If they can't get Young, trade a mid round pick for Zach Wilson. Use the money saved by letting.Geno.go on veteran Dline and interior Oline. Use the draft to for Carter or Anderson and LB.
I'm also kind of looking forward to the Los Angeles's game on Sunday. Has Baker Mayfield finally found his grove or do the Rams crash back to the earth?
I'm seeing this as a game between two mediocre to poor teams, Seattle wins and we all agree life is worth living, but the best part of the weekend is that Houston, Chicago, Arizona, and Kansas City all win and push the Denver pick closer to #1.
Next week is when it all gets crazy. Houston and Seattle both win, and Seattle goes to the playoffs and gets the #1 pick.
My visions are not working out very well. AZ snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the last possible moment, Houston and Chicago didn't bother to come out of the locker room after the half and forfeited their games, and our man RW3 made the KC game way more interesting than it should have been.
At this point, the draft order is pretty much set and I'm not very interested in what happens to anybody but Seattle next week. Go 'Hawks.
If it were up to me my plan for free agency and the draft would be:
Re-sign/tag Geno and trade him for best draft pick you can get with the plan being to re-sign Lock and have him be the bridge QB.
Take the cap space saved from trading Geno and invest in the D-line in free agency. Extend Nwosu.
Do not take Brook's 5th year option. If he shows improvement with more impact plays behind the (hopefully) improved D-line then re-sign him later.
Definitely draft a QB early. This always had to have been the plan after Russ was traded because nobody could have foreseen the renaissance of Geno. Stick to the plan, Geno has value and some team will make a good offer.
Definitely draft a receiver early or make a splash in free agency/trade (Elijah Moore?).
Double dip on the O-line in the draft. I want a right guard who is an absolute mauler. Maybe they draft a left guard and move Lewis back to right guard.
Draft a linebacker who excels in coverage or find a "death backer" ala Kam (I know, not easy). Jamal Adams is coming back so maybe this is a lower priority. But obviously more depth would be great.
Take a couple shots at DB later in the draft. I still have high hopes for Coby but it's always good to bring in more competition. Quandre needs some competition.
I was initially getting 2012 vibes from 2022 but that faded so perhaps 2023 can be 2012 and 2024 will be the year the Hawks become bullies again.
I know this article isn't about the draft but the Jets game tomorrow, but I'm all eyes on the draft from here until April. So many tempting possibilities. Even trading down for a big haul could fill a lot of needs. And I feel like we have a lot. Churn, baby, churn!
I have to wonder why Coby isn't getting more reps, considering the quality of some of the guys getting them over him. DBs are a big need in spite of our throwing $ at Adams and Diggs.
I try not to shoehorn draft talk into posts not about the draft, but it's hard man! A Super Bowl run sounds about as likely as me finding a million dollar bill on the street, curing cancer, and Christina Hendricks falling in love with me on the same day.
This game seems like the one in Dennis Erickson’s 4th and last year with the Hawks. He was always 7&9 or 9 &7. This Jets game was the Vinny Testeverte QB sneak at the goal line. He came up short on 4th down but it was called a TD. (Side note, that call broke the camels back and ushered in instant replay for the Refs next season) Anyway, that lost cost the Seahawks the playoffs and Erickson gets fired and Mike Holmgren is hired.
Always wondered what would have happened if they made the playoffs that Season. Would have been tough to fire Erickson.
I think that bad call turned out for the best for the hawks.
"Always wondered what would have happened if they made the playoffs that Season. Would have been tough to fire Erickson."
I feel sure they'd have stuck with him. That game and subsequent firing made me so angry at the time I was ready to give up the NFL. But then we hired Holmgren and I couldn't help but be happy about it. Anyway, here's to tomorrow's refs not mistaking Mike White's head for a football!
The Hawks have already reached my preseason prediction for total wins. Yaaay! I think this is a very good test season for all of our young players and next year they will only get better. Now, I envision Jefferson, Barton and Nwosu sacks. The highlight of my vision board is a fake punt that Homer takes off for a 20 yd. gain. Now that would be a movie to watch!
I've used PFF rank by position to determine the relative quality of our starting roster. I've assigned 16 as average times the number of starters. WR has two starters so average is 32, defensive line has 3 starters so average is 48, etc.
QB - Geno Smith 8th
RB - K9 17th
WR - Metcalf 19th, Lockett 20th
TE - Dissly 12th, Fant 21st
C -Blythe 36th
G - Lewis 16th, Haynes 53rd
T - Cross and Lucas are outside the top 100
CB - Woolen 24th, Jackson 78th, Coby Bryant 98th
S - Ryan Neal 1st, Diggs 45th
LB - Barton 56th, Brooks 72nd
IDL - Woods 24th, Harris 29th, Ford 83rd
Edge - Nwosu 37th, Irvin 92nd
The players average or above are Smith, Metcalf, Lockett, Dissly, Fant, Lewis, Woolen, Neal, Woods, and Harris. K9 and Nwosu are close. The rest are woefully short of adequate. Based on this season's PFF grades we need center, a guard, 2 linebackers, an outside corner, a nickel, a safety, a defensive end/tackle, an edge rusher, and a huge amount of growth by our offensive tackles. I've defended Brooks and Jackson but these grades don't back me up. It would be interesting to bring in a veteran linebacker and hand him the defensive play calling duties with which Brooks has been tasked. I wonder if that would free Brooks up to play faster. If you assume K9 and Diggs will remain that still means eight new starters from the draft, free agency, and trades. It's a tall order.
Good, honest accounting is indeed where the off-season needs to go.
One thing not often discussed is the coaches have to access what younger player's growth will likely be. Some of these positions are filled by new starters and even rookie. Outside CB and Nickel plus the two tackles and even G Lewis can expect improvement - how much?
Brooks has been operating in a D that has 7-8 new starters around him - Al Woods and Uchenna Nwosu are the only linemen whose play have been consistency reliable. My hope is that we add a couple Game-wreckers on the D-line.
BPA? It's harder to find individual grades for non-skill positions and I'm not a analytics mathematician so I have to rely on somebody else's hard work. You're right though, it would be nice to have more tools to validate the accuracy of PFF and DVOA. As Johnny London said, these grades do backup the eye test.
Thanks for this, really interesting - and worrying as it backs up the eye test. But it is PFF grades, which I believe are rather haphazard to say the least. For instance, I don’t see how Cross and Lucas can possibly be outside the top 100 - how are they possibly worse than every other teams OT second stringers? A few others here are highly questionable too - Lockett as the 20th rated receiver....
Any analysis has to be tempered but the thing I like about PFF is that it's a play-by-play result, not an overarching opinion. Also, it provides a standardized yardstick for comparing players. We may disagree with their grade for a play but over as season I suspect it evens out. As you said, the grades match the eye test so why would Cross and Lucas be different? Hopefully, both players will take the big second year leap. If you look at the receivers above Lockett it makes more sense and remember, this isn't an analysis of Lockett's value to the Seahawks but rather an accumulation of individual plays.
But the issue with the PFF grades was is that judging by your averaging - which I agree with - the biggest problem with the OL isn’t with the the centre and guards, it’s with the tackles. They are, on average, worse than every others teams back up, whereas as Blythe is merely worse than every teams starter. I mean, has every single tackle in the NFL missed time this season in order to get back ups enough time to get a grade?
I must admit I am worrying this whilst drunk. Happy new year fellow Joes. Love ya! 🥳
We've been viewing our rookie tackles through rose colored glasses. It's entirely possible they've hit a wall and they are... rookies. The difference between our tackles and Blythe/Jackson is the rooks are likely to be significantly better next year whereas Blythe/Jackson not so much. Haynes is a question mark but he's closer to a rookie than a vet. Hope you're having a great time!
Agreed. I really don't understand the positive reviews. The first one was so fun and clever enough to be interesting. This one was just unimaginative and dumb. The writers even admitted it was dumb. That was the plot twist!
I was waiting for Craig to say ‘sod this’ and shoot someone as he was really Bond all along. It would have at least provided a guffaw! Truly a horrible, horrible film.
Ok, I graduated high school before you were born, and was watching Siskel & Ebert back then, too! What made them special for me is that you could tell they (especially Ebert) they really *loved* movies--the making of them, the actors, the directors, everything. They were fans, first, and made their criticisms from that point of view.
This game is a pivot point: if the core of the Seahawks is good and they are building something positive for next season, they will win this game. If they lose, the Seahawks are a lot further away from being 'good' than we as fans would hope. This is a 'winnable' game and the Seahawks need to go out there and grab the W like it was a box of popcorn and they were going to see The Gladiator.
I do see the Seahawks prevailing, as Walker gets loose, Geno gets his game right with no turnovers, and Tariq shows that he is the main course and Sauce is just a condiment--with another interception return to the house. This will be a truly ensemble cast effort though with great performances on ST, DL and OL.
My vision board is not specific, but I see us with a pick and a fumble recovery. Also I see Brooks getting his second sac of the season on another delayed blitz. If he can arrive at the same pace and with same intentions he could decrease White's performance. I was oh so hoping Zach Wilson would have a modicum of success and hang on to his job for this week. The Skipper mentioned something about how Wilson's parents should have steered him to another team. That was never going to happen as his mother seems to be slightly unhinged, I am not sure about his father. K9 goes for 125 yards combined yards. Tyler Lockett scores on another toe tapper. This is something I would like to see happen. Dareke Young being targeted as the first read, 2 or 3 times tomorrow. We are not at the point the other team knows we are only running when Young is on the field, but he has only been thrown to once all season. On that play he made a very good catch but it was called back because of a penalty. Gardner and Reed are very good corners and are likely willing to jump a route on one of our other receivers if they are initially covering Dareke. Even a couple of 6 yard curls where Geno can get the ball out quickly to the 6ft 2 inch 225lbs wideout. This would create at least the sense of surprise. I also remember seeing him collecting some YAK in the preseason. Final vision Dareke 2 catches for 19 yards and one sets us up for a TD from the eight yard line. So much for not being specific, I think Dareke has earned the chance.
It's my theory that Super Bowls are won by the most complete teams. My goal would be to field a roster that is above average at every single position and have a head coach who can create a team identity. Teams win when players can depend on their teammates and the team has an identity to fall back on when things get rough. At this point we don't need stars, we need broad competence.
With that in mind as Seahawks GM, what would you all do with the linebacker corps for 2023?
Maybe one per side. A defensive front seven that can stop the run and pressure the QB is required for a championship caliber team. On offense I don't think it's a position group as much as an identity that says we can depend on one aspect whether run or pass. You still have to be decent in the other area though.
It looks like FA is not an option. It seems like the position is difficult to perform well at early on in a career with few exceptions. Therefore I would give Barton and Brooks each 2 more years to show improvement. I would look in the draft to pick up 1 or 2.
Personally I don't see paying Jordan Brooks any more than slightly above average, and that is based on his durability. I like Cody Barton and he is worth low end starter money. I wonder how good Rhadigan is "sorry for the name misspell. Is he a player or a good special teamed. My suggestion yesterday is Seattle needs to sign 3 solid pro's on the front 7 of our defense.
If they can't get Young, trade a mid round pick for Zach Wilson. Use the money saved by letting.Geno.go on veteran Dline and interior Oline. Use the draft to for Carter or Anderson and LB.
Closing shot: The Seahawks carry Pete Carroll off the field in slow motion as redemption is had via a win against his former team...Fade to Black
Two Thumbs Up!
The Jets are one of those teams capable of making Seattle look good. (Hopefully it's not the other way around, as this really could go either way.)
I'm also kind of looking forward to the Los Angeles's game on Sunday. Has Baker Mayfield finally found his grove or do the Rams crash back to the earth?
I'm seeing this as a game between two mediocre to poor teams, Seattle wins and we all agree life is worth living, but the best part of the weekend is that Houston, Chicago, Arizona, and Kansas City all win and push the Denver pick closer to #1.
Next week is when it all gets crazy. Houston and Seattle both win, and Seattle goes to the playoffs and gets the #1 pick.
My visions are not working out very well. AZ snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the last possible moment, Houston and Chicago didn't bother to come out of the locker room after the half and forfeited their games, and our man RW3 made the KC game way more interesting than it should have been.
At this point, the draft order is pretty much set and I'm not very interested in what happens to anybody but Seattle next week. Go 'Hawks.
If it were up to me my plan for free agency and the draft would be:
Re-sign/tag Geno and trade him for best draft pick you can get with the plan being to re-sign Lock and have him be the bridge QB.
Take the cap space saved from trading Geno and invest in the D-line in free agency. Extend Nwosu.
Do not take Brook's 5th year option. If he shows improvement with more impact plays behind the (hopefully) improved D-line then re-sign him later.
Definitely draft a QB early. This always had to have been the plan after Russ was traded because nobody could have foreseen the renaissance of Geno. Stick to the plan, Geno has value and some team will make a good offer.
Definitely draft a receiver early or make a splash in free agency/trade (Elijah Moore?).
Double dip on the O-line in the draft. I want a right guard who is an absolute mauler. Maybe they draft a left guard and move Lewis back to right guard.
Draft a linebacker who excels in coverage or find a "death backer" ala Kam (I know, not easy). Jamal Adams is coming back so maybe this is a lower priority. But obviously more depth would be great.
Take a couple shots at DB later in the draft. I still have high hopes for Coby but it's always good to bring in more competition. Quandre needs some competition.
I was initially getting 2012 vibes from 2022 but that faded so perhaps 2023 can be 2012 and 2024 will be the year the Hawks become bullies again.
I know this article isn't about the draft but the Jets game tomorrow, but I'm all eyes on the draft from here until April. So many tempting possibilities. Even trading down for a big haul could fill a lot of needs. And I feel like we have a lot. Churn, baby, churn!
I have to wonder why Coby isn't getting more reps, considering the quality of some of the guys getting them over him. DBs are a big need in spite of our throwing $ at Adams and Diggs.
I'm already in offseason mode. I couldn't help myself talking about free agency and the draft.
I try not to shoehorn draft talk into posts not about the draft, but it's hard man! A Super Bowl run sounds about as likely as me finding a million dollar bill on the street, curing cancer, and Christina Hendricks falling in love with me on the same day.
This game seems like the one in Dennis Erickson’s 4th and last year with the Hawks. He was always 7&9 or 9 &7. This Jets game was the Vinny Testeverte QB sneak at the goal line. He came up short on 4th down but it was called a TD. (Side note, that call broke the camels back and ushered in instant replay for the Refs next season) Anyway, that lost cost the Seahawks the playoffs and Erickson gets fired and Mike Holmgren is hired.
Always wondered what would have happened if they made the playoffs that Season. Would have been tough to fire Erickson.
I think that bad call turned out for the best for the hawks.
Worst call beside no PI call against the Saints. Makes you wonder about the fairness of the game!
"Always wondered what would have happened if they made the playoffs that Season. Would have been tough to fire Erickson."
I feel sure they'd have stuck with him. That game and subsequent firing made me so angry at the time I was ready to give up the NFL. But then we hired Holmgren and I couldn't help but be happy about it. Anyway, here's to tomorrow's refs not mistaking Mike White's head for a football!
The Hawks have already reached my preseason prediction for total wins. Yaaay! I think this is a very good test season for all of our young players and next year they will only get better. Now, I envision Jefferson, Barton and Nwosu sacks. The highlight of my vision board is a fake punt that Homer takes off for a 20 yd. gain. Now that would be a movie to watch!
DVOA is intented to show expected vs actual performance where zero is league average. DVOA is adjusted for strength of opponent and game situation.
Per Football Outsiders:
Geno Smith - +9.5 (11th)
K9 - rushing -14.3% (37th), receiving -18.9% (38th)
Lockett +17.0 (9th)
Metcalf -2.4 (50th)
Dissly - +44.6 (1st)
Fant - +15.2 (15th)
I've used PFF rank by position to determine the relative quality of our starting roster. I've assigned 16 as average times the number of starters. WR has two starters so average is 32, defensive line has 3 starters so average is 48, etc.
QB - Geno Smith 8th
RB - K9 17th
WR - Metcalf 19th, Lockett 20th
TE - Dissly 12th, Fant 21st
C -Blythe 36th
G - Lewis 16th, Haynes 53rd
T - Cross and Lucas are outside the top 100
CB - Woolen 24th, Jackson 78th, Coby Bryant 98th
S - Ryan Neal 1st, Diggs 45th
LB - Barton 56th, Brooks 72nd
IDL - Woods 24th, Harris 29th, Ford 83rd
Edge - Nwosu 37th, Irvin 92nd
The players average or above are Smith, Metcalf, Lockett, Dissly, Fant, Lewis, Woolen, Neal, Woods, and Harris. K9 and Nwosu are close. The rest are woefully short of adequate. Based on this season's PFF grades we need center, a guard, 2 linebackers, an outside corner, a nickel, a safety, a defensive end/tackle, an edge rusher, and a huge amount of growth by our offensive tackles. I've defended Brooks and Jackson but these grades don't back me up. It would be interesting to bring in a veteran linebacker and hand him the defensive play calling duties with which Brooks has been tasked. I wonder if that would free Brooks up to play faster. If you assume K9 and Diggs will remain that still means eight new starters from the draft, free agency, and trades. It's a tall order.
Good, honest accounting is indeed where the off-season needs to go.
One thing not often discussed is the coaches have to access what younger player's growth will likely be. Some of these positions are filled by new starters and even rookie. Outside CB and Nickel plus the two tackles and even G Lewis can expect improvement - how much?
Brooks has been operating in a D that has 7-8 new starters around him - Al Woods and Uchenna Nwosu are the only linemen whose play have been consistency reliable. My hope is that we add a couple Game-wreckers on the D-line.
Like your analysis. Lots of holes. Better drafting and FA signings needed IMO.
It would be interesting to do some kind of analysis on how teams rate accord to drafting BPA and comparing that to a PFF or DVOA team ranking.
BPA? It's harder to find individual grades for non-skill positions and I'm not a analytics mathematician so I have to rely on somebody else's hard work. You're right though, it would be nice to have more tools to validate the accuracy of PFF and DVOA. As Johnny London said, these grades do backup the eye test.
Thanks for this, really interesting - and worrying as it backs up the eye test. But it is PFF grades, which I believe are rather haphazard to say the least. For instance, I don’t see how Cross and Lucas can possibly be outside the top 100 - how are they possibly worse than every other teams OT second stringers? A few others here are highly questionable too - Lockett as the 20th rated receiver....
Any analysis has to be tempered but the thing I like about PFF is that it's a play-by-play result, not an overarching opinion. Also, it provides a standardized yardstick for comparing players. We may disagree with their grade for a play but over as season I suspect it evens out. As you said, the grades match the eye test so why would Cross and Lucas be different? Hopefully, both players will take the big second year leap. If you look at the receivers above Lockett it makes more sense and remember, this isn't an analysis of Lockett's value to the Seahawks but rather an accumulation of individual plays.
But the issue with the PFF grades was is that judging by your averaging - which I agree with - the biggest problem with the OL isn’t with the the centre and guards, it’s with the tackles. They are, on average, worse than every others teams back up, whereas as Blythe is merely worse than every teams starter. I mean, has every single tackle in the NFL missed time this season in order to get back ups enough time to get a grade?
I must admit I am worrying this whilst drunk. Happy new year fellow Joes. Love ya! 🥳
We've been viewing our rookie tackles through rose colored glasses. It's entirely possible they've hit a wall and they are... rookies. The difference between our tackles and Blythe/Jackson is the rooks are likely to be significantly better next year whereas Blythe/Jackson not so much. Haynes is a question mark but he's closer to a rookie than a vet. Hope you're having a great time!
Bowfinger was a good Eddie Murphy film released in 1999.
Speaking of sequels, we nearly couldn’t believe the depths to which The Glass Onion sank. I’d rather have watched the Broncos-Rams replay on NFL+.
Agreed. I really don't understand the positive reviews. The first one was so fun and clever enough to be interesting. This one was just unimaginative and dumb. The writers even admitted it was dumb. That was the plot twist!
I was waiting for Craig to say ‘sod this’ and shoot someone as he was really Bond all along. It would have at least provided a guffaw! Truly a horrible, horrible film.
Ok, I graduated high school before you were born, and was watching Siskel & Ebert back then, too! What made them special for me is that you could tell they (especially Ebert) they really *loved* movies--the making of them, the actors, the directors, everything. They were fans, first, and made their criticisms from that point of view.
This game is a pivot point: if the core of the Seahawks is good and they are building something positive for next season, they will win this game. If they lose, the Seahawks are a lot further away from being 'good' than we as fans would hope. This is a 'winnable' game and the Seahawks need to go out there and grab the W like it was a box of popcorn and they were going to see The Gladiator.
I do see the Seahawks prevailing, as Walker gets loose, Geno gets his game right with no turnovers, and Tariq shows that he is the main course and Sauce is just a condiment--with another interception return to the house. This will be a truly ensemble cast effort though with great performances on ST, DL and OL.
Go Hawks to the happiest of new years!
My vision board is not specific, but I see us with a pick and a fumble recovery. Also I see Brooks getting his second sac of the season on another delayed blitz. If he can arrive at the same pace and with same intentions he could decrease White's performance. I was oh so hoping Zach Wilson would have a modicum of success and hang on to his job for this week. The Skipper mentioned something about how Wilson's parents should have steered him to another team. That was never going to happen as his mother seems to be slightly unhinged, I am not sure about his father. K9 goes for 125 yards combined yards. Tyler Lockett scores on another toe tapper. This is something I would like to see happen. Dareke Young being targeted as the first read, 2 or 3 times tomorrow. We are not at the point the other team knows we are only running when Young is on the field, but he has only been thrown to once all season. On that play he made a very good catch but it was called back because of a penalty. Gardner and Reed are very good corners and are likely willing to jump a route on one of our other receivers if they are initially covering Dareke. Even a couple of 6 yard curls where Geno can get the ball out quickly to the 6ft 2 inch 225lbs wideout. This would create at least the sense of surprise. I also remember seeing him collecting some YAK in the preseason. Final vision Dareke 2 catches for 19 yards and one sets us up for a TD from the eight yard line. So much for not being specific, I think Dareke has earned the chance.
Happy New Years Seasiders !!!!
It's my theory that Super Bowls are won by the most complete teams. My goal would be to field a roster that is above average at every single position and have a head coach who can create a team identity. Teams win when players can depend on their teammates and the team has an identity to fall back on when things get rough. At this point we don't need stars, we need broad competence.
With that in mind as Seahawks GM, what would you all do with the linebacker corps for 2023?
I’d say at least one elite, dominant position group is necessary.
Maybe one per side. A defensive front seven that can stop the run and pressure the QB is required for a championship caliber team. On offense I don't think it's a position group as much as an identity that says we can depend on one aspect whether run or pass. You still have to be decent in the other area though.
It looks like FA is not an option. It seems like the position is difficult to perform well at early on in a career with few exceptions. Therefore I would give Barton and Brooks each 2 more years to show improvement. I would look in the draft to pick up 1 or 2.
Personally I don't see paying Jordan Brooks any more than slightly above average, and that is based on his durability. I like Cody Barton and he is worth low end starter money. I wonder how good Rhadigan is "sorry for the name misspell. Is he a player or a good special teamed. My suggestion yesterday is Seattle needs to sign 3 solid pro's on the front 7 of our defense.