***The Official 2015 Seattle Seahawks Offseason Thread***

[Smileseers 54]

Kidding fellas. You guys provide great team insights. I'm a lurker but I really appreciate your in depth analysis.

[phillybear 364]

You don't always hit a bunch of studs in the draft. If you hit 1 stud and your 1st and/or 2nd rounder is a good starter plus one other player turns out, then you actually have done very well. Our earlier years were better then good and considered stud drafts. You can't compare those drafts and think that you will turn out a draft like that every year. Most teams don't.

We have come back down to earth and the last 2 drafts are far worse for sure. But, you don't always hit a franchise QB in the 3rd round every year.

 

That being said, last year

I'll argue that Richardson showed some major potential at the end. I think C. Marsh was a beast before getting hurt. We get him back and he could be huge for our pass rush that lacked at times. K. Pierre-Louis looks very good and fighting for work. Could be a real good starter soon. He was my fav pick by the way. Britt played all year and seems like a guy that will stay healthy. He's got some issues like we've always said, but he was servicable and there was a big letdown when he was out for the one game.

We landed no studs, but they will continoue to get better. FO admitted they were WAY behind in the draft last year after winning the SB. It showed. I'm still upset they never gave the FB they cut a real good shot. K. Small - I liked him.

 

The year before:

You have to include P. Harvin in this draft. We lost our 1st round pick for him plus other draft picks. We knew we were on a SB run, and we gambled we could bring in a high quality starter and plug him in. He had some explosive plays fur us, but overall it just didn't work out and his personality I guess never fit. It ended up costing us a lot, but we did at least get a SB all said and done. Our Kick return game is still suffering with the loss and now our WR corp is still a need maybe. This move set us back! It was wrong to bank on Harvin since he never really proved anything. They were looking for speed though and potential. It's to bad it didn't work out.

But, Harvin was never utilized right either I think though. Bevel more and more is coming into light as maybe being a problem?

 

C. Michael has shown flashes. I still don't think you can judge him yet as M. Lynch never gets hurt and takes the lead duties. Also, Turbin is solid as backup. Once we lose Lynch, this pick could still pay off. (BUT, he won't be a Lynch!)

J. Hill looked dam good before going down. 3rd round pick who can make an impact. Not bad. I see bigger role next year for Hill.

T. Simon still has potential. He got torched against NE, but for the year he was pretty good. Hill & Simon just have to stay healthy, but they could be solid players.

L. Wilson for a 5th rounder has done a lot for us. Can't complain even though I hated the pick at the time. He's been way better then anybody had thought. Bowie in the 7th turned out decent.

Not a great draft or like prior years, but again we filled spots with capable guys who should improve still.

 

Seems like your looking for STUDS in every draft. You don't always find that and sometimes they take awhile to show up anyway. It took Maxwell 3 years to finally show he has anything. I admit, I have not been impressed the last 2 years after the draft. And the feelings do show up with the talent we got. I agree somewhat, and hope they will do better this draft.

 

Another point: Since we've been so good our draft picks are very bad. That makes a difference. They also keeping moving down to much. Both years = No 1st round draft picks. Your not going to get that stud your looking for usually after you continoue to move down.

 

I think we are in for a better draft this year! But, they do like to take guy's that are a bit of "risk/reach". They throw away their draft picks after the 5th round it seems instead of taking ranked guys that have fallen from higher rounds. That concept bothers me the most.

 

It is to bad we didn't see more out of Richardson though! When your winning, it's a good time to see what the kid has. Force feed him the ball a few games to see. It doesn't look like he is that stud WR I think they were hoping for, and now that position is still in question with Harvin gone. But, I don't feel like they worked Richardson in enough to know for sure. Or the other guy.

 

I will agree that the drafts in prior years were well above average in hitting on so many late round draft picks, while the top of the draft picks like Bruce Irvin (drafted for wrong position) and James Carpenter (drafted for wrong position and too early and he sucked until his contract year) were dubious.

 

Last year:

Paul Richardson was among the very few WRs drafted early that did absolutely nothing. He was drafted to go deep, but I think he had one catch for more than 10 yards. He's become a bland possession WR. He is not as advertised. He will stick around on the roster, but he was underwhelming for a 2nd round pick.

C Marsh showed some flashes, but it not impressive in any one particular feature of his game. We will see if he can improve, but he's a contributing backup for now.

Pierre-Louis may end up starting for this team this year or next year, as almost every other LB is a free agent. He has a legitimate chance of starting down the road, but he's still too little and fragile.

Britt was a mediocre run blocker and arguably the worst pass blocking tackle in football. He routinely gets beaten by any and all pass rushers. But he played healthy all year, so he is good at that, not being part of the pile as he whiffs at the player and then has nothing to do. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Oh, and he gets called for dumb and/or dirty penalties frequently. I think at some point this year, he got flagged 3 plays in a row.

Small has not good enough. That fullback/defensive lineman hybrid we picked up towards the end of the season was a bulldozer and Lynch started to trust his lead blocking down the stretch.

Norwood is a bust. I don't think he makes the team this year. None of the offensive linemen worked out. Did we miss anybody. The grade is pretty poor at this point, but it remains to be seen. Marsh, Pierre-Louis could save it, maybe, from a poor draft.

 

Two years ago:

Girl's Name has shown flashes, and some reverse flashes of sheer ineptitude. He is deactivated for most games. It's been two years, and he can't get on the field. You don't groom RBs. You wind them up and let them go from day one. Huge bust.

Jordan Hill is a 3rd down pass rushing specialist. That's his ceiling. He isn't a run stopper and his speed is his skill set. While he was getting after the QB when Mebane went down, the rush defense suffered. When Hill got hurt and Kevin Williams switched over, the rushing defense got stingy again. Hill will hang around the roster, but he is limited. DT is a huge need area this offseason, with Mebane iffy to come back, Hill hurt, Williams a FA, and McDaniel likely to be cut.

I started to like Tharold Simon, but he got horribly toasted by Carolina and New England in the playoffs. They completed something like 20 passes at him. He was terrible and probably the biggest reason why the Seahawks lost the Superbowl. He showed some flashes earlier in the season, but looked completely inept filling in for Maxwell's and Lane's postions down the stretch. It's not an accident Seattle is shopping for a veteran CB, with Maxwell gone.

I hate Luke Wilson. His hands are so focking inconsistent. This team missed Miller, a lot. He's not bad for a 5th round pick, but I would despise having him as a starting TE.

Bowie was decent for a late round pick, until he showed up after an offseason of not caring about his conditioning and play, and got cut.

 

I'm not asking for miracles. Last year, we lost a lot of depth and a few starters. This year, we will do the same. I'm just asking to bring in guys that can contribute and compete for starting spots. That's not happening lately, as the front office keeps swinging for home runs on every pick instead of sometimes trying to hit a couple of doubles here and there. The past two drafts, with a bunch of pick, have yielded one starter, who is terrible, Justin Britt. A couple of iffy backups. And a pile of guys that need to improve a lot for me to stop kicking them in the d!ck. Sure, we have a lot of talented starters. But some other starters are lacking, and we could realistically upgrade at a few positions. At least the coaching staff has shown the ability to coach up the young guys, especially on defense. Oh, wait. Haven't we just lost a bunch of great coaches to other teams? Nuts. End of the world.

[phillybear 364]

Let also add, if you're not first, you're last.

 

I've always said, that any season that you do not win a championship is a failure. Last season was a colossal failure.

[Hawkfin 32]

 

I will agree that the drafts in prior years were well above average in hitting on so many late round draft picks, while the top of the draft picks like Bruce Irvin (drafted for wrong position) and James Carpenter (drafted for wrong position and too early and he sucked until his contract year) were dubious.

 

Last year:

Paul Richardson was among the very few WRs drafted early that did absolutely nothing. He was drafted to go deep, but I think he had one catch for more than 10 yards. He's become a bland possession WR. He is not as advertised. He will stick around on the roster, but he was underwhelming for a 2nd round pick.

C Marsh showed some flashes, but it not impressive in any one particular feature of his game. We will see if he can improve, but he's a contributing backup for now.

Pierre-Louis may end up starting for this team this year or next year, as almost every other LB is a free agent. He has a legitimate chance of starting down the road, but he's still too little and fragile.

Britt was a mediocre run blocker and arguably the worst pass blocking tackle in football. He routinely gets beaten by any and all pass rushers. But he played healthy all year, so he is good at that, not being part of the pile as he whiffs at the player and then has nothing to do. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Oh, and he gets called for dumb and/or dirty penalties frequently. I think at some point this year, he got flagged 3 plays in a row.

Small has not good enough. That fullback/defensive lineman hybrid we picked up towards the end of the season was a bulldozer and Lynch started to trust his lead blocking down the stretch.

Norwood is a bust. I don't think he makes the team this year. None of the offensive linemen worked out. Did we miss anybody. The grade is pretty poor at this point, but it remains to be seen. Marsh, Pierre-Louis could save it, maybe, from a poor draft.

 

Two years ago:

Girl's Name has shown flashes, and some reverse flashes of sheer ineptitude. He is deactivated for most games. It's been two years, and he can't get on the field. You don't groom RBs. You wind them up and let them go from day one. Huge bust.

Jordan Hill is a 3rd down pass rushing specialist. That's his ceiling. He isn't a run stopper and his speed is his skill set. While he was getting after the QB when Mebane went down, the rush defense suffered. When Hill got hurt and Kevin Williams switched over, the rushing defense got stingy again. Hill will hang around the roster, but he is limited. DT is a huge need area this offseason, with Mebane iffy to come back, Hill hurt, Williams a FA, and McDaniel likely to be cut.

I started to like Tharold Simon, but he got horribly toasted by Carolina and New England in the playoffs. They completed something like 20 passes at him. He was terrible and probably the biggest reason why the Seahawks lost the Superbowl. He showed some flashes earlier in the season, but looked completely inept filling in for Maxwell's and Lane's postions down the stretch. It's not an accident Seattle is shopping for a veteran CB, with Maxwell gone.

I hate Luke Wilson. His hands are so focking inconsistent. This team missed Miller, a lot. He's not bad for a 5th round pick, but I would despise having him as a starting TE.

Bowie was decent for a late round pick, until he showed up after an offseason of not caring about his conditioning and play, and got cut.

 

I'm not asking for miracles. Last year, we lost a lot of depth and a few starters. This year, we will do the same. I'm just asking to bring in guys that can contribute and compete for starting spots. That's not happening lately, as the front office keeps swinging for home runs on every pick instead of sometimes trying to hit a couple of doubles here and there. The past two drafts, with a bunch of pick, have yielded one starter, who is terrible, Justin Britt. A couple of iffy backups. And a pile of guys that need to improve a lot for me to stop kicking them in the d!ck. Sure, we have a lot of talented starters. But some other starters are lacking, and we could realistically upgrade at a few positions. At least the coaching staff has shown the ability to coach up the young guys, especially on defense. Oh, wait. Haven't we just lost a bunch of great coaches to other teams? Nuts. End of the world.

Lots of good points... I think maybe you won this debate the more I think about things.

 

I myself have not been very happy with the drafts too. And I forgot about Irvin and Carpenter. Those were both 2 picks I hated the 2 years before. Luckily we hit on all those late picks/coached them up.

Both Irvin and Carp will probably be gone when their contracts are up. Or at least should be.

 

I think all of our Oline picks have Cable's Influences. And he can't draft! Or our scouts in that department suck

John should do the heavy drafting.

 

I didn't know Hill suffered in the run game though? And from what I remember, even when Mebane was in there we got torched by the run. Dallas, SD, KC, etc. all killled us. What I saw was the differance was a healthy Kam and Wagner back. Once they returned, I felt our run Def was solid again.

I remember being pretty happy with Hill overall - Unless I'm remembering when Williams was in there.

 

I do agree. The drafts need to improve for our continoued success.

[Hawkfin 32]

Oh also,

it's funny you talked about Britt's stupid/cheap penalties.

 

I remember when I scouted him (After we selected him of course cause he was no where on the list) and I saw those same stupid things on tape. He would continoue to do a crack block type of block. Go hopelessly at guy's knees. More then half the time, he was left lying there and missed the block entirely. Now he's being called for it.

I remember him looking decent in the run game, but still weak at the power of attack. But, I also remember him getting BLOWN up on pass coverage.

 

It was clear what he showed on tape and his play is playing out the same. And he played a LT I think, so again we drafted somebody out of position cause he isn't good enough.

 

What I don't understand is why they force fed him the starts, yet Richardson was hardley on the field? I guess the depth of position at Oline sucks.

I would have liked to see more of Richardson before I dismiss him for sure? He never even went deep or got passed too until the very end.

I was impressed with Richardson tape. SO I still have hope.

 

 

 

[phillybear 364]

Lots of good points... I think maybe you won this debate the more I think about things.

 

I myself have not been very happy with the drafts too. And I forgot about Irvin and Carpenter. Those were both 2 picks I hated the 2 years before. Luckily we hit on all those late picks/coached them up.

Both Irvin and Carp will probably be gone when their contracts are up. Or at least should be.

 

I think all of our Oline picks have Cable's Influences. And he can't draft! Or our scouts in that department suck

John should do the heavy drafting.

 

I didn't know Hill suffered in the run game though? And from what I remember, even when Mebane was in there we got torched by the run. Dallas, SD, KC, etc. all killled us. What I saw was the differance was a healthy Kam and Wagner back. Once they returned, I felt our run Def was solid again.

I remember being pretty happy with Hill overall - Unless I'm remembering when Williams was in there.

 

I do agree. The drafts need to improve for our continoued success.

 

The day Jordan Hill was drafted, I called him a third down pass rush specialist. Maybe my prejudice is bleeding through, as I haven't seen any true evidence that would dispute that assessment. But..time will tell. We can hope for better. He can still be a rotational player, but only in limited situations.

[phillybear 364]

Oh also,

it's funny you talked about Britt's stupid/cheap penalties.

 

I remember when I scouted him (After we selected him of course cause he was no where on the list) and I saw those same stupid things on tape. He would continoue to do a crack block type of block. Go hopelessly at guy's knees. More then half the time, he was left lying there and missed the block entirely. Now he's being called for it.

I remember him looking decent in the run game, but still weak at the power of attack. But, I also remember him getting BLOWN up on pass coverage.

 

It was clear what he showed on tape and his play is playing out the same. And he played a LT I think, so again we drafted somebody out of position cause he isn't good enough.

 

What I don't understand is why they force fed him the starts, yet Richardson was hardley on the field? I guess the depth of position at Oline sucks.

I would have liked to see more of Richardson before I dismiss him for sure? He never even went deep or got passed too until the very end.

I was impressed with Richardson tape. SO I still have hope.

 

 

 

 

Britt is who we thought he was.

 

Richardson showed some decent hands in traffic, so he's not a total lost cause. But he showed very little ability to separate from a defender, which is troubling as his biggest supposed asset was speed to get open. Maybe he isn't tough enough to fight off a defender and fight for a jump ball. Wilson will have to trust him to thrown to him. There's still time to salvage something out of him, but considering the rookie WRs that had impacts for their teams, we didn't get one, even though we drafted two guys.

[phillybear 364]

Zach Miller has been cut. I really hate to see him go. Will save around 3 million on cap. Well, we are likely to make a move and sign a difference making TE in free agency. If not, and we go with Luke Willson to start the season, my rage will know no bounds.

 

Lynch reported at airport on way to Seattle to work out final details of adjustments to his contracts. Good news.

 

Edit: the dirt sheets are kicking around Julius Thomas to the Seahawks as a strong possibility, his dad played for Carroll, and his dad has been dropping strong hints in social media.

[phillybear 364]

Jermaine Kearse with a 2nd round tender, just like Doug Baldwin last year. He will be back, most likely as the #3 WR.

[phillybear 364]

Lynch will get 3 years, 31 million.

[Marshall 98]

Zach Miller has been cut. I really hate to see him go. Will save around 3 million on cap. Well, we are likely to make a move and sign a difference making TE in free agency. If not, and we go with Luke Willson to start the season, my rage will know no bounds.

 

I agree with you on this, 100%.

 

It's a damned shame that he didn't pass his physical. Makes me wonder if they might have kept him otherwise. Gah.

 

His departure will leave a huge hole - and his heart will be very difficult to replace.

[Kopy 491]

My .02. seattle will now throw some big bucks at a te, and continue to use the plug and play with their wr route. I'm still thinking jordan cameron.

[phillybear 364]

My .02. seattle will now throw some big bucks at a te, and continue to use the plug and play with their wr route. I'm still thinking jordan cameron.

 

Cameron is a concussion concern. He might be one hit away from being done, from what I've read.

 

Julius Thomas is the hot rumor. People are questioning his desire, but his talent is quantitative although he might also be a product of a system.

[Joey Gladstone 33]

Please god don't sign Thomas. He's almost as soft as doughboy Jimmy "No Heart" Graham.

[Hawkfin 32]

Yeah, I kind of agree Thomas is pretty soft. He had one season where he didn't get hurt and had Manning exploding his numbers. But, mostly TD's. I feel the same about Cameron.

If we have any money, then I don't think we should throw it at these guy's.

Thomas seems like a good play on the surface and you would think it would improve our offense, but it's not worth it. He's not worth the money. He'd better be a really good blocker if we do sign him. I have not watched him enough in that department.
I'm hearing Jax will get him though.

Kind of wish they threw a 4th rounder and grabbed Marshal instead actually. Push Baldwin to #2, and Kearse deep threat #3.

 

If there are any good TE's in the draft, I would say draft one instead and give him a real shot at starting. Maybe Wilson improves still too. He's not awful considering the VERY limited reps he got in college.

 

Makes more sense to sign another CB and throw any money we have that way if Maxwell is gone. That will be a huge hole and the way Simon played in the playoffs/SB we could be in big trouble here. Teams clearly will pick on that side as Maxwell was tested every single game.

I am really going to miss Maxwell. I think he was one of our priorities.

 

Happy about Lynch though!

[Groundhog 24]

Zach Miller has been cut. I really hate to see him go. Will save around 3 million on cap. Well, we are likely to make a move and sign a difference making TE in free agency. If not, and we go with Luke Willson to start the season, my rage will know no bounds.

 

Lynch reported at airport on way to Seattle to work out final details of adjustments to his contracts. Good news.

 

Edit: the dirt sheets are kicking around Julius Thomas to the Seahawks as a strong possibility, his dad played for Carroll, and his dad has been dropping strong hints in social media.

 

Miller was one of the unsung heroes on this team. Dang it. The pickings are slim in the draft at TE, so we might have to go with Luke unless we can get either JT or Cameron. I pray that we don't do something stupid though and sign a journeyman like Jermaine Gresham. Either go big, or use the dry powder on something else, like an extension for Wags or for Wilson.

[phillybear 364]

 

Miller was one of the unsung heroes on this team. Dang it. The pickings are slim in the draft at TE, so we might have to go with Luke unless we can get either JT or Cameron. I pray that we don't do something stupid though and sign a journeyman like Jermaine Gresham. Either go big, or use the dry powder on something else, like an extension for Wags or for Wilson.

The days of the Seahawks making a big splash in free agency, at least early on, are over for a while. Let other teams overpay for marginal to good players as we sit back and cherry pick value signings. We don't want to give away chances at nice compensation picks in next year's draft. Losing Maxwell is going to be worth at least a 4th, maybe a third rounder. We will get Wilson and Wagner done. Plenty of room and time to make some other acquisitions.

 

Meanwhile, I'm watching the Eagles seemingly implode while Chip Kelly is throwing money around like he has donkey brains. San Fran is going to be unrecognizable next year, scratch that, as of right now.

 

Maxwell is going to get 10+ million a year from the Eagles. Which we expected anyway.

J Thomas is getting over 8 million per from the Jags reportedly, could go as high as 10. .

Gore got 7.5 from the Eagles? Pricey.

Maclin will get a boatload from KC and Andy Reid.

M Sanchez got a ridiculous deal to be a backup.

[Groundhog 24]

 

The days of the Seahawks making a big splash in free agency, at least early on, are over for a while. Let other teams overpay for marginal to good players as we sit back and cherry pick value signings. We don't want to give away chances at nice compensation picks in next year's draft. Losing Maxwell is going to be worth at least a 4th, maybe a third rounder. We will get Wilson and Wagner done. Plenty of room and time to make some other acquisitions.

 

Meanwhile, I'm watching the Eagles seemingly implode while Chip Kelly is throwing money around like he has donkey brains. San Fran is going to be unrecognizable next year, scratch that, as of right now.

 

Maxwell is going to get 10+ million a year from the Eagles. Which we expected anyway.

J Thomas is getting over 8 million per from the Jags reportedly, could go as high as 10. .

Gore got 7.5 from the Eagles? Pricey.

Maclin will get a boatload from KC and Andy Reid.

M Sanchez got a ridiculous deal to be a backup.

 

Some of this is because of the new spending rules that require teams to spend a minimum. The Jags are $68m under the cap, and the cap is only $143m to begin with. That's ridiculous, but there it is. So they're throwing money around like Brewster's Millions. Of course, this drives up pricing for everyone. Would not be surprising in the slightest if the Raiders made some crazy offer for AP to wear the Silver & Black. So we're going to see a lot of head-scratching deals if you think about what guys were getting a year or two ago.

 

Incidentally, turned out to be a great move for JS to ink Lynch to a new deal just a day or so before Shady McCoy got $16m for his 1st year in Buffalo. Fortunately, the market for free agent QBs is so devoid of talent, there's basically no current-year benchmark to give Russell Wilson any more ammo in his contract extension. If he's smart, he'll play the whole hometown discount thing to the hilt to reinforce what a team guy he is. He's worth top dollar, but if you settle for say $16m a season instead of the $20m you could arguably command, is that really a disservice?

[phillybear 364]

The twitter-verse is a flutter than the Seahawks are making a late run at J Thomas, TE, before he signs with Jax. I don't like this news because that means we would be overpaying for him. Remains to be seen.

[phillybear 364]

The Cary Williams CB signing doesn't bother me much. It's another body, he's been healthy and a veteran. i guess the front office thinks we will revert back to his form when he played at Baltimore rather that his time in Philadelphia, where the entire Phila secondary was garbage as a unit.

 

Will Blackmon is a nice depth guy, knows the system, and will play on special teams.

 

We tendered a few guys, surprised that Lockette will be back, and said bye bye to Brian Walters.

 

James Carpenter about to sign with Jets, following Giacomini from last year. Loser played like crap, then went on a diet and finally played adequately in his contract year. Buh Bye. I can still recall the trashing I gave this draft pick at the time. I'll never forget Nick Saban's open mouth shock that Carpenter went in the first round. Carpenter couldn't even play tackle, the position he was drafted for. He will be easily replaced.

 

So, we've lost Zach Miller because of cut, and Carpenter to free agency. Anybody else of note leave yet? Edit: Duh, Byron Maxwell too.

[Groundhog 24]

The Cary Williams CB signing doesn't bother me much. It's another body, he's been healthy and a veteran. i guess the front office thinks we will revert back to his form when he played at Baltimore rather that his time in Philadelphia, where the entire Phila secondary was garbage as a unit.

 

Will Blackmon is a nice depth guy, knows the system, and will play on special teams.

 

We tendered a few guys, surprised that Lockette will be back, and said bye bye to Brian Walters.

 

James Carpenter about to sign with Jets, following Giacomini from last year. Loser played like crap, then went on a diet and finally played adequately in his contract year. Buh Bye. I can still recall the trashing I gave this draft pick at the time. I'll never forget Nick Saban's open mouth shock that Carpenter went in the first round. Carpenter couldn't even play tackle, the position he was drafted for. He will be easily replaced.

 

So, we've lost Zach Miller because of cut, and Carpenter to free agency. Anybody else of note leave yet?

 

We re-signed Mike Morgan, who backs up KJ Wright at the Sam position. Meh. I guess he's good depth.

 

Here's a question for you. How influential do you think Cable is for PC/JS in their selections of offensive linemen? I keep reading about how the Hawks use this SPARQ thing to assess exposive athletic potential and going after those guys, but it seems like the O-linemen are all over the map. Makes me wonder whether Cable is totally old-school, looks for nebulous factors like grit, toughness, nastiness, etc.. Sometimes it works out ok, like the Sweezy Conversion Project, but sometimes it doesn't, like with Carpenter, Moffitt and possibly Britt.

[Sho Nuff 719]

Thought the Williams signing was a good one.

Blackmon...I was surprised the guy was still in the league. Good special teamer though.

 

Agree with you on seeing them sit back and let the dust settle. Seems to be the smart way. All these huge contracts get thrown around and these same guys will end up cut in 2-3 years.

 

Will be interesting to see the market for Andre Johnson now that his brother announced the 4 teams he would like to go to...shocking that it was the four teams from the Conference Championships last year.

Don't see GB doing much unless he is still around late and really cheap. But then they would be giving up on 1 of the 2 guys they drafted last year and hope can be something in the future.

[phillybear 364]

Here's a question for you. How influential do you think Cable is for PC/JS in their selections of offensive linemen? I keep reading about how the Hawks use this SPARQ thing to assess exposive athletic potential and going after those guys, but it seems like the O-linemen are all over the map. Makes me wonder whether Cable is totally old-school, looks for nebulous factors like grit, toughness, nastiness, etc.. Sometimes it works out ok, like the Sweezy Conversion Project, but sometimes it doesn't, like with Carpenter, Moffitt and possibly Britt.

 

Grit is a nice quality when you want to coach a run blocking offensive lineman. Grit is worthless against a speedy end rusher or a bulldozing DT. Cable is looking for run blocking offensive lineman, their ability to pass block is irrelevant. So it's no surprise our run blocking is solid and our pass blocking is horrendous. Now that we are about to commit a bunch of money to Wilson, it might be a good idea to keep him from being killed. Seemingly, we don't invest much money into our line short of Unger and Okung. We've made some early picks on linemen, and we have very little to show for it.

 

2014: 2nd round pick Justin Britt (terrible starter), 6th round pick Garrett Scott (gone)

2013: 7th round Ryan Seymor (gone), 7th round Michael Bowie (gone)

2012: 7th round JR Sweezey (was DE, solid starter)

2011: 1st round James Carpenter (gone), 3rd round John Moffit (gone)

2010: 1st round Russell Okung (last year of contract, injury prone)

 

I think it's fine to look for grit when you are digging through the chaff trying to find guys to plug in the holes on the roster. But when you are looking for lineman in the early rounds, you have to look for heart AND actual talent. This team reaches for reclamation projects early on when it's not necessary. It's mind boggling. Particularly painful was the Carpenter and Moffit 2012 year. With Byron Maxwell and Malcolm Smith leaving, the only players on the roster from that draft are Richard Sherman and KJ Wright. Some people consider that an A+ draft. Nope. It's a B at best. And then the next two years have been brutal. I would pose, that as a collective, the Seahawk posters at this site were able to identify better offensive lineman than what we actually drafted. Seriously.

[phillybear 364]

Thought the Williams signing was a good one.

Blackmon...I was surprised the guy was still in the league. Good special teamer though.

 

Agree with you on seeing them sit back and let the dust settle. Seems to be the smart way. All these huge contracts get thrown around and these same guys will end up cut in 2-3 years.

 

Will be interesting to see the market for Andre Johnson now that his brother announced the 4 teams he would like to go to...shocking that it was the four teams from the Conference Championships last year.

Don't see GB doing much unless he is still around late and really cheap. But then they would be giving up on 1 of the 2 guys they drafted last year and hope can be something in the future.

 

Green Bay and Seattle are cut from the cloth when it comes to free agency. It's mostly watching other teams be active early.

 

I would be stunned to see Andre Johnson in a Seahawk uniform. He would be a great fit, but Indy, indoors, Luck slinging the ball all over the place, yeah, cutting Reggie Wayne to make room, yeah, AJ to Indy will probably happen. Money would be an issue, as I don't think Seattle wants to pay him a boatload of money.

[phillybear 364]

James Carpenter got 5 million per, for 4 years. What are the Jets thinking?

[DankNuggs 305]

I didn't know you guys drafted KPL...guy is going to be a beast of an LB at this level... plays alot bigger than he is and is ridiculously athletic.

[phillybear 364]

I didn't know you guys drafted KPL...guy is going to be a beast of an LB at this level... plays alot bigger than he is and is ridiculously athletic.

 

He got some playing time last year in mid season before hitting the injured reserve. He's fast, but he wants to play bigger than he is, he will probably continue to get hurt.

 

Since we did lock down KJ Wright and will extend Bobby Wagner in the next few weeks/months, KPL will have a chance to replace Bruce Irvin at LB at some point since this will be Irvin's last year on his contract.

[Sho Nuff 719]

 

Green Bay and Seattle are cut from the cloth when it comes to free agency. It's mostly watching other teams be active early.

 

I would be stunned to see Andre Johnson in a Seahawk uniform. He would be a great fit, but Indy, indoors, Luck slinging the ball all over the place, yeah, cutting Reggie Wayne to make room, yeah, AJ to Indy will probably happen. Money would be an issue, as I don't think Seattle wants to pay him a boatload of money.

 

Yeah...AJ to INdy was the obvious thing.

Now you all get Graham.

Agreed on how FA is run by both of these teams.

 

Wonder now with Unger gone...whats the Center situation?

Just saw that Scott Wells was cut by St. Louis.

Would guess he has another year or two left in him at a decent level.

Never the most gifted physically...but had a nasty streak in him and carried a chip on his shoulder.

[Groundhog 24]

holy crap. Unger and our 1st rounder for Jimmy Graham.

 

Well, our 'find a playmaker at TE' problem is solved. Only, we now have a new problem, which is, we were a mediocre running team when Unger was out of the lineup, and now depend on the braintrust - who apparently can't draft O-linemen properly - to fix it. And we sucked in pass pro with our without him in the lineup.

 

I like Graham - who wouldn't - but I think this creates different problems. An AWFUL LOT is riding on our ability to draft well this year for plug n' play guys. It's supposedly a deep draft for offensive linemen, but, yeesh.

[Fantasy Noob 10]

I love the thought of what Graham brings to our offense. It also has some nice organizational benefits as well, really opens up draft for best player available, and buys us another year to see what we have with they younger WR's.

 

I hope they have a plan to fix the offensive line though or at least add something to it.

[phillybear 364]

Wow. Just found out.

 

Well, I love having a playmaking TE, something this team hasn't seen in a long time. Hate to lose Unger. Seems like the Unger and Miller salaries come somewhat close to making up for the Graham salary, about 2 million difference. Still tons of room under the cap. Losing a late round 1st is not a big deal, since we are terrible with early picks and we would have traded down anyway to get more picks. But we don't really need extra picks. Considering we will have 11 picks (including compensations) while taking back a 4th, and we excel with mid round picks, I don't mind losing the draft capital. Our offense overall is better.

 

Now, our offensive line has gone from questionable to life support. Need. Fix. Now.

[Kopy 491]

looks like graham makes about 10 mil a year. Seems like cutting miller, unger in the deal, and not paying for a first rounder makes it just about a wash money wise.

[Kopy 491]

Just heard Schnieder in an interview. He was really talking up Lewis at center.

[phillybear 364]

The media reaction has been decidedly a boatload of praise for Seattle's end of the move. The best quip I've come across so far....

 

Jimmy Graham going to Seattle is like The Avengers signing God.

 

Let's just hope is works out better than when we traded for Loki Harvin.

[12th Man 884]

holy crap. Unger and our 1st rounder for Jimmy Graham.

 

Well, our 'find a playmaker at TE' problem is solved. Only, we now have a new problem, which is, we were a mediocre running team when Unger was out of the lineup, and now depend on the braintrust - who apparently can't draft O-linemen properly - to fix it. And we sucked in pass pro with our without him in the lineup.

 

I like Graham - who wouldn't - but I think this creates different problems. An AWFUL LOT is riding on our ability to draft well this year for plug n' play guys. It's supposedly a deep draft for offensive linemen, but, yeesh.

Guess you missed the the game in AZ when the Hawks manhandled the Cards for 267 on the ground with Patrick Lewis at C. The OL will be fine.

[phillybear 364]

Most projections have the Seahawks receiving the following comp picks: 4th (for Tate), 5th (for Browner), 5th (for Giacomini), and 6th (McDonald).

Seahawks will recieve 6th round pick from Jets for Percy Harvin.

Seahawks will give up 6th for acquiring Marcus Burley.

 

As of now, these should be our 11 upcoming picks for 2015

 

2nd

3rd

4th(Saints), 4th, 4th

5th, 5th, 5th

6th(Jets), 6th

7th

[phillybear 364]

Guess you missed the the game in AZ when the Hawks manhandled the Cards for 267 on the ground with Patrick Lewis at C. The OL will be fine.

Statistically, Seattle rushed for around 60 yards per game more with Unger in the lineup and significantly more yards per rush than without. It's not a throwaway loss, as Unger, when healthy, was very good center. It's just that he's been hurt in the majority of his years in the league.

[uwmalcolm 73]

looks like graham makes about 10 mil a year. Seems like cutting miller, unger in the deal, and not paying for a first rounder makes it just about a wash money wise.

Posted this on another thread:

 

Graham's cap hit is 8/9/10 mil the next three years (it was 13 last year). Cheaper than Julius and doesn't hurt what should be good compensatory picks next year for losing FAs like Maxwell.

[Hawkfin 32]

I am so stoked!

We needed to upgrade the TE position, and we really needed a tall WR badly. A go to receiver who can get open, who can score in the redzone, A jump ball kind of guy with good hands, and who can create a mismatch and draw attention away from everybody else on the team. WOW.

 

We just got the best athletic TE in the league guy's! Maybe not run blocking, but who cares. Graham stays pretty healthy considering the heavy use. Way better then getting Thomas or the dude in Cleve.

You can't think Unger is that important?
Hell, he needed to be replaced sooner rather then later anyway. He was getting long in the tooth and beginning to get hurt often the last 2 years. I think the ending was coming soon and pawning him off now was SO sweet.

I actually wanted a Center in the draft last year.

 

And I agree. Lewis did very well last year for us and I didn't feel we lost that much after his first start. He's only going to get better too. The other guy (Pierre) is not bad either.

I think Carpenter creates a bigger hole then Unger.

 

Really love this move!

I agree with the comment about: This buy's us time on our WR's too. I completely agree with this. We still don't know what we have with those two young guy's yet IMO. They were not used much. Plus we can see more of the tall guy that tore up the SB and see what he has too. This gives us our #1 in the mean time though while they all grow. We don't even need to draft WR now.

This will also open up Wilson when we go 2 TE sets. Position of weakness is now our best on Off.

 

Just need to revamp the line. And that needed to be done anyway. I'd spend about 5 of those picks on O-line alone.

[BunnysBastatrds 1,914]

I am so stoked!

We needed to upgrade the TE position, and we really needed a tall WR badly. A go to receiver who can get open, who can score in the redzone, A jump ball kind of guy with good hands, and who can create a mismatch and draw attention away from everybody else on the team. WOW.

 

We just got the best athletic TE in the league guy's! Maybe not run blocking, but who cares. Graham stays pretty healthy considering the heavy use. Way better then getting Thomas or the dude in Cleve.

You can't think Unger is that important?

Hell, he needed to be replaced sooner rather then later anyway. He was getting long in the tooth and beginning to get hurt often the last 2 years. I think the ending was coming soon and pawning him off now was SO sweet.

I actually wanted a Center in the draft last year.

 

And I agree. Lewis did very well last year for us and I didn't feel we lost that much after his first start. He's only going to get better too. The other guy (Pierre) is not bad either.

I think Carpenter creates a bigger hole then Unger.

 

Really love this move!

I agree with the comment about: This buy's us time on our WR's too. I completely agree with this. We still don't know what we have with those two young guy's yet IMO. They were not used much. Plus we can see more of the tall guy that tore up the SB and see what he has too. This gives us our #1 in the mean time though while they all grow. We don't even need to draft WR now.

This will also open up Wilson when we go 2 TE sets. Position of weakness is now our best on Off.

 

Just need to revamp the line. And that needed to be done anyway. I'd spend about 5 of those picks on O-line alone.

Jimmy is going to be Wilson's go to and distract him from reading his progressions the way he did for Bree's. Which is why the Saints got rid of him. Grahm has alligator arms and sucks at pass and run protection. Can't and won't play with pain. Needs surgery and refuses to do so. And is your typical Miami player that the brilliant Sean Payton saw potential in and will fail elsewhere because Payton knew how to utilize him.

 

You think the Seahawks are pass first run whenever team? They rely on the run and do it well.

 

The only reason Petey obtained Grahm is because of the retarded call he made in the SB. Had he had Grahm, he'd have won in his mind . That's what he's selling to you guys.

 

He wantedWilson to win the MVP, not Breast Mode. That's what that play call was about. To deny that is not knowing your coaches history. He can now say he's fixed the problem by adding a 10 million dollar forward with a big red bagina to the team. Fawking love it.

 

Beware of that shoulder and alligator arms. The 49's, Cardinals, and Rams know it.

 

And be sure to let Wilson know it Petey.