Tag Archives: Dion Bailey

September 14, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Field Gulls passed on the latest on Kam Chancellor: (1) Teammates have come to John Schneider and Pete Carroll asking them to resolve the situation and get Chancellor in and (2) they were close to a deal in mid-August, but it fell apart. Also, check out the homage to “Back to the Future” in the Field Gulls pic.

The Seahawks lamented missed tackles and big passing plays (eight of more than 20 yards). Cliff Avril said, “It felt like we gave up the most explosive plays that we’ve given up since I’ve been here.”

Dion Bailey said he should have just tackled Lance Kendricks and taken the pass-interference penalty when Bailey fell while trying to cover the tight end.

Don’t blame Bailey for all of the defense’s problems though. Tight ends were a big problem for them last season, even with Chancellor.

The Rams once again pummeled Russell Wilson, sacking him six times for the third time in his seven games against them. “Those guys are really good up front, and they got the best of us today,” said Russell Okung, who gave up the final sack.

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State of the team, Week 1: At St. Louis

Nothing in that loss was surprising, and there’s no reason to worry

September 13, 2015 cc 2 Comments

Nothing about Seattle’s season-opening loss in St. Louis should have surprised anyone. And no one should be worried that the Seahawks can’t make the Super Bowl again — even if they lose in Green Bay next week, too.

As expected Sunday, Seattle’s reworked offensive line struggled against one of the NFL’s very best defensive lines, the secondary gave up some big plays and special teams made a big gaffe — all leading to a 34-31 overtime loss.

None of that should have shocked anyone. The only surprise was that the score was as high as it was in an opener featuring two stud defenses. (Of course, Tyler Lockett and Tavon Austin each returned a punt for a touchdown to beef up the score.)

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State of the team, The roster, Week 1: At St. Louis

Carroll gives scouting report on McCray

September 8, 2015 cc Leave a comment

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.”

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Preseason, State of the team, The roster

Preseason status report & projections: Defense

August 28, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The secondary is one of the Seahawks’ most competitive spots this summer, but most of the competition has been missing the past week or so thanks to a
legion of boo-boos.

In Kansas City, the Hawks were without seven of their 11 cornerbacks and had only four safeties available. It was so bad that DeShawn Shead moved from safety to start at corner and fifth-round rookie Tye Smith played almost the entire game.

Shead and Smith both took advantage of their chances, drawing praise from coach Pete Carroll after playing tight coverage throughout the game.

Now it’s time for the rest of the corners to get their chances when the Seahawks play the Chargers in San Diego on Saturday night. Richard Sherman, Will Blackmon and Tharold Simon all are expected to play — with Blackmon needing to nail down the nickel job and Simon needing to prove he should be on the team (forget about starting).

Meanwhile, safety Earl Thomas apparently is on track to be ready for the opener in St. Louis on Sept. 13.

“Earl got a lot of work this week. He’s getting ready to be in shape to play for the opener,” Carroll said. “His timing is getting down, his calls, you can see him fitting in, his intensity that he brings is starting to show up. That’s important.”

The Seahawks have to cut the roster from 90 to 75 by Tuesday and then to 53 four days later.

Here’s a look at the defense heading into the third preseason game:

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Injury report, State of the team, Training camp

In secondary, even replacements are hurt

August 18, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Just over two weeks into camp, the Seahawks have even fewer cornerbacks than they started with — as impossible as that might seem.

They were so thin at the position in the first 10 days that they traded for Mohammed Seisay and converted Doug McNeil from wide receiver. And now those guys are hurt — Seisay with a groin and McNeil with an ankle, joining Richard Sherman (hip), Will Blackmon (groin), Jeremy Lane (ACL, arm) and Tharold Simon (shoulder).

With only Cary Williams, Marcus Burley, Tye Smith and Triston Wade healthy, the Hawks needed some bodies at the position, so they added two guys just to get through practice.

“We need legs at corner right now, so we’ll give these guys a chance,” Pete Carroll said of Jeremy Crayton and Keelan Johnson. “We’re a little bit behind with Sherm not being able to make it back and Will not making it back right away and Seisay gone, too, so we just need them for legs right now. But they’ll get a chance. They got tested today pretty good.”

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State of the team, Training camp

Training camp status report: Defense

August 14, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks open the preseason against the Denver Broncos tonight in Seattle. Here is our breakdown of the defense, what we will be watching in the first game and our updated roster projections:

DEFENSIVE LINE
Veterans: Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Brandon Mebane, Ahtyba Rubin, Jordan Hill, Cassius Marsh, Greg Scruggs, Demarcus Dobbs, D’Anthony Smith, Jesse Williams, David King, Jimmy Staten, Julius Warmsley
Rookies: Frank Clark, Obum Gwacham, T.Y. McGill

Pete Carroll says this defensive front is the fastest he has had in Seattle — clearly a nod to the addition of Clark. The coach was stoked about the unit after the scrimmage last weekend, and he is clearly excited about a pass rush that features Bennett, Avril, Clark, Hill and Bruce Irvin.

The one bummer was the release of Tony McDaniel, who turned out to be the cap casualty over Mebane after the big contracts given to Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner.

Bennett still is unhappy with his contract, and he even told McDaniel he would love to be back in Tampa Bay (he probably saw the Bucs’ salary cap space: $13.7 million).

But Bennett has been mentoring Clark, who is going to be Bennett Jr. this season — an inside-out player.

“I lean on him a lot; he looks out for me a lot,” Clark said of Bennett. “He’s a guy that’s been in the league for a numerous amount of years. He has experience. He’s a great player, as well as Cliff Avril, Big Mebane; they teach me a lot of things, just the proper techniques of how to play NFL football.”

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CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 10, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from Day 9 of camp from those who were there (and other features):

Dion Bailey is working as the No. 1 strong safety now because “you can’t deny the production.”

Drew Nowak is challenging for the starting center spot, and now Keavon Milton is in the hunt at left guard — at least the Hawks would have Alvin Bailey think so.

Bruce Irvin, out to prove something in a contract year, is having his best camp.

Pete Carroll said Kevin Pierre-Louis stood out most after watching film of the scrimmage Saturday.

So much for Tony McDaniel possibly returning. He reportedly has a deal with Tampa Bay.

Field Gulls rounded up a bunch of radio interviews from the past few days.

CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 9, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from the scrimmage on Day 8 of camp from those who were there (and other features):

In his Facebook camp notes, Doug Baldwin says second-year safety Dion Bailey has impressed him.

Dave Boling of The News Tribune says it’s just more of the same for the chaotic offensive line. He includes this telling stat: Under Pete Carroll, the Seahawks have started 23 linemen in five years; the Colts and Chargers lead the way at 25.

The Seattle Times guys wrote about receivers Chris Matthews and Kasen Williams, among other observations.

Danny O’Neil of 710 ESPN was impressed by Jimmy Graham and also noted the ongoing shuffling along the offensive line.

Hawk Blogger Brian Nemhauser thinks Drew Nowak is the favorite to start at center.

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