Month: December 2022 (Page 3 of 3)

Draft musings for the 7th December

December 7, 2022 /

“That won’t happen”

The immortal words uttered every year at this time, whenever anyone dares to think outside of the box relating to the draft.

The truth is there isn’t an obvious #1 overall pick for 2023. There’s no Trevor Lawrence or Andrew Luck. There’s no Myles Garrett. It’s a wide open, fluid situation — just as it was this year.

Travon Walker was not even being discussed as a potential top pick 12 months ago. He finished his final season at Georgia (the National Champions) with six sacks. He only recorded 9.5 sacks in his three-year college career.

If you suggested last December that he was destined to go first overall, people would’ve scoffed at the suggestion.

Many pundits liked him but he wasn’t even a consensus top-10 pick. He was #15 on Daniel Jeremiah’s first top-50 board, published in January. Mel Kiper mocked him at #24 in his first mock draft. It wasn’t until the combine that people even started to consider he might go in the top-five.

I don’t think anyone’s going to make a rise quite like that in 2023 but there are a cluster of potential #1 overall picks and it’s to be determined who are the serious contenders for the top pick.

Group think is rampant among the NFL Draft community. It’s not surprising either. The overwhelming majority of people don’t have the time to watch the necessary amount of tape to get a proper angle on a draft class.

As such, people copy the opinions that are widespread. Especially now that we’re entering a period where draft articles get a lot of traction, in particular mock drafts. Journalists who have watched little or no tape and simple peruse the content online will begin to talk about options for the teams they cover.

I am not for a second claiming I have all the answers, as I don’t. But I do watch tape every day, including for several hours every weekend. I embrace this is all very geeky.

The amount of time I spend watching players is equal to that of a full-time job. It’s a gruelling commitment and you have to love doing it, especially when you already have a full-time job and family commitments. You also need a saintly wife who is supportive and laid back about a husband’s nonsensical obsession.

If you don’t have time to watch hours and hours of tape every week — and you are writing articles or mock drafts — of course you’re going to resort to the consensus. It’s understandable. But does it achieve anything other than to drive a false narrative?

Plenty of people rely on big name pundits for their info. That in itself is problematic. I don’t want to pile on Daniel Jeremiah but he provides the best example. He published a top-50 prospects article on NFL.com before the 2021 Senior Bowl which didn’t include big-name prospect Boye Mafe. He then attended the Senior Bowl, broadcasting daily for the NFL Network. The week after the Senior Bowl, he tweeted he’d watched Mafe tape after an impressive showing in Mobile and decided he was a first round talent.

This begs a lot of questions. Why is Jeremiah publishing a top-50 board if he hasn’t even extended his study to someone as well known as Mafe? Why isn’t he studying Mafe’s tape before going to Mobile, given he was one of the biggest name players attending the Senior Bowl and Jeremiah was providing commentary on the event? How much tape study does Jeremiah actually do during the college football season when these players are providing weekly showcases of their talent?

Is it unfair to expert a leading draft expert to actually have a firm grasp of the big name prospects before the draft season begins?

There’s a consensus view that the affable and charismatic Jeremiah is a leading voice on the draft and his opinions are often taken as gospel. I thought the Mafe situation, though, was illuminating.

I suppose the point of this opening ramble is to make a plea to keep an open mind. When I write that I think Jalen Carter, Anthony Richardson or Will Levis could be the #1 pick — it’s not an attempt to be dramatic. It’s based on a humungous study of this class and league trends. It will go against the mainstream consensus but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. We’ve been here before — talking about how Kyler Murray would go first overall when the mainstream thought he’d stick to baseball or be a late first rounder, or projecting Joe Burrow #1 when the world was still fixated on Justin Herbert and ‘Tank for Tua’.

I would encourage everyone to do their own research and come to your own conclusions. I hope this blog mainly just gives you some names to seek out. I’d also stress to think outside of the box. The consensus view online often isn’t how things end up playing out.

Moving on…

Georgia’s comfortable win over LSU was quite an interesting game to follow. Jalen Carter was typically disruptive — again showing off his ability to win with an electric rip/swim or just blow through blocks with sheer power.

Carter has everything needed to be a highly disruptive interior force. These types of players are increasingly rare. At times he reminds me of a shorter Calais Campbell at his peak. He has positional flexibility and can play across the line. You can move him around to attack from different angles.

It won’t be a surprise if he is graded higher than anyone else come draft time — or possibly second only in terms of pure talent to Bijan Robinson. That will squarely put him in the #1 overall pick equation. These types of players don’t come along very often and if the Texans are not completely sold on the QB class — they might opt for a more long-term view. After all, their roster is a shambles. They could decide to start their next era — presumably with a new coach (and maybe a new GM) by building up their defense. Especially if they fall for Carter — which is possible.

If he doesn’t go first overall, he will leave the board as soon as a team not in need of a quarterback is on the clock. If Chicago sticks at #2 overall, they will take him. He is a better prospect than Will Anderson and will be the first non-QB drafted, short of any unexpected injury or character flags.

That’s not to say he’s a flawless player. I do think there are a couple of quibbles. LSU moved the ball effectively early in the SEC Championship and kept Georgia’s defense on the field. Carter looked absolutely knackered after the first series. I did wonder a little bit about his conditioning but in fairness after a breather (and when Georgia’s offense started to dominate) he came roaring back. It might be, however, that he needs a bit of time to get up to speed with the physical demands of the NFL — something that isn’t unusual for bigger defenders.

There’s also some inconsistency to his game and he does take some snaps off. It’s not a massive issue, just something worth pointing out. In college he is a better athlete than most of his opponents. When that isn’t the case in the NFL, he’ll need to become more rounded and find a base level of performance and effort. That’s not a reason not to take him though, you work on that when he’s in the building.

He was constantly disruptive against LSU and will go in the top-two, I think. Unlike Will Anderson — who has had an underwhelming season, lacks great size and is more of a developmental project — he is a player teams will believe is ready to come and have an impact immediately.

Two other quick comments on Georgia players. Safety Chris Smith — a fine player — had a heads-up play to return a field goal for a touchdown. He also had a bit of a whiff on a Kayshon Boutte touchdown — making up for it later on with a nice interception.

Cornerback Kelee Ringo continues to misjudge throws and doesn’t track the ball consistently enough. While he’s a superb athlete with great size — he simply isn’t a great cornerback at the moment. Is he too big? He makes some good plays but gets beaten on others. He’s a real mystery for the next level and it’s tricky to judge his stock.

I also watched the ACC Championship game in what proved to be a bit of a damp squib as a contest. However, despite Clemson dominating North Carolina, I thought it was another majorly disappointing showing by the Tigers’ vaunted D-line.

I just don’t get why nobody is talking about Myles Murphy’s underwhelming play? Yes he’s a good athlete and has decent size. That’s fine. He plays with almost no aggression though. I’ve said it numerous times — he’s a pussycat defending the run and he’s hardly a ‘hair on fire’ dynamic pass rusher either.

Murphy finishes the season with 6.5 sacks in 13 games. That’s it. He had eight sacks in ten games last season, so his production has actually gone down. He also has three fewer TFL’s than last year (11 vs 14.5). It was embarrassing watching him get his arse kicked by Notre Dame a few weeks ago and he’s not had a bounce-back performance since. I’ve watched all of his 2022 games and just came away underwhelmed.

I think there’s a legit fear that he’s a big-time recruit who has found High School easy because of his physical profile and in college he’s also athletic enough to get by. At the next level, he’s going to need to show so much more. His body lacks muscle definition and he just gives off a vibe of never really having to work at his craft. That ends the minute he comes into the NFL. Teams will need to believe he is prepared to go above and beyond to become great because to me he just seems like an athlete at the moment, not a football player.

His team mate K.J. Henry has been far more aggressive, consistent and disruptive this season.

Meanwhile, Bryan Bresee continues to be spelled constantly. I will say, he had a few impactful snaps against North Carolina. Some of the aggression, power and speed that Bresee clearly has jumped off the screen as he barged his way into the backfield. The flashes he showed reminded me why I initially had him rated higher than Jalen Carter at the start of the season. Bresee clearly has talent.

The problem is he hasn’t put together an actual season. A year ago he suffered an ACL injury. This year he had the sad passing of his younger sister, a kidney problem and then strep throat — all of which kept him off the field or stuck in a rotational role.

Bresee makes for a really difficult projection. I can well imagine him having better fortune in the pro’s and just shining as a dominant player. In High School, as I’ve said a few times, he had the Jadeveon Clowney vibe of looking like an adult playing against kids. You even see some of that in college at times. Bresee’s physical talent is freakishly impressive.

He might last on the board into the teens and be the steal of the class. Or he might never be able to stay healthy or find the consistency that will elevate him to elite status.

Bresee will potentially split opinion in draft rooms around the league because knowing the right range to take a chance on him will be a tricky square to circle. The talent is clear. If only he’d had a good solid ten-game run to feel confident he can stay healthy, productive and consistent.

The Clemson defenders are so much of a challenge this year. Everyone loves Trenton Simpson but he had a poor college season, failed to make enough plays and aside from his expected testing results, has not performed like a first round talent. The aforementioned K.J. Henry has been really active and is a former five-star recruit who is seen as an emotional leader on the defense. However, he only finished the season with 3.5 sacks and nine TFL’s despite looking disruptive all year. Is he enough of a finisher? Or do you buy-in based on the disruption?

I do really like Clemson left tackle Jordan McFadden as a guard convert. He has the size of a guard but has played well at tackle. I think he’s a top-50 talent pre-testing.

If you’ve enjoyed the work and want to support the blog so that I can consider options for the pre-draft coverage in the new year, please consider supporting the site via Patreon — (click here)

The case for the Seahawks to draft Anthony Richardson

December 5, 2022 /

Anthony Richardson — misunderstood by many

Earlier today Anthony Richardson confirmed what Tony Pauline has been reporting for several weeks — that he is going pro and declaring for the 2023 draft.

The response on the internet has been predictable because the narrative on Richardson has been set in stone for a long time.

“He’s too raw”

“He’s not ready”

“He needed to go back for another year”

Too many people, particularly in the mainstream media, seemed to make their mind up about Richardson three games into the season as he struggled against Kentucky and USF (having excelled against Utah in week one).

I’ve watched every game he’s played for Florida, just as I’ve watched every game for each of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 draft.

I’m not going to try and argue that Richardson doesn’t have room to grow or clear areas where he can improve. It’s not unfair to say he would’ve benefited from another year at Florida. I don’t think the inaccurate throws he’s had this season are down to serious technical flaws. I suspect it’s just about game experience, timing and getting comfortable with playing the sport at a high level.

Plenty of the other big names have their own flaws and concerns that aren’t talked about as often. Bryce Young’s unique size (5-10, 185lbs) for example or C.J. Stroud’s intermediate accuracy and dependency on the talent and scheme at Ohio State. Those kinds of issues. They come up — but not at the same rate as ‘Richardson’s too raw’.

What he lacks in experience he makes up for with extreme physical brilliance — the kind that we’ve only seen with the likes of Josh Allen in recent history. That’s not to say it’s an apples for apples comparison. For example, Richardson is an even better runner.

Here’s what he’s capable of:

Not only that — he’s actually played in a system (unlike at Ohio State, Tennessee and Washington etc) where he’s required to make protection calls, adjustments and play in something akin to a pro-style scheme.

We get into the habit of forgetting how other players entered the NFL in a similar, rough-diamond state. I’ve posted this a few times over the last few months and it’s worth another review:

— In Patrick Mahomes’ final year at Texas Tech he had a run of six straight games with an interception. He lost seven games in 2016. He had 25 interceptions in his final two seasons in college.

— In Andrew Luck’s final year at Stanford he ended with a run of six straight games with an interception. He lost two games in his final year despite playing on a loaded Stanford team. He had eight games with 256 passing yards or fewer.

— Josh Allen had 21 interceptions in his final two years in college. He had a completion percentage of just 56.3%. He had three games in 2017 with sub-100 passing yards and he started his final season with six picks in his first seven games.

— Russell Wilson had 25 interceptions in his final two years at NC State. He never had a completion percentage above 60% at NC State. He had 11 games at Wisconsin where he threw 255 yards or fewer — including six sub-200 yard games. He also lost three games in his final season at Wisconsin.

Essentially, some of the highest rated players in the NFL today and in the recent past had problems with turnovers, consistency and needed to improve at the next level. You can add to this list too. Justin Herbert never truly delivered at Oregon while stuck in Mario Cristobal’s wretched offense. Who thought anything of Joe Burrow when he flopped at Ohio State and landed at LSU, where he got to throw to Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson? Jalen Hurts was benched for Tua Tagovailoa and had to transfer.

Richardson needs work but so does every quarterback who enters the league. Even golden-child-status players such as Trevor Lawrence.

None of them are the finished article.

As such, teams are left to play the percentages. Who is best prepared for the next step in terms of football education (not reliant on being over-coached or coddled by scheme)? Who has the physical tools to be among the best in the league? Who is elevating their team, versus riding the coat-tails of great recruitment?

Richardson made a badly rebuilding Florida watchable at times this year and didn’t get the creature comforts available at other schools.

He isn’t alone. For some reason people are increasingly tone deaf about the benefit of certain schemes and environments. It’s the big argument nobody is prepared to make for Will Levis — who didn’t get a wide-open, half-field read scheme with either great pass-pro, receivers or a system designed to get the ball out quickly.

Here’s an updated list of the sacks given up by each team in college football possessing a big name QB:

Oregon — 4 sacks in 12 games (0.33 per game)
Georgia — 7 sacks in 13 games (0.54 per game)
Washington — 7 sacks in 12 games (0.58 per game)
Ohio State — 8 sacks in 12 games (0.67 per game)
Florida — 12 sacks in 12 games (1.00 per game)
Alabama — 20 sacks in 12 games (1.67 per game)
Tennessee — 23 sacks in 12 games (1.92 per game)
Kentucky — 42 sacks in 12 games (3.50 per game)

As you can see — who you play for (and with) matters.

Florida had no dynamic weapons destined for the first two rounds of the 2023 draft. They aren’t supported by a great defense. The cupboard is bare as they start to build under a new coach.

Despite all of that they’ve had a quarterback who has being throwing 60-yard touchdown bombs and then a series or two later running an 80-yard scramble for a score. They’ve had a quarterback being clobbered in the pocket, somehow staying on his feet and delivering a pass. They’ve had a quarterback able to keep them in games, striving to compete and looking every bit the superstar in the making — just with some inconsistent play mixed in to temper the hype.

Statistically he has 26 total touchdowns and nine interceptions. Let’s compare that to three others praised for their production:

C.J. Stroud — 37 touchdowns, six interceptions
Bryce Young — 31 touchdowns, five interceptions
Michael Penix Jr — 33 touchdowns — seven interceptions

These three get a lot more hype than Richardson online. All have far better environments to play in. Stroud and Penix Jr play in schemes that are favourable with better weapons and you can see the sack numbers above.

Put Richardson in a different situation and I think his numbers would be even better. I am not convinced Stroud, Young or Penix Jr would’ve succeeded at Florida this year.

As the process goes on — and I’ve been saying this for a few weeks — I think there’s a chance the NFL will fall in love with Richardson’s potential and he could go #1 overall. He has by far the biggest upside of the quarterbacks at a time where players like Josh Allen are the talk of the town.

Ideally he goes somewhere and sits for a year behind an experienced QB — just as Mahomes did behind Alex Smith. It shouldn’t be a surprise, however, if someone throws him in at the deep end as Buffalo did with Allen and they just endure two years of growing pains.

But what about the Seahawks?

They currently have the #3 pick courtesy of Denver — behind only Houston and Chicago.

It’s hard to imagine they go any higher than #3. The Texans are clearly the worst team in the league. The Bears play the Eagles, Bills, Lions and Vikings to finish the season and will probably lose-out.

Again — having studied this draft class extensively — I think there’s a chance Houston takes Jalen Carter with the top pick. Increasingly he looks like that rare thing — a disruptive interior pass rusher. They have a second high pick courtesy of Cleveland and might be prepared to wait on a QB, trade up or even skip until next year. This is clearly a long process for the Texans and they have a shell of a roster.

The Bears will go defense. This will be Carter’s floor barring anything unforeseen and it’s the likely landing spot for Will Anderson if the Texans take the defensive tackle.

You can make a strong argument for Carter or Anderson to Seattle. I see no realistic prospect of Carter reaching the Seahawks — which is a shame given his ideal fit status. Anderson is far more of a project than people think. He’s not a Bosa brother or Myles Garrett. He is a 245lbs DE/OLB and given how poorly Seattle has utilised those players (apart from Uchenna Nwosu) there has to be some worry that he’d simply get caught in the wash as we’re seeing with Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe — two other young players deemed to have a lot of potential.

The rest of the pass rushers are overrated. Myles Murphy is an athletic pussycat and Bryan Bresee hasn’t played enough. Tyree Wilson is intriguing but you don’t want to go down that road at #3 ideally.

If Carter is gone — or Carter and Anderson — or even if they’re not, a quarterback should still be considered.

It’s fantastic that Geno Smith is playing so well and the Seahawks will try to keep him. We also need to be realistic about a player who turns 33 next year and has, so far, enjoyed one good season in his NFL career. The Seahawks will view picking as high as #3 a bonus. A gift from Denver. It won’t be anything they intend to do again any time soon.

For that reason, it would be sensible to consider re-signing Smith and adding a quarterback with immense potential who can learn and develop in the background. It would be the same as Smith/Mahomes — a plan that we can all agree has worked rather well.

It’s also worth saying given all the reported interest John Schneider supposedly had in Mahomes and Allen — Richardson shares some physical similarities.

I’m quite comfortable with either situation. If they add a defensive player to improve a terribly performing unit, that’s a good plan. If they invest in a quarterback, that’s also a good plan.

One other thing to consider is that with only $29.9m in effective cap space for 2023 — the Seahawks simply might be priced out of the Geno Smith market if he receives good offers from other teams. I’m not convinced he will do but I suppose Nick Foles parlayed his Super Bowl run into a hefty four-year contract worth $88m with the Jaguars — including $50m guaranteed. That was also in 2019 — the financial situation has improved dramatically since then.

Smith probably isn’t going to win Super Bowl MVP to max-out his market like Foles. However, it’s not totally unrealistic that needy teams (Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, the Jets) might swoop in and make the situation tricky (and expensive). In that instance, we’ll be having a very different conversation.

Either way — I think drafting Anthony Richardson to draft and develop should be a strong consideration by this team.

If you’ve enjoyed the work and want to support the blog so that I can consider options for the pre-draft coverage in the new year, please consider supporting the site via Patreon — (click here)

Curtis Allen’s week thirteen watchpoints (vs Rams)

December 4, 2022 /

This is a guest article by Curtis Allen. After the game today tune into the instant reaction live stream which will be available on here and on our YouTube channel

The mighty have fallen. The Rams host the Seahawks with a 3-8 record and are on track to be one of the worst teams in NFL history in the season following their championship.

They shockingly have one of the worst offenses this year, standing at 29th in scoring (16.2 ppg), #31 at rushing yards per game and total offensive yards per game.

The defense has not experienced as big a decline as the offense but their aggressiveness has had to be tempered significantly as they have not had big leads to play with nearly as much.

What is happening to this team overall? They have been hammered by injuries.

Their offensive line has been a revolving door this year. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp have also missed significant time and now it appears that even Aaron Donald is not immune as he is set to miss the game Sunday with a high ankle sprain.

Still, if I was a Rams fan, I would be relieved at seeing the Seahawks on their schedule Sunday. They have won eight of the last ten games against Seattle and while you can definitely point to the top talent they have on their team as a big reason, Pete Carroll and the Seahawks have always struggled to mount an effective attack against the Rams in both phases of the game.

The other reason is the Hawks are playing horribly. They have played down to their opponents in losses to Tampa Bay (4-5) and Las Vegas (3-7), particularly on defense. Seattle has simply not been the same since going to Germany.

Pete Carroll has commented that it took the team until Thursday this week to have practices to show him they are up to snuff for this game. It took three days to get over the loss to the Raiders. You are free to interpret that as you like but you should know he made a similar comment about the team after getting manhandled by San Francisco in Week Two and they could not rebound in time to play effectively against the Falcons in Week Three.

How can the Seahawks break out of their slump and beat a division foe that has dogged them for years? Let us have a look at some of the factors.

With the Seahawk defense a mess and the Rams missing many of their core players, there really aren’t too many locked-in patterns or styles to analyze. Just a collection of thoughts the Seahawks need to be aware of on both sides of the ball.

When the Rams Have the Ball

John Wolford will start at quarterback for the Rams on Sunday and the offensive line may roll out a new front five of players yet again due to injuries.

The circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that the Rams will employ a quick-passing and a run heavy approach to this game. That is not a major departure from what the Rams have done in the past, there is just a high likelihood that downfield attacking passes will be in fewer supply than normal.

So, the first thing the Seahawks will need to do is cover Tyler Higbee effectively. Wolford last started the Week Ten game against the Cardinals and Higbee was his top target. He caught all eight of his targeted passes for 73 yards and had one explosive play. Higbee was their offensive catalyst, as Wolford found him on first and second down frequently and gave the Rams a short third down — something every undermanned offense badly needs.

The Seahawks are one of the worst teams in the NFL this year in defending tight ends. They have given up the second-most yards (711) and the fourth-most touchdown passes (6).

For a comparison, Travis Kelce is the leading tight end this year with 912 yards and 12 touchdowns so far. Mark Andrews is the second-best at 601 yards and 5 touchdowns. Therefore, the Seahawks are every week conceding an amount of production from tight ends that rivals the best at their position in the NFL. I seriously doubt the Rams have not noticed that. That needs to stop Sunday if the Seahawks are wanting to keep the Rams offense from moving down the field.

Controlling the line of scrimmage is something you always want to do. Against these Rams though, it is a goal the Seahawks should be able to accomplish. This is something that the numbers just dictate in plain language that they have the ability to do. The Rams are absolutely battered on the line. The Seahawks have their entire complement of linemen available and have shown that they can succeed in this area in the past.

However, their performance lately has been a horrible regression back to the beginning of the year. Quarterbacks have had pillow-soft pockets and time. Running backs have had holes and inexplicably been able to push the pile forward, even when monster-size players like Bryan Mone and Al Woods are in the game.

There is a perception that Tampa Bay modeled how to attack this defensive line in the running game and the Raiders teed off on them. Pete Carroll has insisted he knows what is wrong and is working to correct it. We will see on Sunday.

Cam Akers and Kyren Williams will be running the ball for the Rams. While they are far from the NFL’s best rushing combo (neither have played big roles this year), the Hawks’ front seven really has something to prove. They have given up a whopping 444 yards rushing in their last two games. Nothing should be taken for granted. Scoffing at the Rams’ offensive line backups playing in unfamiliar positions, with a backup quarterback and one of the NFL’s least productive running back duos is a luxury the Seahawks cannot afford.

This game will tell us a lot about whether this coaching staff can get this defense back on track. Two bad games are a slump. Three in a row is a real trend.

Decisions will need to be made in nearly every defensive area this offseason, from the coaching staff to the line, the linebackers and safeties. The data they collect in the last few games will be invaluable to the team as they enter an offseason with two first-round and two second-round picks.

This game is a contest the Seahawks should rightly dominate on defense. The Rams’ offense might be the weakest opponent they will face this year. And yet, with the division familiarity and the Seahawks’ penchant for playing down to their opponent’s level, our faith is not very high that the team can control this game with a tight defensive performance.

When the Seahawks Have the Ball

The offense put up 34 points last week, which should have been enough for a win. However, at key moments they were not able to move the ball to get in position to win the game. It is hard to fault the offense too much when the defense gives up almost 1000 yards in two weeks, though.

Tampa Bay and the Raiders have been effectively able to bottle up the running game, holding the Seahawks to 104 yards in the last two weeks. The Rams are one of the NFL’s best rushing defenses, ranking in the top 5 of the NFL on yards, yards per attempt and rushing touchdowns. It would seem a natural instinct to open up the passing game a bit and “run the ball” with short passes.

I think the Seahawks need to ignore that instinct and employ a healthy amount of runs on Sunday. In their last five games against the Rams they have run for a very respectable 4.48 yards per carry. That magical 100-yard barrier can be obtained if they keep that pace up and only run the ball 23 times on Sunday.

The point is, they have had success running the ball against LA. In Watch Points of weeks past against the Rams I have made this point several times: you can control the Rams if you commit to running the ball. It keeps their offense (and the Seahawk defense) off the field, gets the offense into a rhythm and allows the quarterback the comfort of knowing he is not carrying the entire game on his shoulders.

All the more so with Aaron Donald out for this game. Looking up and down the Rams’ defensive line, there are not a lot of high PFF scores there. Donald has tormented the Seahawks as much as any player has. They are well within their rights to run the ball up the gut, right at the spot Donald would have occupied and make his replacements do his job.

Geno Smith needs to keep doing Geno Smith things. Watch his great drive against the Rams in Week Five last year. Cue the video to 11:00. You will see Smith doing the things he has been doing this year when he is playing well — being decisive, reading the field and giving what the defense gives him and running when he has yards in front of him. The Seahawks need this kind of performance against the Rams to really keep the offense on schedule and put pressure on the Rams’ battered offense to keep up.

One thing of note from that game: The Rams followed the typical protocol when a backup quarterback enters the game. Call off the blitzing dogs and make him read the field and make good decisions. It did not work. Geno carved them up, moving the offense 91 yards in 5 minutes for a touchdown to pull them to within one score.

On the second drive, the Rams picked up their blitzing. Geno was unaffected. He drove them down the field for a field goal.

That is what the Seahawks need from Geno on Sunday. A player that can make decisions, take what his given him and keep control of the game from his spot.

Special Teams Could Decide the Course of This Game

The Seahawks and Rams have a relationship on Special Teams that dictates the coaches of both sides be ready for anything. There have been some wild plays between these two teams.

My favorite might be the Michael Dickson double-punt from last year (9:30 in that highlight video above). That was a tremendous feat of athleticism to scoop the ball with one hand, awareness that he is still behind the line of scrimmage and get a punt away that put the Rams in a hole.

One of the two Seahawks’ wins against the Rams in the last ten games was sealed by a missed field goal try by Greg Zuerlein.

And the Rams have pulled out a fake punt from their bag of tricks last week that got them a first down:

The Seahawks’ special teams units need to be sharp. The Rams have nothing to lose and they are still dangerous as a division rival. Not many things would make them happier than to win this game without Stafford, Kupp, Donald, etc because somebody fell asleep on special teams coverage.

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