Tag Archives: Grey Zabel

#SEAvsLAR

After close loss, Macdonald proclaims Hawks ‘a great team’

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“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team.” – Mike Macdonald after the Seahawks lost to the Rams, 21-19

Imagine if Sam Darnold had played a normal football game – one without four interceptions and a 1-for-4 red zone performance. The Seahawks could have blown out the Rams. That is clearly what Mike Macdonald was thinking after the Hawks fell short, 21-19, on Sunday.

Darnold’s poor performance aside, Macdonald seemed quite satisfied with how his team played. It was a big litmus test for his defense, and that unit’s dominance clearly validated to him that the Seahawks are in fact a Super Bowl contender.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, but it’s very clear to me that we have a great team,” Macdonald said. “We’re going to learn to win games like that, and we’re going to learn from weeks like this. We’re young. You’ve got a young head coach — I’m learning how to prepare our team from week to week. So we’re all learning, we’re all growing. I actually think that’s a competitive advantage for us as we start to grow.”

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Coaches, Franchise history, State of the team

Hawks are setting up for another 2012-13 run

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We haven’t seen Sam Darnold and the starting skill players in action yet – that apparently will happen a bit this week against the Chiefs – but the first preseason game showed everything we need to know about what this Seattle offense is trying to do.

If it succeeds, as we expect it to, the Seahawks should be well poised to repeat their 2011-13 ascent and come away with a Super Bowl trophy in Mike Macdonald’s third year (like Pete Carroll did in his fourth year).

Let’s run through the similarities that make us think this is how it is going to go.

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The roster, Training camp

Year 2 of Macdonald era starts — with playoff expectations

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Summer is still going strong in Seattle, which means there are more good times to be had before football season starts. But, for the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL, the preparation for football season starts this week.

It’s Year 2 of the Mike Macdonald era – with high expectations after his 10-win rookie season. The Hawks have a playoff-amenable schedule and an odd juxtaposition on offense and defense. The latter unit – a top-five defense — returns entirely intact, with two or three additions on top of that. The offense, meanwhile, is being rebuilt almost from the ground up – with just four definite returning starters (after Noah Fant was released this week) and a completely new staff.

It likely will take a while for the offense to jell. It starts with the line, which thankfully has a very solid left side in Charles Cross and rookie Grey Zabel but also has work to do at center and right guard. In the passing game, Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp need to get synced up. Ideally, Klint Kubiak and his familiar staff can work some magic with the running game early on, to take pressure off Darnold.

The schedule lines up for 11 or 12 wins, by our estimation. That would mean a playoff spot and a shot to do even more.  

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NFL draft, Trades

Will this class be as good as the excitement around it portends?

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The Seahawks are stoked about their 2025 draft and are getting rave reviews from fans and media as well. That’s great, but is this really the transcendent group so many seem to think it is? Will these guys help this team become a Super Bowl contender?

The Seahawks obviously aimed for explosive athletes — they apparently put together the most athletic Day 1-2 draft since 2003. But there is a lot more to playing winning football in the NFL than just being a great athlete.

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NFL draft

Hawks put their guard up, fortify line with smart pick of Zabel

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On Day 1 of the draft, John Schneider made the smart move and upgraded an offensive line that was in desperate need of it.

There was a gaping hole at left guard, and Grey Zabel is expected to fill it – the first guard Seattle has drafted in the first round since Steve Hutchinson in 2001 (he turned out to be pretty awesome).

Mike Macdonald declined to declare which side Zabel would play – the lineman said he didn’t care – but the coach did confirm he would play guard.

“Hopefully we’re not moving him around much and he sticks at guard for a long time here, but he does have that versatility.”

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NFL draft

Schneider needs to make Day 1-2 picks count to finish contender

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Draft Weekend is here!

And John Schneider finds himself in a familiar position — stocked with five picks in the first two days (and 10 overall) as he tries to finish building a contender for a rising coach.

In 2010-13, he and Pete Carroll built a Super Bowl team using three historically awesome drafts and a couple of key free agents to put them over the top by Year 4 of their program.

Thanks to the Russell Wilson blockbuster trade in 2022, Schneider has been putting together another contending roster – and is looking to finish it off for second-year coach Mike Macdonald with a draft that should be very impactful.

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NFL draft

Schneider wants to ‘maneuver’

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John Schneider used to make a habit of trading down (or out) of the first round, doing so in eight straight drafts at one point (2012-19). He made veteran trades involving first-round picks in the 2021-23 drafts, but he has not moved down since 2019. Might he try to do it again this week?

In his pre-draft presser, he said he told an inquiring team that he is willing to consider moving down from 18. No real surprise. He is always open to it.  

He told reporters, “We want to be able to maneuver” and having four Day 2 picks “provides us with more opportunities to stay and pick good players or maneuver around.”

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NFL draft

Draft IQ shows how it could play out

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We’re just days away from the NFL draft, and the Seahawks and the rest of the teams are finalizing their draft boards.

NFL.com has a new tool called Draft IQ that projects the top eight on the big board for each team, using a combination of pre-draft interest, team needs and draft philosophies.

If they stay at 18, who are the Hawks most likely to pick? Which guys in that top eight might still be there? We used the Draft IQ boards to walk through the first round and see how it might play out.

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NFL draft

Draft notes: WR at 18? No O-line until Round 3?

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For a month now, mock drafters have loved matching the Seahawks with a wide receiver at No. 18 — assuming the team naturally would use its top pick to replace the traded DK Metcalf.

And there is scuttlebutt that the Hawks might indeed be leaning that way. The guy who keeps coming up now is Emeka Egbuka, former Ohio State teammate of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

But do the Hawks really need to force a receiver pick high in this draft?

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NFL draft

Draft talk: Moving up in Round 2, adding corners and more

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At the NFL meetings this week, John Schneider and Mike Macdonald offered a few draft nuggets – some of which confirm conventional wisdom and others which create questions.

Macdonald said they would take the best player available – offense or defense – with their top pick (18). He also said they would be looking at drafting some cornerbacks, and he gave a lukewarm endorsement of Riq Woolen – a guy we think might be traded at some point this year.

Schneider, meanwhile, said (1) he was laying groundwork for trades with other NFL execs in Florida, (2) he might consider moving up in the draft and (3) the Hawks likely won’t be able to upgrade at center.

Here’s a look at the key draft-related comments from Seattle’s two chiefs and our take on them.

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