Century Link Field, Seattle WA

Century Link Field, Seattle WA

Thursday, August 25, 2011

To Draft or Not To Draft

Much has been said about the potential bumper crop of college QB's expected to be available in next year's NFL draft.  As many as six quarterbacks have been rated as potential first-rounders in 2012:

  • Andrew Luck, Stanford
  • Matt Barkley, USC
  • Landry Jones, Oklahoma
  • Ryan Tanneyhill, Texas A&M
  • Ryan Lindley, San Diego State
  • Nick Foles, Arizona
Certainly the stock of some of these guys will fall, and others not on this list will rise, but the bottom line is that 2012 could offer a remarkable bounty of opportunities for teams looking for their next franchise QB.  What makes this list so impressive is the fact that 3 of these 6 play in legitimate NFL-style offenses (Luck, Barkley and Tanneyhill) so the dreaded learning curve associated with all the spread offense signal-callers is mitigated. 

This fact has led most observers of the Seahawks to speculate, and in some cases guarantee, that the
Hawks next quarterback will come from this group, and it's entirely possible that they're right, but what if we could get a franchise QB to build around, who was ready to start right away, and wouldn't cost us a single draft pick? 

In my August 15th post I made the case for Matt Flynn, and I still think he's the favorite, but upon reviewing details of the new CBA a little closer, I've discovered there may be options... four of them, in fact.

In addition to Flynn, I've identified 3 other QB's who will qualify as unrestricted free agents at the end of this season:

  • Chase Daniel, New Orleans
  • Brian Hoyer, New England
  • Josh Johnson, Tampa Bay
What makes these four guys so interesting is they're all 25 or younger, have all earned backup status on their respective teams, and are all stuck behind elite QB's (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) or in Johnson's case a soon-to-be-elite QB (Freeman.) 

The new CBA forbids a team from using a franchise and transition tag in the same season, so the availability of these guys is going to come down to whether or not the Packers, Saints, Pats and Bucs end up using their franchise tags on other players.  Any of them who do will immediately lose the opportunity to transition their backup QB. 

Chances are slim that all four of these players will be available, but if the right one is, it would make a ton of sense for the Hawks to go in that direction.  As I've said before, the ideal situation would be to find a long-term starting QB without having to surrender a first round pick that could be used to pick up an elite player at another position of great need such as CB or DE. 

I still favor Flynn, and his connections to Schneider are undeniable, but the other 3 are intriguing possiblities as well. 







Testing from my phone

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our next QB?

MATT FLYNN


Everyone seems to be focused less on who our current quarterbacks are, and more on who the next one will be..... myself included.  The prevailing opinion is that our QB Of The Future is in next year's potentially bountiful NFL Draft.  It's an opinion I shared..... until now. 

I've considered the possibility that we could trade for our next QB instead of drafting him, with Brian Hoyer of the Patriots and Green Bay's Matt Flynn among the potential targets.  But that was before I heard this little nugget while watching the replay of the Packers preseason game against Cleveland;

Flynn is a free agent in 2012. 

Let me repeat that, and allow it to sink in.........

Matt Flynn can be had next offseason without giving up a single draft pick. 

With the elite Aaron Rodgers there, no way the Packers place the franchise tender on Flynn next year, and my understanding of the new CBA is that the less expensive restricted tenders no longer exist for fourth year players who arrive at the end of their contracts, which is what Flynn will be. 

Am I sure Flynn is the answer?  Absolutely not, who can be with such a limited sample size....but there are a LOT of people who think he's the next Kevin Kolb, a young, starting-caliber QB stuck in a backup role with no change in sight.  One of those who thinks Flynn is going to be an NFL starter is his current head coach Mike McCarthy, and while it's fair to suggest he may just be trying to bolster his trade value, Flynn has backed that up with strong showings in his only NFL start (in NE during the thick of a playoff hunt) and in his preseason opportunities. 

He JUST turned 26, is big enough (6-2, 225), mobile, and has spent 3 years in McCarthy's system.  Oh... and John Schneider was in Green Bay when he was drafted.

Maybe the reason we didn't want to commit to Matt Hasselbeck beyond this season wasn't that we were eyeing next year's draft, but Flynn instead.

Imagine if we could get him as a FA, freeing us to use our first round pick on other needs. 

Food for thought... just remember you heard it here first.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Quick Thoughts: Seahawks vs. Chargers

It's happening again.  I can hear it already.... "Josh Portis should be our starting quarterback!!!!"

Two words.  Mike Teel.  Let's reserve judgement about an undrafted rookie who was playing against UDFA's and third-stringers.  I like the tools.... and in fact he could be the most interesting rookie QB we've had since Jon Kitna, but let's not jump the gun.

Besides that, I was really pleased with what I saw from Charlie Whitenhurst.  He looked decisive, willing to throw the ball downfield into tight windows, and he was more accurate than we've seen.  This could yet be a very intriguing QB competition.

We should know more this week.  I'm hoping Jackson plays at least the first half so we can get an extended look.  He needs the work, and we need to see him!

Am I freaking out about Russel Okung?  Of course I am.  It's impossible not to think this ankle thing may be a chronic impediment to his development, but again... let's not overreact.  I feel good about Polumbus as a pass blocker.  He played well in Okung's place last year, and I'm sure that the possibility of us bringing in another tackle (Langston Walker anyone?) increases dramatically if Okung ends up on the PUP list or out for an extended time. 

QUICK HITS:  Other things I liked, in no particular order.....

  • Saw enough from Moffitt and Carpenter to think they are going to grow into a devestating run combo.  The pass pro will come. 

  • Thought the young DB's looked good as a whole.   Much bigger, stronger, more athletic than in the past.  Legree, Browner, Sherman, Chancellor, Maxwell and Johnson give us some thump back there, and give us a chance to match up better against the Larry Fitzgerald's of the world.

  • K.J. Wright look solid in the middle.   I still think he ultimately settles in on the outside, but he held up well at the Mike position.... he covers a lot of ground.

Concerns?  Not really... it's the first preseason game.   I expected slop, and we got a lot of that.  I'm just looking for upside and talent right now, and I saw more of that against the Chargers then I've seen in a preseason opener in a long time.  The next two weeks will tell us a whole lot more. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What if?

Can anyone ever remember a more significant, impactful, "wow" offseason week in Seahawk history? 

Accoring to espn.com's ranking, we signed 4 of the top 32 free agents available in Rice, Miller, Gallery and (re-signing) Mebane.  That doesn't even include some of the other moves that could prove just as important for obvious (T. Jackson) and not-so-obvious (Branch, Wilkerson) reasons.  Thanks to what the Eagles have done over the same period, the South Alaskan Seahawks have still gone largely unnoticed by mainstream national media, but not COMPLETELY unnoticed.  The guys at NFL Network seem to have a much higher opinion of the Seahawks moves than the braintrust at ESPN.  Both Skip Bayless and Mark Schlereth left the Hawks out of their Top 5 Best Free Agent Moves lists.  But Sterling Sharp at NFL Net spent 5 minutes yesterday praising our offseason, and the signing of Tavarius Jackson in particular. 

Which brings me to this.....

A week ago, the prevailing opinion (and one I shared) was that the Seahawks had upgraded a number of key positions at O-Line and WR, while signing up T. Jack as a placeholder at QB.... with all sights set on the potentially bountiful quarterback draft of 2012 as the final piece to this rebuilding puzzle.  I figured we had the potential to be a better overall team, much more competitive week-in and week-out than last year while losing more games and setting ourselves up for a shot at Luck, Barkley, Jones etc.  But now I ask you....... who says we can't win THIS year?  Why not?  Let's do a quick breakdown.

Defensively, there may be questions about our young corners and the lack of pass-rushers outside of Chris Clemons, but does anyone see a huge decline?  Last year the D played well in spurts, but were simply on the field too often and for too long because of our complete lack of a running game.  The offense couldn't start or sustain drives.  Often, our defense would look great in the 1st and 2nd quarters, only to wear down in the second half and end up on the wrong end of a lopsided loss.  This year we are much bigger up front, our safeties will be much more athletic, and I think the play of our young linebackers is going to surprise some people.  I'm not saying we're going to look anything like the Ravens, but I believe we will be good enough to force some 3-and-outs, and actually have time to grab some Gatorade and a breather because.....

Offensively, we will be able to control the clock and piece together long drives.  It's not going to happen overnight.  We're going to start two rookies and essentially two second-year players on the offenseive line.  But while young, there is a ton of talent, size, and run-blocking ability there, not to mention the tutelage of Tom Cable.  I think it's reasonable to think that we will have much more success running to the left behind Okung and Gallery early in the season, but you're going to see this unit get better as the year moves forward, and by November I can see this group being a dominant run-blocking team. 

As for the quarterback, at what point did it become set in stone that Tevarius Jackson can't play?  His last 5 starts he threw for 9 TD's and only 2 INT's, and then along came Favre.  Nobody questions that he has the tools, and he certainly did struggle early in his career, but who hasn't?  How quickly we forget not just how bad Matt Hasselbeck was in his first couple of years, but also how bad he was in stretches the last two seasons.  How can so many people say that Jackson will fail even with DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED skill position players and a revamped offensive line, when just a few months ago the prevailing opinion was that Hasselbeck would play better if only he had better blockers and receivers?! 

The Seahawks have put themselves in a position now where Jackson doesn't have to be a star, or anything close to a Pro Bowl player for them to succeed in the NFC West.  To borrow a baseball term, if he can just perform at a "replacement player" or league average level, the Hawks have a chance to win the West if they can run the ball, make plays in the passing game when they are there, and be good enough defensively to keep games close. 

I'll leave you with one final thought.  Imagine for a second if Jackson develops into a solid starter.  The Hawks have now set themselves up for years on the offensive side of the ball.  They could win the NFC West, get a home playoff game, and concentrate solely on defense in the early rounds of next years draft.  Doesn't that sound better than having to break in a rookie QB, and experiencing the growing pains that go along with that?

What if?