Hi all, several of you have asked for me to start an open thread so you can continue discussing various off-season topics.
In order to limit SPAM — comments on individual articles cease after two weeks.
Expect another stream soon but in the meantime, here’s a thread to continue the conversation.
What I am curious about is everyone’s thoughts on PC and RW saying they’re all buddy buddy and we’re never serious about a potential trade. Sounds like lip service for the fans and media. We’ll see how things go in the next off season.
My thought is that neither of them are credible. At all. On most topics. Pete is often evasive or offering up predictions and messages that push well past optimism to incredulity. And RW…when your agent puts out a list of teams you’d like to play for and you do not deny it and fire the agent, then you are asking for a trade very publicly.
I want these the team to win and PC/RW to be successful, but I do not think it reasonable to trust anything they say.
They’re saying what needs to be said to get into the season.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If the 2021 season ends the same way as the last six — prepare for the next big saga.
Agreed.
However, the Danny Kelly “Big Top” index is as low as it has been all off season! (That’s my guess, not from him)
But it’s the media’s fault, dontchaknow?
When Pete and Russ started trumpeting that crap, I tuned out.
Me too
There’s a distinct, ‘fans will buy any old crap’ vibe to it. I prefer honesty. I don’t have an issue with friction. It’s life. Clearly there were issues.
Trying to deflect and pretend everything was OK all along was insulting
At first blush, it feels like lip service…
But throughout the last two month before camp all I wanted was both (or atleast one) to come out and say “we are good.” That’s what they are doing I suppose
To me, it is feeling forced.
First, it was silence with no response to the “non trade request”. Then, the party line was that there wasn’t a need to share details because apparently all was well and they were always on the same page. Now, it feels like way too much about how everyone loves each other.
Nothing feels genuine with the message, and I’m expecting to be back here in 8-12 months.
I keep hearing that Shane Waldron’s offense is more diverse, complex, and will give the receivers more freedom. The players are saying this in a good way. Will Russel Wilson be able to handle this kind of offense?
Personally, I don’t believe Russ is cut out for this kind of offense and he will not have a good season. We will see a lot of scrambling around because the WR does something that throws Russ off. I don’t believe Russ is the thinking type of QB. Goff had years in Mcvay’s scheme, and still had problems. I don’t think Russ will be able to pick up the offense. All I really want is for him to use his TEs more, and learn how to throw the ball away instead of taking a sack.
I don’t agree with this statement. Now, I am not saying Russ will “cook,” in this new offense, but I think this is an offense that will actually take some pressure off of him. I think there will be more easy reads for Russ, and I think after some growing pains he will be proficient. Also, Russ is 5x the QB that Goff is and ever will be.
What is an easy read? Schottenheimir schemed people open all the time and Russ couldn’t find them unless it was the deep ball.
I think there will be some growing pains but Goff’s first year under Mcvay had pretty immediate results. Russ is better than Goff despite any flaws. I also can’t imagine Waldron would put Russ in many positions to look bad. Russ is his meal ticket. The hardest part of the OC job in Seattle was serving 2 masters in PC and Russ so he is gonna have to make concessions. Russ is still gonna eat on the plays that he thrives in. Where Waldron can make a difference is having executable answers when they take away Russ’ go to plays. From what Lockett said, thigs are looking that way.
Which leaves a lot up to Russ, in term of making the right read. I’m not sure he’s any good at doing that. What he’s good at is running around in circles until someone gets open.
That is a reductionist approach Brik. I could not disagree more. I think you should watch some All-22 film of Russ. It might be a benefit to you.
It’s one thing finding the first man you’re supposed to be looking for. It’s one thing to go through your progressions, checking for your first guy or second guy. It’s another thing to read that defense and know which of your 4 routes will be open with that coverage. Maybe you should try playing QB some time.
“Maybe you should try playing QB some time.”
Brik that is an absurd statement. Where are you Quarterbacking these days?
Based on your comments I highly doubt you are reading D’s and know Russ’s progressions in our offense. C’mon man?
“Russ couldn’t find them unless it was the deep ball.”
There are about 370 throws last season that say otherwise. Blind hate is not discussion Brik. Good luck playing QB in your next game.
What’s absurd is that your critical of my analysis without actually giving any examples. I actually give specific facts, while you dance around the issue. You told me to watch film and look at every one of 370 throws. I told you to learn how the QB position works. Give me some examples of me being wrong where he throws in under 3 seconds. (3 seconds is a long time for a QB) When you have a coach like Brian Schottenheimer leave and be able to instantly find a job somewhere else, it’s doubtful that people saw him as the problem.
https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/analysis/pressure-timing-data-patrick-mahomes-josh-allen-lamar-jackson/
Cold hard facts. 6% of his pressures are blown blocks, which is not very much. Sad part is he’s on a list where nearly every other guy has only been around a few years. This is the part of his career where he should be like Brees, not Lamar Jackson.
Brilliant. Once again you show you don’t not know what you are talking about. Go practice your spirals champ. You are not a QB Brik. You don’t play or have an NFL QB mind. C’mon man?
“Schottenheimir schemed people open all the time and Russ couldn’t find them unless it was the deep ball.”
Please actually watch the film. Russ put it on tape and that shit is good. Russ and this offense is too talented for the shit Shifty was drawing up last season.
” I actually give specific facts, while you dance around the issue. ”
Boy you are shitting out opinions not facts. I dont have to prove you wrong. Your own words do that Brik. Shotty getting another job does not mean he was not the problem. It means he is the son of a coach who has connections. If you were a QB whisperer you would know its irresponsible to judge Brees, Lamar, and Russ based on missed block % under different schemes and systems at diff points in their career. Russ outplayed them despite of Shotty. Can you have prove Shotty has ever coached a QB that got rid of the ball quicker and more efficiently then Russ? Oh wait he got rehired so his system is good?
“It’s another thing to read that defense and know which of your 4 routes will be open with that coverage. ”
Oh yes you can read those coverages in 2.5 from home. But Russ can’t. I forgot this is one of your facts. Boy you don’t even know coverages Couch QB. Keep dreaming about that CFL career or scholarship that never happened Brik. Keep hating its a good color on you Superstar.
Be nice, people
Yea I’m going to listen to Rob because for all those words I still haven’t been given anything concrete to look at. I had more of a chance at the MLB or even NHL than I did the NFL. Played WR mostly in high school, but it wasn’t that complicated when I took some shots at throwing the ball. Watch Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers. Tell me that Russell Wilson is on their level. Please tell me your credentials Jeffrey, I’m curious as to why you think you think you know so much. If you have watched the videos, give me some specific examples. Great QBs will make the right read more often than not, not every so often. Throwing the ball away is better than taking a sack. Why are you getting so upset about this? My so-called opinion doesn’t effect you in any way. Personally I want Russell to have a great season. I just doubt he can win a Super Bowl without one of the best defenses of all time. Hopefully I’m wrong.
P.S.- Missed block percentage relative to the sacks he took. It looks pretty bad from my POV. We’ll see how Schotty does with his rookie in Jacksonville.
I dont watch all22, and am no scout. But I would hope having a creative OC, that has a variety of routes and schemes to implement, that Russ wont have to scramble around and wait, and make things happen because the play will actually scheme guys open.
Can see a lot of plays where the old OC schemed guys open and Russ didn’t find them. Why would it be any different now?
We better hope Russ clucks with Waldron’s offense because we are going to need to score a bunch of points every week :
No rush DT to push the pocket so opposing qb’s can step up all day and pick apart our defense – the same defense sporting a rookie de/lb coming off major injuries, another lb in the middle who is older and losing a step, another second year lb who had real coverage skill issues(that frequently saw him on the bench in passing situations, a below average cb crew and an all pro safety who not only showed poorly in coverage on his own but also frequently leaves the rest of the db’s in a bind with his blitzing and his freelance roaming.
Another point that needs pondering is how will Waldron fare as a first time play caller in the nfl?
I don’t believe they’re planning on using the DTs on the roster to pass rush. They will either move some ends over to play DT on passing downs, or blitz. The whole team is a question mark to me right now. It’s both exciting and scary to see what happens. Will they be great, or will they look like chickens with their heads cut off?
That may be true, but that’s not a good thing. We want to be projecting pass rush threat from all over. If they can 1v1 our DT’s then they can pick up our S and LB blitzes that much easier. Those blitzes only really work when left unblocked.
The QB will have more room to step up into the pocket, negating our outside rush. Our inside rush will have a free guard/center to block blitzes, and the QB has elbow room to navigate and throw into the empty space from the blitz. Inside rush is really important. Even if it just pushes the pocket backwards, that sets the foundation for the DE’s to be successful.
I feel like people are freaking out over the loss of Jarran Reed. Very few teams have DTs producing that many sacks. Most of the time when you have a guy with a bunch of sacks, they aren’t very good at stopping the run. We won a Super Bowl without a legit pass rush DT, and even had Red Bryant playing at DE. The system that Pete Carrol runs does not need a pass rushing DT.
It’s not about having a ‘legit pass rush DT’ it’s about being able to produce any pressure or push at all from the interior. Their best guy at that – who also managed play a Herculean amount of snaps – is gone without anyone to replace him.
That SB team had Mebane, McDaniel, McDonald and Hill on the interior. 9 sacks between them that year.
The current group can’t hold a candle to those guys.
I’m more worried about the secondary, it’s as simple as that. 9 sacks is less than Jamal Adams had without playing every game. You can constantly sack guys, but if the defense gives up a 20 yard pass the next play, it’s useless. Poona Ford is better than people seem to think. The other DT can be a whoever is playing the best right now. If you don’t have a star, you use fresh legs. They might not have a DT with a bunch of sacks, but they’ll have a bunch of guys who got a couple sacks from the DT position.
That may be true, but that’s not a good thing. We want to be projecting pass rush threat from all over. If they can 1v1 our DT’s then they can pick up our S and LB blitzes that much easier. Those blitzes only really work when left unblocked.
The QB will have more room to step up into the pocket, negating our outside rush. Our inside rush will have a free guard/center to block blitzes, and the QB has elbow room to navigate and throw into the empty space from the blitz. Inside rush is really important. Even if it just pushes the pocket backwards, that sets the foundation for the DE’s to be successful.
1. Poona can bulk rush effectively and consistently, so can Mone. We also have a ton of DE/DT hybrid types who can rush from inside on passing downs
One of them being-
2. That rookie lb coming off an injury. The one who had the talent to be a top 20 pick without that injury. He will contribute. Believe that.
3. Brooks will only get better, many above average LBs aren’t that great in coverage. Its about using players strengths. Bobby Wagner wasnt very good in coverage until 4 or 5 years ago. Now hes top 5 coverage linebacker.
4. Wagner is still the best linebacker in football. Lost step or not. Hes still a stud and hes still gonna make all-pro this year if he stays healthy.
5. CB group is not below average. We have 4-6 capable starters who would all be considered average except for Tre Flowers. That’s great depth too. Youd have a hard time finding a better CB group that doesnt have a star CB. Believe it or not our CB group is probably top 16 in the league.
6. Jamal didnt fit in our scheme last year. Seattles has clearly decided they need more speed in the secondary behind Adam’s. This will help a ton. Speedy DBs closing on holes, receivers and the ball constantly will create pressure for a QB, giving Adams more time to make his blitz worth it. We could easily see him reset the record for sacks by a DB this year. If our back end is solid and doesnt get beat all the time immediately, Adam’s could legitimately be a 15+ sack player and cover TEs also. (Well worth the trade imo as long as we get him signed)
That would all be the flip side of the coin and frankly I’d be happy if things/players worked out the way you see, I just tend remember the defense of the first half of last season and I don’t see how we are really much improved if at all especially with losing Jarran Reed on the interior and even though he wasn’t exactly a fave of mine Shaq Griffin on the outside. We will see how it all plays out-
Fair enough, I’m definitely an optimist when it comes to the Seahawks but it’s only logical that at least a couple of a few of those things pan out.
The LBs, Bobby, Brooks and Taylor are pretty safe bets IMO. Jamal will get his. CB and DT are definitely big question Mark’s but I’m confident in stunts getting inside pressure and we have a good chance that somebody will be good enough across from DJ Reed
Brooks was actually pretty good in coverage last year and should continue to improve with experience. See Griff and Matty’s work on Twitter. Some really impressive reps covering deep crossers that I didn’t notice during the games.
I don’t have the stats on me but I don’t think Poona or Mone create much pressure, which is fine, that’s not their job. DT is not looking good for pass rush. To contextualize, on this blog after the 2016 loss to the Falcons when the pass rush consisted of Clark, Bennett, and Avril from the edge (we don’t have a single edge rusher as good as the 2016 versions of those guys although Dunlap is close), the key point was the need for interior pass rush. Compare that pass rush roster, which wasn’t good enough at the time, and this one and it’s night and day.
CB group you might be right about them being (slightly, IMO) above average but the presence (or lack thereof) of a star is key. The Rams, for example, pretty much had Jalen Ramsey and a bunch of ??? at CB and their secondary was shutdown (maybe Darious williams turns out to be elite, but he certainly wasn’t considered that prior to last season). I’m not sure an average group going up against playoff caliber offenses is gonna get it done but we’ll see. I think the plan is for that to not matter but that depends on the offense doing well against playoff defenses, which is a whole separate discussion…
They also had that safety who now plays for the Browns. Josh Johnson I think it was. The Rams defense will not be as good this year.
Also I think someone mentioned that the DTs real job is not supposed to be pass rushing, I agree with that. Not everyone is Aaron Donald.
That’s true, but in theory our safeties were and are better than theirs so the main diff is the CB (Ramsey) if we’re just comparing secondaries (I should have made this more clear, my b). Obviously their pass rush was better than ours as well and that helps their overall pass defense numbers. And yes, defensive performance is usually volatile so I’d expect them to drop from #1, especially with the departures this offseason as you mentioned.
Regarding DTs, I agree for your 1/0 (NT type), but your 3T should be able to provide some pass rush. There is actually a decent number of players who provide pass rush from the defensive interior (4-3 DTs and 3-4 DEs) around the league. Off the top of my head, Kinlaw (9ers), Donald (Rams), Cox (Eagles), Atkins (FA/Bengals), DeFo (Colts), Hayward (Steelers), Hargrave (Eagles?), Campbell (Ravens, also edge rushes though), Richardson (FA/Browns), Tillery (Chargers), Clark (Packers, rare NT who pass rushes), Hicks (Bears), Suh and Vea (Bucs), Jones (Chiefs), QW (Jets), EO (Bills), Casey (broncos?), LW (Giants). I’m sure there are many more “quiet” guys who aren’t big names but still put in work pressuring from the DI.
Off the top of your head? Well I looked it up and there are 10 guys with 5 or more sacks. Most of them only have 1 or 2 more sacks than that. LJ Collier had 3 sacks himself, so not very much difference there. I would guess there’s 80-100 DTs in the NFL. We’re talking about a fraction of the guys who are legit pass rushers. Don’t underestimate Poona Ford either. Out of our defense, the D-line is my least worry.
They’re a Carlos Dunlap injury away from having a disastrous D-line
They have 11-12 guys on the D-line alone. I don’t think they even plan on playing Dunlap more than 75% of the snaps, so he can be fresh for the playoffs. I’m not sure what they’ll do, but I envision a lot of guys getting playing time and looking fresh. Mayowa at 100% is better than Dunlap at 60%. I will not buy that this d-line for 2021 is a problem unless I see it for myself.
Well you’ve seen what this DL is like without Dunlap.
It’s an utter car crash.
No Dunlap and there are big problems.
They’re also a Duane Brown injury away from having a disastrous o-line….
I’m more optimistic. I’ve always thought RW was good in up-tempo, but Pete preferred to take more time off the clock. And with Seattle’s personnel (including Carson out of the backfield), mismatches could be created if not enough time for defensive substitutions. I think RW can make those reads and get the ball to the right matchup including QB keeper which Goff was less effective at. Remember the added dimension the Rams added with Wolford? Bet we see that with Russ.
Other thing about this new offense is it’s designed for yards after the catch, and Seattle has some real YAC power other than maybe Dissly. So maybe RW’s yards in the air come down but his yards per attempt may even increase.
Think RW is a real good fit for this type of offense.
Other thing I’d add about up tempo is it generally means RW will release earlier; completion % likely to be higher; and offensive lines’ job is a bit easier. All three of these effects are remedies for some of the offense’s 2nd half of the seasons’ problems
How dare you disrespect rumbling yac monster uncle will. I don’t know if Russ will run too much as he’s getting up there, but there will for sure be some fun options with naked boots.
Yeah man, my first thought was that Uncle Will actually flashed amazing YAC ability the times he was healthy. Still remember that 61 (?) yard reception he had in his first game against Denver. Was genuinely shocked watching it live as I read he wasn’t that athletic!
Hate to say it, but Wilson’s physical limitations make any schemes mute. Going all the way back to SB49 with Baldwin consistently open makes me doubt it’s scheme. Maybe it’s not physical limitation, but mental? Does Russ pass on short easy stuff waiting for big explosives because that’s what he and Pete wants, or does he just not see the open receiver for an easy first down?
by contrast though it seemed to me (by comparison to recent seasons at least) like a lot of short easy passes including over the middle in SB48… of course you could probably argue that it was a no pressure situation (albeit in a superbowl) with the LOB destroying the broncos.
Im curious what people’s thoughts are on Nkiemdiche? Are you high or low on him being contributing factor on the team?
Obviously, he hasn’t really established himself in his career yet. But he is one of those guys that has potential to exceed (low) expectations. Woods and Mone and basically just giant run stoppers. So outside of Poona there’s not an interior pass rush. I’m rather excited to see if Nkiemdiche can be the backup for Poona. The physical gifts are there, so maybe a scheme change and new coaching can help?
Is there another redemption project on the roster you are higher on?
I’m not expecting much of anything, but he has some fascinating traits where if he only played 20-30% of the snaps at 3T, he could really thrive based on how he showed up to camp and what we’ve been hearing. Maybe his time away from football kicked him into gear.
Orrrrr more likely, he peaked against lower competition and is just not made for the NFL game. Hopefully he impresses enough to snag a roster spot, because I’m not sold on Green and Collier reducing down on obvious passing downs as a solution to the interior pass rush.
His press conference was very upbeat. I’m not sure if that is something new but I seem to remember a lethargic draft interview many years ago, so if he has a new attitude that may go a long way. He has many skills that one else has at his position in SEA and if he can replicate his 4.5 sacks off the bench for ARI in 2019 then you can call it a success.
Just another reclemation project, it’ll be interesting to see him in a 4-3 scheme. I was high on him in the draft, we’ll have to see if he makes the team though, we typically only bring 3 DTs
Nkemdiche suddenly seems more interesting as a wildcard on the DL. If he really feels like this is his last chance, like he said, he could emerge. Only a year older than LJ and a lot better athlete.
I live in Mississippi and saw his entire college career. Nkemdiche looked like he was in a good head space during his presser. He also looked a lot bigger than I remember him. Count me very intrigued in what he can bring to the table.
Some people just need a reality check or some time to mature. Lord knows I was a cringy and lazy kid when i was 20. I’m all for these reclamation projects as long as the player is not too far gone. I don’t think Nkemdiche is too far gone by any means. These projects have a very low % chance of working, but there is no risk in trying, so go for it. I still remember Mike Williams being a pretty good addition in Carroll’s first year, and even Dion Jordan has a decent showing in the few games he played after signing.
Nkemdiche is not too far gone, and he may have had a moment of maturity. Very little to lose on this gamble and a lot to gain.
PC on 710 this morning with O’Niell and Salk
[q] how has minicamp gone to date? “Camp gone great. Guys did a fantastic job on Zoom. Reported in fantastic shape. No one we needed to hold out due to conditioning. Good indication of what we can count on for big camp. A lot of crisp work, impressive beginning for Shane and the guys on offense. Russ and Shane been on it. They lead the charge – they’ve been really connected. Defense fun to see young guys. Big difference with this camp format – Rookies got a large volume of work done. Will really help us in camp.”
[q] how will Waldron offense look different? “Main thing tempo. Still a zone running team, love the passing game off of that. Extensive work in the keeper game, play passes we’ll see more of that. Details he brings and continuity is really sharp. Russ and Geno can execute and call it at the LOS. I’m hoping we’ll protect the QB better. Rhythm of things, we’re at our best when Russell quick with the football.”
[q] improved protection this year? “Really getting the ball out. The execution and what you’re asking the QB to do in terms of the style of throws would like to be really quick, really rhythmical. Continuity up front excited about competition. Pocic or Fuller calling the shots. Both battling, handling things well. Part of it too. Backs and TE’s participate in protection. It’s very intricate. But the best thing you can do is get the ball out and Russ is tuned into doing that. Hope to sharp from the get go.”
[q] How important Jamal Adams to D? “Big factor, such a playmaker. Kenny did a great job tying him into the defense right from the moment he got here. Coverage guy, at LOS, really good, run defender, really good, pressure guy best in the history of the game. Wide range. Plus, fans will see his energy he brings and adds to the D. High spirited and tough. Adds a ton in that regard.”
[q] Should we be worried about Adams’ contract? Duane Brown contract? “You shouldn’t. Guys in last year of contract always a consideration. Jamal, when we made the big trade, planned for this negotiation to happen. Lock him up for a long time. Young player, huge future ahead of him. Always in the works, focusing on it now. Going well, communicating at a good clip. Anticipate get worked out. Love what he brought to team.”
[q] Breakout player? “Gerald Everett. With Rams with Shane. Fanciest, sweetest looking WR-TE mix we’ve had. Terrific YAC ability, good blocker, knows system inside and out. Real threat in throwing game, big factor on 3rd down. TE good spot with Will and Colby Parkinson, he’s really impressive. Gerald should catch a lot of balls and be right in the middle of the action.”
[q] COVID last year/this year feel? “Different situation, but same keeping people safe. Carryover from last year. Guys back, every guy tested negative on everyday basis. Dedication to principles. Vax issues, dealing with that. Hope to have everybody vax by camp, take care of business.”
“Pocic or Fuller calling the shots.” Well that’s not encouraging. I’d like to think Pocic either was straight up better than Fuller to start with or had improved enough(see worked on his strength) to be the clear cut number one. Another year of not being able to run up the middle when we need the short third down gains and another year where better DT’s consistently blow through our center to disrupt plays.
Agreed, but to be fair he also mentioned Geno right after Russ so I don’t think you should read too much into that.
Not sure I can draw the same parallel, it’s not like Pete said it’ll be either Russ or Geno calling the shots (ie. starting).
It all just tells me may the best of the two well below average centers who at this point are about dead even; win the job. This team just clearly feels you can get by with poor center play(and has for years). I don’t appreciate that philosophy and I’m pretty sure Russ does’nt either….
Thanks again for doing this Cha
I once watched an interview with an Australian author where she said “Americans have vowel cancer”. I think of that whenever I listen to PC or Russell.
Australians spread yeast extract on toast and call it yummy…so there’s that.
Adams is a “coverage guy” Pete? Bwa ha ha ha……………
Day 3 Minicamp Press Conf w PC
[jen] Accomplish because conditioning? “Farther than we thought we would. Couple good rhythms this time of year. Really successful couple weeks.”
[joe fann] Lockett noted freedom in Waldron offense? More latitude than other OCs? “Not gotten in his way. Such command of what he’s doing. Orchestrate teaching process. Hear from players, impressed with him. Verbage, style of teaching, guys moving far. Ahead of where we thought we’d be right now.”
[joe] Aldon Smith? “In town, not ready for minicamp yet. In town. Looking forward to it, best for him to be working out. Good impression made with us.”
[corbin] Hart good practice, good rapport w Russ, competition? “Made team last year because you can count on him. Routes, knowing offense, special teams, toughness. Attitude obvious. Camp maybe the best shot of making things happen. Spectacular couple weeks. Right in competition. Really battling.”
[maz veda] Tre Flowers seen from him? “Ready to go. CB position really competitive. Good structure of guys, different style guys, long, big, quick, will take all of camp to figure it out. Tre knows guys coming for his job. Ready.”
[michael shawn] Urusa, Blair, Pierre not participating? “Ursua tweaked knee, he’s fine. Pierre athletic hernia, made good impression early, good feel for him, got surgery done. Blair, protecting him, worked a lot so far. Ahead of schedule learning his football. Moving him around, number of different things, give him a chance to show, love his playmaking just didn’t want to overload him.”
[michael] Poona rush so well for his size? “Timing, feel, hand eye coord, natural athleticism. Body doesn’t look like he should. Leverage and natural quickness, long arms. Didn’t look part to other teams, available to us. Really smart as well.”
[art thiel] Aspect of Waldron offense that is original? “Command of entire notebook, sense for creating system to be accessible to players, understand the continuity, knows it well. Packaged teaching part, the code names and systems, is in advance of years past. Knows it well, teaches well. Some guys say easier than what we’ve done in the past. Have to be careful of trying to do too much though. He has a big notebook. But I love it. Russ has totally embraced it. Different will be tempo overall.”
[gregg] Tempo no huddle or ? “Everything from huddle to snap point, using all elements of game available. A lot going quickly. Maintaining edge on D so they cannot adjust. Moving a lot. Challenging the defense.”
[gregg] Vax goal? “There’s a chance. Got a shot at it. Had a vax event today after practice. Striking distance of making it. Bulk of team will be done. Around 70% soon by end of week. Lot of guys asking Q’s. Leaders vaxed. Really good input from science community.”
[gregg] Players upset with restrictions for non-vaxed? “Haven’t seen it.”
[bob condotta] Taylor progress? Barton & BBK? “Darrell a real highlight. Worked out w rookies. Probably best prepared guy on football team among guys coming back. Exciting. Edge rush ability, really good burst off the football. Play in space and rush the passer. Frustrated last year we didn’t have him. One of the brightest camps. Barton battling for playing time, starting time, get a ton of work. He’ll get a great shot at it. Love the player. BBK done a really good job as well. Both he and Cody will play and we have no hesitation about their game. Position group really strengthened because of their emergence.”
[john boyle] Vets later, benefits for rookies? “Incredible benefit. Wish I’d have handled better last year. This year, never had so much focus time on young guys. Best group I’ve ever had. Enormous opp for them to take advantage of. They know a lot of football right now. I don’t know what that means as we put the team together, but they’re ready to go.”
[brady henderson] Variety in offense? Communication up to 15 second cutoff? “Convo with Shane and Russ continue to improve, but already a chemistry. Shane had a way for Russ to grow up in the system, started a while back. Balanced football team. Like always means keep ball away from other guys. Whatever it takes to get that done. Tremendous QB, great system, guys around him, so excited about TE position, Chris and Rashaad running the football, exciting offense for us. Always explosive when at our best. Run the football and hard to stop. Area biggest difference is on 3rd downs. Be around 50%, hard to deal with. Have guys to go to. Everything we’ve ever done comes into play here. Can’t wait to see it happen. Can’t wait to see those 12s.”
[brady] Vax coaches? “Coaches are vaccinated.”
[brady] No positive COVIDs this offseason? “Nobody since camp started.”
Excited to see what Taylor can do in the preseason. Not expecting much, but if he can turn into any form of a threatening pass rusher then I would be ecstatic. Thanks for doing this cha.
How is it that Seahawks players always seem to squirm out of major legal issues? Mychal Kendricks, Quinton Dunbar, and now Aldon Smith?
CheatHawks doesn’t just apply to rules on the football field
Deep pockets?
Btw thanks cha!
Yeah I think it’s more of a how do rich people so frequently get out of legal trouble issue.
Oh dear lord, no more Cody Barton talk lol
This is just PC’s latest attempt to give Barton a shot in the arm publicly.
He did the same after the Miami game. Barton then got trucked in the Minnesota game more than once and was rarely seen on defense again for the rest of the season.
Listen to Carroll’s words, but his actions tell a different story. We’ll see who starts at SAM Week One and then we’ll know what he really thinks of Barton.
It would be quite the spectacle if Barton started a series of games this year, received constant hate from the fans, got injured and then little Ben Burr-Kirven went in to fill for him. Fans would miss Barton very quickly.
These are the only 5 words I want to hear at this point from PC regarding the offense:
“Not gotten in his way.”
I saw an article that stated ” the offense will have a major focus on 3rd down this year “. WHAT ? shouldn’t 3rd down always have been a focus? You take your shots down field on 1st and 2nd down, 3rd down should always be a move the chain down. That is how we got to Super Bowl 40.
I think this is taken from Pete saying in his last presser that 3rd down should be where we notice the most difference with the new offense. Which is a logical goal considering how bad they were at it last year.
You’d think so, but…
PC after a Week 15 offensive performance of 5 for 12 on third down (after Pete has praised Schotty and Russ to high heaven for their game plan & performance):
Michael Shawn Dugar: Why do you think you’re not sharp offensively on third down?
Pete: We’re trying really hard. We have to keep working at it.
Joe Fann: How do you balance tipping your cap to a good defense and potentially having some concern on the offense kinda sputtering in the fourth quarter?
Pete (vehemently shaking head): YOU guys do that. YOU go ahead and be concerned. I aint concerned at all. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We didn’t want them to be a factor in this game, I think we left some yards, and the stats and all that stuff, I aint worried about that at all. I don’t know what Russ’ numbers were – 18 of 27 – that’s another Bart Starr type of game….I don’t think there is anything you can see as negative. You guys can look for that, but I don’t see it. This is the game we wanted to play.
Joe Fann: So you attribute the fourth quarter to ‘things that happen in football’?
Pete: We didn’t convert our third downs. We need to convert third downs…You guys can worry about it, I’m not worried about it. I’m fine.
Joe: I think it’s valid question. You had 39 yards in the fourth quarter, and had a 20-3 lead, I’m not being combative. I’m just asking how you feel about it.
Pete: I didn’t say you were. You guys can talk about it however you want to do it. I don’t see it like that. I wish we would have made a couple more first downs and not let them have their last couple drives. We just didn’t get it done.
https://youtu.be/1Kr4DrEyddM?t=604
But Pete isn’t concerned about it, so we should all rest easy that the head coach isn’t concerned about crappy execution.
Wonderful.
What I was really hoping to hear from Pete was that they’ll have a plan for 4th and 1 and won’t be wasting any more timeouts. Let’s keep the “tempo” going on 4th down as well. I’m sick of watching Russ look at the sideline with his arms up in the air. …and sick of losing 5 yards when they can’t get a play off.
Pete overruled the play that Schotty sent in causing the delay of game that particular situation iirc. 👏
With an improved, faster secondary, I think we could see Jamal Adam’s hit 15 sacks. If he does this while handling most of his TE matchups, do we feel better about the trade?
If hes playing in the SAM linebacker spot basically with 4 DBs behind him, that’s like a SAM who can get 15 sacks (without lining up at DE, leaving you with 5 pass rushers instead of 4) and is also athletic enough to cover TEs (he was a hair away a few times from handling Edelman, I mean cmon. That’s insane. No SAM LB is doing that…
Pete talks about wanting to get a freakishly athletic SAM on the field and make it someone who could really impact the game. That’s a rare and unique mold to look for, but Adam’s fits it perfectly.
We talk about having an elite player in all levels of the defense, well Jamal is an elite talent lined up on the LOS, at LB or in the secondary. Paired with Carlos Dunlap on the DL, Wagner at LB, and a plethora of talent in the secondary with Diggs, Blair, Amadi, Reed and all our other CB depth…
What happens when they replace the TE with a speedy slot WR? My hope is his coverage was off due to the injuries last year. My fear is awarding a long-term contract before seeing how he recovers and plays this year on the field.
The Seahawks aren’t putting Jamal Adams at SAM.
They are playing Taylor at Sam, so nothing would surprise me anymore. Everything is possible.
It could be a 3 safety set with Diggs and Blair in 2 deep and Adam’s blitzing or near LOS. It could be a 2 safety single high set with Diggs or Blair in single high and a slot CB.
If we wanted we could just keep Bobby and Adams in at LB basically and have a secondary of 3 safeties and a nickle or 4 safeties. Bobby and Jamal blitz from LB with basically a secondary of Reed, Amadi, Diggs, Blair, Witherspoon*
You could bring in 5 DL, have Bobby and Jamal at LB blitzing. 7 man blitz with 2 CBs and Diggs, Blair or 1 safety and a nickle. We have the DL to do it and the secondary.
I wouldnt be surprised if they came in with a package where Ryan Neal and Jamal are blitzing both edges. We could do that, have Bobby and Brooks at ILB, blitz Brooks and leave Bobby over the middle to spy and cover with 2 CBs and 2 safeties or 1 safety and NB. Neal and Jamal setting the edge is extra appealing vs an outside zone running team with a mobile QB, especially near the goal line
You do know that teams can run the ball, right?
This would just be a package.
They’re gonna have to get creative to get truly consistent interior pressure. Our DTs can bull rush fine, but ILB blitzes and DE/Adam’s inside stunts might be the key
Taylor at least has experience playing SAM. He said that he did it at Tennessee too. I would not want Adams there for any length of time.
I mean hed technically probably still be called a box safety, just lining up most snaps where a conventional SAM would
No.
Good effort on that one.
About as much effort as you put into “they can play Adams at SAM but not call it SAM.”
It is a spectacularly bad idea.
SAM is the primary edge-setter from the strong side. He takes on the TE in blocking and redirects the flow back to the tacklers in the middle.
There isn’t much pass rushing or blitzing at all in SAM.
Even when the Seahawks use Bear front, the SAM’s primary job is still edge setting.
After 1Tech it’s the ‘dirtiest’ job on the defense. If you handle the 270lb tight end, there’s usually a 300lb OL waiting to give you a smack.
So the SAM needs to be at least 240-260lbs in order to stand up to the pounding from TEs and OLs.
Darrell Taylor was asked what weight he’ll be playing at SAM at and he said about 267.
Adams is 215 and he already is dealing with shoulder injuries. If they played him at SAM it would have the double effect of negating his pass rushing speed and wearing him out from the physical toll. He’d be ground hamburger by Week 8.
It is the defensive equivalent of putting Tyler Lockett at Inline Tight End. Asking him to block Joey Bosa or Leonard Floyd and occasionally run a release route.
It is not happening.
If you have the WILL running a flat and a DB in the flat on the strong side they could set the edge. CB blitz could set edge too. This idea would be a package on passing situations, purely to allow us to create pressure with effective blitzes and creative coverages. Every “blitzing team” tries to do things like this, just get creative with the players you have. Jamal is a chess piece and it would be stupid not to scheme packages around that.
Seahawks were what, too 10, 5 in blitz rate? Time to get creative. They aren’t gonna send 4 every play anymore
I was responding to your assertion that they could line up Adams at SAM ‘most snaps’ and your reply to that was to talk about specialized packages.
In passing situations the SAM is on the bench.
So whatever you’re talking about in your reply doesn’t scan at all.
Changing the topic in a reply after being set straight only muddies whatever point you were trying to make.
Nah you just took “lining him up at SAM” too literally. I said to line him up WHERE a SAM would line up, not put him at SAM. Kam Chancellor lined up where SAM did on passing situations. Was he a box safety or a LB? You’re just trying to pick at minor things that are irrelevant. Adam’s spent most plays last year in the box on the strong side. Did we call him SAM last year? No. I never said he would actually be a linebacker or have those responsibilities. It’s the same thing he did last year, just changing the rest of the defense around him and moving him around the box.
If you aren’t creative enough to consider how to use Jamal Adam’s just say so.
Please stop.
Kam could take on those TEs and even OL. Was so cool to watch.
Cha you can line any play up anywhere you want and do whatever you want with them. Please stop trying to define roles for a league that knows 100,000,000 times more than you. If Seattle wants to line him up in the area where a SAM would normally play and tell him to do a different assignment, they would do it. And it’s called a freaking box safety dude. Got off my sack and find somebody else to nitpick. My point clearly went over your head so please stop trying to be the smartest guy in the room.
I simply brought up a possible way to use Jamal Adams. Why do you have such a problem with that? Cause you dont believe its correct? I bet you’re a lot of fun at parties!
But Cha is ultimately correct.
Adams is not and never will be used as a SAM.
I’ve actually argued that the Seahawks need to get more creative with Adams in a post on this very site:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/guest-post-curtis-allen-on-jamal-adams-contract
But your original post said Adams ‘fits the role of SAM perfectly.’ He doesn’t.
Your followup post said they ‘can play Adams at SAM most snaps.’ They won’t.
You then took a hard right turn from big broad statements into talking about packages and schemes that would be fairly limited in their scope.
So one of two things happened:
1-You made factually wrong statements – twice – and chose to retroactively change your point to defend your poor position.
or
2-Your original points were so poorly articulated they were beyond comprehension.
Not sure if you’re new here, but discussion in the comments section is both robust and respectful. Be prepared to be corrected if you make assertions that are blatantly wrong. Trying to goad other posters with putdowns won’t get you very far.
He won’t get to 15 because he’ll miss 4-7 games due to injury or be ineffective in those games for the same reason much like we saw last year unless he’s utilized in a different way involving less blitzing and in that case he won’t get to 15 due to fewer opportunities.
As for Russ, where’s he going to go and have a better situation than here? The offensive line, WRs, TEs and offensive coaching all improved over the offseason. Do you really want to be “the guy” for the Jets? For Houston? Detroit? There’s no way we’re trading him to Tampa or Green Bay in the NFC. Denver may be the only hope. But, they might get Rodgers or Watson and we’d likely be seeking a team drafting in the top couple picks.
I agree that if the Seahawks don’t advance in the playoffs, we will have all the Russell Wilson drama again. However, even if we do win big next year do you really want to potentially have to pay 1 player 45-50 million per year? Russ is going to want a huge raise eventually and I don’t know if any 1 player is worth that much money.
You want to win big, yes.
Would the Seahawks defense be better with Adams or shutdown CB Xavien Howard?
hmmm
I’m not sure. Outside CBs who aren’t home grown have had a tough time in playing well in Seattle.
It seems the most successful non-home grown CBs have been Coleman, Reed. Not boundary guys.
Howard is older and has knee issues.
I’m hoping Eskridge is okay, he’s good enough to be catching balls from Russ and throwing out a first pitch so I don’t think this will be a dorsett situation.
With the cb2 battle in camp who do you see coming out on top? Im a big tre brown could you see him taking that spot over spoon?
I think Tre is a slot corner. He is gonna be very good there.
Does anyone here play Madden, out of curiosity? Personally, I hate that game (and EA for that matter), but it seems that EA is just charging people $70+ for a roster update.
That’s exactly what they do
They treat their customers like mugs. Because they make billions off ultimate team.
They’ve created a license to print money.
So the loyal punters, who want a good football game and a decent franchise mode, are constantly ignored. They don’t even try to hide it any more.
I play games, I have never purchased a microtransaction. Not sure what a mug is, but paying for stats on UT is for suckers. I enjoy franchise mode after I buy the game at $20 or less, it’s worth about half of that.
A mug is a gullible, easily cheated person. Rob is spot on with that description.
Yea there’s no real reason to buy the game brand new unless there’s someone you really need to have who’s a rookie. I stopped buying the game new year’s ago. Just buy it a year late, after the next one comes out. Then it’s only a fraction of the cost.
I prefer EA’s NCAA College Football. Still playing the 2013 game, which was the last year it was made. I read that it is coming back though.
Rob,
Do you think there’s a possibility to straight up cut one of Collier or Green? If Aldon Smith is good to go it seems one of them has to give.
Cutting Collier would cost them millions so that won’t happen. Green? Maybe.
Have we seen enough of Green to call him failure 🤔
I think I have. When he came out early, most people said that if he had waited a year longer, he would have been a first rounder. Like most, I was excited when the Hawks got him based on his talent. But as Rob has said before, he just doesn’t seem to have the competitive fire in his belly. Maybe he still has time to turn that corner, but based on his career so far I am not hopeful.
And yet, when Green got healthy last year he started eating into Collier’s snaps. So the Seahawks are upside down currently.
A big step forward for Collier could be the single best thing for this defense in 2021. But that is hard to put any money on.
One of these DE rookies/sophomores needs to step up and be established. Collier, Green, Robinson, etc.. Right now, you gotta think Alton is in the drivers seat. But thats a lot of draft capitol that has amounted to backup-level production. Green seems like he has had more chances to play and hasn’t done too much with that. Collier? I dunno. I wasn’t hot on him and he seems to have low upside. Maybe he can take a bog step forward.
Sounds like Collier will be moving inside.
Makes sense considering he isn’t good on the outside. His uncle is Jumpy Geathers and that guy was a good situational pass rushing guy coming from the interior for many years. Not that they have the same skill set, but anything is better. They seem to have “depth” on the EDGE but the DT is pretty horrible after Poona Ford. They need all the help they can get there. Maybe he’ll suck less at DT. That’s what we need to hope for at this point. But, hey, he got mad and hollered at Tom Cable at the Senior Bowl one time so we should make him a 1st round pick!
hopefully that mitigates his limited athleticism and makes better use of his bull rush and heavy hands. maybe his win rate at the senior bowl was a mirage, but I still think he can become a solid contributor.
News flash…sigh…
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsHQ/status/1407034993281544192
This is what desperation gets you, a huge price paid with no contract extension in place. As Rob and many other folks here (and elsewhere) have said, Adams has the leverage here. If Seattle isn’t going to acquiesce to his demands, just trade him now and cut your losses.
As said at the time — and over the last 12 months pretty much — this was a desperation move born out of a terrible 2020 off-season.
They made that trade for 2020 impact and just kicked any issues — lack of picks, contract situation — down the road.
And here we are. With a player wanting $20m a year and the Seahawks not willing to pay that. So who blinks? And if nobody blinks, what then?
It’s a mess.
The big snag will be guaranteed money.
Jamal Adams has $9.86m fully guaranteed for 2021, so he’s within his rights to consider negotiating from a stance of $9.86m plus top-market guarantees of new money. So somewhere in the $35-45m range total as a starting point. Which makes that hard to see how the Hawks will work his contract into their standard 4 year window and maintain flexibility.
Jalen Ramsey had $13.7m guaranteed coming on his 5th year option and ‘traded’ it for a market-bending contract with $43.7m guaranteed at signing, with options to guarantee up to another $27m if he’s on the roster at the beginning of each year.
Not only is it unlikely the Seahawks will guarantee that much, they will want protection against injury and declining play, given how banged up Adams got in 2020.
Buckle up, Buttercups.
And the lost picks will continue kick the problem further down the road for a number of years due to lack of cheap, club controlled first round talent which is where you make it easier on yourself to stay comfortably within the salary cap and still comPETE. Regardless of Adams’ performance, it was an extremely short-sighted move done out of, as you put it, desperation.
Of course if they trade their franchise and likely HOF QB, I suppose that’ll get them room under the cap.
At least when all the smoke clears the Hawks will have…a safety who gets sacks if blitzed enough. Not Jalen Ramsey, a safety. Who was hurt half of 2020 and has 2 career interceptions.
🤣
Here’s 2+ minutes of Duane Brown highlights, put together by Brandon Thorn:
https://twitter.com/BrandonThornNFL/status/1407031807258865667?s=20
Resign that man.
That’s where the Seahawks are going to get some 2021 cap room to add a DT.
There’s $5-7m right there they can pick up if they extend him. And it wouldn’t bite them too hard in 2023-24 if he decides not to play.
Now those are some measurables…!
https://twitter.com/JimNagy_SB/status/1406972071046004738
(Probably going to have to drop weight though to actually play at the next level, I imagine)
He has been on everyone’s radar. Jim Nagy is a draft troll
🤔 huh?
If there is literally one guy on all of draft Twitter who is not a troll, I assure you it’s Jim.
Not sure what you’re trying to get at here. It’s not like Jim was tagging him as some lesser-known prospect that he just unearthed or something.
Jim Nagy a troll?
What a silly thing to say
Absolutely dig Nagy. Sincere positivity, Pete could learn a thing or two! & thought the Senior Bowl did well selecting him for it’s future!
This is so awesome.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31682318/carl-nassib-las-vegas-raiders-announces-gay
It is
This story made me think of Max Crosby, I player I loved pre draft. Man, what a miss, went in the fourth and we came out with Collier.
Fantastic, wonderful guts on that young man!
Frank Clark arrested for having an Uzi- I’ll never understand this.
Now we’re learning that it’s his second weapons arrest in three months. This makes me very sad. I was hoping his head was on the straight now. Why this guy, who has everything he could’ve ever dreamed about, is running around with loaded firearms, automatic ones no less, is beyond me.
I will say that we were able to briefly meet Frank at an autograph session at the VMAC. He was very kind to my daughter and very patient with some very rude memorabilia people. Again, it just is very sad.
Ah, right, no worries: it belonged to his bodyguard…
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31683301/kansas-city-chiefs-de-frank-clark-arrested-la-suspicion-having-concealed-gun-vehicle
Also, not sure what’s dumber, having it in the first place or letting it stick out in plain sight when the cops are pulling you over…
It’s kind of gross to say this, but if he gets cut we should bring him back
Like Frank Clark needs a body guard…..equivalent to a Lifeguard at an Olympic swimming heat
😂
Could use a logic man, someone to safeguard Frank from the occasional poor decisions.
Why is it so hard to buy legal firearms when you make millions of dollars?
Like most people, he wants what he can’t have (whether it is legally, socially, monetarily, etc.). He just happens to have the money to make things happen that most of us can’t. That said, it’s monumentally stupid to have an automatic weapon where it is easily seen. Particularly by a cop.
Was it actually an automatic weapon?
You can go to a local gun range and rent/shoot a semi-auto Uzi. The reason I’m asking is because having a Semi-Auto Uzi, while dumb in this circumstance, is far different than illegally owning an Automatic Uzi – which I would bet my life he didn’t actually go through the NFA process.
That’s a good question. I didn’t even think there was an option, but it’s not very surprising if he is. That said, it’s the second time this year he’s been popped for having a concealed firearm. You would think he’d learn from the first one.
The laws are different in each state, but they generally frown upon having a loaded weapon in the passenger part of the car. Unloaded in the trunk is usually legal. Having an automatic would require a federal firearm permit.
Here we go!
Now if we can see the team play better at home and regain that HFA. Happy form the fans tho for sure.
I am starting to worry that the Adams situation is the tip of a bigger mess. Do we have an “engaged” defense. What I mean by that is a scheme that knows the skills of the players, is well though out and is able to make adjustments when the opposing offense changes their scheme. What I am reading does not assure me very much in this regard.
They have a lot of work to do, that’s for sure. Would not surprise me in the least if the Hawks had a tough start to the year on defense again – although likely not as bad as 2020.
But there are a ton of questions. They appear to be piecing things together as they go.
The Jamal Adams trade and its effect on their roster and scheme is well-known.
But the Jarran Reed standoff/divorce is going to ripple through this roster. More than people realize.
They have 11 or 12 DL right now on the roster that have a shot to make the final 53 (they kept 8 last year), but nobody that can take 75% of the snaps on the interior. They got fantastic ‘roster value’ for Reed. So now, you need two players to cover Reed’s spot, but roster spots can be harder to come by than cap room at times.
And that is just ‘covering’ Reed’s snaps. Quality of play will be a challenge. Can Poona slide over to 3T and take on a bigger volume of snaps and maintain his rushing defense? Let alone increase his pass rush? Hard to say yes with confidence.
And with the SAM being a big question mark, can the interior support a more 4-2-5 heavy mix of snaps? 4-2-5 desperately needs a 1tech and 3tech that consistently demand more attention than single man coverage. Are Mone and Poona those guys? Are Woods and Collier/Green? As much as I want to say yes, I cannot.
Poona historically is not a sack artist he is more of a run stuffer, I hope he can pressure the QB and get him off his spot and collapse the pocket, at best that is what I hope from him at 3T.
He may not rack up sacks, but I like Poona’s play. He set’s up other guys a lot. He also is really freaking fast when he gets to running. It’s usually laterally for run support, but most “anchor” types cant book it like he can. He plays a position that isn’t there to get sacks as much as assist the other linemen with getting sacks.
Corbin Smith guesses on extensions
https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/gm-report/predicting-potential-extensions-for-jamal-adams-duane-brown-quandre-diggs
Adams: 4 year $71m with $37m guaranteed
Brown: 2 year $23.5m with $12m guaranteed
Diggs: 3 year $30m with with $13m guaranteed
Not bad guesses. I still dont think Seattle will give Adams more than 4/64. Id probably go 2/25 for Brown and Im just not sure they will extend Diggs.
Taking a 4 year $71m with $37m guarantee, I’d guess the bonus and salary guarantee split to be about $24m/$13m. Given how the Seahawks like to structure the guaranteed salary as early in the contract as possible I’d guess
2021 cap hit $10m ($4m salary guar + $6m bonus proration)
2022 cap hit $15m ($9m salary guar + $6m bonus proration)
2023 cap hit $23m ($17m salary non-guar + $6m bonus proration) $12m dead cap hit
2024 cap hit $23m ($17m salary non-guar + $6m bonus proration) $6m dead cap hit
Athletic podcast with Clint Hurtt.
https://youtu.be/UbsJYBIEgFE
Great listen. Hurtt with more real talk about the state of the Seahawks in an hour than Pete Carroll has said in the last year.
No huge revelations but a lot of confirmation of things we have talked about…
-Depth on DL is critical. Thin, thin depth early on last year.
-Irvin and Mayowa were rotational pass rushers. It wasn’t sustainable to have them play so many snaps as they did in early 2020.
-Goal of effecting the passer 30% of passes…didn’t do that early on. He was ‘pissed off’ that they didn’t get better results in pass rush early on.
-Jarran Reed was a big part of this defense and will be missed. Reed made protection calls for the defense, there was a lot of trust there with the coaching staff to get things right.
-Kerry Hyder is ahead of Green and Collier. Hurtt says he challenged the 3 to take the ‘Reed protection call’ role and Hyder was clearly better.
-5T as a position has evolved since Bennett
-DL room happy for Jamal Adams but pissed off that he led the team in sacks. Gritted teeth. ‘Don’t want that to happen again.’
-Adams doesn’t meet with DL group in meetings (seems odd to hear that). Works with them in some hand drills though.
-What makes Poona good
-The story of Hurtt throwing a projector and firing the defense up in 2018
Thanks for the recap cha!
Interesting stuff. That line about Hurtt challenging Rasheem and LJ and Hyder clearly being better makes me sad for some reason. I get the others are much less experienced but that’s gotta feel bad for them.
It’s wild that Poona has been our best DL pick since FC in 2015!
It is easy to conclude that if you’re calling the protections, that means you’re getting the majority of snaps.
It’s not a great look for Collier and Green to have been in the program for 2 and 3 seasons respectively and get beaten for the job by a newcomer.
Pretty much everything I read about Hyder indicated he has a very high football IQ, so while this is somewhat disappointing, it’s not surprising the savvy vet gets the protection call responsibilities.
A savvy vet who is on his fourth team in 4 years.
Yeah I know. I miss Reed. Collier and Green are both bums. Reed was a dude in the middle, can’t believe the FO torched that situation so badly.
I wouldn’t mind if Hurtt was our future head coach.
https://twitter.com/MickeyShuey/status/1407758381780242433
Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day wondering why they never left Indy. It’s really amazing how the NFL has been able to make everything in its process that should be boring into a must see event, from the combine to the draft to the schedule reveal. While the nfl can be archaic often, it is incredible when it comes to marketing. What doesn’t make sense about having the combine being up for a bid is that you don’t bring fans. It would be cool if they brought in fans, but it wont happen to keep the athletes safe. It would be cool to see what good charity comes of it and how each place could bring a unique flavor to the combine.
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1424785/huard-why-dunlap-not-adams-needs-to-lead-seahawks-in-sacks/
That last paragraph is absolutely spot on and exactly why the Seahawks should hold firm and NOT give him a large chunk of money up front.
But if they do, at least they didn’t trade the farm for him
.
.
.
.
oh wait. 🙁
Follow up to a previous post:
Just released, here’s a fantastic detailed piece by Brandon Thorn about Duane Brown:
https://trenchwarfare.substack.com/p/under-the-microscope-seahawks-lt
Fantastic stuff. Thanks Bigsteviej
To me, CB is a major downfall. I don’t see some major uptick in guys like Witherspoon, who has failed in SF to be some sort of saviour. Flowers is a rookie, OK, he may be a baller but he will be a rookie baller.
Were in deep Doo-Doo at CB.
Trey Brown is the rookie. Trey Flowers is the guy who kept making mistakes until DJ Reed took his spot. I agree that CB is the biggest area of concern. Especially with Jamal Adams not being the type of safety who can cover well. All we got is Quandre Diggs. No one else is a known quantity, and even Diggs is iffy.
Can he play center?
Ha! We should ask that of everyone we sign. There is some speculation that he may choose to retire because of his ankle.
Bellevue High school player
I really hate to say this but the Steelers move with Decastro is just the type of move the Seahawks would never do. The Hawks would keep him on board even if they knew there was just a slim chance he’d be playing another down for them – to be the nice guy team and take care of it’s player etc. Which on the personal human side of things I am all for, but on the strictly business team winning side is’nt the good play at all. And then there’s teams like the Patriots….
For all y’all nostalgic for throwback unis, looks like you’ll finally get your wish next season (2022) since the league will allow alternative helmets. Must be historically accurate. Let the Photoshops begin…
https://mobile.twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1408142103297900552
Baldy on Wagner, David, Warner
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1408467139892219909
Thanks Cha, just wanna say I really appreciate all the links and transcripts you post.
👍
George Fant to the bench it would appear.
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1426990/heaps-seahawks-arent-done-making-significant-additions-to-roster/
Yes 100%
Not worried about Smith being in shape at all. The league suspending him is the bigger question.
Adams’ extension is not going to “open up cap space”.
I am hopeful he’s right about a “big move” at DT. Color me skeptical though after last offseason’s pass rusher fiasco.
I think they’re done at DT unless it’s some camp competition on a dirt cheap deal.
Solid point from Corry about Adams’ camp preferring to wait it out and see what Mathieu gets:
I can’t see 29-year-old Tyrann Mathieu getting a big extension at all. The Chiefs can’t pay everyone. To me that’s a non-issue.
The whole point of this is the Seahawks want to make Adams the highest paid safety and Adams wants to be the highest paid DB or get a ‘playmaker’ salary.
Does he have the front office over a barrel?
He had them over a barrel the minute they agreed to the trade without conditioning it on Adams signing an extension.
Yep, and that’s one of the reasons I believe in 10 years time it’ll be seen as one of the worst trades in franchise history.
I just dont see him having all the leverage. They have him for 2021 and can franchise him next two years. Yeah he can hold out but Hawks have leverage as well.
Jamal Adams has all the leverage.
We’ve been over this so much already.
I think Percy Harvin was the worst this century.
so far………..
https://twitter.com/i/status/1408467139892219909
Cha, who do you see lining up at SAM at 1:00 in that video?
KJ Wright.
Hey Rob! When can we expect the new stream? Thanks!
Soon…
👍
NOT tomorrow morning at 9am PST I’d wager…
I can confirm you are right…
What’s the significance of Tuesday 9:00AM?
Let me guess without looking it up……….your (English) football team is playing a match?
Bickford with the saves, holy smokes.
Sterling-Kane-Grealish-Sterling!!
What a match. Congrats!
Any Blazer fans in here? PCJS are far from perfect but the self inflicted nightmare the Blazers have created have given me newfound respect for them.
It’s also made me realize how much I want Jody Allen to sell this team. Vulcan Inc. isn’t giving me much confidence they know how to run a pro sports franchise without Paul Allen guiding the way. The two people I most identify Vulcan with, Jody Allen and Bert Kolde, only have their positions of power because they knew Paul Allen before he struck it rich. Neither strike me as having the passion to win that Paul Allen did, and are now merely biding time until the Blazers and Seahawks can be sold. Indifferent ownership might be the worst type to have.
I know that most public reports of Jody’s ownership of the Seahawks have had a positive spin out on them, but I would hate to see what could be happening in Portland happen to the Seahawks. Vulcan seems content to let the inmates run the asylum, I’m just glad the Seahawks aren’t at that stage (yet).
I live across the river in Vancouver and am indeed a Blazers fan. I think you’re spot on about how things are with both franchises. Olshay answers to no one just as Pete answers to no one. She’s not interested in sports and is obviously utterly uninvolved. Olshay has made numerous bad decisions, has been questionable in roster construction and the franchise is carried by one superstar player (sound familiar?). After a half decade of one and done in the playoffs minus one season, he then fired Stotts as the fall guy. Was that the same thing that happened to Schotty?
Nice.
https://mobile.twitter.com/royalscottking/status/1409301525176881153
Hmm… where will J.T. Tuimoloau end up…
Well, not UW
Paciencia y fe, senor!
Well Jake Heaps says the obvious, then posts some facts and I find it hilarious.
He say the Hawks need help at corner when the blitz Adams….Well DUH, He says trade for Xavien Howard.
First of all, WHO or what do they trade……No first again next year to protect the guy you gave up 2 firsts and a third for….Trade a player?….which one?
He then posts some facts about Howard:
Howard signed a five-year extension with the Dolphins during the 2019 offseason worth $75.25 million, per Spotrac. He is set to make $12.075 million in 2021 and carry a salary cap hit of $13.5 million. His deal goes through 2024 but has a potential out after this season.
Then THIS:…….Howard is currently holding out from the Dolphins, reportedly in pursuit of a new contract that the Dolphins are hesitant to give him.
It’s like he is saying, in order to make up for the mistake that is Adams, they need to make a bigger problem by trading either limited draft capital or players….
WTF?
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1429637/heaps-seahawks-xavien-howard-jamal-adams/
Sure. On top of giving Adams a monster extension and working with no draft capital, let’s go out and trade for a 28 year old corner who is unhappy with the 4 years and $48m left on his contract and wants more.
No way. Keep corners as cheap as you can if you’re extending Adams, pay Wagner and Russ, and have a huge DK new contract coming.
Well there’s a potential bucket of cold water on the idea of the Seahawks throwbacks in 2022
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-alternate-helmets-heres-why-eagles-and-others-reportedly-wont-be-wearing-throwbacks-in-2022/
Trade Adams for Howard pls.
Get your shutdown corner, then replace Adams with Blair and Neal.
Then all they’d need is a Jarran Reed replacement (and a Norton replacement 😀)
Rob,
Congrats! Great win for England beating Germany 2-0 and making the quarterfinals. So many surprises in the tournament so far (Ukraine bearing Sweden, Swiss beating France and none of the power teams in group F making the quarterfinals).
It’s too early to say whether it’s coming home but…it’s starting to check airfare and flight schedules.
Yes a bit optimistic to conclude it’s coming home now even if the path to the finals looks inviting. England has’nt impressed, even vs Germany. The smart money sees Italy running away with the title, especially if De Bruyne and Hazard miss the Italy game cause that’s the only team capable of keeping them out of the final.
Been a strange Euro cup and frankly the expanded field really mucked things up from the start imo. Sad that so many of the better teams have faltered, we missed quite a few great matchup possibilities. To me the overall very passive reffing has made for a bunch of bruising football matches and allowed lesser quality teams to slug out narrow wins with inferior talent, along with all the fouling taking away a lot of the potential symmetry/excellence/individual brilliance you’d hope to see more of in national team matches. But I suppose it’s been exciting for a bunch of underdog countries and that’s not such a bad thing.
And last week the smart money was on France, with their loaded team, before they lost to unfancied Switzerland.
Italy are a contender but they haven’t been tested at all yet. They beat a hopeless Turkey, a Swiss team whose coach literally wrote an open letter to fans apologising for their performance after and a crap Wales team.
Then they needed VAR to keep them in the tournament against… Austria.
So let’s not get carried away with Italy here. They could easily be out against Belgium — with or without De Bruyne.
I would still consider Belgium favourites personally but I said at the start that this has been an unsettled, weird last 18 months and a surprise winner would be quite apt.
It would be so awesome if it was Denmark.
I’d prefer another team personally…
Hahaha of course. But if not England, Denmark would be a great story.
Solid points with the competition they’ve faced. I just see a very focused team that’s well rounded and does’nt have any real weak points. They may not have huge talents or overwhelmingly strong position groups but they just seem to work so well together and have that young hungry tireless team all backed up with good coaching.
Belgium could very well do them in especially sporting Lukaku but I’d still fancy them over your Brits in a final(and to be transparent I’m a German fan through and through with my heritage and time visiting Deutschland but to me what matters most is seeing beautiful sport that’s well played and well reffed – then the best team win).
As an aside I was shocked as many with the France loss but it’s hard not to blame coaching on that one with an in the fly switch to a three man backline/change in play style like Dechampes pulled. I was fully expecting a France win while hoping for Germany, the Netherlands and lastly England to win(I’m not big on the expected rivalries – Germany is my personal team, I’ve always loved the Dutch wide open attacking play and England is home of the Prem league and so much great football and players).
I was at the game and it was probably my favourite ever experience in a stadium.
Cool to hear. Glad you enjoyed it!
Was just about to post that. Big money. Maybe eventually top RTs will be paid almost as much as top LTs.
Schefter says $60m guaranteed
I remember we had chance to draft him.. some how we manage to spot talent in OL
I remember we had chance to draft him.. some how we manage NOT to spot talent in OL
How do they afford these contracts?
They have a whopping $45m in void year contracts spread into the future, and almost $34m of dead money on their cap in 2021 and no QB on their roster in 2022.
They are masters of playing the float game, counting on the cap always going up.
But will it work without Drew Brees? We’ll see.
We had a chance to draft Marshall Yanda. We more recently had a chance to draft Joel Bitonio and iirc Rob was pounding the table for him. All he’s done is go to the pro bowl damned near every year in the league. I am hopeful and cautiously optimistic that the drafting of Lewis reverses that trend.
I agree that Pete and John need to be better in drafting. When you start picking certain guys, it’s pretty much just hindsight is 20/20. Every other team missed on these guys besides the ones who drafted them. You can’t get upset that they don’t make every perfect pick. I wish every player was a pro-bowler, but it’s just not realistic.
Following his release, former FSU, #Seahawks WR Tamorrion Terry has been indicted for felony murder in Georgia.
Details are slowly emerging, this is a developing story.
News first reported by Miami Herald’s @AdamHBeasley, who joins PFN next week.
Wow! https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/07/01/wr-tamorrion-terry-was-indicted-for-felony-murder-before-seahawks-dropped-him/
This is nuts. Young kids. What a waste
So scary terry really was a fitting nickname.
Dear lord Florida state really covered this up…
That sucks, on to the next then. Strike one name out of the fan favorite Pre season WR list
https://www.espn.com/blog/seattle-seahawks/post/_/id/35091/better-worse-or-the-same-how-the-seattle-seahawks-offense-has-changed-this-offseason
Brady rates the offense to date.
Sounds about right. Only thing I might disagree over is receiver. I’d put the combination of Eskridge/Cade Johnson over David Moore, so that group is better IMO.
And he is underestimating DK Year 3. He still has a ton of room for growth.
So gotta love the Adams contract issue…. It’s weird, almost like someone we all know called it. Should have traded him or trade him for some value back and invest in the DL and RB…. Pete get back to your ball or turn it over completely to Russ led and feed the money there… I dont want another first round playoff exit season
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-roster-rankings-for-all-32-teams-for-2021-strengths-weaknesses-and-x-factors-for-every-teams-starting-lineup
Thanks for posting, Cha. Even if one doesn’t agree with the rankings and the reasoning it’s always interesting to see what theoretically unbiased observers think about your team.
CBS ranks us at 18:
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ranking-all-32-nfl-rosters-by-talent-heading-into-2021-training-camp-tom-bradys-bucs-at-top-browns-no-3/
I hope Russ reads these things.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/07/01/steelers-waive-demarcus-christmas-to-make-room-for-sam-sloman/
DeMarcus Christmas waived off of Pittsburgh’s 90 man roster. Maybe worth a stash for the Hawks if he’s finally healthy?