When the Seahawks surprisingly chose Christine Michael in the second round of the 2013 draft, it seemed a clear heir-apparent setup for replacing Marshawn Lynch.
As we wrote back then, Michael looked as though he could be the next Shaun Alexander — the highly drafted running back waiting to bump the veteran star from the roster.
But, two years later, Michael was sent packing and Lynch remained the main man — until now.
And now Thomas Rawls looks like the Alexander to Lynch’s Ricky Watters.
No matter how the season ends for the Seahawks, they have some key changes to make next year.
They certainly don’t need to blow up the team completely – even if they miss the playoffs. But they will need to make a few small detonations — even if they make the postseason and even if they somehow manage to win the Super Bowl (which seems like California dreamin’ at this point).
Whether Pete Carroll intends to stay beyond 2016 or not, John Schneider needs to fix the problems that have been holding this team back from greatness and help avoid becoming, as he has called it, “one of those teams that skates in and skates out” of contention.
Bottom line: The Seahawks cannot go through another year with such a disjointed offense holding back a potentially great defense. And they have to make some changes to the defense as well – beyond Bruce Irvin leaving in free agency (they will get a taste this week of how Frank Clark and Kevin Pierre-Louis might replace him).
Continue reading No matter how season ends, Hawks have to make changes next year
The Seahawks have been highly disappointing this season as the combined effects of a Super Bowl hangover (i.e., not fully trusting Pete Carroll anymore), contract squabbles and new additions have yielded the worst-case scenario: a 4-4 record.
But, they won two straight before their bye and now have a chance to redeem themselves in the final eight games.
Let’s take a look at each position to see how it has performed, what it needs to do better the rest of the year and what it might look like next year.
QUARTERBACK
Russell Wilson is completing a career-high 68.8 percent, but that has done nothing to help the offense in the red zone, where Seattle is the league’s worst offense.
Wilson’s crew has been the main culprit in meltdown losses against Cincinnati and Carolina – games the Hawks should have won.
Wilson is in his fourth season now and should be playing at a consistently high level, but he is not. Some of that is due to the subpar OL in front of him, some of it is due to the inconsistent play calls, some of it is due to him.
Wilson needs to have more urgency. He needs to change plays more at the line. He needs to account for blitzers. He needs to move more to create better passing lanes. He needs to find his open receivers more quickly and get the ball out fast.
The Hawks have little room for error in the second half, and Wilson needs to play like it.
The Dallas Cowboys have what the Seahawks want, but the only way Seattle could get it is by losing a lot more and using first-round picks.
We’re talking about a great offensive line, of course.
If Russell Okung, who injured his ankle in practice Thursday, misses the game in Dallas on Sunday, the Seahawks will end up starting undrafted players at the tackle spots and center, with a seventh-round conversion at right guard and a second-round reach at left guard.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have invested three first-round picks in their line over the last five drafts, and they lucked into a potential first-rounder when rookie La’el Collins went undrafted due to a murder case he was peripherally attached to.
The Cowboys won a recruiting war for Collins, adding him to an already stacked line that includes left tackle Tyron Smith, the No. 9 pick in the 2011 draft; center Travis Frederick, the No. 31 pick in 2013; right guard Zack Martin, the No. 16 pick in 2014; and veteran right tackle Doug Free.
“They’ve put their money in it. They’ve got three No. 1s playing there, those guys are all terrific football players,” Pete Carroll said. “Tyron was a guy that we loved coming up; he’s a fantastic athlete at the spot. And Zack’s terrific; it’s just a really good group. I think that they made a commitment to it and they’re benefiting from it. I don’t know if they’re the best one — we won’t see everybody particularly – but they’re as good as we’re going to see all year long.”
If the Seahawks actually gave Russell Wilson enough time to throw the ball consistently, the return of Paul Richardson would mean a lot more.
As it is, his impending return — whether this week or after the bye — won’t add much to the offense. Not immediately anyway.
But, if the Seahawks can get to the point where Wilson has time to throw some deep balls, Richardson and Tyler Lockett should offer a great deep duo.
Continue reading P-Rich’s return will mean more later, but just imagine him & Lockett
Tharold Simon’s career with the Seahawks looks just about finished.
Sure, he has one more year left on his rookie contract, but the cornerback simply has not been able to stay healthy in his three NFL seasons and it sure seems doubtful he ever will.
The Seahawks have shown great patience with injury-prone players, and it paid off with cornerbacks Walter Thurmond and Byron Maxwell.
Simon’s career arc seemed like it was following Maxwell’s — until Simon’s season was ended yet again Saturday when he was put on injured reserve.
Continue reading Another busted year for Simon, who is almost out of chances
The hot topic on Day 1 of Seattle’s prep for the season opener in St. Louis was the arrival of veterans Fred Jackson and Kelcie McCray.
Pete Carroll was stoked about the 34-year-old Jackson, saying “he’ll play a lot” against the Rams. Carroll really likes the 26-year-old McCray, too, but is not so sure he will be ready to play this week.
The Hawks sent the Chiefs a fifth-round pick for the 6-foot-1, 205-pound player because they didn’t want to go with first-year safeties. McCray, a fourth-year player, joins Earl Thomas, Dion Bailey, DeShawn Shead and Steve Terrell — all but Bailey played for the Hawks during their Super Bowl season last year.
“We’re ready to start Dion and go; he’s ready to play football,” Carroll said. “He had a good preseason and he’s ready to go. We wanted some depth with some experience, and the other kids were going to be first-year guys. We thought we needed a little bit more depth than that with some background.”
Carroll’s scouting report on McCray, as told to 710 ESPN: “Kelcie McCray is a really good-looking football player. He’s a terrific looking athlete. I’ve seen a ton of film on him. He’s active, he’s physical, he’s a featured special teams guy, which is always a good indicator of an overall general football ability of a guy. He’s a hitter. He moves well in space. He’s played strong safety and free safety back and forth. We’ve seen him in all kinds of situations, close to the line of scrimmage and in the middle. He’s very well-versed.”
Pete Carroll said the team thought it was time to give up on Christine Michael, the former second-rounder who was sent to Dallas for a conditional seventh-round pick.
“We spent a lot of time with him. We gave him plenty of opportunities. He’s a good, hard-working kid. … We just thought it was time.”
Carroll said Jackson offers much more experience and in the passing game, catching and blocking. “On this team at this time, it was just the way to go.”
Carroll said Jackson is a “good pass pro” guy and “he’s a terrific catcher. So that part is going to fit in really well.”
“We like Marshawn on third down, but he needs a break now and then,” Carroll said. “I like to have a real steady guy going in. Without Turbo available to us, he was the steady guy to go in. Christine wasn’t that guy to take that spot, and we didn’t want to put that on Thomas (Rawls) at this point.
“We think that’s going to be a good, solid move and get a real classy guy to add to the locker room.”
It was destined to happen.
Christine Michael clearly had not lived up to his second-round draft position, and his roster status had been precarious all year. With Dallas needing running backs, that was an easy formula to complete as far back as March.
Michael’s days seemed numbered all week. First, Fred Jackson came in for a visit, then John Schneider said he was working on some trades, then word came that the Hawks had indeed agreed to a deal with Jackson and were trying to trade Michael.
Of course, getting just a seventh-round pick makes this another “surrender” deal for Schneider. It’s not as bad as the Percy Harvin trade last October — in which the Hawks got a sixth-round pick in return for the guy that cost them a first, third and seventh in 2013.
The Hawks also gave up on receiver Kevin Norwood a week ago, flipping the 2014 fourth-round pick to Carolina for a shot at a seventh in 2017.
In between those three “surrenders” though, Schneider has made some great deals — acquiring Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lockett.
This deal was Schneider’s fourth of this preseason, the most since he made five preseason deals in 2010.
He has made six trades in total this year, the same number he made last year and the second most since the 13 he made in his first year (2010).
The Seahawks’ 2016 draft now includes 11 projected picks (including four comp picks): a first, second, two thirds (one comp), fourth, fifth (comp), two sixths (one comp) and three sevenths (comp and Michael). They sent their fifth-rounder to Kansas City for safety Kelcie McCray.
Continue reading Another ‘surrender’ deal is Schneider’s 38th trade
Seattle’s two most interesting positions this summer have been running back and the secondary, and the Hawks sure kept the drama rolling with their first cuts to 53 on Saturday.
Among their moves, they placed Robert Turbin on season-ending IR and acquired safety Kelcie McCray from Kansas City.
The Turbin move was a bit of an about-face from the report Friday that the Hawks were set to waive the fourth-year back, who has a high ankle sprain. If they had waived him, they would have risked losing him but also would have had the chance to bring him back. They decided instead just to stash him on IR, meaning he will miss the season. He’s a free agent next year, and this certainly will impact the market for him and probably increase the likelihood that he stays in Seattle.
