I have a bunch of draft notes to file when I arrive in Seattle but just to let you know they won’t be posted until Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on how jet-lagged I am). My flight departs early afternoon UK time on Tuesday.
Very much looking forward to arriving and taking in a week of sport (if only the Seahawks were 7-3 instead of 6-4).
Enjoy the trip – looks like the weather should be great at least!
Safe travels!
I can’t recall if you were going to take in the Apple Cup as well, the atmosphere should be otherworldly this year.
Yep, I’ll be at the Apple Cup
Went to WSU, but I’d LOVE to see the Huskies win it all. Hope they can pull it off, they have a good shot this year.
Went to OSU but after last week I want Oregon to win the last PAC12 championship
@Justaguy
You’d rather root for Oregon than UW? Who hurt you?
Last Saturdays huskies.
Have fun Rob! Any players from UW or WSU you would like to see in Seattle next year?
There are some I’d be very open to drafting. I’ll publish my first horizontal board after my trip
I’ll be interested to hear your appraisal of Jaden Hicks. I’d be very open to Seattle drafting a big box safety if he shows enough aggressiveness in his play? We’ll need someone to take over from Jamal Adams when he gets cut this year or next.
WOOF!!!!
Rob,
Have an outstanding time at one of the most storied rivalries in all of College football, in my humble opinion. As a Husky fan my entire life, I have never been to an Apple Cup, but only witnessed from my couch this football game play out every Thanksgiving week. Have an amazing time at what could be then end of such a wonderful Northwest tradition.
They’ll keep it going.
They have extended the series through at least 2028 so it ain’t the end yet. I’ve only been to one Apple Cup, but it was the year they split the national title with Miami.
At 7-3 we would be pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot. At 6-4, we may very well end up out. I’d still say we have a 2/3rd chance as long as we end up 9-8. We’d have to win our last three, or two of the last three and steal from a contender. Man, the NFC is horrible this year.
As the season starts to solidify I’d say the top NFC teams, niners, eagles, detroit aren’t they far off the top AFC teams Ravens, Chiefs, Dolphins/Jax.
The nfc south is a mess.
The afc north has some heavy hitters on defense but three of those teams don’t have a qb who matters.
The AFC East….pats and jets enough said.
The West has 5-5 broncos sitting at the two spot.
As for playoffs for us….to which I am extremely ambivalent about:
East: Eagles
South: Saints…?
North: Detroit
West: Niners
Wildcards: Cowboys. Vikings. Seahawks.
The problem for Seattle is that two of the losses are already in division/conference for tie breakers. If they really botch this stretch a 9-8 record with say six of those losses coming from some advanced algebra level common opponents could have us looking outside in.
Last year there was debate about the benefits of a young team and playoff experience. I won’t dispute that in teams that are trending upward. Unfortunately and I mean this with honesty, we are not.
The offense is on track to be less dynamic and the defense…
Average five year rank of the defense:
Passing defense: 25
Running Defense: 19
Scoring Defense: 18
That’s five years including this season of being a bottom half defense in metrics that frankly matter. No offense to DVOA but the numbers listed matter as much or more than situational comparisons.
Those numbers as well do not include the next four games coming up against teams that are much higher than us on offensive output.
Point of note as well because averages are not always the best tool. The best year for run and scoring defense were both 4 to 5 years ago for the point of this. Right now as of typing the team is around the high teens to low 20’s at all categories.
I just use the espn playoff machine, and I’m finding it hard for any one of the 4-6 teams — Green Bay, LA, Atlanta, or Tampa bay — to get to 9 or 10 wins. Some we’ll have tie breakers over, some we don’t, I don’t know which.
Agree its very unlikely we miss it.
I just cruised through a quick pic em and ended up with the NFCN sending 3 teams to the dance. I must have been being kind to the Pack.
9-8 with a playoff appearance (mostly wildcard exit) will have these delusional Petehawk fans thinking they’re so close to being a SB team again. Seems they’re content with being a wild card, maybe divisional round team.
That’s my sense too. If we want to see things get better, we need to deal with a downturn. I wish that after the trade, we had let Carroll go and faced the reality of a rebuild.
7-10, you heard it here first
Is Jim Nagy trying to tell us that Spencer Rattler has accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl or are members of Florida A&M’s Dark Clouds defense going to be represented?
https://x.com/JimNagy_SB/status/1726740062795186367?s=20
https://twitter.com/seniorbowl/status/1726764289686474838
OFFICIAL! QB Spencer Rattler
@SpencerRattler
from
@GamecockFB
has accepted his invitation to the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl
Fantastic news
Hope your flights are uneventful Rob. Those are definitely the best kind.
Enjoy Seattle!
Yes, may the wind be in your sails and at your back.
Go Navy!
Wishing you a first class seat and a polar crossing with northern lights.
I cant imagine flying to SeaTac and get excited for this game.. hopefully that horrible loss gets the hawks pumped for a solid 9ers team.. hope you have fun in the US of A.. and a hawks win..
I’d be excited just for the good food again.
Asian restaurants in Pensacola suck.
You can trip and fall over a good Asian place in Seattle.
My daughter and I (the Asian food junkies in the family) found a place we like in Pensacola- Saigon Deli. We discovered it thinking we could get some supplies to cook, became a must stop for us.
I LOVE the Saigon Deli.
If you’re driving from L’ville to the Gulf Coast there is legit Asian food in Montgomery, AL.
For sure.
we always get outvoted in the Dreamland BBQ corridor…3 (or 4 now) to 2.
Supposedly, there are some Vietnamese/Thai families in Bayou La Batre that have a couple great restaurants, but I haven’t been to one yet.
Makes sense. Bayou La Batre boasts it’s “The Shrimp Capital of the World.”
Same with Mexican food in San Diego (I lived there for 13 years)
Enjoy the visit Rob.
It doesn’t sound like the family is with you, but if they are there’s a free nightly Christmas parade in Bellevue starting Friday.
Enjoy the games. Glad it’s not the last Apple Cup.
The Last Apple Cup. Is that the lost Charles Dickens novel where starving Tiny Tim goes to work in a coal mine?
This KC-PHI game is a treat for the trenches. Both sides laying claim to a better line from one series to the next.
Excellent play in the trenches by both teams.
The only time I have noticed our center’s in the last few years is when Aaron Donald is pancaking them, Jason Kelsey and Creed Humphrey were balling out making plays the entire the game.
Chris Jones just destroying drives on his own; would be nice to have kept that second rounder free up some cap space and bring him in this off season wouldn’t it! But hey who needs that when you can win now right
Zebras trying really hard to let KC win though.
https://twitter.com/seniorbowl
Palatypus mentioned that Spencer Rattler looked to be invited to the Senior Bowl. He is and has accepted. Some of the other early big name invites/acceptees I noticed by scrolling down the Senior Bowl twitter page above are OG Cooper Beebe of Kansas St., OL Graham Barton of Duke and DT T’Vondre Sweat of Texas.
Sweet! Can’t wait to go to the practices dressed as Rob and annoy people.
Should be fun to see him throw to Fl Gators WR Ricky Pearsall.
I fear that because four of the top five passing leaders in the FBS are in the Pac-?, Jayden Daniels will win the Heisman and decline his invitation.
This is nuts.
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/453
…And five of the top ten counting Colorado.
I like how you said Pac-?. UW and WSU just signed a 5 year deal to continue the Apple Cup, so at least there’s some continuity there.
Have a safe trip, Rob! Melatonin works wonders for the jet lag. It’s over the counter at Walgreens etc. in the States.
Have fun Rob. I am immensely jealous!
Enjoy and safe travels, Rob! Any chance you’ll get to partake in some stereotypical Yankee Thanksgiving eating while you’re stateside?
Rob hope the trip rules!!
Have a great trip Rob. I’ll say hi if I run into you at the Apple Cup. Go Dawgs!
Enjoy your time in Seattle, Rob. The weather should actually be pretty decent this week so you lucked out a bit. Coming all this way, I wish you were getting to see a better team than the current iteration of the Seahawks. Glad you get to see the Apple Cup as well. Rivalry games in college are pretty fun and you never know what’s going to happen. Hopefully the Cougs got their mojo back a little and it’s a good game.
For Thursday’s should Pete show up dressed as Custer? Symbolizing that this could be the last stand for any realistic playoff hopes.
Or maybe he could show up in a Turkey costume, symbolic of a Thanksgiving sacrifice.
Turkey costume symbolic of what he’s become
Thinking that if Schneider and Petey want to trade DK in the off-season Kansas City would probably be the first team they might want to call. Their wide receiver corps is brutally average or below average.
But do we want to hand them another Super Bowl like we did with the Frank Clark trade?
There are plenty of other teams that would be interested.
If we were to game this out for a second who would be the other teams?
I thought the chiefs at trade deadline made the absolute best sense.
WR value is weird. He’s expensive and going to look statistical meh for reasons both in and beyond his control this year.
I haven’t really crunched the WR class this year but I’d have to think DK would be worth around a second. Are there AR’s in that range that can be great day one w/o the cost? Again I really only know Harrison Jr, Odunze, Leggett.
DK comps pretty well with AJ Brown. Same class, reasonably similar stats. Slight nod to Brown, but not significantly so.
I don’t know that DK would get a R1 + R3, but I would think at least the R1.
And if there are multiple teams interested, might as well throw that mid rounder in too.
Seems pretty clear JSN was a pick for the future, to replace Lockett who’s gotta be close to calling it a career. If they trade DK, they’ll have to draft or find his replacement in FA; the latter can be expensive, and Seattle can’t afford expensive, and they’ve had some failures drafting WR (Eskridge, Richardson, Norwood, Darboh, Harper), so trading him is a proposition fraught with peril.
Even so, if they could get an offer like the Titans got for Brown, it would all but guarantee getting their QB of choice not named Caleb Williams.
Titans level offer sure.
I know Rob has made mention of near zero savings trading DK unless the other team eats all his cap which I would think they wouldn’t.
I’m not a fan that lives in fear and DK gets a lot of grief for his onfield actions and frankly undue low key disrespect for production relative to who is tossing the ball ( injured wilson, this version of Geno) all that to say I could very we see Tyler hang up the cleats this year. Lowest production, team probably isn’t going anywhere, he said himself he didn’t see playing this long.
I worry that a trade for DK anything less than the brown trade would result in situation where the capital back would be forced right out again.
Not for nothing but Bobo and his catch a game pace and JSN and his fair production is not really what you want to be rolling with for a new qb.
The Jets came to mind if they can’t get D. Adams.
The Bears, Texans, Colts, Titans & Panthers all have cap space & young QBs (assuming Williams to CHI).
The Lions would be an interesting destination if they make a championship push.
Maybe the Bengals if they lose Tee Higgins to FA.
I’m especially pissed today at not having a 2nd round pick this upcoming draft considering the growing list of exciting senior bowl participants. Not to whine but we probably could have drafted a DT & signed Williams anyway (after significant roster cuts). Still feel like that trade was done a year early at the least.
This is ‘Seahawks Draft Blog’ & it’s no coincidence that the years we have extra picks (2021, 2022) are way more fun than the drafts where we’re forced to manufacture picks or just have 3.
Year early at best for a player at his perceived level.
For him at his age and diminishing production the right year might have been not at all.
Seattle is pretty good at finding certain positions. Corner and WR notably. They are awful at drafting Dlinemen. I think that’s why they did it. A bit of hubris at thinking the time is now and an implicit acknowledgement that they don’t what they are doing in the draft for that position.
Yes, it’s time for some serious, selective roster Armageddon. When the offense often sucks and the defense often sucks, its hard to maintain the illusion that you have a good team.
I can never really understand the enthusiasm some express for trading Metcalf. He’s our best offensive player; he dictates defensive coverages; he’s a good blocker; he plays tough every game.
I think it’s because we don’t feature him. Not many people would question his talent, but he doesn’t get the targets that a traditional top of the salary band WR gets so it makes one question the value. (Only 40 catches so far this season) Why pay top-dollar for a WR you don’t take advantage of?
This right here.
Saw a podcast recently say the same for TE’s. That there’s no point in spending on Dissly anymore, shelling out for Fant this offseason or drafting any TE higher than a fifth rounder since we’re not going to use them. I’d love a Bowers but not a top ten pick for a target or two a game. That’s a pass for me.
It’s the same for DK. We can’t use him. So why keep him around at his cost.
I’d love/hate to see what almost any offensive coach of the 2013 Washington Commanders could do with our personnel.
Great pull.
Here’s one. Sean Payton and the 70% Wilson of now out in Denver.
OK. Metcalf plus Eskridge to the Commanders for Terry McLaurin and their R2.
Eh. When he does get 10-15 targets, his catch rate has been pretty poor. They have tried force feeding him and it hasn’t worked.
Aj brown people think rules.
And DK creates a meh feeling.
Brown has a 56.5% catch rate this year
DK is 53.5%. Same.
They both are prolific droppers. With DK sometimes besting Brown.
If they threw the ball to DK as much as they throw it to Brown and everything else was the same DK would already be at 826 yards in the season with seven games to go.
Is Brown better? This year. Both are always going to be spotty. Seattle just does not need a #1 style guy. Yet DK is still with all his faults will have another good if not great year.
Which is a lot of words and a half hearted defense of a player I think they should trade away if they plan on carrying on with the Geno experience.
On the one hand Metcalf looks the part of a big wide receiver and has made some critical catches.
On the other hand he must not be that fast anymore because he is always tightly covered and he drops a lot of balls. Apparently about half the balls he gets his hands on. Also he gets frustrated and gets stupid penalties.
The decision is becoming clearer with the addition of JSN and Bobo. But Lockette won’t last forever. So it’s a mixed bag.
Like both but would love to see either stretch the field. Jsn and bobo that is. Curious about the legend of Jake Bobo and what happens when he’s consistently playing versus gadget plays.
To my eye (yes, quite fallible) it appears that Metcalf HAS slowed down. He almost looks plodding at times. Metcalf is a nice piece but not a #1. That’s a lot to pay for a ‘nice piece’.
To illustrate my point Zane (below) I highly doubt a 25 year old has slowed down at all. Unless he’s carrying an injury. But he’s been here for five (!) Seasons and is not even 26 yet.
James I’m not even saying your wrong. Just that it’s not that likely unless like I said he’s injured.
But people are over a player who has *only* average 1000 plus yards ( including this year’s pace) and 8 tds for five straight years.
+1
Lockett is still the clear number one on this team. So a further point, maybe he is fast but he can’t shake the defender. Because the defender is almost always right in his face.
But what is a good or great year at WR these days?
A 1000k + receiver is the norm isn’t it?
80 catches a year anything special anymore?
I’m going to crunch the numbers but I think it’s going to be surprising how uncommon it actually is.
Additionally it’s not just the yards. Per a cursory example….Terry McLaurin has the sane yards but is way far off the td mark.
Just because we don’t throw to him a ton doesn’t mean he isn’t having an impact. And, if he’s not getting targets, doesn’t that speak more to a need to improve the offensive scheme, not trade away talent?
I feel like this mirrors the old argument that our draft picks are fungible because we had a run of bad drafts.
I like DK way more than others here. I know he’s having an impact. Deeper analytics point to him being consistently doubled compared to all other recievers on roster.
I’ve just resigned myself to this not being an argument I care for much.
He was one of the hottest WR to come into the league but a bad wildon year and a mediocre Geno year plus penalties have people thinking he’s something he’s not: a problematic diva who doesn’t contribute.
He’s still very young and in a different system I think he could be money.
But the legend of Bobo has people thinking you can swap the two out easy peasy for the same results.
Where do you see that he’s being double teamed?
My eyes tell me that Geno is wildly inaccurate when targeted by Geno. The Cincy game in particular was a mess. I think he had 15 targets and probably half of them were uncatchable.
I don’t think teams really ‘double team’ WR’s do they? Maybe you shade a safety to his side, but DK’s issue is that he’s not a great route runner. You want help over the top in case he gets by his guy, but it’s not like he’s juking guys at the LOS like tank dell.
Where are you seeing deeper analytics that point to him being consistently doubled?
This is a clerical error from 2022 when he was. Now it appears he’s out of the top ten (hill, jeffferson, etc, ) command those spots.
Where are you finding this? My search words aren’t turning up much. I like digging into numbers like that if they’re available.
We have a bigger problem than I thought LOL.
He hasn’t completed a single pass to himself all year!
🤦♂️
Our safeties have tackled themselves.
I”m totally with you fwiw. Think he’s a tone-setter, maybe the only one we have on the team. And he’s our best target for the toughest situation given his ability to catch the ball in high contact expectancy areas. Talk of trading a 25 y.o. productive WR like DK, unless the haul was truly impressive, has always seemed way off to me.
Matt Canada fired.
Saw we are only slightly better than they are on red zone tds and worse than they are on third down.
I’d say fingers crossed but the next man up would most likely be Pete’s kid…
Although….if he remembered to run with a lead in the second half and TE’s are in fact allowed to catch forward passes….
Looks like Jim Nagy has updated the player profiles of invite acceptees.
https://www.seniorbowl.com/senior-bowl-2024-latest-accepted-invites-player-profiles/
New CFP Rankings are just out.
10 Louisville
9 Missouri
8 Alabama
7 Texas
6 Oregon
5 Florida State
4 WASHINGTON
3 Michigan
2 Ohio State
1 Georgia
Also, ESPN reported that Jordan Travis said on social media that his college football career is over.
Still plenty of significant games yet to be played in regards to the ‘rankings’.
Michigan vs Ohio State
Washington vs Oregon 2
Georgia vs Alabama
FSU vs Louisville
Action Green back on the menu for Thanksgiving
Annie Agar on Twitter is asking people what Thanksgiving side dish their team is, and why. I said mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives. But in the action green it might be green bean casserole with bacon bits.
Green Jell-O shots for this game
Green-Jello became Green Jelly, then became Tool.
You might call that A Perfect Circle
The Seahawks are Sauerkraut.
Ich bin ein sauerkraut?
Wait Rob is coming into town? Who’s buying the first round?
Tom Brady as a coach for Seattle..
Twisted in a way but if he could bring more rings…precious
selling souls