is another expensive WR really what is going to put them over the top? That would be a pretty crazy trio, though.
They have 2021 and 2022 before Baker Mayfield & Myles Garrett’s contracts get ridiculous. Now’s the time to push your chips to the middle of the table.
How in the world did the Falcons select Kyle Pitts over Jamarr Chase if they were already talking to teams about trading Jones? This one sounds dumb.
Nah, Pitts is incredible. Replace one pass-catching freak with another, regardless of him being called a TE.
There is a good argument Pitts is the best player in this draft class.
Another TE to add to our growing collection!
https://twitter.com/Camdocious_/status/1246282900468723713
6’6 240 Ib Tight End
4.50 forty
4.03 shuttle
10 ft broad
7.22 3 cone
20 reps 225
36 vert
Meant to reply to Sea Mode. He may be just a camp body with questionable blocking skills, but that speed is fantastic for a 6’6″ 240 lb. guy.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-entering-2021-nfl-season
amazing KJ is still not signed by anyone
I want KJ to be signed by Hawks. You can’t go wrong there probably $$ might be the issue.
A SAM in his 30s simply isn’t all that valuable. Remember the knee issues he had a couple years ago? Even though he has been healthy in recent history, they just don’t go away – especially the older one gets. He never was fast and he’s certainly not getting any faster. His wingspan is unreal and his intelligence is off the board, but at the end of the day you can’t afford to give him too much. He’s not worth it – even though he’s a great person and has been a great Seahawk.
Seems his asking contract value is unrealistic
I think he retires.
That is about $5m more than OTC has, so the Seahawks have about $48m of cap room with 47 active contracts set up for 2022.
https://www.seahawks.com/news/seahawks-sign-te-cam-sutton
Demarcus Webb waived.
Let me ask you this question is this Bobby Wagner last year in Seattle I mean next year he has. 20 million dollar salary hit. Anybody have any thoughts
No team in the NFL will be dumb enough to give him that next year, so it doesn’t automatically mean he won’t be a Seahawk in 2022. But if he is, we know it won’t be at $20 million.
I’ll feel better about this season if the Seahawks sign Sheldon Richardson.
Bill Barnwell is projecting Richardson signs for 1 year 6M, and Atkins a 1 year 2.5M. Wouldn’t mind taking that gamble for Atkins tbh
Adam Vinetari retiring. Probably the greatest kicker ever tho Juztin Tucker may eventually take that title. First ballot HOFer I’m guessing.
Adam Vinetari was born in Yankton, S.D. That is where I grew up. Good old Yankton High.
The 49ers are oddsmakers favorites to land Julio. That would be fun.
Word on the street is that they may even get that R1 pick they were asking for (could be more of a swap though; we’ll see):
Pete Carroll OTA Press Conf Thur 5/27
“Happy memorial day weekend. Everybody’s going to Art’s house.”
[bob condotta] Who is at OTAs and what are you guys doing? “Got just under 40 guys, 35 guys something like that here. Rookie class primarily. Catching them up to get them to camp hold their own. Guys working out all over the country. Guys locally too. Meet virtually 4 days a week. Terrific progress.”
[jen mueller] Rookies picking up game plan and progressing? “Yeah I’m surprised how sharp they are, how far along they’ve come. Made comment to them, they’re working hard, diligent. Bring it from meeting room to field. They’ll be caught up when they come together. I told the team in Zoom they’ll be surprised how far along they are.”
[joe fann] Concerning division rivals have complete rosters and you don’t? “What’s best for us and what our guys need to do. Been here before, virtual is going great. Dedicated and working their butts off. Not many guys living in the area.”
[joe] Nothing bother you, decision not to attend? “No, I support the guys.”
[gregg bell] RW not there? Geno Smith not there? QB depth progress? “Couple guys nice job. McGough nice job. Danny (Etling) too. Competing like crazy. Russ and Geno working out hard. Russ in San Diego having guys visit and work out. QB position competitive. Learning Shane’s offense. Adapted. Fun challenge.”
[gregg] Good to be on Zoom getting into new system? “Not better. We have found a rhythm in Zoom with our communication. Last year concerned, but made more progress. Counting on that again. I don’t know that it’s better. But accentuates communication. Interaction worked out well. Surprised guys have communicated. Held accountable. Guys giving presentations weekly for installations. Reaction and response been great.”
[gregg] Players or coaches presentations? “Players and coaches. Competition. Well choreographed presentations.”
[corbin smith] Guggemos, you coached his father in Minnesota? Nick hasn’t played since 2018? “Neal, remember clearly, workouts, sign him. Held his own. Ran really well. Bright kid. Small college guy w chip on shoulder. Son out here. Nice job in couple workouts, brought him here did well. Deserved a chance to be here. Highlights from practice. Interesting story.”
[john boyle] Deshaun Shead brings as a coach? “Stayed in contact for a couple years. True blue guy in our program. Creative, tough, hard working, smart. All elements we love. Big chip on shoulder. Talked to him a few years back about coaching. Went into computer sales and kicked butt. Of course. Talked about 2021, stayed with it. Brought in an extraordinary competitor. Can’t get enough guys like that. Maintains a really good command of what we did at CB and S. Big time special teams too. Very sharp. Expect really big things from him. Down the road we’re gonna see him do some great stuff.”
[john] ID players as future coaches? “Depends on guys and situations. Sense for a guy who might like it. Blood and guts guys, I ask if they ever think about coaching, plant seed. I’ll talk to them then. Share things different than I would with other players. Decision-making conversations. Nurturing thought.”
[michael shawn dugar] Akhello Witherspoon bring? “Seen him play for Niners. Style of play he brings. Makeup, speed size, length, kind of stuff we like in our guys. Had my eye since college in Colorado. Mentality, awareness. Still a very young player. Almost like a rookie. Feels like that. Take him right back to the basics. Working out every day. Really bright. Good rec’s from coaches he’d worked with.”
[michael] Only veteran DB there? “Yes”
[art thiel] NFL vax rates, Seahawks above 85%, how close to 100%? “In conversation since whole vax thing got underway. For guys that had questions. Made a pitch again to our guys. Ideally everybody like to be vax to make it as safe as possible. Vin Gupta talked to our guys. Opps for families to get vax. Got a ways to go. Goal 100% before we start camp.”
[art] Not vaxed influence personnel decisions? “No.”
[neko] Tre Brown pressure to get defense quick? See to be starter this year? “I don’t know if he feels pressure. He didn’t come here to back up. Catching up as all young guys are. Get comfortable and confident. All that has to happen. Hard working kid. Good mind, battling and competing. Has to show well in camp and preseason games to be a starter. He’ll get a chance. Make sure we get a good evaluation of him. He has a chip on his shoulder. Tough. Wants to prove it. See how he battles.”
[tim booth] Teams negotiating OTAs, still have minicamp in June? Convo’s like with Vets? “Expect pretty darn good attendance in minicamp. Couple guys have special circumstances. We’ll see more guys coming as we get to the middle of June. Open convo’s with guys. Hasn’t been a negotiation, a conversation, partner in this. Preparing for camp. Voluntary, guys taking adv of it. I know where we’ll be based on our offseason work last year.”
[maz veda] RBs, who’s there what seen of? “Josh Johnson nice job. Homer, Dallas is here. Homer not on field. BJ Emmons is here, banged up not too much work. Very little you can eval a RB on at this stage.”
[curtis crab] Biggest change in new offense? “Sense of continuity that Shane brings I’m excited about. Moreso than years past in design. With that also brings eye and intent on tempo. Utilizing tempo. Something we always like to implement with Russ, Russ taken to it. Variety and mix of how things fit together. Complement run & pass game. See that show up in coming months. Exciting players. Chris and Rashaad running, Diss and Everett and Colby at tight ends, love our WRs. Guy made nice first impression is Dwayne Eskridge. Exciting addition. Guys up front – already in tune with emphasis in run/pass game. Will really help them. Improved in all aspects, but wait and see.”
[bob condotta] KJ Wright door still open or moved on? “No door still open. Working at figuring out roster. Until we get on field, and can see how things come together, there won’t be major changes. Committed at this point. Doesn’t mean we’re not tuned in to all opps. KJ’s OK at this point, if we get a chance to call on him we’ll go after it and see if we can put something together.”
Thanks for this cha. Always appreciated.
Nice to see KJ is still a possibility.
My takeaway was the opposite. They’re going to roll with what they have unless they get to July/Aug and KJ is very, very affordable.
So when does the Seahawks’ version come out…?
Panthers Confidential: Go beyond the headlines
https://youtu.be/JMtSvMy5Vdo
Talking about Julio Jones to the 49ers got me thinking. Would the Falcons trade Matt Ryan and Julio Jones for Jimmy Garappolo and some picks? Probably a couple day 2 picks. Jimmy G is only 29 compared to Ryan being 36. Ryan probably has 1 good year left, leading to Trey Lance next year. It would make sense to me.
Here’s how messed up Atlanta is right now.
The Falcons would incur $90m in dead money in that trade. Ninety. Million.
THEN they’d have to cut players totaling $25m to fit Jimmy’s salary under the salary cap. They’re so underwater on cap money they’d have to cut their entire OL and DL to make that happen. All of them. Which would incur another $50-60m in dead money, meaning they couldn’t even sign practice squad guys to fill the spots.
Jimmy would have to hike the ball to himself.
It can’t happen. It’s not they wouldn’t, it’s that they can’t.
Honestly I tend to ignore the money when it comes to bigger deals. It seems like teams will always find the way. This is what I found:
Designating such a move for after June 1 is also expensive, with $44 million in dead cap over two years to offset a cap savings of $23 million.
That seems doable to me if you have the 49ers pay for Jimmy Gs contract. What does dead money even mean? Is the money already taken out of the cap room? They’ll have more money to play with next year. Maybe it isn’t the most prudent move, but I think it could be done.
Post June 1 doesn’t matter, the cap hit is still massive. To eat that much money the Falcons would have to receive a treasure trove of picks.
Actually you know what, I’m on board. If the Niners want to further decimate their draft for the next 3 seasons for 2 aging players and the Falcons want to savage their salary cap and tank for 2023, go for it.
Haha yea, like I said it wouldn’t be the most prudent move. It would make them better for this year though. Got that Shanahan connection as the Falcons Super Bowl OC too.
Best wishes to Schneider and family. Second year in a row. Must be distressing.
🙏 for Brian and family
Anyone know what’s going on with him?
Chris Carson doing actual football workouts.
https://twitter.com/CoachEarl_/status/1398346015145705474
Found the solution to our D Line problems!
https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1398002869832400900?s=20
Not sure if it’s old news but..
https://mobile.twitter.com/nflrums/status/1398403417886896129?s=21
A move that would make me very happy, he has the penetration skills that can really makeup for losing reed.
Not at all old news. And good news if true!
Well, when you put it that way… 😬
Ok, being better than the past 4 years isn’t saying much in itself, but at least it looks like we finally may have a good TE class next year:
BTW, this was in reply to @AngryNFLScoutVet posting a bunch of 2022 senior prospects, in case anyone is looking for names to start watching:
https://mobile.twitter.com/AngryScoutVet
Kuithe is a really interesting player, undersized but the first tight end I’ve seen run a tight end reverse, he just confuses me
Brock and Heaps speculating on the Adams contract situation:
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1399640/will-seahawks-jamal-adams-make-noise-extension/
Wait. What?
Well, well. Adding Jones would go a long way towards showing Wilson that Seattle heard him this offseason. And what a WR corps that would be with Jones, Metcalf and Lockett (and Eskridge)!
Still, what kind of trade compensation are they considering?
Julio rumors are ramping up, but I wouldn’t get too excited
I hope they dont trade for him.
Here’s to hoping. Since there’s a big possibility Russ will leave if things fizzle out anyway, it’s worth making the trade now and see how far we can go.
Yup, if we can, why the hell not go for it
Because we care about the future of our team, especially if Russ does leave then we need picks to rebuild.
Hopefully it will not be a costly flop if Julio’s health doesn’t allow him to play at his level.
https://twitter.com/diannaESPN/status/1399048899395006466
I doubt they will trade for Jones, they just try to drive up the cost for 9ers & Rams.
Honestly, feels like more of a last-ditch effort by the Falcons to get the current highest bidders to top off their offer. Seattle is just the bait on the hook because their reputation makes it easy (and loosely true) to say that they “have had discussions” on every deal ever.
Trade a R1 that we don’t even have for Julio when we have Tyler and DK and just spent our top draft pick on another WR to complement them? I call BS, even knowing Pete and John and their recent history of grossly over-paying in trades.
I’d definitely be more excited if this was a trade for Gilmore or someone like Fletcher Cox.
So let’s see, the Falcons want a first round draft choice and Pete said Jamal Adams was our first rounder so……
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and hell, he’s next year’s first rounder too so all we have to do is convince Atlanta he is actually 2 first rounders. What a steal!