Why Seattle’s defense needs to get younger (and cheaper)
In 2017 the Seahawks spent $93,714,666 on their defense, more than any team in the NFL. The split between offense and defense was 36.37% vs 55.98%.
They spent $60,885,063 on the offense — 29th highest in the league.
Of the 12 biggest cap hits on the roster, nine were defensive players. The three offensive players were Russell Wilson, Jimmy Graham and Luke Joeckel. Graham and Joeckel are both free agents.
At the moment they’re facing a very similar situation for 2018. They’re set to pay $91,613,442 for their defense (#5 in the NFL) and $62,541,747 for the offense (#24).
These numbers will change if/when Jeremy Lane is cut, Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor retire and if some other moves are made. Even so, this could be one of the reasons why a transition is expected. The percentage needs to be nearer 50-50 than the current 56-36.
It’s going to be difficult to redress the balance in 2018 alone, which is one of the reasons they might initiate a transition now. For example, they won’t save much by cutting Michael Bennett (around $3m). However, his cap hit for 2019 (around $9m) would be completely off the books.
It would put pressure on the team to find some cheap replacements. However, pass rushers have been their speciality. They brought in Bennett and Cliff Avril at bargain prices, pulled off a killer trade for Chris Clemons, found Frank Clark with a late second round pick and have identified an exciting reclamation project with Dion Jordan.
It’s not often you see a team paying so many big name players on one side of the ball. The Seahawks did it because they had so much talent. Keeping the defense together felt like the key to multiple opportunities to win a Super Bowl. As those days fade, the need to change is clear.
Part of being younger on defense is also about being a cheaper.
The imbalance in spending isn’t the only reason why Seattle’s offense hasn’t performed. There was still enough talent to expect better results in 2017. However, if you actually write down the number of defensive studs vs offensive studs on Seattle’s roster, it’s quite significantly weighted in one direction. If you want a balanced team, you might need a more balanced spread of talent.
After cuts and possible retirements the Seahawks could be left with around $30m in cap space. It depends how aggressive they want to be. A portion of that would be required to fill out the roster (they carried a lot of players on one-year contracts in 2017). They’d also ideally retain players like Bradley McDougald and Sheldon Richardson. McDougald is the easier keep but I wonder if a statistically poor year for Richardson leads to a colder market than currently expected? Perhaps he’d be willing to return on a one-year deal to improve his stock in 12 months?
If there is the money to spend, it could come on offense. Value deals, possibly short term, appear likely to fill out the roster (with the hope of finding some longer term parts for the next core).
Green Bay want John Schneider
Multiple reports today are suggesting the Packers are interested in making John Schneider their new GM. Some have even suggested, not surprisingly, that Schneider is very interested in the Green Bay job. There’s not really much to say on this other than whatever happens, let’s hope it happens as soon as possible. This is a big off-season for the Seahawks. They need to know where they stand.
Proof Ronald Jones II is Jamaal Charles
Ask most Seahawks fans what they want in a running back and they’ll say tough, physical and someone who gets the hard yards. Many will have watched Nick Chubb against Oklahoma last week and salivated at the thought of him trying to fill the RB void in Seattle.
Clearly the Seahawks have a preference too. It’s worth highlighting again that this team has a type at running back. These are the backs they’ve drafted in recent years:
Robert Turbin — 5-10, 222lbs
Spencer Ware — 5-10, 228lbs
Christine Michael — 5-10, 220lbs
C.J. Prosise — 6-0, 220lbs
Alex Collins — 5-10, 217lbs
Chris Carson — 6-0, 218lbs
Size matters to this team, as does explosive traits. A strong vertical (+35 inches) and broad jump (10-5) has also been a factor. Speed? Not as much.
Chubb, Damien Harris, Kerryon Johnson, Rashaad Penny and others will fit into Seattle’s size prototype. Ronald Jones II probably won’t. He’s expected to be measured at about 6-0 and 203lbs.
The thing is, he is pretty much a Jamaal Charles clone. Charles was one of the more dynamic players in the NFL in recent history, at any position.
Watch the videos below. One is Jones II running for USC, the other is Charles running for Texas. It’s freaky how similar they are:
Jones II, like Charles, is just so dynamic. And despite neither player being 220lbs they get as much as they can out of most runs.
He might not be an aggressive north-south runner with prototype size but if any team believes Jones II can be as good as Charles, that has to be worth an early pick.
He just has ‘it’. He looks like a dynamic playmaker for the next level. Someone capable of making big plays on a consistent basis.
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Great write up. Jones II is a guy I could get pumped up about if we drafted him. Maybe it is time to move away a bit from our RB ideal to find a runner that will avoid more tackles than he will try to run through.
Also telling could be that their offseason interest in Charles seemed real.
If he can duplicate what Charles has done I would be for sure all in (of course thats impossible to predict). Charles has a career average of over 5 yards a carry which is insanity.
If we traded down into the top of the 2nd and Jones and Harris were both there, who would you pick?
Happy with either. Too soon to pick definitively.
Two different styles for sure. Prime rib or filet mignon? Ill take either.
Great article! I agree the Seahawks need to get younger on defense but they also need to keep some of the core(RS,ET,BW,K.J, Clark). I also think they should try to make every effort to sign Norwell. He is that missing piece of the offense that would allow us to run the ball on a consistent base. That would allow us to use draft picks on skilled positions and defense. Thus making it easier to get younger on defense.
I’d be happy with Jones, but I’m not sold on the Charles comp, necessarily. I wonder about his pass pro and whether he has that type of elite receiving back ability. He’s fun to watch. Exciting prospect.
http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/jamaal-charles?id=925
“Willing, but limited pass blocker.”
Charles only had 49 catches in 3 years at Texas as Jones didnt have many receptions either. Colleges dont usually throw to the backs that often like the NFL does.
Apparently Seattle denied GB request to interview JS
Denying gbs request is just horse trading…gonna take a 3rd to whisk out gm away.
First
Not for trade or sale!!
Wow that’s tough news about JS and GBP. He’s acknowledged before that managing Green Bay would be his dream job.
Who do SEA replace him with?
As someone who sees a lot of ‘SC football, I’m a big fan of RJ2. I’d be very happy to see him in a Seahawks jersey next year, especially paired with Carson. And I can see the similarities with Charles. I just wonder about the draft capital. RJ2 has been well under the radar – both on the Trojans roster and in the entire 2018 Draft RB class. I’m not saying he isn’t worth a pick in the 30-50 range, but rather if you NEED to spend that to get him. I understand the argument about going after your guy. But I wonder if SEA’s experience with RW might apply.
It would be tough. They blocked the interview so hopefully they just sign someone else and its over.
Jones Carson backfield would be total win
Here’s a thought; The O-line seems worse than it is because they not only have to run/pass block, but also be prepared for RW to scramble in any direction.
This is true
Good call. Wilson is easily the most frustrating QB in the league to block for. Though that doesn’t explain the insta-sacks.
The insta-sacks, while sometimes outright whiffs on blocks, are mostly due to lack of respectable run game IMO. Run game also slows down pass rush.
+1
LOL at the word insta-sacks. They almost had a insta-handoff the last game.
That’s on the coaching staff to figure out. The o-line regressed this year and its not because this was the 1st year RW started to scramble. RW scrambles every year, more so this year tho because pass pro was the worst in the Pete Carrol Era.
I’d like to see an analysis of the routes Seattle ran. Lots of times the pocket was fine for a quick release throw, but Russ didn’t pull the trigger. How many times was that due to not open, risk aversion, not willing to throw guys open?
How creative was the scheme to get guys open? Baldwin has an amazing release, runs great routes. P-Rich is really fast, runs good routes. Why weren’t these guys open? Why was JG a dump off option 50% of the time? Is it scheme or players?
You bring up legit questions…but I’ll also add that its a combination of scheme, bad offensive line, and dare I say Wilson can’t see over his tall interior lineman to three step drop & hit quick over the middle routes. We had the WR’s that have exceptional quickness, and route running savy…so why is Bevell having Wilson doing 5 step drops with a porous offensive line with quick WR’s.
Wilson seemed risk adverse the first half of every game, then in the 3rd & 4th quarter it seemed like he was waaaaay more willing to throw it up there for his WR to make a play.
Then finally I’ll add, we were a one dimensional team on offense. So opposing defensive coordinators could game plan to attack the passing game and not worry at all about our run game. We were a pass first team with a below average offensive line & not a threat to run.
With the right moves this offseason, I believe we can be the big bully on the block once again.
You see the lineman all the time look in the air like WTF. Especially the tackles. They push there guy outside where Russ should step up and he goes back right into it.
Yep.
It’s so frustrating to watch cause teams play us that way; three step quick throw, don’t let the rush get there. It works well against Seattle, yet the offensive game plan seemed to ignore it all year.
Maybe if the O-line did a better job of blocking, RW would not need to scramble in the first place.
Adoree Jackson is just getting abused out there.
I see some Charles in Jones. Also see a bit of darren mcFadden with that tall, upright running style. Could be a nice get.
Side note; I wonder how many college backs who have declared are thinking that going to Seattle with their Oline is the last place they want to go.
Jones II could be the best option to pair with Carson. Michel gets a nod from me in that sense also.
Right now, Chubb is my first RB pick… Harris 2nd.
Would like to see them pursue a FA guard with some of this defense money. On that note, any chance Britt slides to RG?
Excellent piece of prose Rob. No fluff here!
Would that be in order to move Pocic to Center? I’m just hesitant to move around a guy who finally found his spot and played at pro bowl level there. Plus, who knows how this would affect communication with Russ, etc.
Pocic would be ideal if it worked imo. Hunt is also year 3 now. With those two, that could be a decent competition.
In my mind, if you split OL into groups of OT and OG: OG is the weaker of the two. Could be the best way to boost the position short of a high pick or an expensive FA.
Russel might be able to see the field better with a shorter C.
I’m actually a big fan of the idea pairing Jones II with Carson just to have that thunder and lightning type attack.
A RB that doesn’t seem to get much respect, but as mentioned, may be of interest to the Seahawks is
RB-Rashaad Penny who IMO has MUCH better speed than many think, maybe it’s just playing speed,
but Penny really accelerates through holes and creases at the OL so quickly that he just blows past the line and kicks into another gear and outruns defenders. Maybe he just makes it look too darn easy and that’s why he is projected in the middle rounds? Also of note, Penny is a bad ass kick returner and has 8 career return TD’s, that shows some ball skills. On tape, to my eye, he looks pretty fast as both a RB
and a returner. The combine should answer a lot of questions re: speed & burst. IMO, if they can’t get a RB in the top end of the draft, they may have to look at this kid with a Rd-3/4 pick = maybe?
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98HqRF3INqY
I agree Penny does look to have good long speed, he looks like a 4.45 – 4.5 40 yard type of speed. It will be interesting to see what round he gets selected. I was thinking late 2nd or 3rd round, post season all-star games and combine should narrow it down.
Yup, waiting to see the combine numbers for Penny.
He’s gonna be a big one for me, because his schools scheme dominated the level of opponent he faced
Gotta rewatch his bowl performance soon too
Watch any of his last 5 games, all were 200+yds for Penny.
No way Penny makes it to the 4th. 4th or 5th best back in this draft, right there with KJ….
I like Penny but I think he goes in the fourth round. SDSU runs a lot of their running game with a traditional fullback. The school roster lists 3 on the team. I’d love to see Seattle incorporate a Fullback more often but I wonder how teams that don’t use a fullback view Penny.
Good point about FB usage. Not every RB is cut out for the ZBS or running out of the shotgun. My guess is Penny would be fine, with his superb burst, but it remains to be seen. The Aztecs FB/H-back Nick Bawden can ball out too.
I admit that I am a bit of a stats geek, maybe because I was a former performance analyst and have always liked to use numerical comparisons as a valid element of overall evaluations. The below research shows the 2017 season #’s for Seahawks sized RB’s in the coming draft. IMO, These stats go a long way in supporting my conclusion that –Rashaad Penny is the most under-rated of all of the draft-able RB’s. My current choices for a Seahawk RB pick: Penny, Jones, Michel, Chubb, Gaskin and Johnson, pretty much in that order.
RB-RESEARCH, 01/06/18.
2017 player situational stats; Bigger RB’s the SEAHAWKS may consider in the draft.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2017/leader/national/player/split01/category01/sort01.html
(click: National, rushing, player name, then click on situational stats).
–RB-Rashaad Penny, SDSU, 5-11/220, ranked #190-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 13-games, 289/2248/23-TD’s, 7.78-ypc, 95-long, 81 for 1-st downs, 58/10+, 29/20+
–RB-Bryce Love, Stanford, 5-10/196, ranked #17-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 13-games, 263/2118/19-TD’s, 8.05-ypc, 75-long, 67 for 1-st downs, 52/10+, 30/20+
–RB-Royce Freeman, Oregon, 5-11/230, ranked #61-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 12-games, 244/1475/16-TD’s, 6.05-ypc, 59-long, 72 for 1-st downs, 50/10+, 16/20+
–RB-Ronald Jones II, USC, 6-1/195, ranked #50-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 13-games, 261/1550/19-TD’s, 5.94-ypc, 86-long, 72 for 1-st downs, 41/10+, 16/20+
–Kerryon Johnson, Auburn, 6-0/212, ranked #279-overall at drafttex.com
2017: 12-games, 285/1391/18-TD’s, 4.88-ypc, 60-long, 70 or 1-st downs, 31/10+, 9/20+
–RB-Myles Gaskin, Washington, 5-10/195, ranked #124-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 13-games, 222/1380/21-TD’s, 6.22-ypc, 69-long, 64 for 1-st downs, 40/10+, 13/20+
–RB-Derrius Guice, LSU, 5-11/212, ranked #11-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 12-games, 237/1251/11-TD’s, 5.28-ypc, 59-long, 59 for 1-st downs, 27/10+, 9/20+
–RB-Jarvon Franklin, W. Michigan, 6-1/228, ranked #278-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 12-games, 235/1228/11-TD’s, 5.23-ypc, 72-long, 60 for 1-st downs, 32/10+, 12/20+
–RB-Saquon Barkley, Penn St. 5-11/223, ranked #3-overall at drafttek.com
2017: 13-games, 217/1271/18-TD’s, 5.86-ypc, 92-long, 49 for 1-st downs, 29/10+, 14/20+
–RB-Nick Chubb, Georgia, 5-10/228, ranked #82-overall at drafttek.com
**Championship game pending**
2017: 14-games, 205/1320/15-TD’s, 6.44-ypc, 55-long, 55 for 1-st downs, 42/10+, 19/20+
–RB-Sony Michel, Georgia, 5-11/212, ranked #104-overall at drafttek.com
**Championship game pending**
2017: 13-games, 142/1129/16-TD’s, 7.95-ypc, 75-long, 42 for 1-st downs, 29/10+, 13/20+
–RB-Damien Harris, 5-11/216, Alabama, 5-11/216, ranked #57-overall,
**Championship game pending**
2017: 13-games, 129/983/11-TD’s, 7.62-ypc, 75-long, 39 for 1-st downs, 23/10+, 9/20+
**************NOTEABLE: Of this group: *****************
Rashaad Penny is #1 in 6 of 8 stats & #2 in the other 2 stats..
#1 in: attempts, yards, TD’s, long run, 1-st downs, & 10+ , and #2 in ypc & 20+ and is ranked 9th among these 12 players. IMO- Penney is extremely under ranked, Johnson is very under ranked & Franklin is somewhat under ranked.
Love Penny
What do you think about Pugh Giant’s LG for around 10 mil apy?
I think Pugh is really interesting.
Me as well. We know the Hawks like versatility as well. He played some tackle in college. Think I might like Norwell better though.
I have this feeling the JS news turns in our favor. Two paths:
1. GB will not file a grievance, way too much of an uphill battle and time consuming. PA blocked so he could negotiate a shift in power from PC to JS. What this looks like? I’m not sure maybe some of you can fill in the blanks there. PC, ego put aside, complies (possibly even initially suggests this) and it starts a super bowl trajectory like one we haven’t seen.
2. GB goes through with the grievance, wins after proving it is a promotion. Takes some time but he’s the guy they want so it gets done. We then say goodbye and bark up the McCloughan tree. He comes back in a unique fashion as the GM and this too starts a super bowl trajectory like one we haven’t seen.
So basically this is all going to work out and we are going to another super bowl in three years. Please don’t kill my optimism and hope lol.
I appreciate McCloughan’s skills as a talent evaluator. But anyone would think he’s been laying golden eggs the way Seahawks fans have talked about him since the Schneider news came out 🙂
No I just would like the story and I love the scouting connections he already has. Reminds me of the jump start PC had when he got here. He’s a stud flat out.
I think it’s highly, highly unlikely
Well yeah, it’s unlikely because JS is going NOWHERE
Here’s how I see the whole thing.
PA signed JS to a very handsome and lucrative 5 year contract with no escape clause. JS’s contract runs longer than PC’s extension.
JS might have real interest in returning to GB, but PA didn’t get to become one of the wealthiest men in the world by simply being a nice guy, and he certainly isn’t stupid.
If I am PA, and I just watched JS trade away my team’s 2018 second and third round picks, and I’ve been privy to all the FO discussions of turning over roster to get younger, and then I receive a request from GB for them to interview me chief architect to over see that transition, I’m saying absolutely no way to that. I’m saying no way, and if they persist, and if JS informs me that he would like to go home, I am telling GB and JS compensation is not going to be cheap.
Also, IMO, if JS wants to bolt Seattle for GB after dealing away these high picks and staring at the front of this turnover, it’s not a good look. I can totally get why he would want to return home, but I don’t see how it can happen without GB compensating Seattle handsomely. If JS is the stand up guy that I think he is, I think he would agree with this.
At a minimum we would need their 2018 1st round pick & that is contingent on the Seahawks hiring V12 into their scouting department with a “loud” voice on draft day.
If the guy wants to leave, you allow it… for draft picks. High draft picks. No need to make it get ugly. You can’t force a guy to stick around and expect that he’s going to be passionate about rebuilding. So take their first rounder this year and possiby more and wish him well and thank him
For his years of service. There is a solver lining here and that’s we can replenish the draft capital that he shipped off.
I seriously doubt he leaves without serious compensation. If GB doesn’t want to cough up a high pick or two, they can look elsewhere. It’s not like JS doesn’t want to be in Seattle. By all accounts, he has developed pretty close ties out here, as well. If he wanted back in GB so badly, I doubt he would have signed the second contract as it was written. He probably knew the risk of the GB job being someday opening.
But let’s be clear… make them give us the 14th pick. I don’t want some 3rd round throw in. Number 14 would be where I start. Think of what we could do with that.
@C-Dog I think your analysis is spot-on
everybody is talking about a trade back, I think there is a possibility that we could trade up ( swapping 1st round picks ) along with one of our starters and receive a later round pick.or, maybe not
I disagree! But go ahead and state your case for moving up.
seems like the Seahawks are going to adjust cap spending from the d and swap it to the o. It doesn’t seem like they would trade E.T. He is a big part of the reason there wasn’t a big drop off after Sherman went to i.r., so maybe it will be Sherman. I could be wrong on this, but the higher pics we have had, have been on the line of scrimmage. On o or d line. Probably d line in the way of pass rusher. I somewhat cringe at the thought of a running back or o lineman with the 18th. J.S. track record should speak for itself for either. I hope we move on from a pick being a great athlete as the first words to describe a running back or o lineman. Who was the last smash mouth football player that we drafted?
The Hawks have no history of moving up with their first round pick. I don’t see that starting now. They trade back every year. We know they will do it again which is probably one of the reasons they were willing to trade draft picks mid season. They know they can get them back by trading down.
They almost have to. The team has put themselves in quite a pickle with the mid season trades. I’ll disagree with the team with the idea that the “value,” in this year’s draft just isn’t there to have been able to use a second and a third rounder. Seems overly confident to me to think the roster is all good and there is no one especially with the 18th pick in each of those rounds that Seattle couldn’t have used to improve the team.
I get the idea that there is the thought that Seattle has picked a great d linemen in the 2nd and a good Olinemen with the 3rd pick. The only problem with that thought is normally when you pick a good Dlinemen per example in the 2nd round you get cap control for 4 years. Now Seattle burns a 2nd and then has to potentially spend large dollars to retain S.Richardson moving forward.
I like the Charles comp but in the highlights it certainly looks like to me anyways that Charles has a bit more burst and elusiveness. After watching the NFL this year I sure would like an actual play-maker on this roster…..like Kamara, Gurley, T. Hill and so on. I remember watching USC at the beginning of the year and telling by brother that this Jones guy is killing it. He agreed but we both didn’t even know who he was at the time. That’s usually a good sign to me. We both liked M. Mcdowell last year btw and that didn’t turn out so well so far.
Love this blog Rob. Can’t wait to read the articles and posts everyday. Thanks man and thanks to all you hawks fans that keep me interested in the draft every year. Happy new year.
Appreciate the kind words! Happy New Year to you too!
Personally I thought Jones II and Charles had almost identical burst and elusiveness. Both incredibly sudden.
Those runs at 3:54 and 4:14 mark of the Jones II highlights Rob embedded… dang.
Woo hoo, and Barça lands Coutinho!
Did we overpay? Absolutely, no doubt about it. But he is world class, in his prime, fits the need to take over for Iniesta, and IMO when you have the greatest player probably of all time on your team, you do whatever it takes to put the supporting cast around him and win all you can.
(sorry to those who don’t care about European and/or Spanish and/or soccer 🙂 )
Love soccer, European, spanish, american. It’s all good, still play today myself.
Nice. Soccer is actually my favorite sport. Who are your team(s)?
Sounders (Timbers and Whitecaps too tbh), Tijuana and Monterrey, Schalke 04, Newcastle, Huddersfield Town, Vitesse
I like Levante and Benfica right now too
And OF COURSE Sheffield United!
Barça vs. Levante tomorrow. 🙂
I doubt we see American youngster Shaq Moore at RB for them though 😉
Holy shit he started.
Wow that is so rare for an American. To even play in La Liga
Jesus.
Mad Money 💰
That’s what happens when you are handed €222m for Neymar.
Can you imagine the NFL with no salary cap? Scary thoughts…
Its called Major League Baseball
Haha, yep.
Wish MLS was open system.
The salary cap is killing any profit and development in US
A Barca fan that also follows Seattle? Lets be friends!
Done! 🙂
I follow and comment occasionally on the FC Barcelona SB Nation blog:
https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2018/1/7/16857852/the-best-philippe-coutinho-stats-as-brazil-ace-joins-barcelona#458719213
The content is good and a few of the frequent commenters I tend to see eye to eye with (“Albiceleste D10S” to name one of the most active), but there is a lot of off topic stuff and inside jokes I just skip over too. Still the best I’ve seen out there in English for keeping up with all things Barça.
Sounders for MLS and Liverpool for European.
Oh, um… sorry then…? Let me know what you think about Coutinho (the player and the transfer) when you are ready to.
Maybe you guys get Lemar, or I’ve also heard rumors they might be moving quick to sign Mahrez right away in this window. Just know that the same thing that happened to us will happen to you: everyone knows you have a boatload of cash in your pocket and will basically double their asking prices right away.
I heard Klopp likes Pulisic?
Record fee for American anyone?
First time really watching Derrick Henry in the league and he’s giving me Chris Warren flashbacks!
Great comparison . Long legged runner that just kind of glides.
I remember wanting the Hawks to spend their first on him a few years ago, i wonder how it would have turned out because you really never know
Oh boy .. did KPL-Alexander trade played out nicely for Chiefs. KPL has 41 tackles on the year!
Interesting also that Another GM with Seahawk ties turned down an interview request. Reggie McKenzie anyone???
This is a great read. It’s awesome having stuff like this to hold us over until the draft.
The next couple off seasons are going to be…interesting…and obviously pivotal. There’s one thing we can all count on: Seattle’s front office won’t stand pat with this roster, there will definitely be a lot of transition and turnover. Churn baby churn.
The same can’t exactly be said about their coaching staff; apparently “Always Compete” doesn’t seem to apply to them. That’s a sore spot with me. All I will say is, I’d like to see evaluation, accountability and transition on the entire team, not just the roster.
Seattle was definitely a better team when their defense was younger/cheaper. I’m actually kind of surprised they didn’t try to continue that model, because it seems like they’ve had much better luck getting young/cheap talent on that side of the ball than on offense. Maybe they’re going to try and get back to that?
Again, this is going to be interesting; remembering the wheeling/dealing days of 2010-2011…
From what I can see, nothing has been decided on the coaching staff yet. We’ll see what happens.
Listening to Coach Carrol’s interviews, he seems to factor in his coaches families a lot when it comes to firing them. For me that is a great trait as a person, but hindrance as a head coach. Highly intriguing off-season for us!!!
Players have families too. Everybody has families.
I think Pete Carroll is just a great leader and manager of people in general. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s been a little too loyal to his boys on his coaching staff. Changes need to be made there, and his loyalty shouldn’t blind him of making those changes.
Families of average joe will be impacted due to job changes..not these well settled millionaires!
IDK, Doug Baldwin’s comments rang true in my ears. We’ve seen this combination of coaches and players win and dominate many games for years. Sometimes it’s just on the players to execute.
Maybe instead of moving away from who we’ve been, we just need to truly get back to it: fix the run game. When our offense is always behind schedule, the whole gameplan is in a bind and can basically go out the window.
In the end, maybe one fresh voice somewhere might do the team good, but I would trust the current staff to make the necessary adjustments to their approach and get back to who they know they want to and can be.
I don’t trust Bevell…if it were up to him, he would go five WR sets every snap. I would like to see us hire a offensive coordinator that has a run first mentality that matches Carrol’s philosophy.
This is a 3-yr problem, not a sudden development. Horrible discipline and situational awareness, leading the league in penalties every year, putrid starts, abysmal red zone O (improved this year), 3 yrs to figure out how to use Graham, pathetic 3rd-down denfense, hanging the D out to dry with constant 3-and-outs by the O. Predictable and conservative, on both O and D. Even most of the wins only happened because of a last-drive Russ miracle or a defensive stand.
We have witnessed a special era of Seahawks football, with pro-bowlers everywhere, yet so much unfulfilled potential and promise left on the feild. Why? Coaching.
Exactly, lots of strong options in CFB to replace him, he’s been a bad OC, one season of number 1 DVOA isn’t enough of an argument for me. Especially when DVOA isn’t accurate (Carolina was a better offense than us by a mile) and our run game is from what I’ve heard mostly dictated by Tom Cable, so what value does an OC whos best season was nearly 10 years ago in Minnesota bring to the team? Time for some new ideas.
Man, its a nonstop Germain Ifedi-fest over at fieldgulls.
I have my own thoughts on Ifedi…backup lineman. What is there majority opinion of him over there?
🌵
That he is young, making mental mistakes, has room for improvement, and actually improved in terms of holding penalties as year went on
I think that has been good work to dig into a worthy topic.
Britt was horrible until he got moved to center, they use Ifedi as a scapegoat because ofna few penalties instead of noticing how he was better than Brown in pass pro. Fieldgulls doesn’t want to hear anything but their own opinion though.
Rob.. is there a reason for not using Marshawn Lynch for RB comparison? None of the Picks worked out for us!
Do you mean why did I not include Marshawn in the list? That’s because they traded for him, didn’t draft him.
But FWIW — Lynch was 5-11 and 215lbs at his combine, had a 35.5 inch vertical and a 10-5 broad with a 4.48 forty yard dash. So pretty much exactly their physical prototype.
Thx..traded for their choice of player like those picks. Little comforting to see success listed among those failures and hope for future picks!
I’m 1-0 with my Titans pick. Someone said KC was their lock.
Liked Mariota for once in 2nd half. Game ball to Henry and nice choke job by Chiefs!
That was me! I forgot about the Reid /Smith playoff experience.
I was with him. Didnt think the Titans could win. Chiefs have lost 6 straight home playoff games, brutal.
Death, taxes, and Andy Reid playoff teams.
Alex Smith will be traded to Jax
I got worried a little early when it was 21-3, but KC always starts fast and fades and the Titans can just beat you up on both sides of the ball. They were my darkhorse SB team in August. Got good early money on them
Smith to Browns seems likely to me.
This game reinforces PC’s beliefs. Running game and defense wins games. Especially in the postseason, enemy territory and cold weather
Philosophy, yes. But PC has not been able to adapt and create his team that way. Also, Titans are one of the least penalized. PC may want it a certain way, but is not run that way
Exactly!
I read some reports saying how important is for the Seahawks to resign Jimmy Graham. I just don’t get it. Yeah he had 10 touchdowns but his production on the rest of the field was terrible. He was basically your red zone rushing offense. If you can fix the run game that would help with his production. I may be in the minority but I would be disappointed if they resigned him.
I think he’ll be gone.
Me too. Unless the Hawks get rid of Bevell and Cable and turn into a total passing team.
Jimmy had no interest outside of the red zone. I can’t see how they can bring him back other than the fact that he’s BFF’s with the QB
Too old, too expensive, not a fit in the offense.
He’s a WR in an TE body. He’s not a guy you can use to block like a TE. Seattle needs a Zach Miller type TE. Last year’s draft was really good for TEs. This year, doesn’t look like it so much, the Seahawks missed the boat. I think it’s time to move on from Luke Willson too. Seattle needs guys who can actually catch the routine passes. Who do they target in free agency?
It would be nice to get a solid blocking TE in FA. Shouldn’t be too expensive.
Yeah, even Swoopes is an ERFA, so the only TE under contract right now is Vannett. TE is a definite need, especially if Seattle wants to get better at running the ball.
I think a good blocking TE and replacing PRich with a WR that can block will really help the running game. I like Luke, but not a great blocker and hands of stone sometimes. Maybe as 2nd or 3rd TE at the same price. Hoping Vannett can step up and curious about Swoopes
Trey Burton from the Eagles is a FA. He is only 25. Good run blocker, great special teamer and really improving receiver. I think he would be a great pick up.
Burton seems like a Cooper Helfet type. He made some nice plays for the Seahawks, but I’d like to see them do better than that (and Willson) at TE1/TE2.
Anyone else rooting for the LA RAms? After dwelling at the bottom for so many years, they made the changes needed to compete. Including picking up Gurley and Austin as running backs, and changing out their coaches for some new blood. Amazing what those sort of changes can do to a team.
Go Falcons (out twin bro). Let’s bring those Rams back to earth!
Go Falcons definitely. Like DQ.
After the times the Falcons knocked the Seahawks out of the playoffs??? No thanks. Rather root for someone in our own Division.
Any sane 12 fam will hope that the rams turn into lambs.
Titans/Rams/Jags/Saints are my wants and picks.
My wish would be Vikings vs Rams, but that can’t happen for NFCC
AFC Titans vs Jags
NFC Vikings vs Saints
SB Titans vs Vikings
I will not be rooting for the Rams.
Rooting for Quinny
I root for whoever the Rams are playing against. If it’s a Rams-Patriots Superbowl, I’m going to be rooting for a meteorite.
Got my NFC wrong.
NFC Falcons vs Vikings
AFC Jags vs Titans
Vikings vs Titans
No, i hope this game is where it all falls apart
have to root against the Rams, not just because they played only 2 good games a year before this year, always against the Hawks. But that is part of it. They had a great year, don’t want them to have a fantastic year.
and the Pats
and the Steelers, so explanations needed, I hope.
Don’t want to see the Falcons do what we could not, lose the SB and then come back and win it.
other than that, cheering for everyone else…
Go Shadenfreude!
NO explanations needed, I meant
Looks like McVay was setting out to prove Goff can do it and Goff showed him he couldn’t
Would love to see some numbers (or whatever) on how former DC coaches form their team when they become HC of a team. Do they focus more on D?
Great article Rob! Can see the bigger picture-changing of the guard so to speak.(we could use a guard too. haha)
Instead of focusing on cap savings for potential cuts and/or trades on the 2018 season. I’d like to focus a bit on the dead $ aspect. All #’s used from: https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/seattle-seahawks am going off of pre-June 1 $ amount. For post June 1 cuts just split the $ in half, over 2 years. In trade situations the team takes the full charge. There are a ton of ways to get creative with this.
We start at $4m in dead $. Kearse, Rubin+change.
cut/trade:
Sherman- $2.2
Lane- 2.5
Earl- 1.9
Kam- 7.5 (not sure how his injury guarantees factor exactly)
Avril- .5
Bennett- 5.2
Ryan- 1.2
=$21m+4
$25m in dead money for 2018. Then going into the 2019 season it cleanly comes off the book. This essentially creates another $25m in cap space to play with-like JS found $25m in the couch cushions at the VMAC to spend on free agents. Hmm I’ll take Aaron Donald please. Yep I used this highly unlikely/illogical(?) illustration to show that getting my dream Seahawk, Aaron Donald, isn’t completely impossible. Screw the Rams! Go Hawks!
Yeah I got a little weird at the end there…sorry about that.
Rob’s and many bloggers proposed major transition of getting younger on defense, reinvesting in the offense and creating cap space for 2018 will likely result in a large cap hit of dead $. I’d like to see us take the large dead $ cap hit in the nose by largely keeping that figure in 2018. Not spreading it into the 2019 cap, by using the post June 1 option.
Then this time next year we have sizable cap room, and aren’t scrambling for cap space. We’d have plenty of room to resign Clark, Lockett etc. and maybe make a FA splash, while being equipped with the extra comp picks by letting Sheldon, Jimmy, PRich and Joekel walk.
Two other drafted RBs
Zac Brooks 6.1 200
Rod Smith 6.3 225
Rod is boys backup RB
Smith was undrafted. I tend not to include Brooks because he was a bit of a third-down flier in late R7. Plus JS admitted after he kind of just had a feeling about him. Think they saw something and didn’t think they’d get him as an UDFA.
What is worse, missing the playoffs because of a FG kick miss……..
or playing a home game in the playoffs (wildcard round) and losing?
Chiefs crapped the bed. I’m shocked. I can’t believe they turtled up in the second half and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
first time they ever did that!
oh wait…
Andy was just seen running into the local BBQ hut….
he needed an extra large helping of slow roasted ribs ASAP
Jones definitely has it. His game against Colorado was ridiculous. And really in every game he has wow moments.
I do hope we add balance to the offensive side, but I doubt it will be through free agency. I think they will look to resign their defensive free agents and focus the draft on offense.
I think we’ll see the opposite really. Reduced spending on defense, more on offense. They won’t redress the balance in 2018 fully but they can start it.
Whether it’s OL or WR I can imagine one FA splash on offense, or 2-3 value signings on short term deals. WR might be more likely if they lose Graham and Richardson.
I agree on the opposite. Get younger and cheaper on defense = draft. More experience and more money to offense = free agency (except maybe the RB)
Wonder if Sammy Watkins could be an option? Seahawks love signing former 1st rd picks and the Rams will have to pay Aaron Donald, make a decision on Trumaine Johnson and Gurley will be eligible for an extension so there may not be enough money to go around to sign a Watkins.
Watkins will want too much and is over rated.
and if you don’t like Prosise being injured all the time, you won’t like Sammy
I think if they get a Wr in FA, it will be a low cost one.
I would hope they might get a guard, but I doubt they would go after someone like Norwell. Tight on the cap, and a few teams with lots of space. Jut hope the don’t add someone like Joeckel, need a mauler.
Most of his injuries were related to a foot injury that needed 2 surgeries. CJ’s history is completely different. Sammy has admitted that he had issues in the past because he was all about the number of targets he gets and he has matured and is not worried about his targets and is about winning.
He’s still young and was a top pick for a reason.
Had the misfortune of being on the opposite sideline as Sammy when he was in high school. The breeze that I felt as he ran by was impressive. First night coaching for that school and I learned about Sammy in the first 14 seconds of the game. Yeah, too many injuries and too much money. But he’s super talented.
I competely agree. I would be thrilled if the Rams sign him long term, but they don’t seem to make the poor decisions they used to. Watkins is all athleticism with no technical skills.
Watkins hasn’t gotten better since coming into the league, for whatever reason. He was an absolute stud at Clemson, and was worthy of the #4 overall pick(not the stupid trade up in a historically loaded WR class). I too hope the Rams give him a big deal, and am glad they don’t have a 2nd rounder either. Woods and Kupp both look better than Watkins and they clearly play harder.
Watkins is really talented but hasn’t been able to produce consistently and despite the big trade that brought him to the Rams, the throw-in WR from the Bills, Robert Woods, is the true #1 for Los Angeles. But because of pure talent & reputation, Watkins is going to be wanting way more money than he’s worth and I would be bummed if the Seahawks signed him.
Definitely possible, but I’m just having a hard time seeing where they will spend the money on offense. The are setup to kill the compensatory picks, so are they going to go big on outside free agents? Maybe for the right OL or RB (Norwell or Hyde). I tend to think they will re-sign some of their own defensive free agents (guys like Maxwell, McDougald). I think they like some of their youth in the secondary and the DL. No young talent at linebacker though, which makes me think they may look there in round 1.
Part of the problem is that they haven’t had many offensive draft picks who were worth paying second contracts. Can’t wait to see how everything unfolds this offseason. Thank you Rob for everything you do!
Left Guard, would be my choice.
Agreed. Ifedi and Fant can compete at tackle opposite Brown. I have some optimism that Pocic can turn into a good player once he adds some strength and isn’t being pushed into the field pocket every snap.
You can only get a max of four comp picks. And more than four players are moving on.
True, but a high price FA cancels out one of ours right? This potentially lowering the value of said comp pick? I’ve got to reread the rules.
Regardless, yes I can see them going after the right FA lineman.
A high price FA would cancel one out, yes. So if Jimmy Graham signs somewhere else for $10m a year and they sign someone for a similar price, it would cancel out what would probably be a fourth round comp pick in 2019.
I’m not sure that would necessarily be that concerning for the Seahawks. A bottom end fourth rounder in 2019 isn’t that precious.
And if other players leave (Richardson — Sheldon and Paul) they will still get comp picks.
Da’Ron Payne, DT, Alabama (6’2″, ~319)
Words like Athleticism, Speed and Relentless are some of the words I’m seeing in some draft profiles.
Able to be a stout rush defender and when called upon, able to provide viable pass rush.
Could this guy be the Seahawks pick at #18 ?
He’s a good run stuffer but that would be a bit rich for me at #18.
yes, I think rd 1, if they pick there, has to be for an impact player. Biggest impact is probably RB.
I just think they trade back, since RB class seems deep, and they have no 2 or 3
If you’re looking for a Kareem Hunt non-power 5 RB, Jarvion Franklin fro W Michigan could be the guy. 6’0 220lbs so he hits the Seahawks physical profile. Can’t wait to see how he tests.
Here’s a highlight vid
https://youtu.be/K8a0Llp172Q
That dude looks like he’s about 240.
I may be hallucinating hêre, but when i watched that clip I thought I saw just a dash of some kinda Jim Brown/grown-man thang happening thêre! Nice stuff.
Just watched some tape on Western Michigan’s Darius Phillips. CB/PR/KR. Plays in the slot also. Defiantly one to monitor.
Looks like he can squat 900 lbs without breaking a sweat. Franklin has some serious lower body power.
Michael Brockers is really underrated. Rams can’t stop the run at all ever since he went down. Joyner just got hurt too. Rams injury luck is starting to catch up with them.
If for some reason the Seahawks don’t aquire more picks and do decide to stay put at 18 what is more important to draft? The best front seven player or the RB?
Me being the contrarian of the group would go front 7. You can never have enough blue chip defenders
I’d like to see them stay at #18 and get the best front 7 player available. Assuming Prosise and Carson come back healthy, and they pick up another RB in the draft and one more UDFA.
I would normally say Front 7, but the Hawks really need a difference maker at RB, and that would help both the O and the D.
and who are we kidding, they are not staying at 18
As much as I want them to draft Jones, I can’t help but think they may look to add a veteran back to compete with Carson ( Hyde?) and go front seven in round 1. The lack of young talent to push/replace KJ and provide depth for he and Bobby worries me. And if Bennett and Avril leave, the line is interesting, but young and shallow.
“The lack of young talent to push/replace KJ and provide depth for he and Bobby worries me.”
Agreed. KJ has never been very athletic and has lost a step. He’s still really good, but how long does that last? Looking at improving team speed of the defense KJ stands out as being upgradeable, if not 2018 then 2019. JS/PC talked about making LB a priority before the 2017 season…that didn’t happen.
My ideal scenario is trade back are 18 pick and a 4th or 5th, if we can’t trade a player, for a late 20s and mid second and go front 7 then jones.
It seems our run blocking doesn’t succeed because at least one member of the line (including tight ends) whiffs on virtually every play resulting in backfield penetration. While Jockel and Graham seem particularly susceptible to the whiff monster every member of the line takes a turn. On a running play what causes a whiff versus engaging but losing? Is it, 1) a lack of physical talent, 2) a lack of mental talent, 3) a result of zone blocks being harder to execute, 4) poor coaching, 5) all of the above, or 6) something entirely different?
The whiffs do happen way too much and need to get cleaned up. Often times it looks like poor communication leaving a DL completely unblocked. Other times OL are flat out beat-that happens to the best of them. Continuity along the OL should be actually practiced, not just talked about(Cable).
Running ZBS the vast majority of the time makes opposing DL job easier. If they know how they’re going to be blocked, it makes it easier to beat said block.
Graham looked largely disinterested blocking. Joekel came off an ACL and required a clean up during the season, and was not 100%. He was overpowered often and whiffed occasionally. It’s hard to know how much of that can be attributed to his balky knee, but it surely it made a difference.
Rams are going to lose (hooray) but their offensive line is giving Goff a solid pocket. He’s got all day to throw. And they’re really good run blockers. How does their scheme differ from ours? Is it just better personnel?
I used to read about the ZBS when Denver ran it during the Elway years. Their line was smaller and more athletic, and they had great pass and run blocking. Is it unsuited to our personnel (bigger, strong guys)? I hate it, but it’s mostly because we can’t seem to do it.
Big lol at the Rams. Happy for Dan Quinn.
Schadenfreude wins again!
it is all we have left this year
small victories
Ha I’ll take what I can at this point!
Rams with a dud at home in the first round, wow I didn’t see that coming. Guess when healthy the Hawks weren’t that far off from the Rams. Trim the fat and get physical and quick and we just might take back the West next year. Gotta think people will catch onto McVay’s scheme that’s made Goff so good.
I would expect the Rams to take a step back next year, and they were very lucky with injuries this year. Just like the Cowboys the year before.
And with a bunch of younger players coming close to the end of their rookie contracts, the Cap will come into play for them soon. And a bunch of guys having really good years is hard to repeat.
Yep, there cap situation gets messy when in a hurry. And I’m not yet convinced that Goff is very good when things aren’t going smoothly for him. I expect the West to be very competitive next year. I’ve been amused by the analysis that the Rams have overtaken the Hawks as the kings of the West. They were obviously the better team this year, but injury luck had a lot to do with that and McVay will have his hands full keeping them playing to that level.
not to be too cynically and pile on to the Rams but it will be interesting also see the rams not pick in the top 15 for a season. Not for nothing but they have had four straight top 15 draft so honestly at some point that team should be getting good.
I’m also interested in what happens as they have to start paying more of there recents draft picks.
Well they could have been the Browns!!! I expect their cap situation will change everything in the next few years. I want to say Geoff isn’t that good, but for a rookie he was pretty good.
And really I expect the Rams with McVay, Goff, Gurley, Donald, and some of their other talent to be pretty good, but I feel like the national narrative is that they’ve taken over as a great team (though this narrative may have cooled over the weekend). I’m not bought in on that.
Wanted both away teams today and both home teams tomorrow. Next week regardless, want both away teams to win AFC. Jags and Titans have good run games and good defenses. Please upset Steelers and Patriots.
Part of the challenge on RBs is that the z blocking scheme can limit who will be successful in it. The one guy that seems like he might work is Chubb – has the burst and hits the hole. I also like Harris. I wonder what would happen if we went man blocking instead of zone. PC is a really good coach but there is a pigheadedness at times that is infuriating. Love or hate him – Belichick adjusts to bring out the best in his players – he has backs like Lewis White Burkhead – not exactly blue chippers but he figures out a way to use them at their best. I’m all for a strong running game and defense, but the play calling and run formations are really obvious.
My thoughts today is Dan Quinn is a really good coach .you know what cracked me up the falcon’s through a flanker screen on the rams and got a huge gain and the Hawks have ran that play for five years and usually gain nothing .when was the last Andy Reid won a big game you can agrue they have the most complete roster in the NFL and you can’t make it out of the first round Two years in a row you lose at home..
My last take is Jimmy Graham is number one wish list of the RAM’s it make sense because who is there tight end I could see him going there.. Not sure if I want Jimmy in the same division
Tyler Higbe and he’s cheaper.
A simple mock involving zero wonky trades for players or GM’s:
Rd1: trade with Buffalo for their third: Isaiah Wynn, Georgia. LT who moves inside in the pro’s provides an instant upgrade to one of the worst interior lines in the league.
Rd 2: None
Rd 3: Seattle trades their 2nd of three 5th round picks to move up 7 spots a difference of =/- 3 points to select Ronald Jones II. One of the players we covet on this blog will be overvalued by us on this site. Rob mentions Jamaal Charles alot in comparison which I think is spot on. Seattle selects a great running back with the 70th pick. Charles…was the 73rd pick.
Rd 4: Frank Ragnow. Arkansas. RG/C In what feels like a facepalming pick at the time Seattle addresses the running game in a slightly different way than we imagine. After drafting Wynn Seattle takes a Center/Guard to play RG. Ragnow is a big, bear of a man with good feet from a power running system. Ragnow was a highly touted center who started his career at Guard. Credited for not allowing a sack in 41 starts. Can get to the second level with ease and pulls with excellent direction. Oh and he had a high ankle sprain to end the season, won’t get to test this draft season so there’s that.
Rd 5: Shaquem Griffin, UCF. LB. Seattle selects my favorite LB in the draft. There are players who might be better. There are dudes I’d love to draft, evans, edmunds, smith. But there are NO players in this draft who have made it as far being overlooked as hard as Shaquem Griffin. Besides not having a hand I’m not sure if most of you know that he is only playing college ball because UCF wanted his brother. Flies around and has “plus,” tackles for loss to go with sacks, passed defended, and forced fumbles. My dream for him is that he actually becomes the new enforcer on the LOB and maybe even becomes a SS….but as a LB I’ll take it.
Rnd 5: Darren Carrington WR, Utah. 6’2″ 195 Forgotten Reciever by many, Has big play ability as well as the ability to just move the chains and play in the middle. Strong hands and just snatches the ball out of the air. To me a more polished Jermaine Kearse. Alternate pick: J’mon Moore, Mizzou 6’3″ 205. Very quick in his initial steps. Very willing blocker. Has break away speed for deep balls. My only hesitation is that he body catches more than snaps the ball out of the air.
Rnd: 7 Ethan Wolfe TE, Tennessee: a 6th round guy. But seriously, 6’6″ 258 blocking TE with 22 receptions, 240(ish) yards and 2 TD’s per year. Every year basically. Sort of right in the middle stat wise of Vannett and Willson. And used primarily as a blocking TE.
Rnd 7: Bruce Hector DT, South Florida: After the TE I’m not doing much more research. Good TFL’s, good first step. Mostly a camp body.
The other two picks in round 7…who knows.
As per a kicker I’d like to see Aidan Schneider, Oregon. has never really tested his deep range but has been a very accurate (92%) kicker. Good size so if nothing more he has room to grow into and strengthen himself and his kicking power.
One other UDFA: Ryan Nall. Oregon State. For the love of all that is right in the world please let Seattle use a Fullback from time to time. Nall started as a TE and has very good vision and ability to sift through the lanes. As a RB? nope. He’s slow. And that’s about it. But as a 6’2″ 250 FB who can block, carry the rock, and catch like 8 passes a year….he’d be ideal for that.
Could be that we over value some prospects draft position, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
I’m intrigued by Nall as well, as much as I would prefer a FB who excels above all in the passing game.
every year though there’s a few guys that we love but they go just a bit later than we think they will. I thought kamara would have been a high second per example. I think this year most of the running backs go in the second. but in this exercise I was viewing jones from the frame if charles…..to match robs comp.
We need ourselves a Delaine Walker, dude is sooo clutch!!
Clutch pass catcher and underrated blocker. Could really use a guy like him next year to help revive this dead running game.
3-WR’s I like as Seahawk WR picks. Note the # of 1-st down catches & total of 15/25 yd. catches.
Rd-3: WR-Michael Gallup, CSU, 6-005/200, 4.52/40 +/-, currently #92-overall, proj. Rd-3
2017: 100/1413/7-TD’s, 14.13-ypc – 61-for 1-st downs, 36/15+, 13/25+
*RD-4: WR-Cedrick Wilson, Boise St., 6-016/188, 4.49/40 +/-, currently #129-overall, proj. Rd-4
2017: 83/1511/7-TD’s, 18.20-ypc, 58 for 1-st downs, 39/15+, 22/25+ (*=The best WR alternative -IMO)
Rd-4/5: WR-Steve Ishmael, Syracuse, 6-012/209, 4.53/40 +/-, currently #188-overall, proj. Rd-5/6
2017: 105/1347/7-TD’s, 12.83-ypc – 59 for 1-St downs, 31/15+, 12/25+
Oh yes one more in the chiefs game it is 4 and 9 with 2:15 on the clock your down by 1 so let’s Chuck the 30 yards in the middle of the field I don’t understand that call at all
When you first brought up Jones I thought no way he has the build he needs but thought he was overrated base on the small sample size I’ve seen this season. After watching watching a lot more of him, size is the only thing they don’t like, same with Wilson. His side step as he gets nullifies that because he always adjust not to take the straight on hit nut still fights for and gets the extra yards. I think now that he fits better then any other back in the draft. Mainly because he’s the perfect compliment to Carson. Then have davis and McKinney beck up their rolls. I agree with Rob about this talk to but I would put Jones ahead of them for Jones fit with this team.
Does anybody think Dan Quinn might have watched the seahawks rams in week 5 where the seahawks held them to 10 points and said I have the personal pretty much like they did and I do pretty much the exact same defense
The Falcons defense is primarily set-up exactly the exact same as the Seahawks defense.
What I found very interesting is how active and “fast” the LBs were for the Falcons. They played disciplined and communicated well with the FS/SS. There were very few tiems a WR or TE ran free in the middle of the field…. the tackling was also excellent. The Falcons stacked the box, made Goff beat them….. he wasn’t quite ready for prime-time yet.
Well put Charlie. Jones was all over the place- he’s big time.
So after PC 1 on 1 two things are clear. JS will be GM next year and we have 4 obvious starters at OL. The only question mark is LG. I think.that LG wiil.be Odhiambo.
PC expects.big influence of Brown on Ifedi and he said that Pocic need to strenghten in the offseason.
He didnt mention Hill not even once. He spoke about DL,Shag, Mcdougald, KJ, BWag. Darboh and Moore will get their chances next season.
According to Davis Hsu’s insider source, the team considers Naz Jones, Griffin and Carson the studs of the 2017 class, with Hill, Thompson, Darboh, and McDowell all being towards lower end, and Ethan Pocic somewhere in between.
This would reflect what PC just said.
Other insights from Hsu’s source:
Jimmy Graham is definitely out of here, and Willson probably only comes back on a small veteran deal. RW likes Vannett, but the team will look at FA and/or the draft to add to the group.
The team plans to go BIG at RB, signing on veteran player to hedge, and using a high pick at the position. They like Carson a lot, but see him as a rotational player.
The team additionally expects to be a player in FA on offense at WR and possibly OL.
In addition to McDougald, they team definitely wants Maxwell back and that they see their defense being his best fit.
All those moves seem appropriate. I hope we don’t go FA with RB this year though, unless its a really cheap, can be cut in preseason, type deal
I don’t want to have another Eddy Lacy situation
I’m sure the team doesn’t want another Lacy situation as well, but it makes sense to me that they do a little FA shopping in addition to the draft.
I like that. Doubt they spend big again on any FA, but a few options for all three spots
TE: Burton/Eifert/Jenkins
OL: Norwell/Pugh/Kline
RB: Williams/Darkwa/McKinnon/Hyde
What do you mean by “towards the lower end”? Do Hill, Thompson, and Darboh have a future in Seattle?
It’s not what I mean, but what Hsu tweeted. I think it infers that the team is really excited about Naz, Griffin, and Carson, they think they might have something with Pocic, but the jury is out on Hill, Darboh, Thompson and McDowell. They haven’t seen enough to bank on them yet.
My question regards the zone blocking scheme used by the Seahawks. Is it a unique system or is it used by many of the other teams. Does are system require that we draft running back and linemen who have played in a similar blocking scheme so they do not have to start from scratch in a new system?
I don’t think it’s a requirement. I think finding running backs who don’t dance outside, which is very common in college schemes, and can make great single cuts is a requirement. I’m sure other posters would know better but I’m not even sure what schools run a zone scheme so I think there’s always going to be a learning curve.
It is the same variant of the ZBS used by several teams across the league. Few colleges use ZBS full time, so mostly you just draft the lineman with the necessary athletic traits and start from scratch scheme wise.
Seattle led the league in plays which ended up for zero gain or a loss. I wonder if the ZBS is appropriate for today’s game where defensive linemen are uber athletic. It seems like an all or nothing approach because it depends on cut blocks. All it takes is one lineman to whiff for a running play to be blown up in the backfield.
I will be honest. I didn’t like our draft last year very much. I was livid when the trade down resulted in Malik McDowell for all of the reasons we discussed last year. I thought Darboh was a waste of a pick as well. Pocic is a guy I liked, and he was a rookie this year and played a lot. I just don’t think JS and the scouting department did a good job last year. Malik urned it to be EXACTLY who I feared he would be. He’s a knucklehead. ATV incident aside, his arrest while his team is gearing up to play was strange. If he ever does play he’s on a short leash. So now we come to 2018 and JS supposedly would like to go home, I say this is a golden opportunity to get something back to make up for basically screwing up the 2017 and 2018 drafts. I’m annoyed, but it’s better than trading or cutting everyone on the roster.
I think if Griffin would have been taken at the spot they took McDowell, and Naz had been taken at the spot they took Pocic, and Carson had been taken at the spot they took Griffin, and Pocic had been taken at the spot they took Naz, this draft would probably be viewed in a much better light with many who share a similar view of yours.
IMO, these four players make it a pretty solid draft class, and the jury is out on McDowell, Hill, Darboh, etc.
Doesn’t sound like JS is going anywhere. Word has been filtering out a bit that GB would not be interested in sending picks to Seattle, and they are not expected to dispute JS’s job description in Seattle. They’re expected to move on.
I know people keep saying things like “the jury is still out” regarding guys who had no impact in their first year or two, but I don’t really believe that. And PC is way too optimistic/unrealistic in my book. The list of guys who ended up on teams or on the practice squad that we/he were just sure were going to have an impact someday — and ended up having no real impact — is longer than Clevaland’s list of failed starting QBs.
Pocic could still end up being good, and I think Ifedi would improve if Russ’s pocket movement/awareness improves, but it’s likely none of the non-Nazair non-Carson guys ever amount to anything.
It’s a bit too early to write off the rookies like that.
Kam Chancellor only played on special teams in 2010. It took Golden Tate three years to get going. It took Justin Britt three years to work it out.
Carroll is overly optimistic sometimes during interviews but there’s not much we can accurately contradict with such limited intel.
+1
I think it would be safe to say that at the end of his 2010 rookie year, there was probably plenty of cynical fans who viewed Golden as a bust.
Britt was considered a massive bust until his move to center.
I will trust Positive Pete more time than not. I think he knows a thing or two more about football and the personnel he coaches than ever the die hardest of fans.
+2
You’re probably right. Maybe I’m just on a pessimism swing. It’s just tough to see the tailspin we ended on and hear Pete say he expects Moore and Darboh are really going to get it going next year or something like that. Highly unlikely that they are. Tate was a year younger than Darboh and had three times the catches. His rookie year fell in line with most other rookie WRs picked around where he was picked or later. You could tell he was going to be a contributor. Not so with Darboh yet.
I’m concerned that their optimism is preventing them from making the hard choices and changes necessary to turn this around.
Not even a little bit. You’d have taken a third round pick in the first. How is that smart? Hindsight is 20/20, but that would have been silly. There were solid players that could have been chosen. We acquired a lot of mid-round picks who they may now not even have faith in, (Hill, Thompson, Darboh). Griffin was a really nice pick, but part of that is the value in that we got him in round 3. I know it sounds like sour grapes now, but it’s not like he’s been killing it in the draft every year. He started off with a bang and since then it’s been very hit and miss. Trading down to get more picks only works if you get players with those picks. Otherwise you’ve wasted opportunities to get better players with your first pick.
Mock Draft.
Seattle finds a trade partner with…………………………………………
…………………. the Pittsburgh Steelers who would like to transition from Big Ben.
For pick 18, Seattle gets picks 29, 93, and 150
At pick 29, Seattle finds a trade partner with…………………………….
………………….. the NY Giants who took Saquon Barkley at #2 overall, and wants to move ahead of NE and NO who might also be looking at QB.
Seattle gets pick 34 and 104
34: R2P2
RB RONALD JONES II
USC
I think the idea of Jones II that intrigues me most is in the question; what type of back would be the most dynamic to pair with Carson? The idea of a Seattle version of the Chiefs’ Charles & Ware style Thunder & Lightening effect at RB is pretty exciting.
93: R3P29
LB DARIUS LEONARD
SC STATE
With all the mid round picks acquired, Seattle would have better ability to move up. Either way, I like the next pick to go towards the defense, and specifically in the front seven. I think Darius Leonard could be one of those risers out of nowhere. Looks pretty athletic in coverage and blitzing.
104: R4P2
EDGE DUKE EJIOFOR
WAKE FORREST
Like Seattle to continue the path of filling out the defense with a promising edge rusher in the Mike B mold if they move on from him.
122: R4P20
WR TREY QUINN
SMU
If Seattle moves on from PRich and doesn’t make a big FA splash at WR, I would have to imagine Seattle looks this direction in the draft. Quinn has decent size and speed, and can make hay in the slot. Maybe a good hedge for Lockett.
143: R5P4
TE IAN THOMAS
INDIANA
If Seattle moves on from JG and Willson, TE probably a FA and draft target at some point.
148: R5P9
EDGE LORENZO CARTER
GEORGIA
Seattle continues adding pieces into the revamped front seven.
150: R5P11
CB ADONIS ALEXANDER
VIRGINIA TECH
Seattle adds a Seattle type corner.
171: R5P32
DL B.J. HILL
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Seattle adds a Seattle type DT
227: R7P8
G BRENDAN MAHON
PENN STATE
Seattle adds depth at OG
249: R7P30
OT IKE BOETTGER
IOWA
Seattle adds depth at OT
250: R7P31
QB J.T. BARRETT
OHIO STATE
Barrett is an acquired taste. Personally, I think PC would be into him.
if Carter tests well I see him moving to the third like Jaime Collins. it’ll be interesting to see how well he does. it’s so hard when making mocks for seattle with Dbs without the most pertinent information: wingspan.
more than any trait it’s the most bankable one that Rob has sorted through over the years.
I’m super into Duke. I think people will see a traditional 4-3 De, and that’s true but Rajeev brock was a bit bigger and I think he can rush from the inside with an extremely developed array of moves. perhaps a lower ceiling than some others but more complete out of the gate.
You could definitely be right about Carter. With all these entries, it seems like this draft is going to be loaded at edge.
I’m big into Duke, as well. I like the Brock comp. He isn’t super twitch, but is technically sound. I’m not so sure how much the team leans on LEO anymore. I think one could argue a bit that they haven’t used a pure LEO since Clemons.
who the heck is ‘Rajeev,’ brock…..good grief phone…..
I do this all. the. time.
I do wonder if scheme shifts are do to the lack of personnel? I’m fine with or without a ‘leo’ package but I wonder if they’d run more of that IF there was a way to find a player who fit that type?
Could very well be. I think after 2013, when the team chose Mike Bennett over Big Red, that changed how they view 5 tech to some degree. And then when they chose Cliff over Clemons, they chose better DE over better LEO, IMO. I think they philosophy was keep the better talent and over maybe the better scheme fit, and utilize the flexibility that both of the young DEs had over Clem and Red.
I have it stuck in my mind that McDowell was drafted to be that traditional big 5 tech, and Frank is the heir apparent at LEO, but if Frank even a LEO? I guess in this defense he is.
Oh, the irony that it was the Rams’ ST unit that essentially lost them the game.
Side note, that field looked to be in absolutely terrible condition.
If he’s there Guice would be an excellent pick–compact and healthy. Turns 1 yard runs into 4 – 5 yard runs.
A grinder. As Bill Polian and Tony Dungy would say, “The greatest ability is Availability”
Well, he missed time during the season through injury.
Guice isn’t a terrible running back by any means. But he is extremely limited physically. At the next level the effort runs won’t show up as often and he’s an average athlete. I find it very hard to get excited about Guice.
The jags are a really cheap shot team. So many dirty hits and extra shots after plays
I went back and watched the All 22 of all our games and then compared it to the 2013/2014 games. A couple of glaring needs for 2018:
1) We badly need a proper NT/Run Stopper that can clog the middle and take on double teams. What are the best options here in the draft or FA? We need a Mebane type NT badly.
2) Proper ZBS Guards and RB’s that have clear vision. A stronger Pocic, Norwell in FA, and Chubb/Michel via the draft look like a good fit.
3) Proper SAM linebacker with speed. We haven’t really replaced Irvin. What are the best options here in FA or the draft?
4) Urgently teach Russ how to climb the pocket, take CONSISTENT drop-backs, how to throw in man to man/cover 4 coverages. Thoughts on any available QB guru’s/OC’s that can step-change his game here?
1. Justin Ellis from the Raiders is 330 and 27 years old, possible option.
3. Tremaine Edmunds would be the perfect guy for that. Maybe Davenport as well.
My favorite NT prospect is Derrick Nnadi from Florida State. He’s listed at 6’1″ and 310lbs and has a very similar body type to Mebane. Guy has great strength, balance, and effort. Could be a steal in rounds 3-5. Love this guy a lot! We definetly need that short and big proper NT to clog the middle. Pete’s defense is a 4-3 (well more 4-2-5 now) with 3-4 personnel. Can’t truly be that without a NT.
John Schneider is staying as the Seahawk architect. The Packers are hiring Brian Gutekunst as GM, per Ian Rapoport.
This is terrific news.
Oh. Happy. Day.
Whew… It was unlikely to happen anyway, but I’m still glad it’s case closed for now.
+1
I think a potential major offseason mess was averted.
Also, HawkBlogger is tweeting out that Seattle has an interest in bringing back Gus Bradley as DC. Could make him assistant HC if he is interested, and if they move on from Tom Cable.
I would love Gus back over Richard. But let’s remember, when he left Auonn came in and took it up a notch. The key will be how they refill thendefense or else it doesn’t matter who is calling the plays.
DQ was also given personnel that in Cliff and Bennett and the likes that Gus didn’t have the luxury of. There is no telling what Gus would have done with those players. Also, he is an extremely well liked and respected coach by players and other coaches in the league. If he comes back, that could be huge, IMO.
Quinn took it up a notch — but Quinn also had Bennett and Avril.
Makes sense.
Is Andy Reid the greatest HC that was never actually any good?
Even more over; is the Mike Holmgren coaching tree a bit overrated, and has that WCO school become a bit more than passé in this league?
For it to excell against today’s defenses, isn’t a prerequisite to have the near perfect QB, a la A-Rod, and if so, how many of those QBs are out there in the world?
Do we honestly think that Jon Gruden is one of the greatest coaches of the modern area and is destined to bring the Raiders back to greatness?
I really like gruden as a coach but think he’s like Harbaugh and wears out his welcome. His contract just dumbfounds me.
Good question. I do think KC has the perfect QB for that system in Pat Mahomes. You also need your QB to have a big arm. Something Alex Smith don’t have.
Hell no in regards to Gruden. And like Rowdy said, that contract is insane.
I definitely like the upside of Mahomes.
Andy Reid has been a HC for 19 years during which he’s reached double digit wins in 12 seasons and two seasons of 9 wins. That’s not “never actually any good”. Unfortunately a stellar regular season record hasn’t translated into domination in the playoffs where he’s 11 and 13. His situation reminds me of Dan Marino except Reid does have a SuperBowl ring. Would you say the Marino wasn’t actually any good? It could be that Reid is too good so he never has a high enough draft position to acquire the top talents. What would we be saying about Reid if he’d had Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers all these years?
‘ The NFL on CBS’
Where both teams have crossed midfield only once!
Someone pick this game up and dump it in the trash.
Lol. So true. I’m not watching the game, but I check the score at nfl.com and see “Big Play Highlight” on the banner at the top… and the score is 3-3…
Just because both teams are playing good defense doesn’t mean it’s a bad game.
In a league that opened up the rule book so we wouldn’t have games like this? Makes sense.
And its far more than that. Buffalo wants to become a passing team right now. Bottles is garbage.
There’s a big difference between defensive football and bad football. Don’t let a low score fool ya into thinking otherwise.
Should of read your comment first, pretty much what I said. Throwing a bunch of uncatchable passes isn’t great d.
My problem with this game is it’s not so much great d but sloppy offense. Both teams are shooting themselves in the foot offensively.
I’m ready to fall asleep.
Evergreen post. That was me the whole NFL season.
Why do NFL teams have this horrible habit of going away from what brought them this far?
Last night, KC had multiple 3rd & short scenarios, and they don’t pound the ball with Kareem Hunt?
Last night the Rams give Gurley only 14 touches. 14!
The Bills have one of the best rushing attacks in the league and decide to throw it from the 1!?
It’s ridiculous.
Its like, I hear PC talk about wanting to get back to running the ball, but why has his philosophy stopped working? And what makes us beleive that Seattle won’t sell out like 90% of these teams?
Talking is one thing, doing is the other. PC and my wife have something in common, they think words are as powerful as action. The reality is action speaks louder than words. Quit talking about running and discipline etc… when you don’t change the OL philosophy or never fine players for penalties. Top 5 for years now.
Agreed.
Hawks do the same things. ie Hand the ball to Lynch for 2 SB wins. I have realized the last few years, common sense isn’t so common anymore.
I had no problem with Seattle passing in that SB. I would’ve too on 2nd down with one TO left. It was the type of pass that I’ll never get. Yes, Malcolm Butler made an amazing play on the ball, but a slant from the goal line?
HC’s and coordinators get too cute. They want to try and be the smartest guys in the room.
Agreed, but read option to Lynch and roll right. 3 options of Lynch, rollout and run or rollout and pass. Just ridiculous.
That very well could’ve worked. I don’t buy the straw man theory that Seattle didn’t want Lynch to be SB MVP either.
Throw it to the back corner. Catch? Ball game and repeat champions of the world. Drop? Stopped clock. Now you can put the game in Lynch’s hands with the next 2 plays. That’s what I think was the plan.
Yep. Slant with everyone in tight. Geez
Thanks for inciting my PTSD again! I will forever hate that play call with the whole entire D bunched in like that.
Sorry CDog
“Last night the Rams give Gurley only 14 touches. 14!”
Boy Genius play caller outsmarted himself. The only reason that game was even remotely close was the defense stood tall so many times, holding the Falcons the FGs.
I just wish they had turned back into a pumpkin a few weeks earlier.
Me and you both my man. Me and you both.
You can almost hang a Rams W or L on Gurley’s touches. It’s crazy. Only 2 games this year they won with Gurley getting less than 20 total touches runs/passes. But in every loss he got less than 20.
Interesting stats and very telling. Best RB in football IMHO.
I don’t think Goff is great, but I don’t think he’s bad either. However, much like Joe Flacco, you take away his run game and he’s above average.
As well, the 2 wins with >20 touches were blowout wins so they probably rested him.
What’s the point of having a thoroughbred if you’re not going to turn him loose?
None. Literally is no point.
It was also really cool to see Atlanta implement Seattle’s defensive philosophy. Or was it DQ’s philosophy?
Stop the run, and let your opponent dink and dunk the whole game. If they ain’t scoring TDs, they’re wasting clock.
And play physical with the WR’s.
Dan Quinn’s impact on those SB teams is under rated IMO.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills are in the playoffs and the Seattle Seahwaks are not… Pete, in the name of Knute Rockne, DO SOMETHING!
– Do we need a signed deposition from Buddy Ryan that Tom Cable’s zone blocking scheme has been figured out, or what? Brown, Britt, Ifedi and Pocic are perfectly adequate athletes, who also play with effort, so the inability to gain a single yard rushing within ten yards of the goal line would be all the evidence needed, one would think.
– Teams with lesser quarterbacks and lesser receivers are running route trees that consistently get someone open underneath, yet we don’t… is this because we have played all 16 games on a frozen field, or because the offensive scheme is sub par?
Bear Bryant, pray for us.
I keep thinking a change in blocking scheme is around the corner. I thought PC might have hinted that.
Amen. I know Rob gets tired of the Cable and Bevel talk, but I think everyone agrees the bigger problem is PC being stubborn. Even if he wants to keep them both, fine. But quit giving us poop and calling it something else. It’s great to be positive, but not to the point you are blind. At the year end press conference, he talked about penalties and fixing that problem. It’s been a problem for years, yet he just says it now. Come on Pete, take off the blinders.
Which you rather have:
A.
Don’t sign any team FA except for BM/SR
Keep all veterans MB/ET/RS/KW
Don’t sign any significant FA
Draft RB Chubb with #18 pick
B.
Don’t sign any team FA except for BM
Get rid of MB/ET/RS
Sign starting FA OL
Trade back a few times and draft RB Mchel or Harris
Guess I would go with A but would want to trade the Sheldon signing for a pimp LG.
Anyone notice buffalo is getting a lot of touch fouls while jags only get blatant ones. Wait, that’s how every game is officiated now.
Did he step out or was he pushed out?
Man I hate those tackles around the neck.
Guys getting slammed slammed down or pulled down from way up high.
The Chiefs were up 21-3 at one point and Kareem Hunt still only had 11 carries. Gurley only had 14 touches last night. These are the offensive guru coaches? Sean McVay has a shocking way of abandoning the run, he’s shown this multiple times this year. That’s why I’m interested in seeing that team next year when teams start to adjust to him.
Vol and I had a discussion on this about 4 posts up. Not using Gurley has yielded bad results for Rams this season.
I think it’s Goff that needs to make the adjustments. He had a C calling the OL protections, McVay in his ear reading the defense for him, and a simplified playbook of calls to run. It worked brilliantly. But if he doesn’t take a big step forward this offseason, defenses are going to figure him out and it could get ugly.
Totally agree, and you can see it in Goff too. He forces passes to his first read all the time, even when there is no window at all.
Braden Smith, #71 Auburn RG/T. 6052-303lb
Some tape of him vs Clemson (2017) – https://youtu.be/DQ9nh1phpQ0
Looks like a good run blocker with +mobility. One to watch for in the senior bowl.
Probably my favorite draft olivne prospect. Can play guard and tackle
Did anyone see ESPN pregame stuff this morning?
Twitter says Schefter reported the Hawks are pursuing Gus Bradley. That would imply either role changes for Richard and maybe Cable as Asst HC if they bring him back in the fold.
Did not see it. Interesting though.
Would you rather keep Sheldon or sign a big free agent on the OLINE Iike a Norwell type?
Probably Norwell. I like Richardson, but think the team needs to invest appropriately in OL and RB. You can find cheap rotational DT easier than a stud OG. Don’t know the Hawks view it that way, but I myself would let all FA go and build the team how PC keeps talking about. Let the defense get younger and hungrier with a learning curve and let the offense start scoring more points. Let the offense put the defense in better positions, instead of constantly hoping the offense can eventually get it going.
Keep Sheldon.
* doesn’t cost you a lost comp pick
* DT’s like him seem rarer than G’s
* He has a year in the Hawks system
* If Pocic, Odhiambo, Fant or Roos can’t fill the spot adequately you’ve got bigger problems than one FA guard spot
If Sheldon signs elsewhere the get a 3rd rd comp so it would not impact the comp picks they would cancel each other out.
Norwell for me for sure. This FO has found lots of great DL talent but no great Guard talent. I take the All Pro Guard all day. Helps run game and pass pro.
Worth noting — with Norwell, Carolina’s O-line ranked #25 for run blocking and #19 for pass blocking.
It won’t be a cure-all, especially at more than $12m a year.
Still feels to me like scheme adjustment is the key.
While I agree with you, that seems to never happen Rob. I would love all FA let go and no big FA signings and you draft and teach. JS has for the most part drafted well, but zero developing any OL
This is simply not true Ed. We’ve been over this so many times.
Seattle HAS developed OL. I know it’s a favourite moan among Seahawks fans, but Okung, Carpenter, Unger, Breno, McQuistan, Britt all clearly developed. Fant could’ve been their biggest hit to date — we’ll never know. Ifedi is year two now but showed progress. Hopefully that continues. And let’s not forget they turned a 7th round DL into a successful guard in JR Sweezy.
They have developed O-liners.
Seattle’s struggles on the O-line are down to many reasons and it’s not just one thing, one coach or one injury. It’s the inconsistency, the constant changing, the injuries, the rule changes impacting the scheme, the lack of talent at RB, the way Wilson scrambles and is, at times, almost impossible to block for.
The challenge is to get back to controlled chaos and not just chaos. They managed it in 2013-14 and went to two Super Bowls. Some scheme adjustments are necessary. But they have talent up front. Two first rounders and two second rounders for a start.
I agree Rob about the scheme change.
If you keep Sheldon you dont get a comp pick for him. If you let him walk and sign Norwell they would just cancel each other out so either scenario equals no comp pick.
You beat me to it Trevor…lol
It all depends on McDowell… If he is coming back, I think we’re deep enough at DT to make this move for an OG. Sheldon gets my speculative vote.
I think keeping Sheldon would be a good thing.
I’m pulling for Vikings – respect Zimmer’s D. Similarities to Seahawks ( mall TV market ,overlooked by media – How does Harrison Smith not make the pro bowl?? At start of season they were trying to shore up OL and reestablish the run after AP- similar to Hawks post Lynch. Differences= we have RW and they drafted a RB and chose L. Murray (who we passed on in favor of Eddie Lacy?) NFL parity makes every personnel decision count.
Rams – when BW and KJ were healthy, Hawks contained Gurley. Yet barely won the1st game. It took ET3 clutch play and a dropped TD pass to win because we had so little offense. Finding balance requires masterful trades/FA and thoughtful releases. I hope we retain at least one vet at each level of the D and would love Kam to stay as a DB coach. We need JS to navigate this.
NFC West is more competitive. The 9ers worry me >Rams. 9er fans think they are getting Graham. Given PC’s expressed desire to build depth at LB, the trade that let SF grab Foster haunts me. The 9ers have lots of young talent who could flip a switch and become very scary, They don’t have Donald but have many SDB favorites on rookie contracts and a good QB (sound familiar?) I’d say AZ will be the cellar dwellers but they just beat us at CLINK in a “must win” game. We have coaching and focus/discipline issues to fix next year if we want to compete. PC knows and is likely being discreet. Would love to see them bring in fresh ideas. Seem to have become really predictable on both sides of the ball.
I liked Peters mock above- trade backs seem realistic and we get much needed help on OL AND a great RB. LOVE and agrre with the assessment of S. Griffen at LB also like K. Bierria from UW.
thanks Shehawk. I appreciate it and you taking a moment to look over it!
I would like to bring up some cap numbers (from overthecap) in order to get a clearer picture on what is possible this offseason:
Projected 2018 Cap space at the moment: 19,4 mils
Almost secure cuts IMO:
Avril: + 7,5 mils
Lane:+ 4,75 mils
Ryan:+ 2 mils
Cap: 33,6 mils
Most probable new contracts and medium cap hits IMO:
McDougald: 6 mils
Coleman: 2 mils
Maxwell: 2 mils
Shead: 1,5 mils
Dion Jordan : 3 mils with 2nd round tender, maybe 4 mils with longer deal
M. Smith: 1,5 mils
Q. Jefferson: 0,6 mils
B. Jackson: 0,6 mils
Wilhoite: 1 mil
P. Dawson: 0,6 mils
Tobin: 1 mil
T. Swoopes: 0,6 mils
McKissic: 0,6 mils
Davis: 1 mil
Remaining cap space: 10,5 mils
Calculating about 6 mils for draft picks and IR we are down to 4,5 mils.
Possible cap savings by trading, cutting or retiring vets:
E. Thomas: 8,5 mils
R. Sherman: 11 mils
K. Chancellor: 2,3 mils (best case scenario), -9,7 mils (in case of injury guarantees kicking in)
M. Bennett: 2 mils
Possible new contracts for Seahawks UFAs:
S. Richardson: 12 mils
J. Graham: 9 mils
P. Richardson: 6 mils
L. Joeckel: 7 mils
In other words: If the Hawks want to resign all the success stories within the one-year deals from last year, there won’t be almost any cap space left for other signings.
My scenario:
Trade ET for a 2nd and 3rd
Trade RS for 5th or 6th
Keep MB
Hope for the best with KC (IMO he won’t play anymore)
Sign S. Richardson and a top FA guard
Get a 4th and a 5th comp pick.
Concentrate on RB, LB, FS and TE in the draft.
That’s what makes it so interesting as there is so many different ways you can go.
It makes it also quite clear to me that one between ET and RS will probably have to go.
Nice breakdown. Appreciate you putting the time into this.
I think you have to consider moving on from Marcus Smith and Wilhoite. I think I read somewhere that there’s a way they can keep Jordan for about $2m. I’m thinking they might have about $15 to spend in free agency. That’s the kind of figure I’ve been looking at.
Extending Earl would also provide some cap relief in 2018 — pushing the hit down the road (but they’d need to protect themselves too). That could extend it beyond about $15m.
I expect Bennett and Kam to move on.
If they do have about $15m they’d have some choices. They could look at Sheldon. They could look to do a big name FA. I suspect, though, that they would hunt for value. Who can they get at a good age on a one-year prove it deal? Yes, these deals didn’t work with Joeckel or Lacy. It definitely DID with McDougald though.
Sheldon might do a one-year type to try and get better stats and do FA again in a year. Allen Robinson might do a one-year type similar to Alshon Jeffery. He’s coming off an injury. What’s Ziggy Ansah’s market? Or Austin Seferian-Jenkins? What about Jarvis Landry or Sammy Watkins?
It might be that none of these are possible. That might mean they go all-in on someone like Norwell, or just stash the cap for 2019. Or they might make a trade of some kind. They’ll have options.
Since Dion Jordan was a 1st round pick they can just give him the original round tender ( which is the lowest of the three) which costs you about $2 million (guestimate for 2018) but gives you 1st round protection that no team would touch.
A lot of cap space will be determined on if the players they cut are given a post Junexpected 1st designation. The players most likely to be cut with more that 1 year left on there contract are:
Ryan…2
Bennett…3
Chancellor…3
Lane…2
The splits could look like this:
Jon Ryan
Cap savings if pre June 1…$2 million ($1.2 million dead)
Cap savings if post June 1… $2.6 million (600k dead money 2018 and 600k in 2019)
Jeremy Lane
Cap savings if pre June 1… $4.75 million ($2.5 million dead)
Cap savings if post June 1… $6 million ($1.25 million dead money in 2018 and $1.25 million dead money in 2019)
Kam Chancellor (minus any injury money)
Cap Savings if pre June 1… $2.3 million ($7.5 million dead)
Cap savings if post June 1… $7.3 million ($2.5 million dead money in 2018 and $5 million dead money in 2019)
Michael Bennett
Cap savings if pre June 1…$3 million ($5.2 million in dead money)
Cap savings gs if post June 1… $6.4 million ($1.7 million dead money in 2018 and $3.5 million in dead money in 2019)
Bennetts numbers are about 98% accurate as he has uneven numbers.
You can only have two players with a post June 1st designation.
Lot of potential to make savings there.
For sure, it just depends who if any you give the June 1 designation to. If you did cut all four you could save roughly between $11 and $20 million.
My preference is to keep the 2019 salary cap sheet clean. ‘18 is the only year that the cap is stretched for the Seahawks then starting in ‘19 they will tons of cap space
They will until they sign players to extensions this year. Clark, Thomas, Duane Brown, Sheldon just to name some big names.
Extensions I am not worried about. It’s the post June 1 cute and moving dead cap $$ to ‘19. I’d rather not do that.
I would work to extend Frank, Lockett and Duane. Earl you have to do something this offseason or preseason I don’t think you want that situation to carry over into the season. Sheldon i am torn about. I think our run #’s suffered with him and his efforts runs hot and cold. It could be better to sign the big 3tech that we’ve normally employed. Guys in the Alan Branch and Tony McDaniel mold and use the money on another position.
I just don’t see how cutting Bennett makes sense this year unless the team is committed to drafting a DE or replacing him in free agency. The pass rush was already luke-warm and would only get worse without Bennett on the team.
On a per snap basis he was statistically the best DE on the team last year and I don’t see how you can replace that with what you would end up saving.
The team seems high on Dion Jordan but expecting him and Frank Clark to be your starters and play 70%+ of the snaps with no other significant depth would be worrying. Jordan has an injury history and neither of them have played that many snaps for the Seahawks so far.
The loss of the veteran presence and player-player coaching would be huge. Losing him and Avril would make Clark the most senior DE on the team (Years on the team + Starter).
This was addressed in the article.
The Seahawks have to start the transition to a younger, cheaper defense. If they don’t cut Bennett this year, all they do is delay the inevitable. In 12 months time they’d be taking on a big dead cap hit, same as this year. They cannot keep paying $90m for an ageing defense. Some difficult decisions have to be made now — not in the future — to bring the cost of the defense down.
Yes, replacing Bennett wouldn’t be easy. But the aim would have to be to look for the next Michael Bennett. A player with a point to prove at a relatively decent cost. They might already have their man in Dion Jordan. It might mean going out and finding another edge rusher. They have some previous there having brought in Bennett, Avril and Clemons at absolute bargain prices.
It could be a situation they also address in the draft.
This is where the Seahawks are at now. They need to get younger and faster on the field — and they need to start to balance the cost out. That’s why even Bennett himself is admitting he doesn’t think he’ll be back.
Appreciated news!
Would prefer a longer term deal though before it costs us 10 miles a year.
FWIW, heard our priorities in draft are going to be RB, TE, in that order. Very unlikely JG or LW return to TE room.
What’s the source?
The only person talking about priorities is Davis Hsu and he suggested RB was a priority, but not TE.
And I would highly, highly doubt TE is a draft priority. It’s a shockingly bad draft for TE’s.
A nice free agent blocking TE might be good. Not sure who is out there as its hard to find stats for it.
I’m not really going to say. It’s a friend of a friend type thing, so def not straight from the horse’s mouth. Just passing it on. And wires may have crossed; he may not have specified draft priority, necessarily, though that was the impression I got. May have meant FA as well, though since it was included in the RB comment and I don’t think we are looking at high-level RB FA, the implication was draft priority.
Heck, since we don’t have a 2nd or 3rd right now, maybe the lack of high-end TE talent in the draft is just fine for us! 😉 I really hope we take a look at Will Dissly from the UW. Don’t know what he’s going to run, but he’s a good blocker, showed reliable hands and might be one of those guys who is more athletic than given credit for.
The key to any draft is to identify draft strengths. If TE is a poor crop this year, then it wouldn’t make sense to take a TE early, when you would be passing up on much more talented or higher rated prospects at other positions.
Rob is on point with the TEs…. I’m not even convinced Seattle would grab a RB in the 1st….. not saying RB isn’t a priority, but the value might be wrong at were they are currently picking. My gut says it might be DL… a guy who can play DT and DE… of course, if McDowell ever comes back to play, that could change the equation. Then I could see OG being a position to really watch….
I think as we get nearer the draft, possibly post combine, we’ll start to realise how underrated these RB’s are.
Players like Jones II and Chubb in particular have legit top-20 talent. I think Damien Harris does too. Doesn’t mean they’ll go in that range. But round one is definitely on the table.
Reading between the lines from what I heard, I’d say if one of those guys is there 18, they take him. If he’s gone but another one of those guys is still there, they likely roll the dice on a trade back and hope to still get him. Not sure what they think about the third.
I think Hsu tweeted that is source said they may go TE in the draft if they have enough picks to address it. JG is gone, and the team is only interested bringing Wilson back on a cheap deal.
Packers got there GM so we are all good with Schneider.
GP Rec Yards Td Long Rec/G Avg/yd/rec Avg/yd
2014 14 8 100 0 21 0.6 12.5 7.1
2015 12 26 484 3 77 2.2 18.6 40.3
2016 13 92 1293 11 70 7.1 14.1 99.5
2017 14 72 1111 7 57 5.1 15.4 79.4
Total 53 198 2988 21 77 3.7 15.1 56.4
http://www.gojacks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6216&path=football
Dallas Goedert, TE SD St. 6040-250lb
Looking for some possible JG “replacements”. That is some major production over his last two seasons.
I’ve been sort of watching a little and leaving and coming back to it. Every time I see Carolina on offense I focus on Norwell. He’s the real deal. Agile, powerful, balanced. I would love to have that guy.
The Hawks need to avoid the temptation of paying guys big $ because they played well on other teams ! They have their own guys playing well . Those are the guys they need to pay to keep them here . Several young O-linemen they have brought in will become decent players with enough time . They need to stop training guys for other teams .
As opposed to paying big money to guys who are washed up or draft busts?
“Several young linemen” may or may not become “decent” young players. Sorry, but you don’t know that. I’m not saying we should spend all that money on a guard. I’m saying I would love to have a guy like that who was actually excellent at his job. We don’t see that on our interior line.
Which guys? Are there some young OL that we face losing if we don’t pay them big money? I don’t think that’s the case.
And frankly, I think the most we’ve shown in-house is that we can train high draft picks (1st round, 2nd round) to be average to slightly above average OL, while training other guys to be JAGs. Good OL seem to be exactly the sorts of guys we should be paying FA money to, in my book.
J.R. Sweezy argues otherwise.
George Fant could’ve been another to dispel this. Shame we never got to find out.
How did Sweezey prove otherwise? An average guard at best who got overpaid and the hawks wanted no part of coming close to matching. He was just a decent player. Nothing more. Often times he was a mess, although he had his occasional decent game, depending on opponent. Even Oete was measured when asked about his performances/progress, and he’s Mr, Sunshine.
Pete absolutely raved about Sweezy for four years.
As for ‘wanted no part of coming close to matching’ — this simply is not true. There was a big desire internally to re-sign Sweezy. At the time Seattle was very tight against the cap and had to re-sign a number of players. Sweezy received a large contract offer and went to Tampa Bay. Today his contract would be relatively modest, but the Seahawks weren’t to know what was coming in terms of the OL boom.
Sweezy was well admired within Seahawks HQ.
I still have hopes for Fant; let’s hope he fully recovers, gets a year to learn from Brown and then can take over.
As to Sweezy, I guess he got paid a bit more than a JAG, but he was about the 5th-7th highest paid G in FA that year, so not at the top end. For comparison, in this past year’s FA class that would have made him a J.C. Tretter or Luke Joeckel.
You can’t compare the two FA periods though. Sweezy was a free agent before the huge boom in FA contracts. If Sweezy was a FA just a year or two later he would’ve received much, much more.
Did anyone else catch the very brief report on ESPN NFL Gameday the the Seahawks and Gus Bradley are talking about reuniting?
Somebody mentioned it earlier in this post comments. No I didn’t but interesting.
Did not see that. I know some of the core were critical of Bradley though when he left. Guys like ET, Wagz, etc. even said they weren’t happy playing the prevent they did against the Falcons. Stuff like that came out when Quinn was DC because of how much happier they were with Quinn calling more aggressive games.
I feel like we as fans complained about the same things we complain about with Richard. Soft zones. not enough pressure.
Dan Quinn was great and just feels like a head coach but he got the team when everything was absolutely firing at it’s peak of performance. I just think may want to consider that before the fans get too pumped on bradley.
I would be cool with Gus replacing Richard. I would be even more cool with a complete overhaul of tjenassistant coaches… but baby steps.
All my wildcard teams won. Now I hope all my divisional teams win.
Titans vs Jags
Vikings vs Falcons
I had a solid 1-3 performance (Saints)
The Saints looked pretty good today. Will they have to play outside in Minnesota?
Nope. Covered
All the catches thus year ruled incomplete after 4 steps but that pick wasn’t even reviewed when it has to be by rule?
My first thought Rowdy. It was under two minutes so Carolina couldnt challenge. I bet that gets overturned if they do. Cost Carolina about 15 yards.
All turnovers are reviewed though.
That’s an easy catch because he didn’t go to the ground. (My guess anyway)
All good points. I could see that getting overturned if it was an offensive catch but since it was an interception notta.
Panthers
Rams
Chiefs
all go sit down.
3 best teams left in playoffs…. Saints, Patriots and Steelers
I just can’t get behind the Jags… for 1 simple reason… the QB play was below average and they win in-spite of the QB play. 86 yards passing and 87 yards rushing….. crazy
If there is a QB that is still available when we pick, I want to hold a major bidding war for the 18th pick. Don’t bother looking st your handy little charts, gentlemen. I have the Jags, Bills, and probably a few others who would like to be here. Let’s talk about first and second round picks! 😂
Bills have 2 picks after Seattle…. a first and a third for a modest trade back in the first…
DO THE DEAL JS!
Gone for sure:
Darnold
Rosen
Probable:
Mayfield
Allen
Available:
Jackson
Rudolph
Who will trade up for Jackson and Rudolph. Bills/Jaguars and maybe Steelers in 1st or Cleveland goes Barkley and Williams or Barkley and Chubb (what a dl that would be Shelton/Chubb/Garrett) and want to get all the way back to 18 to get Rudolph.
Drew Lock will go in the top-20.
Really. Interesting. QB needy teams:
1. Browns
2. Giants (heir apparent)
3.
4. Browns
5. Broncos
6. Jets
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Redskins (if Cousins leaves
14
15. Cardinals (heir apparent)
16. Ravens (heir apparent)
17. Chargers (heir apparent)
FA QB that would fill some of those spots:
Cousins
Bradford
Bridgwater
Keenem
Smith (cut)/traded)
Taylor (cut/traded)
The more the merrier. I’m all about as many teams as possible needing a QB. I hope some teams like buffalo and even the jags think about needing a QB.
Your not giving the Vikings any love??
I like the Vikings… at home…. but the Saints look special… and each team I mentioned have 1 very important thing in common…. SB winning QBs.
The Jaguars might be a good candidate to jump in front of Buffalo as they could be QB hunting as well.
1) Free cap space by letting Joeckel, Graham and Lacy walk. Avril may free some $. Keep Michael Bennett, since minimal savings to release him, but limit his snaps to try to keep him healthy for his final season.
2) Extend Sherm and Earl, which would actually free some cap for 2018.
3) Sign Sheldon Richardson (cap hit for the first year would be a wash), Byron Maxwell, DeShaun Shead and Bradley McDougald
4) Trade down from #18 for an extra pick, go best available R1 (DE/OLB? SS?). Additional needs, RB, TE, WR.
I think if we trade down, those defensive players that people covet will be gone. At 18 there is still a shot at a couple of them. I feel like the edge rushers will get snatched up.
I totally agree. Barring injury, we know they will find an awesome defensive starter at #18. Or they can trade back for another pick, and still get an awesome running back! Seahawks choice!
the biggest need on defense is a leo pass rusher. we haven’t had one since Clemons left. the Seahawks have been somewhat unpredictable with the early round picks, and I think if the right player is there, they could trade up (swap 1st round picks) along with one of our starters on d and receive a later round pick. seems pretty far fetched to do something like that, but no worse than some of the other posts/and or predictions here
I just think it’s against PC’s thought process to go after an Edge player early. Irvin then Clark in the third is the next closest. I don’t entirely disagree with you but this draft because of the mid season trades seems destined for a trade down.
Watching these playoffs make me realize something else about the Seahawks… how bad our punting game and kicking game is… It should be obvious, but watching some of these kickers make their kicks with, seemingly, relative ease is something we cannot relate to at all and with most NFL games decided by 7 points or less – that’s just an area of weakness. We lose field position almost every week in the punting game, too. I saw some stat recently (maybe here?) where it said the Seahawks were 30th or 31st in the NFL in terms of how bad we were punting and giving up field possession. I would have to assume Ryan will be gone. He used to be good and I remember when he’d flip the field for our young and hungry defense, now all we do is screw our old and aging defense over with worse field position.
Penalties. Special teams kicking and punting especially. Being able to run the ball better. Stopping teams on 3rd and 10+.
Again, I apologize if it was said here (I’ve read so much stuff lately that I can’t remember where I saw it) but the Seahawks were by far dead last in the NFL in rushing yardage if you take away the rushing yards of Wilson when he dropped back to pass and then scrambled for “rushing” yards.
And for as terrible as we were in those four areas… just think… this team still finished 9-7… There’s talent and this team should be a real threat next year if they can clean some things up.
They could have been 11-5 with a better field goal kicker! I think it was the Rams field goal kicker that didn’t miss one all year.
Add that to if they could have only been the second most penalized team in the NFL (they were by far the worst)… they’d probably have this weekend off, like they do now. The only difference would have been is because they’d been off this week because they had a bye. Amazing, isn’t it?
It’s brutal to think how bad the penalties were. Most games any big play or big stop I cringed waiting for the announcers to say “wait, hold on. There are flags back at the line of scrimmage.” Just ugly how many great almost 3 and outs were ruined by penalties.
Special teams really badly regressed this year. It’s been on a steady decline for some time.
I think the general narrative about not drafting for kickers (either punt or place) and/or drafting special teams core players by some fans is slightly out of whack.
When/if anyone looks at the players Seattle has picked in the fifth round and beyond it’s hard to tell me that they could do worse than at least look at kickers and punters say in the 7th just to get a jump on the UDFA crowd this year.
BTW it’s 27 players, not including the last draft as that I like to wait a season to see what pans out, that Seattle has received nothing or very close to next to nothing as per production from with those draft picks. Actually this notion that Seattle “kills,” it in the late rounds is kind of garbage. It’s Kam, Sherman, Sweezy, and Willson in 2013 as the last time Seattle got any production from a fifth through 7th rounder…again not counting this last draft yet.
Heck if Seattle drafted a guy to be just a gunner with zero hopes of the playing any other position but they were great as a gunner I’d consider that a win.
I don’t think the actual punting is a problem.
I don’t even the punt coverage is to blame.
I think the punting woes are simply a factor of how much he was called upon to do it.
Ryan had the 2nd longest punt in the NFL this season. And he had 0 blocked punts
He punted for over 4100 yards and over 90 punts. Something like 3rd most in league.
Doesn’t matter how good your punter is, if he give these returners enough chances they are going to pop a few for big yards.
To put it in perspective.
We punted as much as the Jets.
And almost … Almost twice as much as Atlanta.
A running game, anyone? Or that old trope: “manageable down and distance,” anyone.
I agree that is waaaay to many punts. I’m still willing to roll with John Ryan for a season because both kinds of kickers are hard enough to come by.
I’m hoping Seattle looks to draft/UDFA sign a kicker this year or try to sign Chandler Catanzaro. I checked the FA kickers this year. Pretty bleak list. A bunch of guys with decent percents who will probably stay with their teams and cost as much as Hauschka did. Or a handful of guys that have careers that are all over the place percent wise. Anyone less than 10 attempts I excluded because that’s far to small of a sample size.
Nice to know Seattle wasn’t going to pay Hauschka for missing a few field goals when he was an 83% and higher field goal kicker here for a guy who significantly worse……got to save a few million where you can…..saltiness off!
I agree we punted too much. But its also time to move on from Jon Ryan.
I love the dude, his td pass to Gilliam in the NFC championship game that started the comeback will always be one of my favourite plays of this era. Ive got the dudes jersey.
But he’s too expensive and his leg has regressed significantly. The Rams started almost every drive from within our half, it was ridiculous how short a field they consistently got and it wasn’t just on the offence.
I’m not against an upgrade. Just looking at his yards per punt he’s right in line with his normal production. I’ve seen other places where he’s apparently not hitting them as high so the coverage teams can’t get down the field in time, thus causing teams better chances to return.
I have no idea if that is true. I do think him punting significantly more has something to do with the punt problems. If Seattle’s offense can’t move the ball and gets three and outs then Jon Ryan punting for 45 yards on from Seattle’s 30-35 ( just an example) and getting 45 yards is going to be great field position for the opponents.
Rob – Thanks for the Jones/Charles comparison video. The best thing about Jones for me is that there are plenty of those runs from Jones in that video where Seahawks RBs would have been tackled for a loss or not much of a gain at all and people would look to blame the OL.
I’m not saying our OL isn’t without fault. We know there’s room for drastic improvement. However, aside from Carson a few times earlier this season, I rarely ever saw any of our RBs create something out of nothing. We just always got the nothing, but Jones clearly should have lost yardage on some of those 10+ yard runs and, you’re right, he has that “it” about him with the unique elusiveness of his.
I remember Jamaal Charles having that great OL in Kansas City, but he looked great at Texas, too. Obviously, Charles was helped by that great Chiefs line… but it’s fair to wonder, looking at all this, how much Charles helped to even make the Chiefs line better than it was, too.
It seems the NFL goes in spurts of where guys are drafted or what’s valued here and there, but it does seem like the importance/value of RBs is making a comeback. Look at what some of these young RBs have done for teams the past few years. The Chiefs and Saints may not even be in the play-offs if not for their day two rookie RBs this past year. Look at the Cowboys with Zeke and, heck, even the Seahawks OL with a healthy Carson.
Great points Bobby.
I may be completely alone in my opinion, but I think that teams were hoping to de-emphasize the feature back because of the inherent risk there is to compensate them with a long-term deal. There is so much wear and tear for that position, it is truly unique. Star wideouts may get hit 5-8 tines in a game. A running back gets hit over 20 times, maybe more. Fortunately, stars have emerged each year and they can’t deny that it’s better to have a great player than a couple of average ones, (are you listening Seattle?).
I can see the idea of devaluing the position as a sort of proxy insurance for future injury. It makes a ton of sense.
Also I’m super in the camp of getting a great RB instead of a stable of average ones.
Spot on, Bobby.
I agree, the most incredible thing about watching that cutup of Jones is the overwhelming number of his big runs where he is responsible for most of the yardage, through speed, vision, balance, and will. I absolutely think a running back can make their OL look better or worse than they are. There were a lot of poorly blocked run plays this year where our backs had to dodge lineman in the backfield and weren’t up to the task (something Jones excels at by the way). But there were also a fair amount of holes that our backs seemed to completely miss.
And I would say the most outstanding trait for both Charles and Jones is their balance. I had forgotten how incredible Charles was at staying upright through contact – something our backs have struggled with.
The “is it a catch or not a catch” rule is a complete DEBACLE.
When multiple games are being impacted by a call / change of a call…..
I still think Dez Bryant was in for a TD for the Cowboys 2 years ago…..
They need to have 10 fans sitting at a bar, watch the video…. and make the call.
If it looks obvious to the viewer it was or was not a catch…. boom, done.
Instead we have a complicated process to the ground, control, established control…..
and don’t get me started on the whole PI not PI thing. Multiple plays in multiple games that could have easily been called PI or were called PI and really should not have been called.
Talk about taking the fun out of the NFL…… when all you look for is a yellow hanky after every play.
How to balance their spending? Trade Earl Thomas to Dallas for Z. Martin on an extend and trade deal.
Yeah, that’s not going to happen.
I know a lot of you have been watching the playoffs but am I alone in thinking that tomorrow’s National Championship game is going to be the best postseason game this season?
I’m stoked to hopefully see Drew Brees, to borrow a phrase from V12 “beat that a@#,” against the Patriots or the Steelers but beyond that, I couldn’t care less.
However, Georgia vs. Alabama…woo buddy…about 8-9 draftable players (just for Seattle) battling it out. Literally I have no rooting interest except to see great football…okay a little rooting interest to see the Bulldogs handle their business. I love some Nick Chubb but this is one of those times where I’m going to be stoked to see “another,” RB kick butt in Damien Harris.
National Championship game is on.. ESPN. Opportunity missed to grow CFB more….
for a tiny, tiny, tiny second I thought you meant it was on now!
No doubt, ESPN should have pulled some muscle with their parent company and put it on ESPN and ABC.
The powers that be keep insisting they won’t expand the playoff but I think there’s a window to almost equal the NFL by expanding to 6 teams. One team from all the power fives due to demographics and regionality and one at large…UCF per example. the CFP may lose it’s steam and ready rise due to hubris if there isn’t room at the table for teams that just might be able to play against the big boys.
I would like to see them expand to 8 teams. The power 5 conference champions and 3 wild cards. Then have the quarterfinal games played at the higher seed sites 8@1, 7@2, 6@3, 5@4. Could have had this:
Clemson…ACC
Georgia…SEC
Oho St…Big Ten
USC…Pac 10
Oklahoma…Big 12
wild cards:
Alabama
Wisconsin
UCF
Most trade value charts I have been finding says you can go down from 18 to the late first (29-32) and grab that teams late second rounder as well. Could still get a quality front 7 player in the first and a good RB at the end of the second.
Trade down like that, then burn a fifth or two and move way back up in the second. I made a post about this above but Seattle has actually NOT been all that successful in the fifth round and beyond. We think they have been because of two amazing players a long, long time ago. But mostly it’s just dudes we never knew.
I don’t get excited for 5th round picks. I’d rather have an extra 2 or 3. We DO need to draft a kicker and punter, however. I will keep pounding the table for Carlson of Auburn to place kick, and JK Scott or Mitch W. At punter. We need fresh blood and those guys are really talented.
I’m one of the few who thinks they need to draft a punter a kicker. I’m particularly down with the FA kickers that I think will be in Seattle’s price point.
I would absolutely be in for drafting a kicker and a punter. You would also want to bring in a veteran at each position to compete hoping the rookies win. Nice cheap players for 4 years.
that’s my view as per cost. any good kicker will cost hauschka money, so what would have been the point in not resigning him? not at all interested in the guy they signed recently basically another walsh.
Im willing to bet they go into this off-season with a different frame of mind about the kicker. Possible costs us 2-3 wins this year.
Thinking about the dire cap space situation, the need to get younger on defense, and the low number of draft picks the Hawks are owning for the next two years
I came to the conclusion that trading ET (if one gets a first or a 2nd and 3rd round pick in compensation) would be the right move:
– it would better our cap space over the next few years, making a move for a high quality vet for the offensive line at least possible
– it would also help to level the differences of cap space allocated to defense and offense Rob wrote about
– it would hopefully give the Hawks 2 much needed second day picks in 2018 to tackle the greatest needs (RB, LB, FS at this point) with quality additions
– these picks would also take the pressure off JS having to trade back and maybe having to accept bad deals when doing so
– if the next season is looked at as a total rebuild of the allocated secondary by the FO (Kam won’t play and RS will maybe get traded as well) they would have a whole preseason and season to gel
The alternative would be to o let him play out his last contract year risking of not getting his best performance or to extend him,
which maybe could help a little bit for next year’s cap but in the long run could bring the same “trouble” we have with Kam now.
Anyway, for the reasons above I am convinced that at lea.st one between ET and RS will not be a Seahawk next year.
Trade ET or to not trade ET is for sure a big point of debate this off-season. Not sure what they do but there is for sure agreements to be made for and against the trade. I ultimately think they dont do it unless the offer is to good to pass up. We would at least have a fall back option to resign Bradley whos natural position is Free Safety.
Bears name former Chiefs OC Matt Nagy head coach. Carousel continues to turn.