Thursday, September 10, 2009

Branch not practicing.....

Deion Branch missed yet another practice with his most recent hamstring injury. We would have hoped to get Branch back on the field before this weekends game. That might be a stretch at this point.

With Branch sitting out practice most of the week, does Mora still start him?

I think you all know my opinion, but what should the Seahawks do about Branch? His stock among potential suitors around the league has definitely dropped so a trade is most likely out of the question. Maybe we can cut him and pick up a free agent somewhere or activate a practice squad guy and get an undrafted free agent to fill the PS spot. Probably the biggest name on that list would be Crabtree, and we all know that won't happen. Maybe Ruskell can find a gem in a stack of crap.

Who knows at this point, but it seems the Hawks will keep their faith in Branch, for now. END.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Jones, Spencer could start week 2.......Do we need depth?

Several blogs and beat writers alike are posting the news, Jim Mora announced today during his 25 minute press conference, as "good news". The positives in question here are; Walter Jones and Chris Spencer could return for the week 2 match-up against the San Francisco 49ers. You can link to the story here.

The guys over at Seahawkaddicts published a post linking to the article regarding the Seahawks working out 3 Offensive Linemen.

There are a couple of question marks regarding this news that has me wondering. What state of health is this line actually in? Are the Hawks working out linemen because the status of Spencer and Walt is not what they say it is? Is this workout just for depth? Is there a correlation between the two news breaks? Let's take a look at a couple of scenarios...

Scenario 1: Insurance
There is a sense of urgency for insurance with these workouts. I know we have T, Kyle Williams  and C/G Blake Schlueter on the Practice Squad but other than that our depth is thin. The backups on the O-line are as follows: OT Brandon Frye and G Mansfield Wrotto, that's it. Not very many guys to back up 5 across the front. So, as many teams do right after roster cuts, the Seahawks are looking for depth at O-line. Instead of going after big fish Free Agents like Levi Jones the Seahawks opted to work out some PS cast-aways to see if there is a quality player among them.

In addition, the offensive line has a new system to work out "together" and cohesiveness has been at the forefront of questioning regarding this unit since the beginning of camp. Is it a benefit to have several new guys learning to gel with each other, as opposed to a couple of Free Agent veterans? Does that really matter when learning a new system? I would say yes to both, however, it does help that there is a new system in place so everyone has a learning curve, to some degree.

Scenario 2: Health
These are just a couple of questions running through my head distracting me from my everyday work. I wonder if the statement Mora made is just a ploy to side-step the questions from the press about Walter Jones and Chris Spencer's health. Why is there not more reports of them practicing, at least on a limited basis, from anywhere? No news of workouts of any kind and these guys, might play?

"I don't want to look ahead because I'm talking about focusing on this game, but just for your knowledge: there is a chance that both of those guys could be ready to come back next week,"

Maybe I am being paranoid but I think it's definitely food for thought. If, in fact, Walt and Chris' health is worse off than Mora is letting on, then there is a sense of need and not insurance. The need would be to get some healthy players to back up the back-ups and starters. With Wrotto losing out to Max Unger and Steve Vallos starting at center we have Wrotto backing up both Unger and Sims at the guard positions. Not much depth if both those guys go down with injury.

I hope scenario 2 is just my paranoid mind running on all cylinders, but the fact that both of the situations we are reading about are very closely related has me a bit worried. Only time will tell what really is going to happen. Guess we'll just have to wait and see....END.

Starters.....notes....

Just a couple of quick notes. Jordan Babineaux will start at safety and Milloy will be a backup.

Justin Griffith gets the start over Owen Schmitt...

Max Unger to start in place of Mansfield Wrotto...

Spencer and Walt Jones will not play. Vallos gets the nod at Center and Locklear is set to play LT for Walt, but we knew that already...

That's it besides the usual projected starters...I suppose we will see who the other starters on the D-line and other positions are going to be on game day.

Jim Mora on KJR NOW....

Jim Mora's press conference is on KJR right now...

You can link to the live stream here....

Talking about Walt and Spencer they will not play this week at all. Mora said "there out, there is no chance they will play this week"

RE: Big Play Babs...."In fairness to Brian, we released him instead of asking him to take a diminished role or pay cut, we thought it would be better to let him move on" "we felt Babs can make plays at safety and we needed more big plays from the safety position"


RE: Laywer Milloy, "when we asked him to take a backup role he said absolutely" "we asked him if he would play special teams and he said yes" "lawyer said "i'll do whatever it takes"

MORE to come later....END

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Week by Week.....

Hello 12thHawks, in the coming weeks I will be doing a week by week preview of upcoming games....I will try to include predictions, analysis and roster/depth chart lists for predicting starters.

Football season is here........HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Predicting the Seahawks season....Edited

Don't know if you guys have seen this yet?

ESPN has it's annual Team Previews up. How did the Hawks fair? Take a LOOK and check it out.

Here are the links to the NFCW rivals....

AZ    SF     STL  So NFCW should look like this according to the Douchers at ESPN...
AZ-1
SEA-2
SF-3
STL-4

The concensus view of the Seahawks season is that we will be somewhat of a comeback team, according to almost everyone in the review proccess, this depends on whether Hasselbeck remains healthy. Overall I think the final prediction is reasonable but as a fan I know the Hawks are better than what is on paper.

So, I wanted to edit this post with a win loss break down of the season.....

Rams – Win
SF – Win
Bears – Loss
Colts – Loss
Jags – Win
Cards – Win
Bye
Cowboys – Loss
Lions – Win
Cards – Loss
Vikings – Loss
Rams – Win
SF – Win
Texans – Loss
TB – Win
GB – Win
Titans - Loss
 9-7 with a division win. There are a few games that could go either way, I.E. Texans, Titans, Bears, SF (in SF). but I think those games will be close. Basically our season rests on the Health of this team and the performance of our defense. I would like to boldly predict us winning 11 games but I am trying to be as objective as I can and not be so bias. What do you guys think? END....

Eight men out......well not really!

Then there were eight....Practice Squad members, that is....

1)  RB Devin Moore
2)  WR Logan Payne
3)  WR Mike Hass
4)  OT Kyle Williams
5)  SS Jamar Adams
6)  CB Roy Lewis
7)  G/C Blake Schlueter
8)  LB Tom Williams

The roster has been rounded out, all the way down to the practice squad. As you may already know the Hawks had 8 available spots for practice squad players. There were a couple of guys the Hawks kept and a couple the Hawks went after.

Jamar Adams, second year man from Michigan can hone his Safety skills against our stellar receivers.

Mike Hass Showed enough potential to solidify his spot on this team. I think he has what it takes to be a starter in this league in a year or two. I hope he doesn't get subject to injury because I see this guy playing like Largent. I saw some clean route running from Hass but I think he has a little more bulk to gain so he can fend off the press from Pro CB's.

I don't know much about Roy Lewis other than him making the squad for Pittsburgh last year and was a transfer to the UW from Fresno State. I like to see products of the Huskies playing for the Hawks but lets see what he can do on the PS and maybe next years camp the competition at CB gets heated up.

I loved what I saw from Devin Moore and I am more than happy this guy made the PS. Look for big things from this kid....

Fan favorite and PS veteran Logan Payne impressed enough for Jim Mora and Co. to keep him around. I think Logan had stiff competition to make the 53 but I'm sure I am not the only one that is happy he is on the PS. Congrats Logan, another year to learn from the pros...

We all know Kyle Williams from camp and obviously he did enough to be kept around.

Blake Schlueter is a cast away from Denver; like Unger he is a G/C hybrid from TCU. Looks like the Hawks are going for Zone Blocking linemen to beef up the depth in case injuries occur. I think there is a bit of grooming involved with these guys too.

Tom Williams is a cast away from Jacksonville. The Jags drafted him in 2008 in the 5th round. Williams played LB at USC. We all know how much Ruskell loves USC players but I don't see this guy staying around for that long.

With the home Season Opener at Qwest Field against the Lambs we all have high hopes and dreams. These guys listed here all have high hopes and dreams as well. Lets all, hope our dreams come true...

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Seahawks final cuts....and the losers are......

Well NFC West Blogger Mike Sando reports the names that landed on the cutting room floor of the Seahawks front office. Click HERE for details........


A couple of surprises to me:

Cameron Morrah beating out Joe Newton was a bit of a surprise. Morrah was definitely a better blocker so I think the choice was ideal for John Carlson's situation as the designated Receiving TE....

Olino Mare beats out younger Coutu...I thought the hawks would have gone with youth in this situation but I agree Mare has a better boot. Touchbacks are worth more than 59 yrd field goals because this offense doesn't plan on kicking too many of those....

Lastly, Devin Moore. I thought for sure after his performance against the Raiders they would have made a spot for him. I think they could have used him to return punts and keep Obamanu healthy for back up reasons. That would keep Butler in a better position to be on the field at WR....

Other than that the cuts seem pretty cut and dry. The only shake up was cutting Brian Russell and then signing  Lawyer Malloy, who's deal details have yet to be released. I wonder why they waited so long to cut Russell? END...

Second part of rumor #1 confirmed......

Seahawks have signed 13 year veteran, and Tacoma native, Lawyer Malloy in place of the recently released Brian Russell. Danny O'Neill at the Seattle times has confirmed the deal. The detail of the deal have yet to be released but I would suspect it to be only a 1-2 year deal. Lawyer Malloy played in 15 games last year for the Atlanta Falcons and had 93 tackles and one interception. Malloy was asked if it was always a dream of his to come play for his home town team and his response was simply; "of course". I still wonder what is going to happen with the rest of the safetys on this team.

Will Babs be played more as a safety? What is to come of Jamar Adams, C.J. Wallace and Courtney Greene? My guess is one or two of these guys will end up on the practice squad.

I can't wait to see what comes next when the cuts are made public. I am extremely curious as to the details of the Malloy signing too.

Stay tuned.........

Well the first rumor was true.......

NFL.com is reporting that the Seahawks have decided to cut Veteran Safety Brian Russel....This is great news to me as Russell's coverage skills have been suspect over the last two years. The Hawks brass obviously saw some potential in the younger C.J. Wallace, Jamar Adams, Big Play Babs and company.....I wonder how Deion Grant feels about losing his brother from another mother?

Can't wait to see who else gets served to the free agent sharks......

Roster cuts......deadline 3PST.....

I suspect a couple of people are gone that we didn't think were leaving. Is Brian Russel one of them? Are the rumors true? Will Ruskell and Co. keep the entire 2009 draft class? Only time will tell. Until then chew on this.....



The popularity of sports blogs today makes everyone the expert. So, what is to be said when the average fan reads some bullshit story or rumor then posts it on facebook, as fact, for all of his other loser friends to talk about? Bunch of horse-pucky if you ask me......Chew on that fellow fans of the green and blue....

Friday, September 4, 2009

Real fans don't post during games.....HAWKS WIN....

Right off the bat I have to say that this is a true fan site because you don't see me posting during the game. Shouldn't people be watching the game anyway instead of posting comments and reading stuff on the web. It seriously seems like most of the people who join these blog communities aren't true fans, if they were they wouldn't be posting comments every five minutes during the game.....I am not going to name sites but I don't roll with game time live threads because I am busy watching the HAWKS.....

That being said lets dive right into the post game stuff....

I will start by saying: The defense really impressed me last night. I saw what we drafted in Aaron Curry to be the real deal Holyfield. This guy was all over the place. I like the fact this kid has a relentless pass rush in him. Curry has excellent pursuit and instincts. Darren McFadden was sweeping right and Curry brushed off his block and had a v-line strait for McFadden and powered his way across the line to stop McFadden for no gain on the run. Curry was getting pressure at will and had at least six tackles, that I counted. Can't wait to see him in the regular season. We can definitely say we have the best LB corp in the league....

Michael Bennet showed up a little more than Nick Reed did last night, as I noticed Nick Reed was stuffed with double teams most of the night. Reed did get into the back field and create pressure from that right side of the defense but never really made it to the QB for a sack. Although Reed did not get to the QB, he did disrupt several plays and assisted on several 3rd down stops, and he recovered a fumble to set up a score. Nick Reed should still make this squad....

Bennet was definitely playing with a chip on his shoulder. He believes he should have been drafted and I think the Fans will agree with me when I say, we are glad he didn't. Bennet was a monster. Disrupting play after play and making a couple of assisted sacks. Bennet has a great jump off the ball and his speed allows him to get around the tackle and force the QB to step up into the pocket making it easier for the DT's to get a shot at him. Bennet had very good instincts and proved he can play at the pro level. A fumble recovery, a couple of sacks, and a tipped pass. This kid is great.

The secondary was a little shaky but not giving anything extremely deep over the top. I didn't see much of Ness so there can't be a chance this guy makes the team, although he does have experience.  CJ Wallace showed some coverage skills and made a couple of good plays deep. Marquis Floyd had a couple of good tackles and an assisted ball defense but didn't do enough to make this team in my opinion.

I liked what I saw from DD Lewis, Will Herring and David Hawthorne. All three of these guys should be on this team because they all hit pretty hard and are ball hawks on the field. Heater had a couple of smashing hits and Herring had a couple of great reads on late game runs. D.D. Lewis showed he can be a viable backup MLB. Good job guys.

The offense look liked it was getting into a rhythm out there. The Raiders defense sucks yes but Teel was running the offense with good tempo and skills. I applaud Knapp for his play calling, there were times when I thought the Raiders had us snuffed out and the play worked to a tee. And they say the play calling has been vanilla as far as packages go. I can't wait to see what they do in the regular season. I liked what I saw from Rowe as well but I think the FO has plans to groom Teel to be the Future QB of this franchise.

Devin Moore showed up in a big way last night too. This kid showed us that he is willing to put his head down, spin, stiffarm and fight for extra yards. Moore looks like a Forsett but with a little more width to his body. Moore is the exact sames size and weight as Warrick Dunn and he showed he can be as tuff as Dunn. Forsett looked like he had no trouble finding the hole. He almost broke several plays for huge gains and looked consistent. Edgerrin James looked like he can still hit the hole and make good cuts. First two plays he marched forward for 4 yrds and came right back and gained 7 yrds. I know he came in to compliment Jones but from what I saw last night James has better instincts than Jones and he just might end up taking carries away from Julius. I would really like to see all 4 HB's on this team but I think Moore gets cut, an unfortunate casualty. He will not clear waivers and make it to our practice squad; someone will pick him up.

Obomanu wins the battle of the 5th WR spot in my opinion. Taylor looked good as well but I think Obamanu can get it done at WR and Punt returns. He has great down field speed and showed he has the poise to make deep catches thrown on the money.  More to come later in the day.......

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Stand Out, Or Stand Down...

With only hours looming until the final preseason match-up for the Hawks, the players trying to make this team have one last time to stand out or stand down.

Rookie Defensive ends Nick Reed and Michael Bennet I feel are locks to make this squad.

Rookie C/RG Max Unger is a lock to make the squad and start.

WR's Courtney Taylor, Ben Obamanu, Mike Hass, Jordan Kent and Logan Payne are all trying not to join Bumpus on the cut list. I imagine the hawks will keep Taylor over any of the other guys because Taylor seems to understand the nuances of this system. There should be a great battle for that final spot tonight but look for Taylor to stand out and Obamanu to stand down.

Offensive line: big questions still loom about this starting unit and whether or not Walter Jones will be a part of it. If big Walt does not play in the home opener next week at Qwest against the Rams he will be placed on the PUP list. The PUP list would be the best situation for Walt if the team trainers feel he can return sometime this season. Placing Walt on the PUP list will make him inelligible for the first 6 games rather than the entire season. If this happens the cast of this offensive line will look to be as follows: Sean Locklear, Chris Spencer, Rob Sims, Ray Willis, Max Unger, Steve Vallos, Mansfield Wrotto and Kyle Williams. With William Robinson, Na'Shan Goddard, Andre Ramsay and Cory Withrow being cut and Brian De La Pueta being signed to the practice squad. Cory Withrow and Na'Shan Goddard might be practice squad confetti as well if they have impressed the coaches at all.

Defensive Line: Our abundant amount of D-linemen is about to be cut down soon and I think there will be three casualties; Baraka Atkins, Derek Walker and Lawrence Jackson. Patrick Kerney, Brandon Mebane, Colin Cole, Cory Redding, Red Bryant, Darryl Tapp, Nick Reed, Craig Terrell, Michael Bennett all make this squad.

The only other position corp to look at is the DB's.I will start with the safety's. I don't think Jamar Adams, Courtney Greene and newly acquired Nate Ness make the final cuts. Greene and Adams are most likely practice squad candidates but I don't think they keep both as PS spots are limited. I haven't seen enough of Ness to make a prediction other than cut list for him. With the CB situation a little more touchy I have to start with a bold prediction; Trufant starts the season off on the PUP list. That being said, I think Kevin Hobbs has shown more in this preseason than Travis Fisher and Marquis Floyd and is a more complete DB. I know with Trufant out Wilson will be starting in his place with Jennings rounding out the 3rd CB in the Nickel.

Whether or not my analysis is on point depends on whether or not these guys stand out or stand down but most of us know who will not be on the final 53 man roster for the Seattle Seahawks. END.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Pre Season Finale

As the end of the preseason approaches teams are narrowing down the cuts in order to get down to 53.

What position battle is still in a dead heat besides the Mare Coutu saga?

You might have guessed it already; its the very heated WR battle. Now for the 5th spot.

Courtney Taylor and Ben Obamanu are in a close heat for the 5th and final WR spot on the 53 man roster.

John Morgan over at Fieldgulls has a great little write up on this pointing out a number of factors that add pzazz to this battle. I especially like the direct comparisons he references...

"Both receivers have positives and negatives. Taylor is most recently healthy, but Obomanu's injury was fluky and he owns better overall health. Obomanu has been with the team longer, but Taylor is better integrated into the offense. Obomanu has more experience as a returner, but Taylor is the better gunner. Taylor is better insurance for Deion Branch, but Obomanu is better insurance for Nate Burleson." 

John Morgan is doing great things with screen shots to help the non football laden with terminolgy and offense and defensive packages.

Ben Obamanu and Courtney Taylor both need to step up their game tomorrow night in order to make this squad. I think we shall see a lot of them against the Raiders defense. As JM points out, Seneca did not practice this week so Mike Teel should be taking the bulk of snaps under center. Matt Hasselbeck may play a series or two but, in my opinion, Mora should bench him for this game. I don't see any reason why Matt needs to play other than to stay loose. We as fans don't want to have a repeat of last year when Hasselbeck went down with what was thought to be a knee injury at the time but ended up being a bulging disc in his back, effectively destroying Hasselbecks season. In addition, when Hasselbeck was believed to be healthy, he wasn't and Holmgren played Matt ultimately making his injury worse. So, most likely with Teel slinging the pigskin tomorrow we should see plenty of Taylor and Obamanu as they try to relive that team mate rivalry they shared together at Auburn. These two Tigers turned Hawks should be flying all over the field. Should be fun to watch. END.