Fleury should take a page out of Ben Johnson's book: Spend at least 2 consecutive years as OC before taking a job as Head Coach. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. I suspect Mike and Leslie breathed a bit of relief when Clint left. There's no upside to running down our guys, so I waited until January. We'll have to wait for what Sam will have to say. (That's a Big Maybe Not). Let's say Fleury gets smart and stays for the next 2 years, assuming he passes basic muster with Mike. I'll be looking at who sits with Leslie Frazier up in the Box for who will be our next OC. This Outfit is serious about showing everybody, coaches included, they have a career being prepared for them here.
HawkBlogger did a whole show looking at numbers to argue that stellar QBs weren't necessarily the secret sauce to Super Bowl delight.
I keep dwelling, because I'm old and it's a statistic I'm used to, on time of possession. I think it matters not simply as a measure of imposing your will on an opponent when the clock needs winding down. I think it matters especially for a defensive head coach who wants extra time to rest and prepare his players. This is why, imho, the running game matters.
I've had this tab open for a week. Last season the Seahawks were 11th in TOP, averaging 30:19. Buffalo was first at 32:18, while the Raiders were last at 27:51. BUT our average TOP the last three games went up to 32:04. In Grubb's year we were 28th in TOP, averaging 28:49.
Chasing edges, right?
Also, let's remember we fired (I guess?) our RB coach midseason, and things got better. It is sometimes argued Walker got the ball more and that's why. Maybe. Probably both.
One last thought. Kubiak may well have used smoke and mirrors the first half of the season. But the reality is he was also installing a brand new offense, a brand new blocking scheme, and a brand new QB. All of those things should be relatively stable next year.
We are on the exact opposite sides about the value of the ToP statistic. I don't even think it's a real statistic so much as just a happy coincidence. The entire purpose of this wonderful game is to have successful possessions (i.e., score a lot of points when you have the ball and keep the other guys from scoring points when they have the ball). I certainly value long, sustained, run-heavy, soul-crushing, scoring drives but it's the "scoring" part that matters. Nobody wants to have a ten-minute drive end with an interception and a ten-second pick-six.
I feel like the wildcard is truly Fluery. Can he transition smoothly into an effective OC and can he easily convert his vision into an actionable product that translates efficiently across the entirety of the offense and compliments the strengths of the defense. He's an unknown quantity from a fans perspective. Maybe I still just have a bad taste in my mouth from what feels like the huge failure that was Grubb, who technically had more OC experience than Fluery.
I do believe Darnold turned a corner in week 16 last year against the Rams. It’s only 5 games, but he protected the ball as well as any QB in the NFL over those 5 games. He’s better this year. Fleury blew away MM in his interview for OC and took the job from a probable internal hire. I think he can succeed more than Kubiak. The offensive line figured out the wide zone blocking by the end of the season. Price skill set fits wide zone to a tee. Shaheed has the offseason to gel with Darnold. Horton will be back. Arroyo should make a big step. Barner could be a pro bowler.
This defense has improved with every month under MM. There was no chance MM was bringing Woolen back. Mafe was replaced by Fowler who has performed better than Mafe in many seasons in his career. Yes, he is going to be 32, but he’s healthy. They have players who can fill Bryant’s role. This defense will continue to improve this season.
They hired a number of coaches besides Fleury this offseason. This was an outstanding coaching staff to begin with, and it’s even better.
The core of young players on the Seahawks who were rookies, 1st or 2nd year players will likely see improvement, perhaps a couple taking big steps forward.
MM is only in his 3rd season and got better in both his first two seasons. I don’t see that improvement coming to a halt. This year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he begins to make improvements in the way he plays against McVey. Everyone talks about “How close the Rams were to beating the Seahawks in the championship game.” But if not for Woolen doing all he could to keep the Rams in the game, it would not have been close. I expect a big win on Christmas day against the Rams.
No the Seahawks haven’t hit their ceiling yet and I’ve been confident about this for weeks. Experts are so narrowly focused and short sighted. The Seahawks did so much to get better this offseason. Yet people see them near the bottom of the barrel in terms of success this offseason. The ceiling for the Seahawks is a 20 win zero loss season. Yet more than 1/2 of Seahawk fans on Field Gulls see them regressing. 54% see them winning 13 games or fewer. Tsk tsk. They’re turning into Mina Kimes or Jacson Bevens. With eyes wide open, this could be a historic season. Watch out if we win week six against Denver and open 6-0. That Thursday game on 4 days rest on the road will not be easy. But from there on out, we have at least 6 days between each game.
“Experts are so narrowly focused and short sighted”. They all totally missed the hawk’s potential last year, because they live in a sports pundit echo chamber. The fact that ALL were so off the mark concerning the hawks explains why they don’t see the hawks as top contenders this year: “the hawk’s success last year was a fluke, they weren’t that good”. So sure, they can’t see the hawks as SB contenders this year. The ‘group think’ of these so called experts is amazing to me.
Personally, I refuse to even listen to them anymore. I only get mad. The offseason is more than just free agency and the draft. Even the draft, “Price was a reach. Taking a RB in the first round is a mistake. He’s never been a starter.” I think his running style was just what they were looking for. I think the only issue is the same issue with all RBs, can he stay healthy? If so, I think he gets over 1000 yards and is OROY.
This was a great off-season read. Thanks, SJ.
Fleury should take a page out of Ben Johnson's book: Spend at least 2 consecutive years as OC before taking a job as Head Coach. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. I suspect Mike and Leslie breathed a bit of relief when Clint left. There's no upside to running down our guys, so I waited until January. We'll have to wait for what Sam will have to say. (That's a Big Maybe Not). Let's say Fleury gets smart and stays for the next 2 years, assuming he passes basic muster with Mike. I'll be looking at who sits with Leslie Frazier up in the Box for who will be our next OC. This Outfit is serious about showing everybody, coaches included, they have a career being prepared for them here.
HawkBlogger did a whole show looking at numbers to argue that stellar QBs weren't necessarily the secret sauce to Super Bowl delight.
I keep dwelling, because I'm old and it's a statistic I'm used to, on time of possession. I think it matters not simply as a measure of imposing your will on an opponent when the clock needs winding down. I think it matters especially for a defensive head coach who wants extra time to rest and prepare his players. This is why, imho, the running game matters.
I've had this tab open for a week. Last season the Seahawks were 11th in TOP, averaging 30:19. Buffalo was first at 32:18, while the Raiders were last at 27:51. BUT our average TOP the last three games went up to 32:04. In Grubb's year we were 28th in TOP, averaging 28:49.
Chasing edges, right?
Also, let's remember we fired (I guess?) our RB coach midseason, and things got better. It is sometimes argued Walker got the ball more and that's why. Maybe. Probably both.
One last thought. Kubiak may well have used smoke and mirrors the first half of the season. But the reality is he was also installing a brand new offense, a brand new blocking scheme, and a brand new QB. All of those things should be relatively stable next year.
We are on the exact opposite sides about the value of the ToP statistic. I don't even think it's a real statistic so much as just a happy coincidence. The entire purpose of this wonderful game is to have successful possessions (i.e., score a lot of points when you have the ball and keep the other guys from scoring points when they have the ball). I certainly value long, sustained, run-heavy, soul-crushing, scoring drives but it's the "scoring" part that matters. Nobody wants to have a ten-minute drive end with an interception and a ten-second pick-six.
I feel like the wildcard is truly Fluery. Can he transition smoothly into an effective OC and can he easily convert his vision into an actionable product that translates efficiently across the entirety of the offense and compliments the strengths of the defense. He's an unknown quantity from a fans perspective. Maybe I still just have a bad taste in my mouth from what feels like the huge failure that was Grubb, who technically had more OC experience than Fluery.
At least Fluery has been in the NFL for a while...
I do believe Darnold turned a corner in week 16 last year against the Rams. It’s only 5 games, but he protected the ball as well as any QB in the NFL over those 5 games. He’s better this year. Fleury blew away MM in his interview for OC and took the job from a probable internal hire. I think he can succeed more than Kubiak. The offensive line figured out the wide zone blocking by the end of the season. Price skill set fits wide zone to a tee. Shaheed has the offseason to gel with Darnold. Horton will be back. Arroyo should make a big step. Barner could be a pro bowler.
This defense has improved with every month under MM. There was no chance MM was bringing Woolen back. Mafe was replaced by Fowler who has performed better than Mafe in many seasons in his career. Yes, he is going to be 32, but he’s healthy. They have players who can fill Bryant’s role. This defense will continue to improve this season.
They hired a number of coaches besides Fleury this offseason. This was an outstanding coaching staff to begin with, and it’s even better.
The core of young players on the Seahawks who were rookies, 1st or 2nd year players will likely see improvement, perhaps a couple taking big steps forward.
MM is only in his 3rd season and got better in both his first two seasons. I don’t see that improvement coming to a halt. This year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he begins to make improvements in the way he plays against McVey. Everyone talks about “How close the Rams were to beating the Seahawks in the championship game.” But if not for Woolen doing all he could to keep the Rams in the game, it would not have been close. I expect a big win on Christmas day against the Rams.
No the Seahawks haven’t hit their ceiling yet and I’ve been confident about this for weeks. Experts are so narrowly focused and short sighted. The Seahawks did so much to get better this offseason. Yet people see them near the bottom of the barrel in terms of success this offseason. The ceiling for the Seahawks is a 20 win zero loss season. Yet more than 1/2 of Seahawk fans on Field Gulls see them regressing. 54% see them winning 13 games or fewer. Tsk tsk. They’re turning into Mina Kimes or Jacson Bevens. With eyes wide open, this could be a historic season. Watch out if we win week six against Denver and open 6-0. That Thursday game on 4 days rest on the road will not be easy. But from there on out, we have at least 6 days between each game.
Go Hawks!
“Experts are so narrowly focused and short sighted”. They all totally missed the hawk’s potential last year, because they live in a sports pundit echo chamber. The fact that ALL were so off the mark concerning the hawks explains why they don’t see the hawks as top contenders this year: “the hawk’s success last year was a fluke, they weren’t that good”. So sure, they can’t see the hawks as SB contenders this year. The ‘group think’ of these so called experts is amazing to me.
Personally, I refuse to even listen to them anymore. I only get mad. The offseason is more than just free agency and the draft. Even the draft, “Price was a reach. Taking a RB in the first round is a mistake. He’s never been a starter.” I think his running style was just what they were looking for. I think the only issue is the same issue with all RBs, can he stay healthy? If so, I think he gets over 1000 yards and is OROY.
I would agree. Woolen was great man to man not as good in zone and tackling. That can be improved.
Walker prior to last season was always banged up a bit and less effective and only really unleashed the playoffs these backs as a group can be better
The O line will have more experience as a group and continuity matters
We really had just one receiver for much of the season - JSN. We have more depth and the TEs should be even better.