I assume that good enough to get there is also good enough to win. I would consider losing the Super Bowl to be a successful season. I really think that being as competitive as we can be, and making the playoffs to get a shot at the Super Bowl is what I look for. After I sat through 33yrs of fandom with only 1 appearance that we got jobbed on (Big Ben was SHORT), I appreciate the culture of competition and getting a shot at greatness that Pete has created.
I just put $100 down -- at 45-1 odds -- that the Hawks win at all. Do I think they will win it all? No, of course not. Will I take 45-1 odds on that? Absolutely. The more I think about this roster, the more I like it. This draft may even beat 2022.
My theme has been, and remains, that the Seahawks are poised to hoist the Lombardi after the 2024 season. Watching (and somehow, really absorbing) patterns and trends is something I have always done. If we look at this, not as fans, but as analysts, we all are more apt to see the same thing.
Provided Geno has a solid season (signs are pointing to this likelihood), this team truly is poised. Besides another year of seasoning from the class of '22 and the '23 class' exponential growth that comes in year two, what else is needed to be elite?
Next off-season, we will need to resign one of our, or bring in a quality second tier, TE. We will need to resign our back-up QB, or draft one worthy of second string snaps. We will need a plan for the interior DL and inside LB, which I imagine they have. That is about it.
Studying patterns allows for the realization that nothing is certain. Yet, the kind of players the Hawks are bringing in are More likely to achieve their potential than players without the laser focus and personal commitment Pete and John value so in the these selections.
For 2023, we will have a lot of fun. It will build into hope, and eventually we will be congratulating another team. Our players will finish the season without a trophy, but they will collect the resolve to come back with what is needed as individuals and as a team to win it all. Stay healthy in key areas and voila'!
Also, doesn't Geno spin that sucker nicely? He really throws a pretty ball. I cannot wait to see this TEAM Cook.
I think the big story this year in the NFC is going to be Detroit and Seattle. Detroit rebuilt their entire secondary (FA), added the second best running back (1st round, to go with Swift and Montgomery), the best LB available (their Wagner) and a top 5 TE.
Seattle completed their secondary rebuild with Love, Witherspoon and Reed ll. They rebuilt their D line (FA, Draft), their LB's and completed their offensive line rebuild by adding interior help to go with last years tackles, got the #3 WR they've needed and quality RB depth. When all is said in done I think the NFC will still be looking at Philly, SF, Seattle and Detroit. I do think Seattle has a chance to win the West as Detroit does the North.
I'm with you on the Lions. And then I'm also kind of like, "It's the Lions, so it's time to put up or shut up." Like the fact that the team was already embroiled in a controversy this year, it's like, of course something has already gone wrong with the Lions season.
They just find a way. Just read the article on the gambling scandel. It sounds like the most important part of the roster is intact. That starting the season off on the wrong foot.
I would already see a big improvement If they managed to reach the Playoffs again and give, whoever comes there, a hell of a fight. Great Foundation to get some Missing pieces in 2024 and then WIN THE NFC.
Seahawks strengthened their strengths. Receiver and secondary have an opportunity to possibly be elite. I didn't expect that going into the draft. I thought they were going to be better but not real contenders. But with elite receivers and DB's they could definitely be contenders. And I don't want to forget elite running backs. Having 3 top tier receivers should also open up the running game. Should be able to put a lot of stress on a defense. I can't help to be amazed at John and Pete. Here's to hoping for an injury free season!! Pretty excited.
Same here, CB and WR aren't positions they've historically spent high draft capital on and then they went and got the top players at both positions! I wish I had more eyes so I watch the Seahawks even harder this season!
I'll be optimistic about the O: 2nd year tackles keep improving, and O line additions gel into a better unit. So Geno gets more time, Smith-Ninja plays like a ninja, Lockett stays clutch/healthy, DK grows his game instead of hairdo, fakebook likes or other crap he seems to feature, Walker III stay's healthy (true optimism) & rookie backs excel to keep Walker fresh.
ZERO optimism for D: A "prove-it year": Do Pete and coaches know how to develop, coach, game plan a 3-4 D? They sure as hell didn't last year. Game plan was "Jamal, make me look good". No plan B. Jamal's probably gone for good. New D-line, new LB's, gel time needed.
What about the Secondary? If 2022 Hawk D had the Almighty playing all 4 secondary positions at once; it didn't matter. Teams knew "why pass?" when they could average 7-8 yards rushing, eyes closed. Prove it, Pete, you defensive genius! ;-)
Complete shift in defensive philosophy, a fair turnover in personnel, along with a coordinator change over have not effectively happened in the first year - at least for as long as I have been paying attention to the game.
Al Woods and Jordyn Brooks were like the Only members of the front 7 who had the same job. 4/5's (80%) of the secondary were new/different than expected as well. Expecting anthing more than we got was simply being ambitious.
THIS year, I see these modest additions being much more effective because they are combined with a second off-season, continuity, plus a year of growth from some pretty exciting young talent.
I'm not hopelessly optimistic about the defense but I think they didn't have the right personnel for the 3-4 last year since they had been drafting for the 4-3 previously. One draft may not be enough to get the players they need but I do think they'll be better than last year because as a defense minded coach Pete had to be embarrassed about that defense and there's no way he let's them be that bad again; he basically got rid of the entire D-line this off-season.
Yup, 2022 results proved not the right 3-4 personnel. Agree it's unlikely 2023 housecleaning & draft is a 1-year-fix. It makes me think: 4-3 or 3-4, how many years Hawks unsuccessfully tried to draft, buy, or develop an effective pass rush/D-line.
Ken QA's his predictions. My 2022 prediction was "in 4-to-6 games, rookie O-line would get Geno injured & Lock starts.
Glad to be wrong on that and will be glad if wrong on 2023 D!
Hold on...unbridled optimism has entered the room.
Before the draft, I thought it possible but not likely the Hawks could be in the Super Bowl at the end of this season. Now I think a deep playoff run is likely and a date with the SB could be in the cards.
And I for one think Geno can lead the team to the promised land. Seriously if Jalen Hurts can lead the Eagles to the SB, Geno certainly can as well.
I think the Legion of Boom finally has a successor regime in place with Witherspoon one of the last pieces, along with Love. This D could be really nasty, in a great way. The only concern for me on the D is nose tackle.
I also think our O-line jells and we end up with a top 5 offense. One of our three primary receivers is gonna be single covered, or covered by a LB. I think Geno exploits that all season. The Hawks may now also have the best RB tandem.
My answer is I am open to getting a Super Bowl this year but these rookies would need to be game changers. We would need 5 of the 10 to be strong contributors to make that happen. Our O-line needs to gel and all the new players on defense need to learn how to play with each other. Last year it took our defense all year how to play a new system with new players., I expect the same, though I think Bobby will make that learning curve shorter for everyone. I am so glad he is back on our team. If he doesn't retire a Seahawk I will very disappointed in our front office to not make that happen.
Sleeper alert, UDFA WR Landers. 6'5 / 43.5 40 /huge catch radius and great hands ! Can't believe we got him as aUDFA. Will be the 4th reciever and a monster in the red zone!
Haha ... amazing to look back at it. I remember Bill Barnwell's article clearly. Broncos best off season in NFL and the Hawks worst - how'd that turn out? I also still remember the Fire Pete crowd being very loud. Rob Staton, Ben Baldwin and all their minions.
You are correct, what a difference one year makes. SSJ comes across and informed and prescient, while the "journalist" not so much. In journalism news writing class, we flunked any assignment that had a factual error.
My answer is that I am an optimist. That seems my go to answer to all your realism. However, if forced to be realistic, I am expecting good things because we measurably improved this team with our first two picks. Then we added competition and insurance in the second round. Well, we added more than insurance for the running game, we added to a home run king, two sluggers, giving us the best RB room ever. And ever is a long time. It goes back to the beginning of time, about 1972 or so when the Seahawks were born.
Both RB's added to our lineup are sure handed. McIntosh never had a drop last year. Not many people bring this up as a "Seahawk" trait, but sure handedness seems to me to be a trait the Seahawks look for first in a WR or TE. DK, notwithstanding.
Last year there was a long list of players, who if lost to injury for the season, would have tanked our season. Fortunately, only a few were lost. This year I feel we are as insulated from that scenario down to just a few key players like BWAgs and Geno. I'm feeling very bullish on challenging SF for the NFCW Crown, and then winning at least two playoff games. That COULD mean reaching the SB. The AFC will be sharpening steel against steel, so that would be tough nut to crack.
I'm excited to see Kenny McIntosh. Reason #104 I don't think I can evaluate talent is that a player like him is considered such a vastly different talent from Charbonnet. Scouts and internet people can talk about "tight hips" and "too high a center of gravity" but I just saw a good running back when I watched Georgia games. Doesn't have true breakaway speed, but a great catcher and 1st down machine. Here are some quick highlights that will take less than 3 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kDmaWmemE&ab_channel=SeattleSquad
If we're comparing RBs, I think you can see a clear difference in power, speed, and footwork from just watching a few minutes of highlights between Charbonnet and McIntosh. It's hard to judge vision when only watching highlights. It will be interesting to see if these guys (and K9) differentiate themselves in pass protection and route running. If McIntosh isn't better at those things than Walker and Charbonnet then he's really got to show up on specials teams or he's headed to the practice squad. I guess I'm just not sure we need a third down back with Walker and Charbonnet around. Pass pro will be a big deal for these guys and their snap counts I think.
It is my understanding that McIntosh doesn't demonstrate very good vision as a runner, and because of that, Georgia often had to give him obvious holes to run through. Good coaching can overcome a single deficiency like that, and that's what Georgia did. However, I am excited to have him join our RB group and he has the best hands in the group, so he's probably destined for the third down role initially.
If there had been a poll this time last year that asked what our QB room would look like following the 2023 draft, and one of the options had been Geno, Drew, UDFA rookies, I think it may have received less than 1% of the votes. This is my biggest concern for our future Championship status, though I don't know what I'd have done differently in Pete/John's shoes.
I’m not any kind of expert, just an exuberant fan. I made my votes for different players based almost entirely on their highlight videos and the articles/comments written by people possibly more experienced than me. (I don’t research or keep track of the capabilities of my internet sources, so I couldn’t honestly say if they’re actually more experienced than I am.) I’m excited about these guys largely because 1) they’re now Seahawks and I’m a lifetime fan since inception, and 2) many Seahawks draft picks have pleasantly surprised me, especially since Pete and John came to town. I know there are also many examples of those who were disappointing, but my present-bias fan brain has conveniently forgotten them. 😁
I assume that good enough to get there is also good enough to win. I would consider losing the Super Bowl to be a successful season. I really think that being as competitive as we can be, and making the playoffs to get a shot at the Super Bowl is what I look for. After I sat through 33yrs of fandom with only 1 appearance that we got jobbed on (Big Ben was SHORT), I appreciate the culture of competition and getting a shot at greatness that Pete has created.
I just put $100 down -- at 45-1 odds -- that the Hawks win at all. Do I think they will win it all? No, of course not. Will I take 45-1 odds on that? Absolutely. The more I think about this roster, the more I like it. This draft may even beat 2022.
My theme has been, and remains, that the Seahawks are poised to hoist the Lombardi after the 2024 season. Watching (and somehow, really absorbing) patterns and trends is something I have always done. If we look at this, not as fans, but as analysts, we all are more apt to see the same thing.
Provided Geno has a solid season (signs are pointing to this likelihood), this team truly is poised. Besides another year of seasoning from the class of '22 and the '23 class' exponential growth that comes in year two, what else is needed to be elite?
Next off-season, we will need to resign one of our, or bring in a quality second tier, TE. We will need to resign our back-up QB, or draft one worthy of second string snaps. We will need a plan for the interior DL and inside LB, which I imagine they have. That is about it.
Studying patterns allows for the realization that nothing is certain. Yet, the kind of players the Hawks are bringing in are More likely to achieve their potential than players without the laser focus and personal commitment Pete and John value so in the these selections.
For 2023, we will have a lot of fun. It will build into hope, and eventually we will be congratulating another team. Our players will finish the season without a trophy, but they will collect the resolve to come back with what is needed as individuals and as a team to win it all. Stay healthy in key areas and voila'!
Also, doesn't Geno spin that sucker nicely? He really throws a pretty ball. I cannot wait to see this TEAM Cook.
I think the big story this year in the NFC is going to be Detroit and Seattle. Detroit rebuilt their entire secondary (FA), added the second best running back (1st round, to go with Swift and Montgomery), the best LB available (their Wagner) and a top 5 TE.
Seattle completed their secondary rebuild with Love, Witherspoon and Reed ll. They rebuilt their D line (FA, Draft), their LB's and completed their offensive line rebuild by adding interior help to go with last years tackles, got the #3 WR they've needed and quality RB depth. When all is said in done I think the NFC will still be looking at Philly, SF, Seattle and Detroit. I do think Seattle has a chance to win the West as Detroit does the North.
I
Agree on the Lions in general the look good. They did trade Swift to the Eagles so Gibbs isn't put with both Swift and Montgomery
That's right. I remember some of the questions or replacing Swift with Montgomery. guess the draft solved that.
I'm with you on the Lions. And then I'm also kind of like, "It's the Lions, so it's time to put up or shut up." Like the fact that the team was already embroiled in a controversy this year, it's like, of course something has already gone wrong with the Lions season.
They just find a way. Just read the article on the gambling scandel. It sounds like the most important part of the roster is intact. That starting the season off on the wrong foot.
I would already see a big improvement If they managed to reach the Playoffs again and give, whoever comes there, a hell of a fight. Great Foundation to get some Missing pieces in 2024 and then WIN THE NFC.
Seahawks strengthened their strengths. Receiver and secondary have an opportunity to possibly be elite. I didn't expect that going into the draft. I thought they were going to be better but not real contenders. But with elite receivers and DB's they could definitely be contenders. And I don't want to forget elite running backs. Having 3 top tier receivers should also open up the running game. Should be able to put a lot of stress on a defense. I can't help to be amazed at John and Pete. Here's to hoping for an injury free season!! Pretty excited.
Same here, CB and WR aren't positions they've historically spent high draft capital on and then they went and got the top players at both positions! I wish I had more eyes so I watch the Seahawks even harder this season!
Unbridled optimism indeed...
I'll be optimistic about the O: 2nd year tackles keep improving, and O line additions gel into a better unit. So Geno gets more time, Smith-Ninja plays like a ninja, Lockett stays clutch/healthy, DK grows his game instead of hairdo, fakebook likes or other crap he seems to feature, Walker III stay's healthy (true optimism) & rookie backs excel to keep Walker fresh.
ZERO optimism for D: A "prove-it year": Do Pete and coaches know how to develop, coach, game plan a 3-4 D? They sure as hell didn't last year. Game plan was "Jamal, make me look good". No plan B. Jamal's probably gone for good. New D-line, new LB's, gel time needed.
What about the Secondary? If 2022 Hawk D had the Almighty playing all 4 secondary positions at once; it didn't matter. Teams knew "why pass?" when they could average 7-8 yards rushing, eyes closed. Prove it, Pete, you defensive genius! ;-)
Complete shift in defensive philosophy, a fair turnover in personnel, along with a coordinator change over have not effectively happened in the first year - at least for as long as I have been paying attention to the game.
Al Woods and Jordyn Brooks were like the Only members of the front 7 who had the same job. 4/5's (80%) of the secondary were new/different than expected as well. Expecting anthing more than we got was simply being ambitious.
THIS year, I see these modest additions being much more effective because they are combined with a second off-season, continuity, plus a year of growth from some pretty exciting young talent.
I'm not hopelessly optimistic about the defense but I think they didn't have the right personnel for the 3-4 last year since they had been drafting for the 4-3 previously. One draft may not be enough to get the players they need but I do think they'll be better than last year because as a defense minded coach Pete had to be embarrassed about that defense and there's no way he let's them be that bad again; he basically got rid of the entire D-line this off-season.
Yup, 2022 results proved not the right 3-4 personnel. Agree it's unlikely 2023 housecleaning & draft is a 1-year-fix. It makes me think: 4-3 or 3-4, how many years Hawks unsuccessfully tried to draft, buy, or develop an effective pass rush/D-line.
Ken QA's his predictions. My 2022 prediction was "in 4-to-6 games, rookie O-line would get Geno injured & Lock starts.
Glad to be wrong on that and will be glad if wrong on 2023 D!
Hold on...unbridled optimism has entered the room.
Before the draft, I thought it possible but not likely the Hawks could be in the Super Bowl at the end of this season. Now I think a deep playoff run is likely and a date with the SB could be in the cards.
And I for one think Geno can lead the team to the promised land. Seriously if Jalen Hurts can lead the Eagles to the SB, Geno certainly can as well.
I think the Legion of Boom finally has a successor regime in place with Witherspoon one of the last pieces, along with Love. This D could be really nasty, in a great way. The only concern for me on the D is nose tackle.
I also think our O-line jells and we end up with a top 5 offense. One of our three primary receivers is gonna be single covered, or covered by a LB. I think Geno exploits that all season. The Hawks may now also have the best RB tandem.
(As I said, unbridled optimism is here. )
My unbridled optimism is that the Seahawks is a top-3 team in the NFC. Eagles, Niners, us.
SDB has a very good article talking about the state of the DL and overall Rob is of the opinion the Seahawks are going to be ok there.
What’s May for if not unbridled optimism?
Hey, why not?
My answer is I am open to getting a Super Bowl this year but these rookies would need to be game changers. We would need 5 of the 10 to be strong contributors to make that happen. Our O-line needs to gel and all the new players on defense need to learn how to play with each other. Last year it took our defense all year how to play a new system with new players., I expect the same, though I think Bobby will make that learning curve shorter for everyone. I am so glad he is back on our team. If he doesn't retire a Seahawk I will very disappointed in our front office to not make that happen.
Sleeper alert, UDFA WR Landers. 6'5 / 43.5 40 /huge catch radius and great hands ! Can't believe we got him as aUDFA. Will be the 4th reciever and a monster in the red zone!
He only gets the chance to be in NY estimation the fifth receiver if he can play special teams better than BoBo.
Still a very nice reciever room.
43.5 40? Man, that is SLOW! 😁
On a serious note, I’ll keep my eyes on him. Thanks for pointing him out.
I think i read 4,37 If i remember correctly. I am still high on Dareke :)
Sorry about that. I really like the two OL men they got late in the draft.
Maybe, my answer isn't here. It depends on defense as a whole playing better than last few years.
Wow ... this article from Joe a year ago is fire!!!
https://www.seasidejoe.com/p/espn-ranks-seahawks-as-having-the
Haha ... amazing to look back at it. I remember Bill Barnwell's article clearly. Broncos best off season in NFL and the Hawks worst - how'd that turn out? I also still remember the Fire Pete crowd being very loud. Rob Staton, Ben Baldwin and all their minions.
What happened to them?
You are correct, what a difference one year makes. SSJ comes across and informed and prescient, while the "journalist" not so much. In journalism news writing class, we flunked any assignment that had a factual error.
It's not a coincidence that both Barnwell and Baldwin have blocked me on twitter. They don't like people disagreeing with their opinions.
They are laughable.
Badge of honor.
They have got Pete on a very short leash and are ready to yank on it hard at the first misstep.
PC isn't perfect but he can coach my team for as long as he wants.
I suggest you purchase the Seahawks to make that a reality, Ray.
My answer is that I am an optimist. That seems my go to answer to all your realism. However, if forced to be realistic, I am expecting good things because we measurably improved this team with our first two picks. Then we added competition and insurance in the second round. Well, we added more than insurance for the running game, we added to a home run king, two sluggers, giving us the best RB room ever. And ever is a long time. It goes back to the beginning of time, about 1972 or so when the Seahawks were born.
Both RB's added to our lineup are sure handed. McIntosh never had a drop last year. Not many people bring this up as a "Seahawk" trait, but sure handedness seems to me to be a trait the Seahawks look for first in a WR or TE. DK, notwithstanding.
Last year there was a long list of players, who if lost to injury for the season, would have tanked our season. Fortunately, only a few were lost. This year I feel we are as insulated from that scenario down to just a few key players like BWAgs and Geno. I'm feeling very bullish on challenging SF for the NFCW Crown, and then winning at least two playoff games. That COULD mean reaching the SB. The AFC will be sharpening steel against steel, so that would be tough nut to crack.
I'm excited to see Kenny McIntosh. Reason #104 I don't think I can evaluate talent is that a player like him is considered such a vastly different talent from Charbonnet. Scouts and internet people can talk about "tight hips" and "too high a center of gravity" but I just saw a good running back when I watched Georgia games. Doesn't have true breakaway speed, but a great catcher and 1st down machine. Here are some quick highlights that will take less than 3 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kDmaWmemE&ab_channel=SeattleSquad
I figure that he has a particular skill that Pete or John sees as potentially useful—like Homer’s blocking.
If we're comparing RBs, I think you can see a clear difference in power, speed, and footwork from just watching a few minutes of highlights between Charbonnet and McIntosh. It's hard to judge vision when only watching highlights. It will be interesting to see if these guys (and K9) differentiate themselves in pass protection and route running. If McIntosh isn't better at those things than Walker and Charbonnet then he's really got to show up on specials teams or he's headed to the practice squad. I guess I'm just not sure we need a third down back with Walker and Charbonnet around. Pass pro will be a big deal for these guys and their snap counts I think.
It is my understanding that McIntosh doesn't demonstrate very good vision as a runner, and because of that, Georgia often had to give him obvious holes to run through. Good coaching can overcome a single deficiency like that, and that's what Georgia did. However, I am excited to have him join our RB group and he has the best hands in the group, so he's probably destined for the third down role initially.
If there had been a poll this time last year that asked what our QB room would look like following the 2023 draft, and one of the options had been Geno, Drew, UDFA rookies, I think it may have received less than 1% of the votes. This is my biggest concern for our future Championship status, though I don't know what I'd have done differently in Pete/John's shoes.
Absolutely, Grant. Winning option probably more like "Drew Lock backing up a rookie" and some sort of random third veteran like Taylor Heinicke.
My dream is that Geno is totally awesome this year and we trade him to Chicago for their '24 first round pick.
I’m not any kind of expert, just an exuberant fan. I made my votes for different players based almost entirely on their highlight videos and the articles/comments written by people possibly more experienced than me. (I don’t research or keep track of the capabilities of my internet sources, so I couldn’t honestly say if they’re actually more experienced than I am.) I’m excited about these guys largely because 1) they’re now Seahawks and I’m a lifetime fan since inception, and 2) many Seahawks draft picks have pleasantly surprised me, especially since Pete and John came to town. I know there are also many examples of those who were disappointing, but my present-bias fan brain has conveniently forgotten them. 😁
That's who I want to hear from! Exuberant fans! Fans often know as much or more than the experts.