Category Archives: State of the team

State of the team, Training camp

3 keys to the 2017 season

1 Comment

Training camp logo2The Seahawks began training camp today with some pretty simple edicts: Build an offensive line, foster better depth and recreate the chemistry that helped them to Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014.

The Seahawks have been one of the best teams in the league the last five years — No. 3 in wins (56) behind New England (62) and Denver (59) — but they have been on a steady decline since winning Super Bowl XLVIII.

After winning 36 games from 2012 to 2014, the Seahawks have won 20 over the past two years. Double-digit wins are always a sign of success, but it has been a disappointment to see the Seahawks fade — from the Patriots’ 1-yard line in XLIX to bad playoff losses the last two years.

This year they have to reverse the trend. There are three keys to doing it:

Continue reading 3 keys to the 2017 season →

State of the team, The roster

How the roster looks as summer starts

Leave a comment

Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)The Seahawks embarked on their summer vacation in high spirits — all the apparent negativity of last season and this offseason seemingly dissolved in a big pool of love and happiness. And they seem very focused.

As the Hawks conducted their minicamp last week, we heard nothing but positive things from Seattle’s top defenders. Earl Thomas is healthy again, in mind and body. Kam Chancellor has polished up his once-dented leadership armor. Richard Sherman sounded like a team player again. And Michael Bennett is physically lighter but still philosophically heavy.

The players seemed of one accord, ready to get back on the Super track. And Pete Carroll said his team is as mentally sharp as it ever has been heading into summer.

“I think we had our most compliant OTA season and really proud of that, finally,” he said, referring to penalties levied against his club for overdoing it in past years. “Old dog, new tricks, man. It was hard. But we finally figured it out. And, in doing so, we were able to up the reps that we got on guys.

“I think we’re the smartest we’ve been coming out of this camp than any of the past years. We’ve had the most situation work. We’ve had the chance to put guys in all variety of spots that they have to think and make decisions and choose how they play and fit in with us. So we just feel like we’ve made a lot of movement forward. We have a lot of stuff to get done in camp that does not fit this time of year. This is OTA football. Not real football. That will come.”

Before it does, let’s take a look at how the roster stands …

Continue reading How the roster looks as summer starts →

OTAs, State of the team

Can Seahawks overcome this dysfunction?

3 Comments

Logo -- OTAsPete Carroll says Seattle’s “locker room is in great shape” and the Super Bowl XLIX debacle “isn’t an issue to us at all,” but there’s way too much smoke to think that fire has been entirely extinguished.

Warren Moon is among those who think the Hawks will never win another Super Bowl as long as they continue to have so much discord. But the Seahawks — Carroll, Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, et al. — say they can win even though Richard Sherman and some other defenders apparently have issues with Carroll and Wilson.

So which perspective is right? Can they overcome the dysfunction to win another title? Or do they need to get rid of Sherman and any other major malcontents to have a shot?

Continue reading Can Seahawks overcome this dysfunction? →

On the air, State of the team, The roster

Avril talks Lynch, Sherman, McDowell

1 Comment

Avril on NFLNCliff Avril said he understands why Marshawn Lynch wants to play in Oakland, is glad the Seahawks did not trade Richard Sherman, and also looks forward to mentoring Malik McDowell.

Those were the top takeaways from a good interview with Avril on NFL Network on Tuesday — as Avril returns from his Haiti work and a side trip to the NFL draft to announce some of Seattle’s picks.

Continue reading Avril talks Lynch, Sherman, McDowell →

State of the team, The roster

Carroll reveals O-line depth chart

6 Comments

OL depth projected.PNG

The Seahawks are still a long way from figuring out their starting five linemen for 2017, but Pete Carroll at least has defined the positions where the key players will be competing.

Luke Joeckel and Rees Odhiambo are working both left spots, George Fant is at left tackle, Mark Glowinski has moved over to right guard to battle Oday Aboushi, Germain Ifedi has moved from right guard to right tackle, and rookie Ethan Pocic is starting out on the right side in an apparent reserve role.

“We have all kinds of flexibility,” Carroll told 710 ESPN, “but we’re zeroing in in that fashion.”

Continue reading Carroll reveals O-line depth chart →

State of the team, The roster, Trades

The search for ‘spark’

2 Comments

Draft -- Schneider and Carroll“I think he’d admit that he had a rough year. So he’s looking for maybe a new spark and he’s either going to find that here in Seattle or he would find it somewhere else, but odds are he’s going to find it here.” 
— John Schneider on Richard Sherman.

That’s the key quote from Schneider’s interview with 710 ESPN on Thursday night.

Schneider also talked about mutual respect, constant communication and “a great relationship” between the Seahawks’ chiefs and the All-Pro cornerback. But the bottom line is in those words: “He had a rough year” and is “looking for maybe a new spark.”

Continue reading The search for ‘spark’ →

Franchise history, State of the team, X's & O's

Are Hawks capable of building a talented, consistent O-line?

4 Comments

Pete Carroll has said he wants to create continuity on Seattle’s offensive line.

He said he thinks Seattle’s young guys are going to improve and he hopes Luke Joeckel becomes part of the core. As he said after Joeckel signed, “Now that we have a good young bunch of guys, we’re going to try to keep this thing together.”

It’s debatable whether they have enough good guys yet, but the bigger question as pertains to Carroll’s stated goal: Will they ever be able to keep a quintet together in Tom Cable’s zone blocking system using their scattershot approach?

Whether it’s bad drafting, a bad scheme or just bad luck, Carroll’s Seahawks have had terrible fortune on the offensive line — typically fielding one of the weaker units in the NFL and annually needing to overcome its deficiencies just to get to the playoffs.

Why has it been so terrible? John Schneider and the coaches have consistently pointed to the disconnect between college and NFL offenses and the CBA-mandated lack of practice time.

But every team faces those issues. For Seattle, it has been more than that. It has been a complete inability to field a healthy, consistent line — and a total failure to set up a line of succession.

Continue reading Are Hawks capable of building a talented, consistent O-line? →

State of the team, Trades

If Sherman keeps putting self above team, he will be gone by next year

7 Comments

Hawks vs Packers Sherman all alone“I wouldn’t want to leave this city and my guys, but I understand it’s a business and organizational philosophies change.” — Richard Sherman to 710 ESPN.

Pete Carroll’s philosophy has not changed at all.

One of his main mantras for his players is: “Protect the team.” Richard Sherman has not done that over the past year, despite several admonishments by Carroll, and that is why the Seahawks are willing to trade him — for the right price.

Sherman, a four-time Pro Bowl player and three-time No. 1 All-Pro, has become one of those egomaniacs we usually see on other teams — the prima donna receiver or cornerback who thinks the team and world revolve around him.

That’s not how Carroll’s Seahawks work, and Carroll has made that clear to Sherman — privately and publicly.

So this is his warning: Rein it in and become a team player again or follow former clubhouse cancer Percy Harvin out the door.

Continue reading If Sherman keeps putting self above team, he will be gone by next year →

State of the team, The roster

Carroll, Schneider answer roster questions

Leave a comment

Draft -- Schneider and CarrollAt the NFL owners meetings this week, Pete Carroll and John Schneider gave us a better idea of where Seattle’s seven new veterans (not counting kickers) might fit.

We also learned that Marshawn Lynch is indeed contemplating a return and the Seahawks really have heard from teams (including the Patriots) gauging a trade for Richard Sherman.

On top of that, Carroll and Schneider addressed their backup quarterback situation, which is a little hazy in light of Trevone Boykin’s recent arrest — but won’t include Colin Kaepernick.

Let’s take a look at the key comments from Carroll and Schneider, by position, courtesy of Bob Condotta and John Boyle of Seahawks.com:

Continue reading Carroll, Schneider answer roster questions →

It's bigger than football, State of the team, The roster

Bye-bye, Boykin?

4 Comments

BoykinTrevone Boykin’s arrest does not bode well for his future with the Seahawks, and you can bet the team is stepping up its scouting for a new backup quarterback.

Boykin showed some promise as an undrafted guy last year, and it’s possible the Hawks had been comfortable adding only a rookie for camp — until Boykin reportedly showed the very poor judgment of getting into a car with a drunken driver who ended up hurting eight people.

The Seahawks won’t necessarily release Boykin now, but their history shows they don’t keep legally troubled backup players for long. And the fact that this is Boykin’s second arrest in two years — including a bust while he was at TCU — could mean the Hawks decide to move on.

Continue reading Bye-bye, Boykin? →