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

[Groundhog 24]

Bottom line, this comes down to: JS/PC have far less confidence in finding a difference-maker at TE in the draft, than they do at finding good talent at the O-line in the draft. Notwithstanding a dubious track record in this regard, they're probably right, which says more about how lousy the TE pickings are than anything else.

 

Rob Staton at Seahawks Draft Blog has pointed out that there's maybe 15-18 guys this year with legit 1st round talent. Then there's another 40-50 guys with roughly the same grades. Drafting at #31 overall either means over-drafting a guy who isn't worth it, or, trading down. Getting out of #31 overall probably picks up a high 2nd and a 4th. We already got a 4th coming back to us for Graham. So the trade is basically, a high 2nd, plus Unger, for Graham. Over The Cap points out that a 1.31 pick also eats up about $3.5 million in cap room. Yes we pay Graham more, but we'll pay the extra 4th rd pick much less than $3.5 million. So the overall cap hit isn't even as bad as it seems.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like it. I love that JS and PC are not gun-shy about the aggressive moves. They don't really care what others think of them. Harvin was a mistake, they owned it, and they moved on. Now they come back with guns blazing for Graham.

 

The draft is apparently rich in good offensive linemen. Not great, but good. And the feeding grounds for these guys is the middle rounds. We have a 2nd, a 3rd, probably three 4ths, three 5ths, depending on how the comp picks play out. We've struck gold at these slots before. We've whiffed badly at these slots before. But it's a LOT of chances to find some guys who can fill in the gap on the O-line.

 

I could also see maybe trading back up into the 3rd round, if we see towards the end of the chaos of day 2 that there's someone still out there on the board and we'd rather not wait overnight for the start of day 3 for someone else to realize the same thing. What would that take? A 4th and a 6th to move back into the 3rd? We have enough draft capital to give that a shot.

 

We have something like 11 picks coming to us. I think we spend 3 of them on the O-line, 2 on WR, 3 on DBs, and 3 other slots for the front 7 on D.

[Groundhog 24]

He wantedWilson to win the MVP, not Breast Mode. That's what that play call was about.

Well it's a theory anyway. Of course, Pete also called a running play from the 5 yd line, for Lynch, just one play earlier, and if not for a fantastic tackle by Donta Hightower, Lynch scores on that play.

[Kopy 491]

In the "What else is new, he's a f0cking message board troll category". Bunny doesn't like this trade.

[Kopy 491]

next

[phillybear 364]

OG Shelly Smith is coming in for a visit. He is well versed in a zone blocking scheme.

 

As of now, the projected starting OL is Alvin Bailey, Russell Okung, Patrick Lewis, Justin Britt, JR Sweezey.

[phillybear 364]

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.

 

Allow me to contradict just some of your wild accusations.

 

Russell Wilson is among the best QBs in league at reading progressions. Part of that is his obsessive film study and practice habits. Part of it is that he's a smart guy. He will scramble around forever looking for an open guy. He's not going to be a guys that gets the snap and throwns to the spot all taht often. That said, he may look at Graham first, but he will absolutely look off him if he's not covered, as he will likely draw double teams on every snap since he is now the #1 WR. Well, at least he's a WR unless you ask an arbitrator. He will open up the field for Baldwin, Kearse, and every other WR, along with the other TE. Schneider has already alluded to shifting the offensive scheme to a lot more two TE offense, with McCoy and Willson doing more blocking and Graham running free. So, we aren't going to ask Graham to block all that much. Seattle had plays to run a two TE offense back in 2012 with Zach Miller and Kellen Winslow Jr, but ended up cutting Winslow due to injuries and refusal to redo his contract. Then the next offseason, the trade for Harvin was made, which had Bevell create an offense designed around Harvin for 2013 and 2014. Which didn't work out. Now, it's going back to the 2 TE offense scheme, with Graham and the other blocking/catching TE the focus, which works fine for a run first offense.

 

I'm not sure how Jimmy Graham "Can't and won't play with pain. Needs surgery and refuses to do so." He is hurt and needs surgery. But he keeps playing instead of having surgery. But he won't play because he won't play in pain. Even though he needs surgery. But he won't play in pain. Um, what choo talking about, Willis?

 

Seattle called the slant on the goal line and it didn't work. This move rectifies lack of having a tall WR in the redzone, something we haven't had since Sidney Rice retired. But acquiring a receiving TE isn't a panic move. Schneider tried to trade Harvin for J Thomas or Jordan Cameron in season last year, Seattle tried to sign Jermichael Finley last offseason, and I've already mentioned the Winslow situation. Seattle was in the mix for Julius Thomas until Jax offered up a lot more money.

 

You're unnatural hatred for the Seahawks is corrupting your vision. We've punched the Saints in the mouth the last couple of years by knocking them out of the playoffs twice. Stealing Graham is like taking your girlfriend away and making you watch us make her airtight.

[Kopy 491]

I believe Sweezey is a fa or a rfa next year. An extension for him would be something I'm for. I'd like to keep him around. Do we still have frenchie as a backup center anyone know?

just heard John Clayton talk. He said this draft class is amazingly deep at the oline position.

[phillybear 364]

I believe Sweezey is a fa or a rfa next year. An extension for him would be something I'm for. I'd like to keep him around. Do we still have frenchie as a backup center anyone know?

just heard John Clayton talk. He said this draft class is amazingly deep at the oline position.

 

The cap will escalate at a rapid rate with new TV money flooding in, so an extension/resigning of Sweezey can be done next off season or maybe even during this inseason.

 

Lemuel Jean-Pierre was signed for the remainder of last season. He is an Unrestricted Free Agent.

 

We have 11 picks. At least 3 will towards OL. The practice squad guys were getting coaching and instruction and practice time last season, so let's see if any of them are any good. As bad as Cable is in identifying great OL at the top of the draft, he can dig up serviceable linemen off the trash heap consistently.

[MDC 5,890]

I don't particularly like this trade for Seattle either. Mainly because Graham gets banged up every year and I don't see a $10m TE as a wise investment for a team that throws the ball 20-25 times per game. Plus my understanding is that Seattle needs help on the OL and giving up a good young lineman plus a first is a steep price for a guy who's likely to be underutilized in that O.

[phillybear 364]

I don't particularly like this trade for Seattle either. Mainly because Graham gets banged up every year and I don't see a $10m TE as a wise investment for a team that throws the ball 20-25 times per game. Plus my understanding is that Seattle needs help on the OL and giving up a good young lineman plus a first is a steep price for a guy who's likely to be underutilized in that O.

 

Unger is not a young lineman. He was one of the oldest guys on the team; he will be 29 in a couple of weeks. He was one of only three players on the roster that predated Carroll and Schneider (Brandon Mebane and our punter are the other two). Unger is a very smart player but smallish. He is among the better centers in the league, but is in the group of top 5 highest paid centers in the league, which is a negative. He has roughly missed one third of his games in his 6 year career due to injury. In 2013-14, Unger played through an injury to his arm which hurt his effectiveness all year, but he gutted it out to his credit. This year, he missed around 10 games. So, is he starting to break down? Dunno. It is widely regarded that the center is the most replaceable position on the offensive line. If you can find someone to call out the changes to the other lineman, a guy that can recognize the defense, that is far more important than blocking, as the center snaps the ball and gets in the way of somebody for the most part. Unger wasn't great at shotgun nor pistol formation snaps. I liked Unger and would have been OK keeping for another year, until we got rid of him and replaced him with someone cheaper.

 

With Zach Miller not able to pass a physical and requiring additional surgery, we needed a TE badly and there was nothing in the draft that would have helped.

 

The first round pick was #31 overall, just about a 2nd round pick. Every time Seattle has had a laterish first round pick, they have traded down, sometimes multiple times. After the first 18-20 players this year, the next level of players goes about 50 deep. There is no inherent value in selecting at #1 vs another round later in a larger tier sense. And the 4th round pick coming back is a valuable asset.

 

We all know Seattle has been lacking in passing offense. It's not a secret. Graham will give the threat of a much, much more credible passing attack. The Seahawks came within a whisker of winning a Superbowl by grinding out close games and stifling the opponent's offense. With the ability to score more points begets a larger room for error in close games.

[Hawkfin 32]

I don't particularly like this trade for Seattle either. Mainly because Graham gets banged up every year and I don't see a $10m TE as a wise investment for a team that throws the ball 20-25 times per game. Plus my understanding is that Seattle needs help on the OL and giving up a good young lineman plus a first is a steep price for a guy who's likely to be underutilized in that O.

I stopped taking this post serously after you said, giving up a "good young lineman."

 

Max Unger is no spring chicken and he was the oldest of anybody on our line. He was even on the team before Pete came here. Not to metion he's been hurt himself the last 2 years and showing major signs of wear and tear. Unger would need to be replaced anyway in the coming years. Period.

 

Graham has been overly used. Yet, he plays the majority of games every year while taking a pounding being force fed the ball every game. If he is under-used here then he will surely stay more healthy IMO. Yet, Graham still puts out 8-16 TD seasons year after year.

If like you said, we only throw 20-25 times then they will at least be QUALITY throws to a big time play maker while opening up the rest of our team.

A Tall playmaking reciever was needed for us.

 

Sure, this is a bad move for F.F., Most likely Graham's overall stats, etc. But, it's a great move for the Hawks!

[MDC 5,890]

I stopped taking this post serously after you said, giving up a "good young lineman."

 

Max Unger is no spring chicken and he was the oldest of anybody on our line. He was even on the team before Pete came here. Not to metion he's been hurt himself the last 2 years and showing major signs of wear and tear. Unger would need to be replaced anyway in the coming years. Period.

 

Graham has been overly used. Yet, he plays the majority of games every year while taking a pounding being force fed the ball every game. If he is under-used here then he will surely stay more healthy IMO. Yet, Graham still puts out 8-16 TD seasons year after year.

If like you said, we only throw 20-25 times then they will at least be QUALITY throws to a big time play maker while opening up the rest of our team.

A Tall playmaking reciever was needed for us.

 

Sure, this is a bad move for F.F., Most likely Graham's overall stats, etc. But, it's a great move for the Hawks!

I don't follow the Seahawks closely so my bad on Unger, I thought he was younger than he is. My point though is a team with OL issues and an offense that seems to average close to the bottom of the league in pass attempts per game should not he dealing a good lineman and a first rounder for a $10m+ TE who already seems to get injured every year. I won't be surprised if Graham fails to crack 1,000 yards this year.

 

I've got no skin in this game, I just think it was an unwise football move.

[Hawkfin 32]

 

Unger is not a young lineman. He was one of the oldest guys on the team; he will be 29 in a couple of weeks. He was one of only three players on the roster that predated Carroll and Schneider (Brandon Mebane and our punter are the other two). Unger is a very smart player but smallish. He is among the better centers in the league, but is in the group of top 5 highest paid centers in the league, which is a negative. He has roughly missed one third of his games in his 6 year career due to injury. In 2013-14, Unger played through an injury to his arm which hurt his effectiveness all year, but he gutted it out to his credit. This year, he missed around 10 games. So, is he starting to break down? Dunno. It is widely regarded that the center is the most replaceable position on the offensive line. If you can find someone to call out the changes to the other lineman, a guy that can recognize the defense, that is far more important than blocking, as the center snaps the ball and gets in the way of somebody for the most part. Unger wasn't great at shotgun nor pistol formation snaps. I liked Unger and would have been OK keeping for another year, until we got rid of him and replaced him with someone cheaper.

 

With Zach Miller not able to pass a physical and requiring additional surgery, we needed a TE badly and there was nothing in the draft that would have helped.

 

The first round pick was #31 overall, just about a 2nd round pick. Every time Seattle has had a laterish first round pick, they have traded down, sometimes multiple times. After the first 18-20 players this year, the next level of players goes about 50 deep. There is no inherent value in selecting at #1 vs another round later in a larger tier sense. And the 4th round pick coming back is a valuable asset.

 

We all know Seattle has been lacking in passing offense. It's not a secret. Graham will give the threat of a much, much more credible passing attack. The Seahawks came within a whisker of winning a Superbowl by grinding out close games and stifling the opponent's offense. With the ability to score more points begets a larger room for error in close games.

Good post. Agree 100% with everything you countered with here.

 

Losing Zach Miller was a problem all year long last year. Graham is an even BETTER option then Miller ever was for moving the chains on offense now.

[Hawkfin 32]

I don't follow the Seahawks closely so my bad on Unger, I thought he was younger than he is. My point though is a team with OL issues and an offense that seems to average close to the bottom of the league in pass attempts per game should not he dealing a good lineman and a first rounder for a $10m+ TE who already seems to get injured every year. I won't be surprised if Graham fails to crack 1,000 yards this year.

 

I've got no skin in this game, I just think it was an unwise football move.

Fair enough,

I mean Harvin seemed like a good deal at the time too, considering we were going to draft a WR in the first round anyway. But, Havin never really proved stats. He had a great speed, and we were all exited for his kickoff skills (Which proved to help win the SB)

But, he never was that great of a player overall. His average yards per catch sucked, for all that speed. Little guy that truly did show he gets hurt a lot.

 

So now we are once again giving up a 1st round pick. But, it's even later then it was for Harvin and we're getting a 4th rounder back. But, once again we have a SB team and were in a very weak TE draft class. Nobody helps us here. With Miller unable to pass physical/gone and also showing us last year how important he was to the team we need a new one. We got outbid on Thomas who has a much worse injury history then Graham, Cambell the same, we got the best!

 

I also don't see Graham as being injured often. He's used non-stop and stays relatively healthy. Look at Gronk.

We will help preserve his health by limiting him more then NO. But, overall he plays in most games.

 

Also, don't you think we want to improve on that 20-25 throws per game. Or at least make them more productive attempts. Well, this is a huge help to fix that.

 

Stats are for F.F. - what he does for our team is the important factor. And I'm sure he'll put up over 8 TD's. His catches will certainly go down.

Maybe your right about under 1,000 yards. That's all meaningless though if he moves the chains for us and helps us gain a bigger advantage in winning.

Maybe as Wilson grows they will open it up more too. Maybe they needed this type of playmaker to really do it?

 

Our Oline will need to be fixed for sure. It did anyway though. We played without Unger last year and did just fine. In fact, we rushed for over 200 yards against Arizona without him.

[phillybear 364]

I don't follow the Seahawks closely so my bad on Unger, I thought he was younger than he is. My point though is a team with OL issues and an offense that seems to average close to the bottom of the league in pass attempts per game should not he dealing a good lineman and a first rounder for a $10m+ TE who already seems to get injured every year. I won't be surprised if Graham fails to crack 1,000 yards this year.

 

I've got no skin in this game, I just think it was an unwise football move.

 

Most major transactions have a certain amount of risk attached. The Seahawks philosophy of cap management dictates that they put very little money into the offensive line. Extremely mobile QB, RB that breaks tackles, and an Assistant Head Coach that is able to draw blood from a rock in making undrafted free agents into serviceable offensive linemen. We took a step back in our overall offensive line as of right now. But sometimes you can take one step back to take 3 steps forward.

[phillybear 364]

Failed to mention that Graham is not a 10+ million TE. From what I understand, he made 13 million last year. The next 3 years, he is scheduled to make 8, then 9, and then 10. The last two years are not guaranteed. So it's 8 million this year. Between cutting Zach Miller and trading Unger, that's about 7 million combined.

 

In other words, almost negligible effect on our cap space available, Wilson and Wagner will get extended, and we are not done shopping.

[uwmalcolm 73]

I don't follow the Seahawks closely so my bad on Unger, I thought he was younger than he is. My point though is a team with OL issues and an offense that seems to average close to the bottom of the league in pass attempts per game should not he dealing a good lineman and a first rounder for a $10m+ TE who already seems to get injured every year. I won't be surprised if Graham fails to crack 1,000 yards this year.

 

I've got no skin in this game, I just think it was an unwise football move.

Graham is not technically a $10m+ TE. He makes 8/9/10 the next 3 years. Still pricey, and yes he has been banged up the last 2 years so there is some more risk there than with someone who doesn't have a history. But name a good TE that doesn't have an injury history?

[phillybear 364]

Center Stefen Wisniewski coming in for a visit.

[Groundhog 24]

Center Stefen Wisniewski coming in for a visit.

He's played in 61 of a possible 64 games with the Raiders the past four years, and will be 26 yrs old by start of season. Nice.

[phillybear 364]

The first round pick was #31 overall, just about a 2nd round pick. Every time Seattle has had a laterish first round pick, they have traded down, sometimes multiple times. After the first 18-20 players this year, the next level of players goes about 50 deep. There is no inherent value in selecting at #1 vs another round later in a larger tier sense. And the 4th round pick coming back is a valuable asset.

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/12/seahawks-dont-see-value-in-the-first-round-so-they-trade-out-of-it/

 

Seahawks don’t see value in the first round, so they trade out of it

By trading their first-round draft pick for Jimmy Graham, the Seahawks have put themselves in some rare company as a team without a first-round pick for three consecutive years.

 

Seattle traded out of last year’s first round to get picks in the second and fourth round, and traded a 2013 first-round pick for Percy Harvin. That will make the Seahawks the first team since the Chargers of the mid-1990s to go three consecutive years without a first-round pick.

 

The reason is simple: The Seahawks just don’t see value in the first round, especially late in the first round where they’ve been picking recently. Peter King writes at TheMMQB.com that Seahawks General Manager John Schneider has only 16 first round grades on this year’s draft board. Which means the Seahawks, had they kept the 31st overall pick, almost certainly would’ve spent it on a player who only had a second-round grade.

 

In the short term, the Seahawks’ approach has paid off nicely. They’ve been to two straight Super Bowls, and they’ve just added Graham, who could have a bigger impact than any rookie in the NFL this year. Of course, the Harvin trade didn’t work out very well, and in the long run trading first-round picks for expensive veterans is a good way to run into salary cap trouble.

 

So it’s too soon to say if this trade will turn out to be a good one for the Seahawks. But at the moment, they’re a lot more confident that Graham can help them win than they are in any player they could have drafted.

[Marshall 98]

Have you guys seen (or heard) this great Graham interview from earlier today? It's difficult not to become (even more) excited:

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/newest-seahawk-jimmy-graham-speaks/

 

Some sample quotes:

On what his thoughts were about the Seahawks when he played them twice in 2013 season: “I would say right after the first game, the first thing I noticed was how close they were as an entire unit. Not only their defense but their offense. When their offense is on the field, their defensive guys are right there screaming and yelling and literally being fans of their offense. And when their defense is out there their offensive guys are doing the same thing It just seems like they have a culture there that kind of breeds a brotherhood and they pull for each other and that they kind of compete and it seems like for them it’s all about winning. It’s not about individual anything but about what does it take to get the win and I’m really looking forward to being a part of that.’’

 

On thoughts on coming to Seattle: “Immediately once Sean (Payton) said I had been traded, I was going through the list of everyone who had a bunch of cap space, thinking either Jacksonville or Oakland or somewhere, but when he told me Seattle, it definitely put a grin on my face. I’ve had some battles clearly against their defense the last couple of years. We’ve struggled against them as a team as a whole. It’s probably the one game as player you always look forward to because they’re always so good and it’s usually a primetime game. So for me it was a moment of shock, but once that shock cleared, I realized that I was going to the best team in football.”

 

On first impressions of meeting with Pete Carroll: “Man I love him. He puts a smile on my face. He really is a player’s coach. Walking into the building yesterday it just seemed like there is a buzz around there, a sense of urgency and just the whole coaching staff did. And the way Pete, him just literally when he sat me down just talking about my basketball career and going back and talking about all these things that he’s heard about me and I could tell that he’s a detail-oriented person. He knew so much about me — half the stuff I had forgotten about and that really means something. I think that means something really to anybody that he would take the time to really learn all of these individual things about me and literally called about very person I’ve ever been with in my life, someway or another, to find out how I was as a person and how I was driven. That truly meant a lot.’’

 

 

I really, really like his style. : )

[Kopy 491]

Lets move this to Russel Wilson for a second. The dude is gonna get paid. The rumor as you all know is a fully gauranteed contract. That gives him alot of money, also will most likely give us a discount on the cap. This idea really seems like a win/win.

My one hesitation i keep thinking about though. I believe their should be a stipulation put into the deal that he has to stop playing baseball. I keep envisioning we give him the deal, then he takes a line drive right to the noggin and we lose him. And alot of money to boot.

What do you guys think? Am i being paranoid?

[phillybear 364]

I'm seeing in a couple places that the Saints initially were offering Colston and Stills before the trade went in the direction of Graham. But the Saints approached the Seahawks first with an offer for Unger.

[Groundhog 24]

Lets move this to Russel Wilson for a second. The dude is gonna get paid. The rumor as you all know is a fully gauranteed contract. That gives him alot of money, also will most likely give us a discount on the cap. This idea really seems like a win/win.

My one hesitation i keep thinking about though. I believe their should be a stipulation put into the deal that he has to stop playing baseball. I keep envisioning we give him the deal, then he takes a line drive right to the noggin and we lose him. And alot of money to boot.

What do you guys think? Am i being paranoid?

 

I don't think you're being paranoid, but probably the way to do this is to guarantee the contract except in the event of football-unrelated injuries. You break your right arm surfing? Get beaned by a line drive in baseball? Tough luck, we don't owe you.

[Kopy 491]

Love that Graham interview. Now for the love of god. Next time it's 2nd and 1 and you decide to throw it. Throw it to Graham.

[Kopy 491]

We signed Rubin away from cleveland. Sounds like a 1 year prove it type deal. I'm all for this.

I know he a down year last year, but i always liked him. Good depth pick for the DL.

[phillybear 364]

We signed Rubin away from cleveland. Sounds like a 1 year prove it type deal. I'm all for this.

I know he a down year last year, but i always liked him. Good depth pick for the DL.

 

He played hurt last year, so it's a decent gamble. I haven't heard any details on money.

[Groundhog 24]

I think it's time we talk about how the Hawks are likely to draft. Free agency is mostly done, so barring a major development (e.g., Wisniewski), we pretty much know what we need.

 

JS has said many times, "we draft for the team, not for the league". This is why they over-drafted a guy liked Justin Britt - they needed a RT and were afraid he wouldn't be there in the 4th rd, so they took him in the 2nd. Thanks again Percy!

 

Break it down further: what we do need for 2015, and what do we potentially need for 2016?

 

2015 Needs:

WR

C

CB - no Max, Lane out for a long time, Simon got undressed in the Super Bowl

LG

SS (to replace Jeron Johnson who backed up Kam)

DT (not a must-have, but a just in case, if either Hill or Mebane struggle coming back from injury)

 

2016 Needs:

LT - if we let Okung walk

DT - if we let Mebane walk

RB - if we let Turbin walk, and/or, Lynch retires

LB - if we let Irvin walk

 

Factoring in the compensatory picks (probably in rds 4-6), we should have 11 picks overall. This is my best guess:

Offensive line (3): C, LG, LT-candidate with some coaching up (6th or 7th rd)

Defensive back (3): one SS, two CBs

WR (2): one tall, one fast

Defensive line (2): one interior, one Leo candidate

Linebacker (1): an OLB

 

If I had to guess, the two day 2 picks are both on offense, and day 3 picks skew towards the D.

[phillybear 364]

Going to need a QB if Tarvaris Jackson signs with Dolphins.

[Groundhog 24]

Going to need a QB if Tarvaris Jackson signs with Dolphins.

 

Good point. Unless they're satisfied with BJ Daniels, but that's probably not true.

[Kopy 491]

Im sure they'll sign or draft someone so they can have 3 for camp. I keep hearing though, Pete loves BJ Daniels, thats why they had him activated for the playoffs. They were affraid another team would sign him away.

[Hawkfin 32]

I think the Graham signing buys us time at WR... We still don't know what the rookies can do and spent a lot of draft capital on them. They never got big starts like other rookie WR's in the league did. Also, we have the big dude we need to see more of that tore up the SB.

I think WR can wait now. Graham can plug in as our #1 WR, He's a big target WR, Move the chains guy, and he's a goal line target. It pushes Luke Willson into a role better fit to make big splash plays. I think we are kind of set at receiver options for awhile.

The Graham move was so good for so many reasons.

 

Needs as I see it:
OG - With a late 2nd round pick we need to go with a position that is deep and doesn't go early or often. We could still land a top tier one at this pick who could come right in and start. Usually Guards drop. I think Carpenter is a big loss in some ways. Bailey is a utility guy and had a few downers. We need a stud guard.

 

LT - You could argue Center here, but I think we have some really good players at Center who did fantastic last year. Tackle is still a need and probably will be a huge need if we lose Okung. Also, not sold on Britt. I wonder if Britt could play guard? Then draft a new LT/RT?
This could even be our first choice of position since guards go later, and you can transform tackles into guard anyway. (See Carpenter)

 

DE/DT (One of each actually) - The new signing was a nice move. This actually could have been a huge need, but now maybe a 4th round pick would work. We've lost Clemmons which was a HUGE loss. When Avril went out in the SB we had nothing! And during the year our pressure was lacking. I believe we also lost our 2nd speed pressure guy in Schofield and that could hurt too. Irvin never turned out. Red Bryant gone which hurt our run support a bit. Mebane close to being out. Hill might help, but he's been hurt. Looking for big things out of Marsh, but we need insurances. D-Line is pretty big need all the way around!

 

Center - I want 5 Oline picks. I'll hope we pick 3 at least. Anything under 3 I'll be unsatisfied. This pick would be for depth and future Center potential starter. Centers tend to go late if he's not a stud. This position could drop to a late pick instead. (Plug in another guard/T maybe)

 

CB - This might be around a 5th pick where we seem to do well picking them. We need help here as we've been picked apart. Simon is a question mark to me now. He got tore up in the playoff's and has been hurt often too. I like Simon though and I think he could become something still. Love Lane, but he's hurt now too.

 

Kick Returner/WR - I'm thinking around a 6th round pick here. I would target a fast WR that does kick returns/punt returns as a norm. If nothing else this pick is for special teams. But, hopefully he would also bring some WR ability too and who knows what happens from there?

 

More Oline/Dline - I want more line help above all other positions. I mean a case could be made for FB, or LB. Irving will be gone for sure soon. But, Piere-Lewis will be plugged in who I really like.

[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

 

The NFL screws the Seahawks again. Past precedent would have been to receive a 4th, two 5ths, and a 6th. Instead, we get 4th, 5th, and two 6ths. Pure horsesh!t. Can't get a 3rd for Tate, which blows. A 5th for Browner was expected. But can't get a 5th for Giacomini...I'm not pleased. That really was wrong. And a 6th for Clint McDonald.

 

2nd

3rd

4th (Saints)

4th

4th (comp)

5th

5th (comp)

6th (Jets)

6th (comp)

6th (comp)

7th

[Groundhog 24]

Overthecap.com has an interesting comment on the Hawks' 2nd 6th rounder. They're speculating that Brandon Browner - the guy who netted us the 6th rounder which they thought would have been a 5th rounder - had his contract value of $5.05 million per year adjusted for the fact that he got a 4-game suspension. Normally a guy is active for 17 weeks right? You get a paycheck for each week in the regular season. Adjust that contract value by a factor of 13/17 to account for the suspension, and his adjusted contract value is perfectly in line with 6th rd compensation.

 

If that's what went down, it's noteworthy. I kind of agree with it actually. The comp picks are designed to compensate a team for the loss of a contributor, and obviously that contribution is going to vary. Salary is a proxy for expected contribution. If a guy can't contribute as much because of a pending suspension, he's less valuable than otherwise. If the Hawks had simply kept him on the roster through all of 2013, maybe on the Non-Football-Injury list, and then decided to keep him in 2014, then he also would have only been available to them for 13 of those 17 weeks. Hard to argue that we should be compensated for 17 weeks of lost production when at best he would have given us 13 weeks.

[phillybear 364]

Draft day is approaching. Been working on my draft board, but not my rage. I'll look into posting some stuff about recent past drafts and expectations for the upcoming one.

 

It's kind of nice knowing we can watch the Thursday stress free, after netting Jimmy Graham and that there is zero chance that the Seahawks will make a first day pick. A pick that will become a bust.

 

Um, that Superbowl was just a bad dream or something, right? I'm still walking around like a zombie.

[Hawkfin 32]

Draft day is approaching. Been working on my draft board, but not my rage. I'll look into posting some stuff about recent past drafts and expectations for the upcoming one.

 

It's kind of nice knowing we can watch the Thursday stress free, after netting Jimmy Graham and that there is zero chance that the Seahawks will make a first day pick. A pick that will become a bust.

 

Um, that Superbowl was just a bad dream or something, right? I'm still walking around like a zombie.

I'll be interested to hear about any draft prospects you've scouted out.

 

Unfortunately, me and my bro took a step back this year. We have not done to much at all. We looked at some of the Oline pretty good, but that's about it.

For F.F. purposes, I'll probably look at the top skill postions hopefully.

But overall, I won't have much this year myself. Ever since the SB win, lack of1st round draft picks, and the picks we continoue to make (reaches off our board) we have kind of lost all interest. I think the fact the Hawks are really good now, and it takes SO much of our time that we are just spent on it.

 

Anyway, I just hope we come away with 3+ Linemen early and often.

 

I personally want 5 O-line, 2 D-Line, and a CB out of this draft. (I would like to see a "Kick Returner WR" also)

[Kopy 491]

I havn't been really into it this year either. Not to interesting to me for fantasy purposes. And for seattle, we have no thursday pick. Friday night i'll be at a Queensryche concert, and then i'll be working saturday.

My draft will just be a sunday catch up day.

[Vern357 15]

Like everyone else seems to be saying, I am hoping for O-Line help.

[Groundhog 24]

I'm actually more psyched about this draft, not less. We seem to have problems finding guys in the 1st round of drafts anyway, as PB noted. We find diamonds in the rough in the later rounds, we have 11 picks overall, and most of those are day 3 picks.

 

I suspect that we will enter day 3 all scratching our collective heads about why we still haven't drafted an Unger replacement or a Carp replacement, and then we'll go a little OL-heavy on day 3.

[Marshall 98]

I have a good feeling about the upcoming season - and it's looking like the players do, too. This is just hella cool:

 

Russell Wilson hooked his team up with a flight to Hawaii this week, and by the looks of these photos, his teammates are more than pleased with their trip.

 

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/hawks-in-hawaii-wheres-the-beef/#comments

 

Oh, and before the usual suspects come barreling in here to accuse the 'Hawks of cheating with illegal offseason practices or whatnot...this was not a team-sponsored activity. The tab for the airline trip* was picked up by Alaska Airlines (as part of Russell Wilson's endorsement deal with them) and the 'team' bus was actually a private charter.

 

*Except for Jimmy Graham - who piloted his own plane.

 

Anyhow, check it out - especially Cary Williams having the time of his life (he purely doesn't look to be missing Philly). Looking good!