Vision Board: Seahawks-Falcons

Seaside Joe 1297: How Seattle's ROOKIES can have an impact against the Falcons on Sunday

If you had a mom in 2006, then you remember The Secret.

Ever since then, millions of moms and aunts have gotten their every wish. Why? Because they create vision boards. It’s like Back to the Future: Part II but instead of having a sports almanac from the future, you write your own destiny by cutting pictures out of magazines and not calling it a collage.

It’s a vision board.

Instead of making any predictions for Seahawks-Falcons in Week 3, I will cut out the middleman and go directly to writing some key outcomes that we would like to see on Sunday.

Tip: If you think a post is tight, hit the like button at the end. If you think a post is “just aight", then you don’t have to do that. It helps me know what articles I should repeat and which ones I shouldn’t.

Kenneth Walker III has 3 broken tackles

A vision board can’t exist without photos. But I won’t necessarily have access to every kind of picture I would need to make my dreams come true, so these will have to be metaphorical visions. This guy has a broken fishing rod, rendering his tackle useless. Ken Walker III will also find a way on Sunday to make tackle attempts useless.

Around Seaside Joe, we support Kenneth Walker III. Tell me one other Seahawks blog where you can find that!

I’m not going to get greedy and envision a 75-yard run by Walker, although we know he is capable of that. I’m not going to ask him to go over the century mark yet, he’s still sharing the ball with Rashaad Penny. I will, however, impart three broken tackles on Walker. It may not sound like a lot. However a) it is and b) he can do it.

As of Week 3, only nine running backs have more than three broken tackles. Walker only has four carries and he has one broken tackle. A three-broken tackle performance would probably put him in the top-10 in the category on a limited amount of opportunities. Penny only had one game in 2021 where he broke more than two tackles. That’s not his specialty.

But it is Walker’s.

Reminder: Seaside Joe was the only person who wrote ahead of the 49ers game that Ken Walker III would be taking direct snaps in the NFL! The ONLY one!

Tariq Woolen has 3 major victories against Drake London

Sidenote: Can you believe this^ is the highest-grossing movie of all-time???

Tariq Woolen explained the origin of his forced upon “Avatar” nickname, saying that Clint Hurtt got it started in OTAs. Woolen prefers “Riq the Freak” or just “Riq.”

Bob Condotta @bcondotta

Tariq Woolen talks about origin of his Avatar nickname.

But to be honest, Riq reminds me of Reek which reminds me of:

All I know is that everything these days seems like a hidden advertisement for a show or movie.

Speaking of promotions, please consider signing up! My family is halfway out the door!

As for Woolen, it’s a good matchup for his third game to come across another rookie in Drake London. The Falcons eighth overall pick this year out of USC, the 6’5, 210 lbs London already has 13 catches for 160 yards; London was the most dominant receiver in college football last season prior to breaking his ankle.

Because of that injury, we never got to see London run the 40. People are estimating him in the high 4.4 to 4.5 range.

Now consider Woolen, who is 6’4, 205 lbs, and he ran a 4.26 with a 42” vertical. I still can’t believe that, even after six months of covering Tariq Woolen: He ran a 4.26.

And he’s starting in the NFL to begin his career. Amazing.

Drake London is more of a 50/50 guy than a burner, so maybe Woolen will get the chance to face one-on-one with him for those jumpballs. That’s where a 42” vertical and a life spent as a wide receiver could really help Woolen find some victories against one of the top young wideouts in the league.

That’s why I’m putting out a vision of three “victories” for Woolen on Sunday: Maybe one interception, one batted pass, and one time where he gets London off of his preferred fade route in the end zone to force a FG. London could get his wins too but that would be a great day for Tariq “Avatar the Freak Theon Grayjoy” Woolen.

The offensive line allows 0 sacks

Man, someone get that guy a sack!

Geno Smith was sacked 13 times in three starts last season and it’s worth emphasizing that he does often create his own issues in that regard. Not only in running into sacks or holding onto the ball for too long, but also in losing an extraordinary amount of yards per sack.

We saw a continuation of that in the preseason and yet Geno has only been sacked four times in the first two games. The offensive line has not played well—at all—and we also must remember that Seattle has run the fewest offensive plays in the NFL too. But sacks have been less of an issue than the lack of a deep passing attack and an efficient rushing attack.

Pete Carroll has said this week that the Seahawks need to trust Geno to take those downfield shots more often. More downfield passing means more time in the pocket. It means a higher degree of difficulty on the quarterback because he needs to read the field, go through his progressions, make pre-snap checks, assess what the defense is giving him and where his highest-percentage battles will be found. It also means a higher risk of being sacked. A higher risk of fumbling the ball. A higher risk of throwing an interception.

If Pete wants to give Geno the chance to prove himself as a passer who hits all levels of the field consistently, then surely now we will find out how adequate of a starter he is capable of being. We’re simply not getting enough intel out of a limited offense that hasn’t scored since the first half of Week 1.

That part is up to Geno. But the offensive line can do him a huge favor if they block as well for him as the Browns’ offensive line blocks for Jacoby Brissett.

Charles Cross and Abe Lucas will face a Falcons edge rushing unit that was the worst in the NFL last season and did very little to improve it in the offseason. Arnold Ebiketie is a rookie, same as they are, and Adetokunbo Ogundeji is a 2021 fifth round pick who has two career sacks. The biggest test will come from the interior, where Grady Jarrett will face off of against a combination of guards and centers (Austin Blythe has an injured shoulder, so this could be Kyle Fuller) that have ranked at the bottom in the league so far.

Jarrett, an underrated two-time Pro Bowler, had 1.5 sacks in Week 1.

But now that I have put out a vision of protecting Geno, Jarrett will have to wait another week until his next sack. What are YOUR visions?

Tip: If you think a post is tight, hit the like button at the end. If you think a post is “just aight", then you don’t have to do that. It helps me know what articles I should repeat and which ones I shouldn’t.