Category Archives: NFL draft

Hawks love speed in first two rounds, so who are their top options?

February 24, 2015 cc Leave a comment

If the Seahawks don’t go with big men with their first two draft picks, we have a good idea who their other top candidates will be — now that the Combine is finished.

The Seahawks love speed in the first two rounds. In 2010, it was Earl Thomas (4.43 in the 40) in the first round and Golden Tate (4.42) in the second. In 2012, they picked Bruce Irvin (4.50) in the first and Bobby Wagner (4.45) in the second. In 2013, they traded their first-rounder for Percy Harvin (4.41) and picked Christine Michael (4.43) in the second. And last year they traded out of the first and grabbed Paul Richardson (4.33) in the second.

The only non-speedsters the Hawks have taken in the first two rounds have been left tackle Russell Okung (first round, 2010), left guard James Carpenter (first, 2011) and right tackle Justin Britt (second, 2014).

You get the idea where the Hawks are looking with their top two picks: If it’s not an offensive (or perhaps defensive) lineman, it’s going to be a guy with wheels (i.e., sub-4.5 speed).

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NFL Combine, NFL draft, The roster

Seahawks’ needs haven’t changed in a year

February 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks have played — and won — more games than any team in the NFL the past three seasons.

By the time they reached Super Bowl XLIX, their defense was a shadow of itself — six key defenders on injured reserve or out of the game by the end and the Legion of Boom fighting through major injuries. Those issues played no small part in their 28-24 loss to the Patriots.

The Seahawks put 17 players on IR — fourth most in the NFL. John Schneider did a great job making moves to keep the Hawks in the hunt, but the injuries on both lines, in the secondary and at tight end affected Seattle throughout the season.

So, as Seattle coaches and personnel people arrive in Indianapolis for the Combine this week, their major goal clearly is to find players who could improve the team’s depth across the board, with an eye to replacing future free agents as well.

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NFL draft, State of the team, The roster

Lynch is a study in sentimentality: Hawks don’t really need him

February 17, 2015 cc 2 Comments

A major myth has been propagated across the Pacific Northwest and the NFL in recent months. You know, the one that says the Seahawks need Marshawn Lynch in order to win a Super Bowl.

(This is completely separate from the idea that the Seahawks would have won Super Bowl XLIX if they had run Lynch one last time.)

The Hawks have been partly guilty themselves of spreading the nasty rumor, with Pete Carroll and John Schneider talking him up as a core player. They consider him such a key piece that they have offered the soon-to-be 29-year-old a pay raise and extension.

There is nothing wrong with that — they can fit it under the cap nicely and not lose much even if he does walk away after 2015 — but the fact is the Hawks don’t really need Lynch.

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