The Seahawks only have $33m in available cap space
With the combine in the books and free agency less than a week away, what are the Seahawks going to do?
No, they’re not signing that big name
There’s been a fair bit of talk about making a ‘splash’. Recently fans and media have been discussing the possibility of adding Landon Collins.
I’m afraid it’s highly unlikely.
With Frank Clark receiving a $17m franchise tag, Seattle’s available cap space is down to $33m in 2019.
Fourteen teams, including the Rams, have more cap space than the Seahawks.
The Seahawks only have only 47 players contracted for 2019. Only two teams in the entire league have fewer contracted players for next season — the Rams and the Jets. New York has $99m in cap space to rectify that issue. Seattle has $33m.
They need to fill out their roster. This means re-signing their reasonably long list of free agents or replacing them. Any available cap space will evaporate quickly.
In comparison, the Dallas Cowboys have $28m in free cap space ($5m less than the Seahawks). However, they have 59 contracted players for 2019. That’s 12 more than the Seahawks. So they have less work to do to fill out their roster with a similar amount of money to spend.
If the Seahawks were to sign Landon Collins at about $10-12m a year, they’d be left with between $16-22m in cap space to fill out the bulk of their roster. That’s simply not realistic — especially when you factor in the several million that needs to be saved for injured reserve and the practise squad.
But this is unacceptable! They’re supposed to be contending this year!
Championships are rarely won and lost in free agency. When they are won, it’s often because teams found value. The 2013 season is a great example. Signing Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to bargain contracts was a masterstroke. Six years on it’s still fairly unbelievable how they managed to pull it off.
When you run through the list of top free agents in 2018 according to NFL.com, many of the big names failed to deliver. Kirk Cousins was ranked at #1 but the Vikings failed to make the playoffs after spending big on the QB. Did the Chiefs get any value for their big splurge on Sammy Watkins? What about the Jaguars and Andrew Norwell, the Broncos and Case Keenum, the Jets and Trumaine Johnson, the Titans and Malcolm Butler, the Cardinals and Sam Bradford or the Giants and Nate Solder?
Did any of these moves push anyone over the top? Despite the major investment?
Seattle’s best veteran additions in the Pete Carroll era have been the understated or ‘value’ moves. Acquiring Marshawn Lynch for practically nothing. Signing Bennett and Avril to prove it deals. Plucking Bradley McDougald from the Buccaneers. Trading for Chris Clemons. Finding Brandon Browner from the CFL. Adding Tony McDaniel. Seeing an opportunity when Zach Miller lingered on the market a little too long.
Their worst moves have been bold, expensive additions like Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham. Seattle gained plaudits and hype for those two trades. Neither panned out.
So what’s going to happen then?
They’ll probably be calculated and look for value. Fill some holes so that you can complete the roster in the draft. Continue to build.
If there’s an opportunity to repeat the Bennett and Avril heist of 2013 they’ll no doubt take it. We’ll find out next week how the market shapes up.
What are the priorities?
The combine revealed this is not a deep class at linebacker. With Devin White and Devin Bush likely to leave the board early in round one, the options are severely limited. There are players you might be willing to add later on, such as West Virginia’s David Long. Tony Pauline reported at the Shrine Game that they have interest in Buffalo’s Khalil Hodge. But there wasn’t an obvious rookie starter at the combine short of White and Bush.
They have to address this position one way or another in free agency. They might feel a bit more pressure to re-sign K.J. Wright. Whether he stays in Seattle or not is down to how much he’s offered elsewhere. It’s a shame Mychal Kendricks’ legal situation is yet to be resolved. If he was free to continue his career, they could solve this problem quite quickly. If neither player is an option they might have to look at other veterans. This is a key off-season problem that needs to be solved before the draft.
Try and find an EDGE in free agency
I say ‘try’ because this could be a fruitless exercise. Pass rushers get paid. Frank Clark will earn $17m for 2019 alone. A few years ago we all shuddered at the Giants paying Olivier Vernon $17m a year. Now it’s the norm.
Despite this being a much vaunted defensive line draft, it’s also quite top-heavy at EDGE. Nick Bosa, Josh Allen, Rashan Gary and Clelin Ferrell aren’t going to be in range for the Seahawks. The combine made it far less likely that Montez Sweat and Brian Burns will be there. After that, you’re looking at players like Christian Miller and D’Andre Walker and it’s difficult to project their draft range.
The Seahawks could do with a partner for Frank Clark. In the past they were able to rotate Bennett, Avril and Clark. Before that it was Bennett, Avril and Clemons. Hopefully Rasheem Green can take a step forward and develop into a productive inside/out rusher. Jacob Martin also provides an option. They still need more. Upgrading Dion Jordan seems necessary. That project hasn’t delivered so far.
Is there a pass rusher out there they can get on a reasonable, prove-it year deal? I was hoping Anthony Barr might be that man but everything points to him getting a significant offer.
What is the kicker market like?
There was the Blair Walsh project. Then there was Sebastian Janikowski. For a team so determined to play games tight, a good kicker is extremely important.
In fairness to the Seahawks, there haven’t been lots of kickers reaching the market. They more or less played the hand they were dealt. Steven Hauschka picked a bad year in 2016 to miss a ton of extra points, a crucial field goal in Arizona and turn the Seahawks off giving him a pricey long extension.
This year, Stephen Gostkowski will reach the open market. It seems likely he’ll re-sign in New England, just for less than the near $5m he would’ve received on the franchise tag. He can talk to other teams though. Matt Bryant was recently released by the Falcons and intends to continue playing. Cody Parkey was cut by the Bears. Jason Myers, who was with the Seahawks in training camp last year, is also a free agent.
Will they spend a bit of money to try and find a solution for a few years? Or will they continue their recent approach and give Sam Ficken a chance to win the job against some yet unknown competition (possibly a rookie or veteran).
Keep the band together
We’ve started talking about additions but the clear #1 priority is to try and retain several important free agents. Wright or Kendricks fall into that category. Pete Carroll has talked up the importance of keeping J.R. Sweezy and D.J. Fluker. Justin Coleman has had two solid years in Seattle. They’d probably like to find agreements with restricted free agents George Fant, Quinton Jefferson, Joey Hunt and J.D. McKissic. Jordan Simmons, Shalom Luani, Akeem King, David Moore and Austin Calitro are among their exclusive rights free agents. Ideally Mike Davis returns as RB3.
The two guards are likely key. For once the O-line was settled in 2018 and helped create the personality of the team. Finding a solution at linebacker is also important. If they address both of these situations — and potentially add an EDGE — they won’t have too many holes going into the draft.
That will enable them to turn to the other big dilemma this off-season — dealing with the big four. Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Frank Clark and Jarran Reed are all core players. They’re all free agents after the 2019 season. Extensions are needed.
How exactly would this set up the draft?
Assuming they trade down and end up with 7-8 picks instead of four, they can tap into the depth of this class. With 18 receivers running a 4.4 or faster at the combine, they’ll be able to identify a wide out at some point (whether that’s a bigger target or another sudden, smaller receiver). It’s a good looking tight end class from the second round onwards so there’s a good chance they’ll add one.
They can bring in a defensive tackle or another inside/out type. There are athletic offensive linemen who will be available later on to add some depth/competition. With so many long/tall cornerbacks, they’ll certainly be able to draft at least one. It also feels likely after Monday’s outstanding workout that they’ll tap into the safety class. I think they might select a safety to replace Justin Coleman — especially given so many of them ran well in the forty. Could USC’s Marvell Tell be added as a possible corner convert or a nickel given his fantastic length (+33 inch arms) and incredible agility (4.01 short shuttle, 6.63 three cone)?
Of course there’s also the quarterback position, depending on the state of talks with Russell Wilson.
For more on possible targets from the combine, read our review article from Monday.
And finally some thoughts on Trysten Hill
Time to start looking at some of the players who impressed at the combine, starting with the UCF defensive tackle. After watching a superb session of drills (plus exceptional testing in the broad, vertical and short shuttle) — he was the first player I wanted to have a proper look at.
His tape didn’t disappoint.
Hill is consistently the first to react off the snap. He has a small tendency to lean into offensive lineman and can probably clean up his technique at times. It’s still effective though. He gets low, uses his arms well and frequently drives his blocker backwards. He’s adept at keeping clean and often retains a free arm to make a play at the ball carrier.
On one snap in a dominating performance against Memphis he delivered a violent one-handed left jab to a lineman’s chest and drove him three yards into the backfield. He extended his arm sufficiently to stay clean and then disengaged to the ball-carrier.
On another play against Memphis he moved across the line sensing a run to the left. He kept his eyes downfield and read the play and found a lane inside. A pulling tight end tried to come across and seal off his path to the RB. He just threw him off and dropped the running back for a five-yard loss.
The motor never stops. He works and works to the whistle in a way I haven’t seen from another defensive tackle in this class. If it’s an inside run, he’s busting a gut to get to the ball carrier. On one play stretched to the outside he sprinted from one side of the field to the other to make a play on the ball carrier. He never sits on a block to rest or take a snap off. He’s always working, always hustling.
There’s evidence of a spin move, bull rush, quickness off the snap and burst. He extends his arms on contact and drives linemen backwards. He doesn’t just stay connected and win with power. He’s slippery — so when he wins with the initial move you see him time and time again disengage and break to the ball. A lot of defensive tackles can win with power/leverage early in the snap and drive a blocker backwards. The best can convert power to speed, get off the block and make a TFL. That’s testament to his athleticism and his hand placement that he manages it.
Hill ran the third quickest 10-yard split by a defensive tackle at the combine (1.74) and this shows up. Florida Atlantic — who started the game double teaming him — blew a protection and had three guys blocking his defensive tackle partner, allowing Hill a free run to the backfield. He covers ground so quickly. In that Florida Atlantic game he had a couple of missed opportunities, highlighting one area where he can improve. When he got into the backfield he was at 100mph and ended up missing the tackle. A little bit more control and patience in that situation could’ve led to a TFL.
It’d be fair to question whether his playing style (which is all-out attack) will lend itself to consistent gap-discipline. He’s an attack-dog. For that reason, he might be best served acting as part of a decent rotation. His approach is so aggressive and all-action, I’m not sure he’ll be content managing a gap to get to second and long.
There are some supposed character concerns. When Scott Frost departed for Nebraska, Hill’s role was massively reduced. He only started once in 2018 and when watching three UCF games it was incredible how little he played. He didn’t really get on the field against Memphis — the conference Championship game — until UCF had conceded 21 points. He then proceeded to be the best player on the defense for the rest of the game.
Lance Zierlein’s report contains the following quote from a NFC area scout:
“One thing that pops up is that he’s really opinionated about a lot of things. Big talker. He wasn’t always fun to coach so you have to keep that in mind if you bring him into your room.”
Clearly there was a disconnect between the new regime and Hill in 2018. So is it just a clash? A bad fit? With the right coaches, can he start and excel? While the Seahawks always love a challenge — 2018 was also an opportunity to re-establish a team first mentality.
Watching his interviews, there’s nothing obviously concerning. He speaks well:
#NFLCombine: Great time talking shop with @UCF_Football DT Trysten Tate pic.twitter.com/AGyWYNo2S1
— Emory Hunt (@FBallGameplan) March 2, 2019
Jim Nagy posted this tweet during the combine:
Three years ago, coaches on Scott Frost’s UCF staff told me @trystenhill9 was the best player on the team…AS A TRUE FRESHMAN! That team also had Shaquill and Shaquem, Tre’Quan Smith, and Jordan Akins. How did this kid not start for UCF this year?! Looks great at the Combine. pic.twitter.com/pmXNIi43iu
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) March 3, 2019
Hill put on a fantastic show during drills. His movement, agility and change of direction was highly impressive:
Trysten Hill taking off! #UCFast #BuiltByUCF pic.twitter.com/3jbCpE9Q1Y
— #25 Barstool UCF (@UCFStool) March 3, 2019
UCF's Trysten Hill moves so well cc @_John_Shipley pic.twitter.com/iHgINeHa2W
— Billy Marshall (@BillyM_91) March 3, 2019
More Trysten Hill pic.twitter.com/C2TVkIJrJ5
— Billy Marshall (@BillyM_91) March 3, 2019
Not shown in those three videos is a drill that emphasises change of direction, a drop and then a sprint round a cone. He was effortless in his movement and then pulled off a handbrake turn to manoeuvre the cone. I’m not sure anyone boosted their stock as much as Hill during the on-field drills in Indianapolis.
He ticks a lot of boxes for the Seahawks. They’ve never drafted a defensive lineman with sub-33 inch arms. He has 33 3/8 inch arms. They’ve consistency drafted defensive linemen with excellent short shuttle times. He ran a 4.38. Rasheem Green ran a 4.39 last year at 275lbs. Hill beat that time at 308lbs.
He’s also highly explosive and jumped a 9-7 broad. Nick Bosa managed a 9-8 broad and Ed Oliver (10-0) and Renell Wren (9-10) were the only defensive tackles who beat him. His vertical jump — 35 inches — was only an inch away from Oliver’s attempt (36 inches).
Essentially he’s a comparable athlete in terms of explosive traits to Ed Oliver, despite weighing a good 20-30lbs more. He’s considerably more agile in terms of the short shuttle than several wide receivers including Riley Ridley (4.58), N’Keal Harry (4.53), Hakeem Butler (4.48), Deebo Samuel (4.48) and D.K. Metcalf (4.50).
In a loaded defensive line draft, Trysten Hill is clearly one of the best available. I’m not sure how concerned teams are with the character. If he’s there in round three, I’d seriously consider drafting him.
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Nice write up on Hill thanks Rob. He looks like the type of guy who will come into the league with a huge chip on his shoulder and be a steal for someone. It is criminal that he did not get more playing time at UCF no wonder he was a malcontent.
I could see him being a great fit peronsality wise with Reed and Clark.
At DT is they draft a super ahtletic attacking DT like Hill or Wren then add a Tony McDaniel type run stuffer they could have an incredible rotation with Reed and Poona Ford and lots of flexibility.
Jamie Collins released, I’d take a shot on him for a reasonable price. Not sure where he fits but I always liked his athletic profile.
My Free Agent Wish List
Last year my #1 wish was adding Fluker and #2 was extending Mcdoguald and Coleman. I hope PC / JS can grant me another couple wishes this year.
#1 Extend Fluker and Sweezy to keep the OL together. A whole off season together working with Solari and we could see big improvements particularly in pass pro were communication is critical.
#2 Get a Long Term deal done with Frank and avoid using the franchise tag. Just make sense all around.
#3 Extend Jarran Reed now. Sure his price is gone up but if he has another dominant season and Russ has not signed an extension you risk loosing him next year and that is not acceptable.
#4 Extend Wags. He is the best LB in the NFL and is still young. Pay him like the top MLB in the league and just get it done. He is the leader of the defense along with Frank and Reed and holds it all together.
#5 Spend any available cap space after internal signings and extensions on an Edge Rusher to go opposite Frank. I personally think the best option is Ziggy Ansah. He could be Cliff Avril 2.0 and another gift from the Lions. Pete says they dont have a lot of holes on the roster so forget the mid tier guys and make one truly imactful signing. Can you imagine Clark and Ansah coming off the Edge wow.
#6 As soon as Kendricks legal matters are sorted out then lock him up. I thought he played really well last year. Imagine what he could do with a whole off season to learn the system and comunication etc. LB is a weak spot in the draft and KJ is going in all likelihood so this is a must.
#7 Extend George Fant for 3 yrs not a 1 yr deal. He played well last year at both TE and as a backup OT. I still think he could be a replacement for either Ifedi or Brown.
#8 Let Earl, KJ and likey Coleman walk. This should allow us to get a minimum of a couple of 4th round comp picks next year. Coleman is the tricky one because he was really solid in the slot in passing situations but struggled tackling. He will be harder to replace than people realize. Love KJ but the injuries and age worry me.
#9 Do not let an extension to Russ linger and be the story all off season and training camp. Try and get a deal done or be transparent publicly that a deal is not going to happen. This team seems to have such great chemistry now I hope they can keep it. If they can get Frank, Reed and Bobby locked up then it makes things much easier.
#10 In wave #3 of free agency once it does not count against the comp picks go out and sign the biggest, baddest run stuffer on the market to come in as a strictly rotational guy like Tony McDaniel and to provide a veteran presence.
My Free Agency wish list: DON’T SIGN ANYONE WHO WILL TAKE AWAY COMP PICKS! It pains me to think that we could have potentially had three 3Rd comp picks (Jimmy Graham, Sheldon Richardson, Paul Richardson) and we gave them up to sign guys like Barkevious Mingo, Jaron Brown and Ed Dickson.
We wouldn’t have received 3 third rounders for those guys, though. We would have received 1 fourth and 2 fifths. Granted, those picks would be nice since we are so lacking in draft capital this year.
I’d rather pool the money given to Mingo, Brown, and Dickson into one quality starter and have 2 comp picks. But ultimately when you have needs for the current season you can’t sit and sign guys later in the hope you get a comp pick or two.
People are tough on Dicksn. IMO he was a quality starter when healthy. People want him cut but I want more Seahawks that play like Dickson, not less.
Brown had as many touchdowns as any of last years free agent wide receivers. Mingo isn’t my favorite but he played a big role on defense and wasn’t terrible. I’m all for low risk/cost FA contracts.
You’re right. These 3 guys were not bad at all, especially Ed Dickson.
Nice list Trevor. I wonder what Frank wants in terms of a contract. I’m not completely sold on spending big bucks on Ansah or anyone really… Still if we could get most of this list done, I’d be really happy as well.
Guys like Chandler Jones, Melvin Ingram, and Olivier Vernon are sitting between $16m and $17m, I would think Frank is aiming for something in that ballpark. The amount guaranteed is anyone’s guess but I would expect somewhere between 40% and 50% is what it would take.
I think Frankie likes round numbers, so:
5 years, 100 mil, 60 mil GTD could get the deal done.
Or 4 years 80 mil, 65 GTD
I highly doubt anything lower than 20 mil APY will make him sign anything. Even 20 mil might be a bit low
Mack signed 6 years, 141 mil, 90 GTD
(23,5 APY, 63% GTD)
Frank has similar tendencies, but Mack is a bit more of a game wrecker and has more exp and proved him a bit more.
The above contracts would be good for Clark AND the team.
If Frank wants a big payday, and don’t afraid to hit FA, he’ll demand something like:
115M 5 years, 70M GTD
Seahawks laugh.
Team would likely gives first him a
90M, 5 years, 50 GTD contract
Clark and his agent laugh.
They need to find a middle ground so I think 100/5 years, 60-65 gtd could be a nice contract
His agent already said he doesn’t fear the franchise tag. In case Clark gets tagged over the next seasons, he’ll get:
2019: $17.1m
2020: $20.5m
2021: $24,7m
So, we are looking at 70m/3y as the floor of any deal, with 140m/5y being the ceiling.
The total of the 2019-2021 tags is $62.3MM, or $20.7MM/yr so that would be the floor, not $70/3. If Frankie is going to hold out for $140M/5, he won’t be a Seahawk! They will never pay him $28M/yr as much as they want him to be part of this team going forward.
Finding some middle ground that both the team and the player can live with is crucial. I sure hope it works out!
Seems like a really smart and well-coached guy. I’ve always liked his potential, but he’s someone I would want to sit down with if I was considering drafting him.
Still really want Renell Wren at 3/5 tech. Gap integrity is a concern, but perhaps it was a symptom of his old scheme rather than a technical deficiency in his brain.
Playing NT in a 3-4, or out of his natural position, lends to free lancing in their scheme. This will not be the case at the next level. Coach Hurd will have a role that will bring out his best attributes, as you mentioned, playing @ 3T/5T.
With Jamie Collins cut and being talked of as a prove-it deal candidate at 30, is he someone the Seahawks might look at, especially if Kendricks gets jail time?
Don’t think he’s a fit and seems to be regressing
Seahawk safety Marwin Evans looks like the real deal to me has it all making Seahawks deepest safety core in the NFL. Fast as a cat and hits like a truck, any safety that is willing to run full speed into a 300lb OL is probably the hardest hitter on the team. 5’11 208lbs, low 4.42 average 4.47 40 yard, 42 inch vert, 10 ft long jump. NEVER BEEN INJURED! If it is true and Schneider is planning on 8 picks this draft it tells me our current 3rd & 4th rounds picks will be the lowest picks in those rounds and most likely 5th round too. We will be adding late 3rd, 4th, and most likely 5th too. If we go for 6 picks we get an early 3rd & 4th. Of course if we find a way to trade a player for a pick that would be huge. The question is why are trading back so far? A WR who won’t contribute for 2 years? RB? No It would have to be QB, K, OL, LB, or nose tackle assuming we draft DT, Slot CB, TE, DE with our 4 picks.
Not sure if you have been reading this blog or not, but there’s no way we’re gonna end up with only four picks. We will be trading down. Mock drafts should be adjusted accordingly.
I meant our original 4 picks! The further we trade back with our 1st round pick the higher the 3rd round pick. Last year at #18 we were able to get #74 this year we need to trade back much more to pick in the 70’s. Tossing out secondary prospects IMO picking early in the 3rd round vs late in the 3rd round = Very explosive player lots & of 1st year playing time potential vs potentially explosive player & very little 1st year playing time potential. Which positions do the Seahawks need a starter year 1 and will not back it up with a veteran. Which positions will the Seahawks draft that will be a starter year 2 and need a veteran back up.
So many comments & excitement about the safety’s in this draft to play safety for the Seahawks why isn’t there any excitement for Marwin Evans especially after all the NFL safety’s that moved on and off the roster during the regular & playoff season last year? Luani & Evans are talented players & big hitters, gotta believe Carroll can coach up at least one of them to play safety. Bennett, Coleman etc.. came back to the Hawks, none of them received as much early positive praise by NFL personal as Evans. I realize it’s all speculation but that’s exactly what your doing most of the time when you draft a player.
I’ll just issue my standard warning about these high priced contracts that we are seeing. Every year there are a few players at each position, who sign a lucrative deal. They are the lucky ones who are playing at an elite level.
After the first few high contracts, the rest of the players will get less. Why? For starters, the ones who got paid have used up a lot of the teams free cap space. There simply isn’t enough money to pay everyone high rates. Then there is the gradual fall off in abilities as the best players get signed. Not everyone will get a 12-20 million dollar contract.
By the middle rankings, contracts will be down to a reasonable level. Somewhere between 4-8 million/year. The players will still be good enough to start and play well. Maybe they will be a little older and more experienced, maybe they have had some health issues, maybe they just got unlucky and didn’t grab the big contract that some other player got.
And then there are the half million to 4 million dollar guys. Still competent, filling a spot or a useful veteran backup. Perhaps they are in a position that just doesn’t pay as well = like running back.
My point is, just because a few edge guys make megabucks, doesn’t mean that the rest of the edge guys will. The first few contracts are usually the highest.
Ok everyone…
We’re working to try and find out what the problem is with the comments section. Many of you have complained that your posts take forever to load and/or never even appear.
We’re having trouble identifying the cause of the problem. And we can’t recreate it either to investigate. So if you have experienced the issue with the comments section can you reply to this message and detail exactly what happens when you have the problem? If you could describe the process from posting onwards.
Thanks
Rob
Ok so for starters when I initially post, rather than my name and email being saved from my last post (as it did before) i have to fill that in again. Then after writing and submitting, the page refreshes as it normally does but takes me back to the top of the page (it used to automatically return to where my new post has been published). I then basically wait have to wait around 20-40 minutes before refreshing and it has appeared, I think that it takes longer when the comments have piled up (for example my post below took about a cup of tea) but im not certain on that.
It’s also potentially worth noting that, very rarely, i don’t have this problem. No idea why, but once or twice since this problem has began my post has appeared instantly after submitting.
Hope this helps and you can resolve the issue. No sweat if you cant figure it out, still the best place on the internet even with the technical issues.
Exact same for me on all of this, some of which I forgot to mention in my comment below.
Ditto. Need to re-enter name and email each time, post a message and it refreshes page, but no comment shows. Go to home page and under latest it shows that I posted on XYZ thread… go to thread and no comment. Then after a while it shows up. Try to hit ‘back’ and post again and it says “oops looks like you already posted this” even though it isn’t showing.
+1
Thanks for looking into this.
Hopefully my email from the other day and my comment from yesterday can provide some info.
I am also willing to allow you and whoever is working on this remote access to my computer via TeamViewer in order to see the problem directly from an end user’s viewpoint.
But the general description of the process for me is:
– Open SDB.
– Post a comment. The page refreshes and adds the (#123456) to the end of the URL, but the comment doesn’t appear.
– Anywhere between 30 min.- 1hr later (it varies), upon refreshing the page, my comment finally shows up along with several others posted before and after mine that I had not seen before.
– I believe new articles you post are also delayed in appearing, though I have had no way to verify this.
– I’ve tried different devices, different browsers, hard refreshing, disabling browser caching. None of those help to shorten the delay. New comments simply don’t load for me until they “decide to”.
My comments usually take at least 30 min or longer to show up.
Pretty much exactly the same as H
Doesn’t save username/email
Hit post goes to top of page.
I can hit refresh and nothing shows up.
30 minutes to an hour it will be there.
Also worth noting that on the little sidebar the “what’s being said”
It will show that I’ve replied to a thread but you can’t see what I posted.
It will also say other people have commented on a post and I can’t see them for a bit.
Also at the bottom of your posts will say there’s X many comments and when I try to view the comments they aren’t there. Really noticable on new posts where it says there’s 4 comments or something and I can’t see any of them.
Doesn’t matter what browser I’m on or what device. It’s always this way for me.
I think that there is a window of aproximatly 20-30min when comments are becoming visible. It.happend twice to me that there were for example 4 comments in section, I write a comment and click submit button and immediatly.there were 9 comments with mine among them. So it basicly means that if you write.a comment at the begining of that window you will wait 20-30 minutes and if you write at the end it will post just after refreshing.
And I have one more problem. Most of comments I write from my phone, and after typing comment I dont see submit button. Space where i type comment become bigger and goes over the “submit comment” so I need to come out(press.the button on the phone and go on the front page of the phone) and then come back to google chrome and this site. And sometimes I need to do that few times.
Mine is same on phone.
If I rotate phone to landscape the submit button shows up. And will stay visible. Even when I rotate back to portrait.
Haha great..thank you so much for this advice…
@ Rob
What I wanted to say is that program loads all comments (that are wrote after the last loading) simultaneously and time of waiting for each comment depends on when did you write comment (after 1min of last loading, 5,10,15min or at the end of that window).
Best way to recreate it would probably be to create a dummy account and post a test comment. I doubt you can replicate it from your “owner” account.
The only problem I currently have is comments taking upwards of 20-3o min to populate. I have to manually refresh the page over and over to see when they do, again often 30 min later.
Annnnnnndddd I jsut finished reading the rest of the way down, and it seems to be solved. Disregard.
I think interviewing Hill’s former teammates and personal outside of the current coaching staff, is key to get a feel of how he truly is as a teammate and individual. If all that checks out, then yeah, try to get him in the 3rd round. Coach Carroll is all about stopping the run first, so Hill could be play the role of Red Bryant at LDE. Hill would be an unconventional LDE on a 4-3 defense, but Hill’s size athletic profile is unique for a LDE.
Imagine from left to right on the d-line…Hill, Reed, Poona Ford, and Clark. That d-line has the size to kill the opposing teams run game and the quickness off the ball to put opposing lineman on their heals.
I want to know shaquem and shaquill opinion of Trysten. If they approve I would take their word for it.
That’s a great point that we should have an inside track on his character and how he was viewed in the locker room. And the Griffin bros. strike me as guys who would give PC/JS their honest opinions.
Perhaps, but college teammates a part of a return at the end away as well. Nobody really likes speaking negatively of someone else. I would be a little concerned that anything negative would actually be brought to the surface.
I’ve also went straight and watched Hill after the combine, and I agree with your take completely. Absolutely love this kid, his attitude and athleticism jump off the screen. Straight up junkyard dog. I like him so much I think I’d rather grab him in the third, than Tillery (one of my personal favs who I brought up a few times during the combine) in the second. In fact, if we were to trade down far enough i wouldn’t even complain about Hill as our first pick. I can see him having a similar trajectory as Darius Leonard, where he looks like a reach to most on draft night, but after his first year people will be wondering how he fell that far.
I also love the idea of stockpiling players from that Scott Frost UCF side, everything about that whole team and their NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP run screams Seahawks.
I tried to play out the scenario in a bit more detail using Spotrac.
This article and this other were also useful in understanding how a lot of the cap things work.
Cuts: There are only a few options for release that would make much sense and difference at all:
1. Kam Chancellor, currently our 5th-highest paid player (6.55% of cap): save $2.3m ($10.2m dead)
2. Barkevious Mingo, currently our 9th-highest paid player (3.09% of cap): save $4.8m ($1.8m dead)
3. Ed Dickson, currently our 11th-highest paid player (2.32% of cap): save $2.68m ($1.7m dead)
4. Jaron Brown currently our 12th-highest paid player (1.95% of cap): save $2.75m ($975k dead)
5. CJ Prosise, currently our 17th-highest paid player (0.48% of cap): save $745k ($173k dead)
6. Amarah Darboh currently our 22nd-highest paid player (1.95% of cap): save $844k ($0 dead)
So let’s say we cut Kam, Mingo, Brown, and Darboh. That would save us a total of $10.7m ($12.9 dead). (Of course, these roster spots will have to be filled later; we are down to 44 players on the roster.)
Estimated Cap space to begin with: $33.3m
With additional cuts: $44m
Our draft picks are estimated to cost $4.3m (let’s say we trade down and get 7 players total, bringing our roster to 51), so we are left with $39.7m.
Next come the Restricted and Exclusive Rights Free Agents. I’ve put in bold those I will keep.
RFA (~$2m/each): George Fant, Tyler Ott, Joey Hunt, Quinton Jefferson, Akeem King, Tre Madden, JD McKissic, Branden Jackson.
I’ll say they tender Fant and let the others hit FA and try to sign them at around $750/each.
Total cost: $5m
ERFA (~$650k/each): David Moore, Shalom Luani, Austin Calitro, Jordan Simmons, Kalan Reed, Emmanuel Ellerbe, TJ Green.
Total cost: $3.9m
So, we have 62 players on the roster and $30.8m left to try and sign some of our Undrafted Free Agents or any outside ones. This is where it gets tough to project their value, contract structure, and corresponding cap hit, but I’ll try. I’m just going to use the APY for 2019 cap hit to keep it simple.
UFA: Mychael Kendricks, Maurice Alexander, Brett Hundley, Mike Davis, DJ Fluker, Dion Jordan, JR Sweezy, Sebastian Janikowski, Neiko Thorpe, Shamar Stephen, Justin Coleman, KJ Wright.
Coleman: 3yrs/$24m
Fluker: 2yrs/$8m
Thorpe: 2yr/$4m
Kendricks: 2yr/$3m
Sweezy: 1yr/$3m
Jordan: 1yr/$2m
Stephen: 1yr/$2m
Davis: 1yr/$1.5m
Alexander: 1yr/$1m
Total UFA 2019 cap hit: $25m
That brings us to 71 players and leaves us with $5.8m. But only the top 51 count against the cap, so we will eliminate the cheapest 20 players at a conservative $500k/each, which returns $10m to our cap.
From the $15.8m, we need to set aside $1.4m for the practice squad and let’s say $3.4m to be able to sign replacements for anyone who lands on IR during the season.
So our final number remaining would be $11m. We could use that to sign an outside kicker, sign an outside pass rusher or retain KJ, or we could look to extend Reed early.
Extending Clark could also bring substantial cap relief for 2019 though and change this final picture, so there is even more incentive for the team to get something done now, because it frees up many more options for us this season. Next season it will also be nice not to have Kam’s $10.2m dead money on the bill.
P.S. I know I probably botched the numbers somewhere along the line, but it was still fun to run through it and get a sense for some of the decisions that will need to be made. With the numbers set out for you, feel free to jump right in at any point of the exercise and let me know what you would do!
Quality breakdown, well done.
This is an awesome breakdown.
That was some very quality work. Thank you very much for doing that. As we get further along in the process, I sure like to see something very similar to what you did in some kind of a spreadsheet to see what’s really left to use. Thank you.
Bravooo @seamode.
Excellent job. I think they’ll let Thorpe, Jordan, Alexander, and Davis go. Ed Dickson played well and for a $1 million it’s an easy decision to keep him. They’ll try to keep Akeem King and releasing Darboh before camp doesn’t make any sense.
I think we could really use an outside kicker <3 😀 Sorry, couldn't let this slip 😀 Apart from trolling, I think you get the data together really well, quality comment!
I'm not sure we'll keep all these UFA guys (like Davis, Stephen, Jordan for example. Thorpe is also a question mark for me). BUT if we keep all of them, I'd take that 11m and:
Sign a kicker. Even for 4-5 mil, a quality one…please
Extend Bobby (-2 mil for us this year…not necessarily, but it would make the negotiations easier)
Sign Frank to a long term contract (-1 mil…also could lower his 2019 numbers but just to make it easier give him 18m this year)
That would leave us with 3-4 mil. That could give us another depth guy at any position (not a quality starter most likely, but a good backup or rotational player). Or if Bobby/Frank wants more cash up front, then give them this +3-4 mil, it doesn't really matter.
Securing a kicker, and limiting our big name FAs for next year to only Wilson and Reed would be a nice move in my opinion
Seems to be working now!!!!
Wow, excellent job breaking this down. I wouldn’t disagree with much of it, but still think they might desire to keep McKissic, especially if Davis gets a better deal elsewhere.
I’m also wondering about backup QB, since you don’t show us resigning Hundley. Do you think he’ll be to expensive, or just that he’s easily replaced by a cheaper option? I hate counting on a rookie (probably a mid-round one also) to take meaningful snaps if anything happened to Russ.
Outside of Gostkowski and Myers are there any realistic kicker upgrades to be had? Don’t know enough about the kickin Ficken. And who would be your pass rusher free agent targets with our limited available cap room?
Once again, great work!
You said that you would take him in the 3rd round, would you take him in the second? From what you just described he sounds like ge would be a great addition to the team.
I don’t know about the second. If they trade down into the second they might be picking in the 30’s.
Jerry Tillery had surgery to repair a torn labrum.
The Hawks really value players who love the game and I’m not sure Tillery fits that profile. How far would he have to fall for the Hawks to be interested in him?
Not sure. While I respect his athletic ability and potential I tend to agree, not sure he’ll be on their radar as an early pick.
I posted the other day an article suggested by Eli that I also found helpful, in case you missed it:
https://theathletic.com/834889/2019/02/26/notre-dame-football-jerry-tillery-defensive-tackle-nfl-draft-scouting-combine/
(You can read it for free if you download their app.)
Who are the early 2nd 3 techs and who are the late 2nd 3 techs if there are any.
Hill is a really interesting player, after his combine spectacle, I started envisioning Seattle possibly taking him R2, but you have to be willing to play gap sound to be a three down defensive tackle for Pete Carroll, and if that isn’t your thing, that’s high round capital spent on a specialist.
“It’d be fair to question whether his playing style (which is all-out attack) will lend itself to consistent gap-discipline.”
I seem to recall that the Hawks have had a very strong believe that gap integrity is a critical part of their DL plans. Not sure if that is still a preference with the newer Defensive coaching group, but they were pretty adamant about it in the Richard days if I recall.
Rob any thoughts if your comment about Hill is a big enough factor for the Hawks to either pass on him, or push him down their board?
I don’t know. I know they really do value gap discipline. He’s not completely out of control like Renell Wren he’s just very aggressive at working to the ball.
It’d be less of an issue if he played some 5-tech early downs to be honest.
A little off topic, I found this link over on field gulls. A living spread sheet that will be updated as more information becomes available, applying Seahawks standards, listed by position, showing combine event results all in one place for easy comparison? I’m a big fan of draft tools like this so I thought I would pass it along to y’all. Be sure to Bookmark it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XtN3z7JCAFxSPkWvSIDDaBZyOsox5JPJ7Favb5nRHRw/edit#gid=2041141908
Saw that and remember it last year as well. It’s a fine approach, with the particular advantage that it allows you to also visualize prospects that came close to the thresholds, but fell short in one or two of them. But, that said, and without trying to take anything away from another dedicated fan’s perfectly legitimate approach:
1. I prefer Rob’s more insightful thresholds, determining which are truly important for the Seahawks at each position instead of just a strictly mathematical threshold for each athletic test.
2. I copy/paste the complete tables from https://3sigmaathlete.com/sparq-rankings-2019/ into one Excel file and sort/filter the results myself anyway to zero in on a few prospects for each position I want to go back and watch more tape of to see if they are as interesting as their athletic profile suggests. (I started with the Safties and am almost done!)
3. I already have a visits/meetings/interest tracker ongoing for us here on SDB, and it includes past years data as well in case you want to try and find any trends. Enjoy:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J3d023YdKp9MFv7OQTy0YTssJ65qLd_aB0UJFGVHxPY/edit#gid=562886959
Great work Sea Mode, thank you
Has anyone ever created a SDB version of a Seahawks big board?
Now that is something I would love to see. Yes it would be heavily debated, but it would be cool to have.
We could try it, but–as you mention—I’m not sure how we would deal with disagreements on prospects. It would end up just being one person’s big board with suggestions from everyone else. That’s fine, but that’s essentially what we do here in the comments all year, finding prospects and giving our opinions on them.
Rob essentially does this anyway each year with his Top 40 Big Board, and I like the way he splits it into tiers instead of trying to rank each individual prospect, because that allows us to skip the digression on most prospects.
What format did you have in mind though?
I personally have been thinking about what JS has mentioned before: that the Seahawks grade draft prospects against the players on their own roster. That IMO could be an interesting exercise for us.
Thanks Sea Mode!
Thank you so much for this seamode.
It would be tough to research but wouldn’t it be interesting to have a table that showed how many players the current regime has drafted that they haven’t interviewed. My memory says that at least their day one and two picks have been publicly on their radar.
That’s exactly the type of thing you could use this tracker for.
What makes it tough though is that it is not a complete list of their meetings. A lot of the meetings are only made public by the prospects themselves in their conference call after the draft.
But to answer your question, the only Day 1 or Day 2 pick I can remember in recent memory that they didn’t interview and actually admitted they tried to hide their interest in was Ethan Pocic. He said “I talked to scouts and everything and knew they valued versatility”, but no meeting with Tom Cable or anyone else. And then PC/JS said this in the press conference: https://youtu.be/DErJtI_nHqg?t=327
They might have done something similar with Vannett and Lockett, but for some reason the 2016 PC/JS Day 2 Draft Press Conference video on NFL.com seems to be no longer working:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/seattle-seahawks/0ap3000000658464/John-Schneider-and-Pete-Carroll-Draft-Day-2-Press-Conference
And apparently Tyler Lockett’s Draft Conference call with local media is no longer available either, so I can’t check that:
https://www.seahawks.com/audio/2015/05/01/draft-conference-call-tyler-lockett-audio
San Francisco lineman Mike Person just signed a 3-yr deal for $8.25m, with $2.5m guaranteed. Might be a reasonable comp for what we could expect Fluker/Sweezy to command. Giants backup QB Alex Tanney just resigned on a 2-yr $2m deal, as a comparison to what we could see Hundley aiming for.
Looks like Rob has got me sold on Trysten Hill.
Love the prospect of a 3rd round DT and/or early 2nd round DT. I like the idea of a 2nd round DE, 3rd down RB, TE, OL. Like 3rd round slot CB, TE, 3rd down RB, and OL. Love 4th round CB, LB, TE, OL, QB Love 5th round K,CB,LB,QB,TE,WR 6th round TE,CB,QB,WR,K,FB 7th round FB,K,RB,WR,OL and long snapper.
I’m not sold on Trysten Hill. The Seahawks purged the locker room trouble makers, seems like he might lean that way. If his work ethic has been challenged that doesn’t sound like a Caroll guy.
Has he shown enough college production, especially against the lower level talent that UCF often plays?
If the Raiders trade a 2nd round pick for Antonio Brown they will basically have traded 1 1/2 yrs of Amari Cooper and a 2nd round pick for 3 years of Antonio Brown at $11 mil per /yr and a 1st round pick.
Brown is crazy and diva but that still looks like a good deal to me.
Are the Redskins & Raiders helping each other in the draft?
Lot of insecure coaches out there who don’t like ‘opinionated’. I’d be more worried if a player didn’t have an opinion, at least it shows he’s plugged in and interested. Still incredible to me that the minute a player shows even a hint of personality, any suggestion that he might not be the drone on benzos they want, it becomes a character concern.
A lot of players have often said that the most ego-driven guys on a team is usually the coaches themselves..
There can only be one captain and I suspect you’d have to have an ego to deal with people whose body and bank account are three times your size.
Agree to a point. I think some players are confusing having an opinion with being intelligent/analytical/thoughtful. ‘Feels’ are easy while understanding is hard. Age we live in.
Seahawks need to add an EDGE. You make a good point: Montez Sweat and Brian Burns improved their draft stock to the point that the team may be forced to add in free agency. Anthony Barr would be perfect if he is affordable.
But if he isn’t, there are some intriguing options available. I’m trying to come up with a list of potential trial targets. You’ve noted Clay Matthews and Terrell Suggs as rotational veteran pieces who still may have some pass rush left in the tank. Vinny Curry or or Derrick might also fit the bill. I believe you also mentioned Markus Golden as a potential signing. And many have mentioned that Bruce Irvin could fill a crucial role as SAM on running downs and pass rusher on throwing downs. Speaking of reunions, Benson Mayowa provides a solid if not incredibly exciting set of skills.
Vinny Curry thrived as a rotational pass rusher for the eagles a few years back. What are your thoughts on his market and potential fit in Seattle?
As for a younger option, what do you think of Jeremiah Attaochu as a potential fit? He’s young, was a high draft pick, had six sacks in 2015 but seems to have fallen off and bounced around a bit. Might be a nice flyer
Rob question for you.
Are you going to do a mock this week? Alot has happened and i would love to see a 8 pick hawks haul from you.
2nd. With the combine we have skipped over players that didnt attend it seems.
Do you still consider Jaylon Ferguson a lock for the 1st round?
Could the hawks snag him as our first pick after trading down a bunch?
I will be posting a mock. Everyone posts one after the combine so I wanted to wait a couple of days to let things settle.
All the talk is Ferguson will go in R2-3. Not surprised — I didn’t think he looked all that great at the Senior Bowl.
Seahawk draft criteria (excluding QB):
All positions: arm length, love for game, interviewed by team, have overcome obstacle(not required)
All positions except Linemen and TE: 40 around 4.5
Linemen: TEF score
TE: good blocker
Cornerback: Vertical and height
RB: 220lbs
LB: Everything. They want them to have TEF scores like a lineman with the profile of strong safety but weigh in at 250lbs. Maybe this is why we can’t find a linebackers.
Ed Oliver, what is the knock on him again?
He was initially projected top 10 possible pick, but now appears to be sliding a little bit.
Is this a guy, say around #28 (after a trade down), you take a swing on for EDGE help?
Rob, you mentioned Trysten Hill. Is he realistically a “late” 3rd round guy, or a top of 3rd round guy…
or has he done enough to possibly even crack the bottom of the 2nd round? Wouldn’t other teams see the same traits and push up his draft stock???
I’m of the opinion they will add one FA EDGE player, not sure who, but not likely a big named guy. Would former Brown Jamie Collins be a possible fit…. he can produce, but might be on the back end of his career trajectory.
We have a tendency here in the comment section of SDB to over-project the range in which our favorite prospects will go.
Not everybody is gonna be a day 2 pick, now.
Trysten Hill is a late fourth imo. This is an exceptional DT class. Might see 6+ go in the first frame.
I don’t know where Hill’s stock is, I just think his talent/tape warrants consideration on day two.
The knock on Ed Oliver is his playing weight is about 270-275 and he has 31 inch arms. So with that frame it’s very hard to project what he is at the next level. He’s not a DE, not a full-time DT. Is he a specialist pass rusher? And if so, how early are you taking him? And how much of a concern is it that he didn’t have many sacks in college? A difficult player to work out.
Oliver has a huge gas tank, never stops, he’s relentless and can blow past Centers & Guards. I think he should fall he’s a liability against the run. He could be a perfect fit for the Hawks because the Hawks are committed to rotating DT’s but like you said they don’t know what his true playing weight is. If the Hawks draft a sub 300lb pass rushing DT they must draft or add a run stopping DT. I’m speculating his speed overcomes his short arms for inside pass rush but not outside PR. Poona Ford has long arms, stout, raw power to wear down OL. I like the idea of having two 3 techs Reed & Oliver and 2 nose tackles Ford & ? Last year I felt like Reed was asked to do too much and now that he has proven he can sack the QB I doubt he will want to play NT.
In B4 “take Lonnie Johnson in the third round”
Kevin Wilkins DT Rutgers. Plays NT and 5tech. Crazy backstory something like 14 foster homes. Really open, humble guy. Hard to find tape of Rutgers right now.
He’s lookin like an UDFA
If this guy is in the 3rd, run to the podium! Yeah, he might be a bit hard to manage, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad dude. Maybe he wants the team to be better, or wants to do more and this is how he can communicate that. I can be a bit too critical at times, and I don’t do it just to be a d.ck.
He’s probably a Bennett-Sherm type of guy. A vocal dude who is a bit harder to handle. With the right locker room atmosphere, this shouldn’t be a problem. I think Pete could handle him well.
He didn’t drive around with weed and gun or beat up some women. He’s just not the “Sir, yes sir” type of good soldier. I hope this team can be managed a bit more tightly after a ton of the big character guys left (or kicked to the curb), but I don’t think this team should be the Pats.
I hope PCJS talked to him, to see how he reacts, how he thinks.
I just watched the videos about his drills. It’s crazy. I think he must be one of the best front 7 athletes in this class. He’s 20-30-40 lbs heavier than most of this guys, but the speed, agility, fluidity of his movements are crazy.
If he becomes a bit more experienced, more patient and picks up a bit better technique this dude can be something special.
He can be a first-year heavy rotational player inside. Next year he could be the basic guy for long downs. Maybe in the third year, he could be a solid starter next to Reed.
Imagine Clark, Hill, Reed and hopefully Green with Martin also rushing…wow, that is scary 😀
OK everyone…
We’ve tried a couple of things to try and solve the delayed comments issue. Can you let me know if you’re still experiencing the same problem?
Time reply posted 11.33 UK time.
And it posted straight away 🙂
Excellent. Seems like it was a setting issue with the host server that automatically must’ve changed at some point in the last year. If everyone else who has struggled with this issue could let me know if this problem is now fixed it’d be much appreciated.
And I’m also hoping to have a new site design too to bring us into 2019.
Comment will post right away but not to the correct REPLY. Doesn’t save my log-in either. Defiantly better though. I haven’t posted in a couple of months out of frustration. LOL. Here a couple times a day though. Love your work Rob.
Test:
6:29am PST
Same as those above. Posts instantly, but doesn’t save login and took me to another comment (slightly up the page).
9:45 am
I’ll ask if there’s a way to avoid having to sign in every time, see if we can fix that.
Problem solved, good work!!
Instant. Was it a plug-in conflict?
No something to do with the host
Test
I confirm what DCD2 said above:
Still, this is great news!
Also, this is from a mobile device and the “submit comment” button now appears correctly as it should below the text field.
Woo hoo!
Just another test.
I spend too much time on here
(AKA Test)
Instant post, but I still have to manually insert my username/e-mail when I did not before the issues started creeping up
With the 54th pick od 2019 NFL draft Seattle Seahawks selected Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Safety, Florida. 🙂
It works. Yessss!!!
My pick as well, I’m surprised he’s not mentioned more, 2 move backs in the draft and we are in the perfect position to draft him.
He looks really interesting, doesn’t he. A poor man’s Budda Baker. He could be a hedge for both nickel CB and FS.
One thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough is how much Delano Hill seemed to be improving before he got hurt. He seems like more of a SS though, which is clearly McDougald’s best spot. I thouhht we were going to more of a 2 deep safety look last year after ET3 went out. If PCJS think CGJ could be a true single high FS it could allow Pete to getting back to scheming like he would probably prefer to.
Definitely one to keep an eye on, could be a great fit.
I guess I’m not the only one that noticed PC/JS watching Gardner-Johnson closely with their binoculars during the combine drills. Might be a player to keep tabs on, could be a Seahawk pick, of course, depending on when he’s available and when they have an appropriate pick to select him. (Hoping for an instant post)
I’ve been reading countless articles and watching lots of film pre-combine, I too notice JS watching him closely with the Binos. Biggest knock on him in 2017 was his tackling which he cleaned up last year. He’s big, fast, twitchy, fluid hips, covers major ground, and plays physical. He’s a hybrid defensive back that is versatile, deep, slot, or in the middle, man to man or zone. He is also solid as a run defender, deep safety or box-nickel, yes please, going in the 40 – 50 range, perfect. If Earl Thomas was on the field last year, no way Dak Prescott runs that ball 16 yards up the middle on us. I’m not buying the happy with Delano Hall or Pete being happy with his safeties, we missed Earl terribly last year.
The only thing I’m not confident on is his arm length 30 7/8″, maybe somebody can chime in on that one.
Many writers in the know have him ranked as the clear number 1 safety in this draft and a major sleeper.
https://thedraftnetwork.com/player/chauncey-gardner-johnson
If there’s one thing I learnt from Obi Melifonwu — it’s not to read too much into what Seattle is doing in their booth at the combine. Carroll practically fell off his chair after watching Melifonwu run and the entire room was jacked. At the time it felt significant. They didn’t draft him. And to be honest, John probably used his binoculars to see who was running because they’re potentially so far away. The teams draw lots or something to determine who gets what booth (although I think the Colts get the best one every year as hosts).
Very true as I remember that particular shot distinctly, as a result I fell in love with Obi and learnt a valuable lesson. JS having his binoculars on Gardner is not why I love this pick, as I said I’ve watched quite a bit of film and read plenty of articles. I love this kid and believe he will be a game changer, we can’t continue to be exploited over the middle. I know we have pressing needs at Edge, Linebacker, support for Frank Clark, O-line too if we can’t keep Sweezy and Fluker, much depends on who we sign and what happens in free agency. The draft may very well look a whole lot different in a few weeks.
Thank you Rob, I’m a huge fan of this site and have much respect for all you do, plus draft time is so darn exciting!
Cheers!
Rob – I was wondering if you had done any scouting or research on The Cardinals FA Markus Golden and could speak to his potential fit in Seattle and provide a ballpark for what a short term deal might cost the Hawks.
Am I crazy to believe that after suffering an ACL in ‘17 and failing to generate much production in ‘18 he could be possibly be picked up for cheap? I would personally love to see him get a shot to revive his career up here; I remember he looked like he was on the track to stardom with his double-digit sack campaign during the 2016 season.
I really liked him at Missouri. Thought he was a top-20 talent. But then he had short arms and didn’t test as well as expected. Still, played with his hair on fire in college and was very intriguing. Not sure he has the body type for Seattle though.
Thanks for the reply, keep up the good work as always my friend!!
Thank you!
Awesome! Since you are looking at updating the design, I have a cool idea for some header graphics that I’ve been thinking about for a while now.
It would shuffle through graphic montages of some of the different players Seattle has drafted, showing an action shot of them in college, at the combine, and then in a Seahawks uniform, kind of representing the whole draft process that this site is about.
Imagine a mashup of these three images for Tyler Lockett: College, Combine, Seahawks.
They would all be tied together with a Seahawks-colored background to match the site and perhaps some light trail effects like these: example
Maybe Hawk Talker #1 could give us a hand or we could look to some artists on Deviant Art. Any other SDB readers into graphic design? 😉
P.S. A alternate effect that could be really cool would be this, except the image reflected in the jersey would be of them in college: https://www.deviantart.com/alaypatel/art/Richard-Sherman-Seattle-Seahawks-445706418
Posted 7:58 am PST
Yes, looks like the posting delay problem has been solved.
Meant 7:48
I thought maybe that was a post from the future…then the delay issue would REALLY be resolved!
Oh, and definitely mention to whomever you are working with the problem with spam that you mentioned recently. Plugins like Akamai or similar should be able to take care of most of that for you automatically.
What if Seattle passes on this WR class, instead adding some UDFAs, and waits to address it in a crazy 2020 class?
Could happen. By that time they should also know better what they have in David Moore going forward.
But I’m wary of hoping that next year’s class will be crazy. At the top, sure, with Tee Higgins, Laviska Shenault, Rondale Moore, etc. But after that, who knows how deep it will actually turn out to be?
And with guys like McLaurin, Campbell, and Deebo fitting the profile they look for, they might just want to take advantage and grab one. Hardman could be a guy in the mid rounds also.
Not a big fan of Campbell.
I remember when this WR class wasn’t any good even though it’s always been. And the reason was there wasn’t talent at the top. Now next year’s potentially isn’t because there’s ONLY talent at the top?
Clemson WR Tee Higgins
‘Bama WRs Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs
OK St’s Tylan Wallace
Colorado’s Laviska Shenault
Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb
Ohio St’s KJ Hill
Michigan’s Tarik Black
ND’s Chase Claypool
USC’s Tyler Vaughans
Florida has 2 outstanding guys in Jefferson & Cleveland
Tennessee has 2 in Callaway & Jennings
“I remember when this WR class wasn’t any good even though it’s always been”
1. Most people who didn’t think it was a good receiver class, such as myself, were saying so because other sites like ‘Draft Network’ had people like Kelvin Harmon graded as a top-10 pick. Which was patently not true, just as it wasn’t true that N’Keal Harry was a top-15 talent or JJ Arcega-Whiteside or Anthony Johnson. And at the time, there was legit talk that DK Metcalf might have to retire because of his neck injury. So that’s why people were saying it wasn’t a good receiver class, in response to those saying some of these players were high first round picks. Early in the process, a lot of the attention is on round one. It’s just the way it is.
2. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting an opinion on a class when you receive all the information (which you don’t have until the combine). You don’t have to be 100% right about everything in October otherwise you have to eat a bunch of crow.
1. Which is why people need to trust their eyes and form their own opinions. Not what the draft hive is buzzing about. The class didn’t hinge on Metcalf being healthy or not. You know that.
2. What’s wrong with eating crow? It can and will happen in March just like it could in October. We all get things wrong and miss. That includes when he have all the information.
I don’t think there’s any crow to be eaten. It’s not a great WR class. It has some depth based on athletic potential. There’s a good chance to get someone you like. It isn’t 2014 but it’s better than I anticipated a few weeks ago. And the debate during the season was focused on R1.
I didn’t mean eating any crow with these particular wideouts. Just in a general sense.
It’s a very good WR class. Little bit of everything.
Eating crow is the name of the game Vol
Pretty much. More misses than hits.
And thats why I’ve never been partial to mock drafts in the fall. Fun, sure. They probably generate a ton of clicks for these websites like ‘draft network’ and Walter, but it reeks of mixed messages.
Big boards seem like the way to go. Your moving guys up and down, in and out, as like you say, opinions change, play drops off/picks up, circumstances change as well.
@Rob: I agree with you on your second point. As a layman, I look at the mocks and projections as an opportunity for me to get to know various prospects I would otherwise know little to nothing about. While I’m sure my viewpoint gets biased based on your projections Rob, I don’t think that means you or others should eat crow for allowing us the opportunity for an entertaining thought exercise of a mock draft or big board of players. And ya, you put a lot out there for us. Of course there will be some misses in judgement over the years. On the other hand, you’re in the ballpark of who the Seahawks value enough of the time to more than make your analysis credible in my humble opinion. And hell, WRs are tough to project.
I like this WR class for mid rounds but we don’t have a 2nd round pick in a draft that is a strong 2nd round draft which is devastating for the Hawks because if they had a 2nd round picks they would have 2 tradable picks instead of 1. The only way I see the Hawks getting back on track is if they find a stud TE, and get a 2nd round pick possibly 3rd round pick for Fant from a team that is sure he can play LT. You could throw Dwayne Brown into the mix and start Fant at LT but if Fant fails Carroll will get crucified. Where things stand right now we’re passing on round 1 and it makes sense to pass on one or more of the strengths of this draft = Middle Round QB, MR WR, MR DE, MR DT, MR TE, MR OL &/or something in round 2.
This Trysten Hill guy seems pretty good huh?
Twitched up like crazy, that’s for sure.
I vaguely remember hearing about him before he showed up at the combine. 😉
You’ll get your regular finder’s fee!
Somebody on SBD a day or two before the Combine. I don’t recall who it was?
Seattle at Nebraska’s pro day.
HB Devine Ozigbo (SeaMode brought him up months ago) was a huge combine snub.
WR Stanley Morgan, jr who is gonna be a day 3 gem and led all BIG10 WRs in deep receptions (20+ yds)
This year more than ever John Schneider needs to hit on late round picks. Last year John Schneider took LB Shaquem Griffin, CB Tre Flowers, P Michael Dickson, OT Jamarco Jones, in the 5th round. He took DE Jacob Martin in the 6th round. Schneider did well last year in those mid-to-late rounds. He needs to hit again this year. Especially if he can trade down. It’s amazing how John Schneider does so well in the mid-to-late rounds.
RB Devine Ozigbo
5105, 219
31 1/4 arm
9 1/4 hand
76 1/8 wing
40-yard dash: ~4.53-59 (unofficial)
Bench press: 19
Vertical jump: 37”
Broad jump: 10’4”
He definitely fits our profile and was a consensus stand out throughout Shrine Week. Also catches the ball well.
P.S. Where did you see that Seattle was at their pro day? This article lists the 22 teams present and Seattle is not among them:
https://hailvarsity.com/s/6362/how-former-huskers-performed-during-nebraskas-2019-pro-day
Ok, two sources on Twitter say all 32 were represented (@MattReynKLKN and @JReidNFL), but the first one was way off reporting his weight. Anyway, maybe the 22 teams in the article was just some kind of officially registered presence or something.
Via a local beat reporter:
Pauline said he was told Ozigbo “timed as fast as 4.54s in the forty.”
Sean Callahan. The guy who covers Nebraska for ABC in Omaha and runs the rivals website for Nebraska.
Hmmm, strange. I opened his Twitter TL and saw that tweet, then it disappeared and is now no longer there. Guess we will just have to ask.
‘At !east 29 teams’ Brian Christopherson from Husker247.com and this is one of 2 that say 29 as well.
https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/pro-day-notebook-huskers-show-out-in-nfl-audition
Cool. Besides, I see no reason why we wouldn’t be there. Lots of talent.
JReid is also a great follow. Has a ton of inside Vikings stuff.
Ozigbo’s #’s aren’t much different than Carson’s either.
test
Mine went fast but I still have to type my user name and email address in the box every time. Before it just stored it?
Seahawks reported to have interest in Drew Lewis http://draftanalyst.com/pro-day-report-colorado-state-colorado
Nice. Fun player.
How is his tape? Have you got to see much of him?
Yeah. He was a guy that Udub recruited heavily. Got one look at him and pulled the trigger. He was dismissed from Udub. His brother played in the NFL as did his dad and uncle. His dad was in Seattle’s FO and was the director of scouting for KC as recently as 2016.
Freak. He’s a stat sheet stuffer. Modern day LB the NFL is looking for. Sideline to sideline speed, ultra quick, effective getting after the passer, very good covering RBs.
Takes bad angles and tries to do too much. Raw. Then again, Pete loves to take on challenges while shaping and molding.
Thanks, added to Visits/Meetings/Interest Tracker.
6′ 2 1/4″, 229, 10″ hand, 77 1/2″ wing, 4.50 40yd, 34″ vert, 10′ 9″ broad, 4.33 SS, 7.02 3C, 20 bench
Nice! Major football family, Dad is a former Seahawk, 18 for 18 ranks him as the #12 freakish athlete.
http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap3000000938945/18-for-%2718:-college-football%27s-most-freakish-athletes
I think Earl is going to be really surprised by his market in free agency.
The Safety market is loaded. Why would anyone pay a big $ extension to a 30yr old Safety coming off 2 broken legs to the same leg? if any team knows his value and scheme fit is the Hawks and they passed so if I was a GM it would certainly be a buyer beware situation.
https://twitter.com/HailVarsity/status/1103733327314513925?s=19
This is great TEF score.
Indeed.
3.8 TEF
115.77 wTEF (using his listed weight of 305)
I really hope the Hawks can lock up Frank long term before the Franchise tag kicks in. But there seems to be a growing number of players who welcome the franchise tag and the guaranteed one year $ (Laveon Bell excluded) .
I get it for QBs were the potential for a career ending injury is less (don’t tell Alex Smith) but for lineman it is odd. All it will take is one of these guys getting seriously injured and that sentiment will switch I think .
Considering that the Seahawks are still rebuilding the team, if Frank Clark won’t sign a reasonable long term deal then I think they should just let him test free agency. There is no use stringing this out with franchises. And the 17 million dollar franchise price is going to get in the way of signing other players. This is basically a one year rental.
Don’t get me wrong = I love him. But the Seahawks are not going to thrive if all their elite athletes demand franchise tags.
My comment posted immediately 🙂
Olivier Vernon’s 5/85 deal was structured so the first year cap hit was $13m. Saving $4m on a Clark contract similarly paid and structured would give them $4m more room this year. That’s a rookie class right there. Or a couple depth players.
BTW: I respect Chris Simms quit a bit. Especially when it comes to ranking QBs.
Below is his QB rankings for the 2019 NFL draft.
1st tier
1. Kyler Murray Oklahoma
2. Drew Lock Missouri
3. Dwayne Haskins Ohio State
2nd tier
4. Ryan Finley NC State
5. Jarrett Stidham
6. Daniel Jones
3rd tier
7. Clayton Thorson Northwestern
8. Will Grier West Virginia
If the Hawks decide to tender Fant instead of signing him long term how does that work? Do they have the right to match any offer he gets?
Yep. Or the player can just choose to sign the tender, which is a one year deal. Then there’s the whole first-round, second-round, and original round tender aspect – if, say, the Seahawks offered a first-round tender to Fant and he agreed with another team’s offer, then the Seahawks could either match or let Fant walk and get the other team’s first round pick. The same deal with the other two tenders.
Can he play LT or not? If he can we should offer him a long term TE deal right now. If he can’t play LT we should tender him 3rd round. If teams are calling about him & were not sure he can play LT we should do a 2nd round tender & hope he gets an offer. That’s my 2 cents.
This year’s draft for the Hawks is straightforward. We have limited picks because of some bad decisions outside of adding Duane Brown. Trade down from 21 as far as we can without getting crazy and take the BPA, preferably a DL. Hopefully a situation similar to Frank Clark. With the remaining 6 picks feel in the roster and hopefully hit on 3. I’m looking forward to Rasheem Green taking a huge step in year 2 as a inside outside DL, if I remember correctly he is only around 22 years old. I would love for the Hawks to not trade our picks away in 2020 so we can actually draft a first rounder. Develop our current roster this year and see where we land. I don’t want to see a bunch of all in, one year, free agent quick fixes.
Side note
Why are we not using Shaq as a speed rusher?
Hm this doesn’t sound good for us…
https://twitter.com/LanceZierlein/status/1103747377754718208?s=19
Not good and predictable. Seattle will have to chip away to get their picks. Multiple deals.
And the pics will not be high 3rd & 4th round pics. We’re trying to make the best out of a terrible situation and we need at least 3 defensive starters possibly 1 starting G. Seahawks will definitely fall behind some teams in terms of young talent after this draft.
A yearly report. There’s a lot of misinformation that flies around about the draft. There’s enough variance in scouting that teams will be hot on and guy want to trade up to 21.
The positive side is that we have history and good relationships in trading with other teams, and our pick is at the top of the 20’s, so both of those could give us an edge over other teams looking to trade down.
I can’t see this as a big problem really. There’s always teams willing to move up for players who they feel can fill a specific need.
Now the return may not be quite as good as it would be if they were holding a pick and several QB needy teams were trying to move up to grab the last first round prospect.
I feel confident because we hold a good pick at 21, John is a willing and fair trader, and there’s always a couple highly regarded prospects who fall far enough to entice teams to move up. Who will it be this year?
Blake Cashman LB out of Minnesota looks special. He ran a 4.5 and seems to have a nose for the football. Rob have you taken a look at him? He could be an option for the Seahawks in the middle rounds.
Sounds like the main knock against him is short arms/small hands…
Were he and Drue Tranquill separated at birth?!? I mean, what is this?
Cashman:6011, 237, 30 1/8 arm, 8.75 hand, 73 5/8 wing, 4.50 40yd, 1.55 10yd, 4.12 SS, 6.95 3C, 18 bench, 37.5 vert, 10’3″ broad
Tranquill:6020, 234, 31 1/2 arm, 9.75 hand, 74 1/4 wing, 4.57 40yd, 1.54 10yd, 4.14 SS, 6.94 3C, 31 bench, 37.5 vert, 10’2″ broad
Tranquill has better length and is stronger, Cashman is slightly faster.
Tranquill has battled adversity (left ACL 2014, right ACL 2015, then played every game of the last 2 seasons), Cashman was a tackling machine in 2018 and has PFF on his side (“Cashman was one of only two linebackers in the country who finished with 80.0-plus grades in run defense, pass-rushing, coverage and tackling this season.”)
Tranquill has 3 years of strong production, Cashman only has 1.
Tranquill was invited to the Sr. Bowl (and was named by scouts as one of the practice week winners.) Cashman was invited to… nothing (and skipped his team’s bowl game to prep for Combine).
Anyway, if you want this profile LB, IMO go for Tranquill hands down.
You guys hear that Shawn Oakman was cleared of the sexual assault charges that sunk his career before it even got started? This chick straight up tried to ruin his life. Woof. He has said he will try continue his football career. He is 26. Thoughts? Could be a cool Seahawks story.
There wasn’t much to like about his college tape. Was a great athlete, amazing size. Clearly was seen as a leader on the team. But his tape was all over the place.
This is pretty much how I see round 1 going down.
1. ARI- Kyler Murray QB
2. SF- Nick Bosa DE
3. NYJ- Quinnen Williams DT
4. OAK- Rashan Gary DE
5. DEN- Drew Lock QB
6. NYG- Dwayne Haskins QB
7. JAX- A.J. Brown WR
8. DET- Devin White LB
9. BUF- Ed Oliver DT
10. TB- Montez Sweat DE
11. CIN- Clelin Ferrell DE
12. GB- D.K. Metcalf WR
13. MIA- Will Grier QB
14. ATL- T.J. Hockenson TE
15. WAS- Josh Allen DE
16. CAR- Jawaan Taylor OT
17. CLE- Brian Burns DE
18. MIN- Andre Dillard OT
19. TEN- Greedy Williams CB
20. PIT- Taylor Rapp S
21. OAK- Marquise Brown WR
22. BAL- Deebo Samuel WR
23. HOU- Jonah Williams OL
24. KC- Byron Murphy CB
25. PHI- DeAndre Baker CB
26. IND- Josh Jacobs RB
27. OAK- Christian Wilkins DL
28. LAC- Cody Ford OG
29. SEA- Devin Bush LB
30. GB- Johnathan Abram S
31. LAR- Dexter Lawrence DT
32. NE- Noah Fant TE
We trade down with Oakland so they can get Brown instead of the Ravens. And we trade with KC so they can get their CB in front of Philly.
I almost had us picking Noah Fant, but LB could potentially be a huge need, and Bush would be your last chance to get a top LB in this draft. If hes there after we trade down I think they consider it.
Dexter Lawrence was also tempting but I don’t think that’s the kind of value pick they’re looking for.
The Skins trading for Case Keenum will never not be hilarious. Alex Smith has a torture device on his leg so I guess they had to do something.
https://mobile.twitter.com/NBCSWizards/status/1087444029179076608
More hilarious? If they franchise him for 3 years.