AJ is going to shine, shine, shine as a Seahawk. The "lacks mass" problem will resolve with a bit of time and an NFL training schedule. He does catch everything thrown his way though, and if you watch his tape from the beginning of his college career through MICH you see development in his skills with the ball in his hands. He is never going to be a burner but he can make guys miss and run over them too.
It was a good 4th Round. Knight is the tackling LB we really needed, and because of JS smart work prior to the draft he carries no pressure to start and can happily get up to speed being used in specific situations before really pressing on late in the year and into 2025. Same for Barner, fits a need (as does UDFA Westover, a player i'm excited to see in camps) and again carries no pressure. My concern for Barner is his size vs NFL competition, but at Michigan he held up against big guys so i'm fairly confident good coaching some weights sessions will get him to where we need.
The main knocks i see are some of the players we passed on instead. Obviously for me that includes Rattler, but i like Howell and remain strong we may be targeting Ewers in a years time, so ok fiar enough. Passing up opportunities at Safety stings (Mustapha going to the 49ers, like Brown a year ago, is going to cause us issues in the future). But really they are minor quibbles, and you can't draft every player you like in a draft. Actually my big complaint is the trade down should have been a bigger return, as evidenced by other trades not long after ours. That's why i give our 4th Rd draft a Grade of 13.7 Squibots out of 29 Flubtots (if we did get a '25 3rd Rd pick i'd bump it to 9 Xentys)
I thought I had read that UTEP mostly ran a 4-2-5 defense, so I'm sure Knight will have learning to do with the assignments he'll have in MacDonald's defense. But as far as running and hitting, he can certainly do that. It's just the mental part of the game that will be a challenge for a while. I'm hoping the teaching capabilities of the new coaches can make that less of a challenge. Inside LB for Mike Mac is a tough position with difficult assignments at times, so hopefully the young man can learn to stay assignment correct, and not necessarily chase the ball every time.
Listened to a Jim Nagy interview the other day and he was shaking his head at the negative reaction both of Seattle's 4th rounders got. He had them both higher than round 4, so that's not nothing. We'll see.
Posted previously and no not a fair or right comparison but Knight looks like the Bobby of old. Aggressive, down stream attack the ball after confirming where it’s going. He may not be the best pass defender but he was aligning with the ball those we see pass defenses. As usual one of the key points SJ said was about AJ or TE. No may not be Colby right now but Colby was not much at all as a rookie. Freeing up $6 plus mil allows for other signings. And at moment we’re over the cap with only one rookie signed.
AJ reminds me of guys I grew up with. Farm and ranching families. Friends that help get chores done early to free up the day for cliff diving out on Clear Creek, all the more dangerous if girls were around. Weeding through cattle herds or bucking hay in 100 degree heat. We laughed at guys who pay to lift heavy things, promising the same exercise at half prices. Wrestling at the drop of a hat, which was often provoked. Boys that loved banging and bashing into one another without getting all angry about it. Getting paid millions to do this? Sign me up, Buckaroo. Good tight ends see the first-down marker as the minimum goal on every play. Imposing your will by shaking off this pesky Dandy or keeping your knee off the turf until then. We see what really good coaching did for AJ in his transfer to Michigan. He's gonna be a blast to watch.
THANK YOU, Kenny! I have been watching Christian Haynes clips/highlights/and three condensed games most of this day home sick with a cold. And let me tell ya, there is nothing more miserable than having a cold in the hot southern summer... except trying to watch iOL "film" (okay, YouTube). There's just so much pausing and backing up. And half the time realizing you backed up too far. You have the snap, and then a pile of moving bodies obscure the guy you're trying to watch far too often. And forget about the reps where you started the play off watching the wrong guy. But safety and tight end? Oh hell yeah.
Mrs Turtleman has picked up a side gig pet sitting so I have the house to myself and there's no better time to watch "football games that have already been played" than a day like today. I have nothing to say on these two guys other than what I googled on draft night, but I'm sure I'll think I know everything about them in a few hours.
Alright, so I'm 2 hours into watching Tyreese Knight. Which is near nothing, but more than I'd seen on draft night highlight clips. UTEP moved him all over the place just like Baltimore/Mike Mac seems to like doing. We picked up a UFDA LB that was used similarly but I'm trying to keep my NyQuil addled brain on track. People including myself really wanted Jeremiah Trotter in round 3, but I don't hate that we addressed the trenches and waited. And I really like Christian Haynes, because this Oline needed a refresh. And what better way than a shower and to change their Haynes? Get it, change their Haynes? Phil Haynes out, Christian Haynes in? Ba dum dum pssh!
I only dare make such an awful joke because there's no downvote feature here.
Starting on Varner now, who I knew by name before the draft at least. And to be honest, that is the biggest reason I was bummed we didn't take Trotter. I knew his name and watched him, therefore I like him better than the guy whose name I didn't know and hadn't watched. I think to be a talent evaluator you have to either be like Rainman level savant, or make every hour of your day not only watching plays over and over, but ignoring what anyone else says in the meantime.
I'm neither, but will say something useless but that feels deep to me after watching Varner for a while before bed so stay tuned.
Cough cough sniffle. I feel your pain coming on... An absolute Great Thing about aging is I can re-watch our Hawk's 2013/14 seasons as though it's again the first time. Or any/all of Montana's games. Funny how I recall those games better than our games from 10 years ago. Almost forgot...cough cough sniffle. Gotta go...
As a fellow old guy, I completely agree. I can recall more about the Bengals almost championship season (Esiason, not Burrow) than I could about the Denver/Panthers Super Bowl.
If I may share one of my biggest takeaways having nothing to do with either player, it would be that jersey numbers used to mean something. Now I'm watching a guard wearing #10 which should be a QB, kicker or rookie WR, blocking a DL wearing 80, which should be a vet WR. Jersey numbers used to mean something.
AJ is going to shine, shine, shine as a Seahawk. The "lacks mass" problem will resolve with a bit of time and an NFL training schedule. He does catch everything thrown his way though, and if you watch his tape from the beginning of his college career through MICH you see development in his skills with the ball in his hands. He is never going to be a burner but he can make guys miss and run over them too.
It was a good 4th Round. Knight is the tackling LB we really needed, and because of JS smart work prior to the draft he carries no pressure to start and can happily get up to speed being used in specific situations before really pressing on late in the year and into 2025. Same for Barner, fits a need (as does UDFA Westover, a player i'm excited to see in camps) and again carries no pressure. My concern for Barner is his size vs NFL competition, but at Michigan he held up against big guys so i'm fairly confident good coaching some weights sessions will get him to where we need.
The main knocks i see are some of the players we passed on instead. Obviously for me that includes Rattler, but i like Howell and remain strong we may be targeting Ewers in a years time, so ok fiar enough. Passing up opportunities at Safety stings (Mustapha going to the 49ers, like Brown a year ago, is going to cause us issues in the future). But really they are minor quibbles, and you can't draft every player you like in a draft. Actually my big complaint is the trade down should have been a bigger return, as evidenced by other trades not long after ours. That's why i give our 4th Rd draft a Grade of 13.7 Squibots out of 29 Flubtots (if we did get a '25 3rd Rd pick i'd bump it to 9 Xentys)
I thought I had read that UTEP mostly ran a 4-2-5 defense, so I'm sure Knight will have learning to do with the assignments he'll have in MacDonald's defense. But as far as running and hitting, he can certainly do that. It's just the mental part of the game that will be a challenge for a while. I'm hoping the teaching capabilities of the new coaches can make that less of a challenge. Inside LB for Mike Mac is a tough position with difficult assignments at times, so hopefully the young man can learn to stay assignment correct, and not necessarily chase the ball every time.
Listened to a Jim Nagy interview the other day and he was shaking his head at the negative reaction both of Seattle's 4th rounders got. He had them both higher than round 4, so that's not nothing. We'll see.
I like that they added speed to the LB crew. Knight can be coached up on pass coverage but you can't coach up speed !!
Posted previously and no not a fair or right comparison but Knight looks like the Bobby of old. Aggressive, down stream attack the ball after confirming where it’s going. He may not be the best pass defender but he was aligning with the ball those we see pass defenses. As usual one of the key points SJ said was about AJ or TE. No may not be Colby right now but Colby was not much at all as a rookie. Freeing up $6 plus mil allows for other signings. And at moment we’re over the cap with only one rookie signed.
AJ reminds me of guys I grew up with. Farm and ranching families. Friends that help get chores done early to free up the day for cliff diving out on Clear Creek, all the more dangerous if girls were around. Weeding through cattle herds or bucking hay in 100 degree heat. We laughed at guys who pay to lift heavy things, promising the same exercise at half prices. Wrestling at the drop of a hat, which was often provoked. Boys that loved banging and bashing into one another without getting all angry about it. Getting paid millions to do this? Sign me up, Buckaroo. Good tight ends see the first-down marker as the minimum goal on every play. Imposing your will by shaking off this pesky Dandy or keeping your knee off the turf until then. We see what really good coaching did for AJ in his transfer to Michigan. He's gonna be a blast to watch.
THANK YOU, Kenny! I have been watching Christian Haynes clips/highlights/and three condensed games most of this day home sick with a cold. And let me tell ya, there is nothing more miserable than having a cold in the hot southern summer... except trying to watch iOL "film" (okay, YouTube). There's just so much pausing and backing up. And half the time realizing you backed up too far. You have the snap, and then a pile of moving bodies obscure the guy you're trying to watch far too often. And forget about the reps where you started the play off watching the wrong guy. But safety and tight end? Oh hell yeah.
Mrs Turtleman has picked up a side gig pet sitting so I have the house to myself and there's no better time to watch "football games that have already been played" than a day like today. I have nothing to say on these two guys other than what I googled on draft night, but I'm sure I'll think I know everything about them in a few hours.
Alright, so I'm 2 hours into watching Tyreese Knight. Which is near nothing, but more than I'd seen on draft night highlight clips. UTEP moved him all over the place just like Baltimore/Mike Mac seems to like doing. We picked up a UFDA LB that was used similarly but I'm trying to keep my NyQuil addled brain on track. People including myself really wanted Jeremiah Trotter in round 3, but I don't hate that we addressed the trenches and waited. And I really like Christian Haynes, because this Oline needed a refresh. And what better way than a shower and to change their Haynes? Get it, change their Haynes? Phil Haynes out, Christian Haynes in? Ba dum dum pssh!
I only dare make such an awful joke because there's no downvote feature here.
Starting on Varner now, who I knew by name before the draft at least. And to be honest, that is the biggest reason I was bummed we didn't take Trotter. I knew his name and watched him, therefore I like him better than the guy whose name I didn't know and hadn't watched. I think to be a talent evaluator you have to either be like Rainman level savant, or make every hour of your day not only watching plays over and over, but ignoring what anyone else says in the meantime.
I'm neither, but will say something useless but that feels deep to me after watching Varner for a while before bed so stay tuned.
Cough cough sniffle. I feel your pain coming on... An absolute Great Thing about aging is I can re-watch our Hawk's 2013/14 seasons as though it's again the first time. Or any/all of Montana's games. Funny how I recall those games better than our games from 10 years ago. Almost forgot...cough cough sniffle. Gotta go...
As a fellow old guy, I completely agree. I can recall more about the Bengals almost championship season (Esiason, not Burrow) than I could about the Denver/Panthers Super Bowl.
In a few hours, please tell us everything you know.
If I may share one of my biggest takeaways having nothing to do with either player, it would be that jersey numbers used to mean something. Now I'm watching a guard wearing #10 which should be a QB, kicker or rookie WR, blocking a DL wearing 80, which should be a vet WR. Jersey numbers used to mean something.