Tag Archives: Jermaine Kearse

How could Seahawks afford to sign Mathis? Let us count the ways

August 23, 2015 cc Leave a comment

No surprise: Evan Mathis reportedly left Seattle without a contract Saturday.

But, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, he didn’t close the door on his way out.

All indications are G Evan Mathis had a good visit with the Seahawks today. They’ll remain an option for him.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 23, 2015

Mathis, a Pro Bowl guard cut by the Philadelphia Eagles in June, reportedly has been holding out for at least $5 million a year. The Hawks can’t really afford that. But they might be able to give him around $3.5 million, if they moved some things around.

Continue reading How could Seahawks afford to sign Mathis? Let us count the ways →

CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 20, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from the final official day of camp from those who were there (and other features):

Former Seahawk Marcus Trufant skydived into camp before practice.

Jermaine Kearse needed a good camp to stave off challenges from among the deepest receiving corps the Hawks have had under Pete Carroll, and he apparently continues to impress.

Kevin Smith has had a good camp and played well vs. Denver, but will it be enough to beat out Ricardo Lockette or B.J. Daniels?

Russell Wilson says he is clicking with all of his receivers and he is not concerned about the offensive line.

Hawk Blogger says the starting line looks fine with Justin Britt at left guard and Garry Gilliam at right tackle. But he also asks what we all are wondering: What happened to Alvin Bailey?

The P-I offered five takeaways from camp.

Richard Sherman supports Tom Brady in his appeal of his four-game suspension.

Darrell Bevell told Peter King he wouldn’t change the Super Bowl play call but it “will always be there to drive me.”

CHAWK LINES, Training camp

August 7, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Some observations from Day 6 of camp from those who were there (and other features):

Jesse Williams, a second-round talent the Hawks picked in the fifth round in 2013 due to knee problems, says he hopes he got rid of his bad injury luck when he had his cancerous kidney removed this offseason. It would be a great story if he somehow became a contributor this season, but don’t get your hopes up.

Jermaine Kearse apparently is doing his best to fend off Seattle’s younger, cheaper receivers, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times.

Stephen Cohen of the Seattle P-I wrote about a couple of receivers named Doug: Baldwin talked about Percy Harvin and mentoring young receivers, and McNeil worked at cornerback.

John Boyle of Seahawks.com wrote more about Baldwin, who said Tyler Lockett is “a lot more polished than I was as a rookie.”

Boyle also relayed rookie Frank Clark’s comments about playing 3-technique and learning from Michael Bennett.

Tom Cable told KJR-AM that Lemuel Jeanpierre is the favorite to win the center job; he thinks Justin Britt is becoming a consistent right tackle; and Russell Okung is very focused on the season, not his contract.

Kam Chancellor apparently wants most of his 2015 and 2016 salaries paid up front before he returns to the team. Very unlikely.

State of the team, The roster

Reviewing & projecting the roster

May 25, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Despite the loss of a couple of offensive linemen and a starting cornerback and a few ongoing contract squabbles, the Seahawks are clearly a better team than the one that blew the Super Bowl three months ago.

Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lockett should improve Seattle’s scoring ability, both on offense and special teams, and Frank Clark and Ahtyba Rubin should beef up the depth of a defensive line that was decimated throughout last season — topped by the loss of Cliff Avril to a concussion in the Super Bowl.

The Hawks also have brought in a handful of new offensive linemen as they look to replace Max Unger and James Carpenter and build some good depth on the unit while preparing for the possible departure of Russell Okung or J.R. Sweezy next offseason.

In the secondary, they have replaced Byron Maxwell with Cary Williams and also added Will Blackmon and rookie Tye Smith to fill in for the injured Jeremy Lane and make sure they don’t get caught with Tharold Simon covering quick receivers in the slot again.

The Hawks look to have some great competition along both lines, at receiver and in the secondary.

Here’s a look at the offense, with projected keepers (spoiler: Jermaine Kearse doesn’t make it).

And here’s a look at the defense, with Kevin Williams projected to return.

CHAWK LINES, Contracts, It's bigger than football, NFL draft

May 6, 2015 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider talked more about Frank Clark, Tyler Lockett and the rest of the draft class on 710 ESPN.

As expected, the media is picking apart the Seahawks’ selection of Clark. Field Gulls compiled the reports questioning their investigative diligence.

The prosecutor in Clark’s case says there was more to the story than the police report indicated and she does not see Clark as a habitual “batterer,” per The Seattle Times.

Clark’s position coach at Michigan backs him 100 percent and thinks the Seahawks “made a tremendous pick.”

Rob Staton broke down the on-field merits of the Seahawks’ draft class: Clark’s first-round talent, Lockett’s game-breaking ability and the six other picks (plus the best UDFA they signed).

Former Green Beret Nate Boyer talked to 710 ESPN about his journey to the Seahawks. The Times’ Jayson Jenks also wrote about him.

Bob Condotta gave a detailed look at Seattle’s 12 undrafted rookies.

Continue reading →

State of the team, Super Bowl XLIX, The roster

Seahawks have to get better at receiver

February 2, 2015 cc 1 Comment

As much as receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse complain about not getting any respect and being labeled “pedestrian,” the last two games of the season showed the criticisms have a lot of merit.

And when the Seahawks went to Ricardo Lockette — really?! — for the winning touchdown in the final seconds of the Super Bowl, it was a clear indicator that the Seahawks have to upgrade the receiver position in the offseason.

After playing horribly in the NFC title game against Green Bay — shut down for most of the game until they both came up big in overtime — Baldwin and Kearse were almost completely clamped by the Patriots’ secondary in the Super Bowl.

Until yet another undrafted player, Chris Matthews, came up big and sparked the Seattle offense, Russell Wilson had nowhere to go in the first half as Baldwin and Kearse were blanketed by Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner.

Continue reading Seahawks have to get better at receiver →

Playoffs: Green Bay

The hallmarks of that win: Redemption, trust and resilience

January 19, 2015 cc 1 Comment

Redemption, resilience, trust, teamwork.

Other than a trip to the Super Bowl, those were the themes of the Seahawks’ historic comeback win over the Green Bay Packers, 28-22 in overtime, on Sunday.

For much of the game, Russell Wilson, Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin were the Three Stooges — taking turns poking each other in the eyes, hitting each other in the head and tripping over each other.

Wilson threw four interceptions — all on passes intended for Kearse, who had two go off his hands — and Baldwin fumbled on a kick return and dropped two passes himself.

But all three redeemed themselves on the winning drive in overtime — Wilson hitting Baldwin twice for 45 yards and then finding Kearse for the winning 35-yard touchdown.

After the game, Wilson and Kearse were overcome with emotion after their rollercoaster day.

Continue reading The hallmarks of that win: Redemption, trust and resilience →

Playoffs: Green Bay

Wilson’s worst game? Why are they headed to the Super Bowl then?

January 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

When team captain Tarvaris Jackson went out for the overtime coin toss Sunday, it should have been a reminder to everyone of this simple fact: The Seahawks would not be a Super Bowl team without Russell Wilson.

Plenty of people are calling Wilson’s game against the Packers — in which he threw a career-high four interceptions — the worst of his career. Wrong. Dead wrong.

Continue reading Wilson’s worst game? Why are they headed to the Super Bowl then? →

Playoffs: Carolina

A look at Wilson’s best playoff performance yet

January 12, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson has almost always played well in the playoffs — six games and counting — and his performance Saturday against Carolina was his best yet.

The third-year quarterback buried the ghosts of his poor home games earlier in the season with a nearly perfect outing that also was probably his best game of the 2014 season.

He threw a postseason-career-high three touchdown passes and tallied a 149.2 rating, completing 68.2 percent, while tying Matt Hasselbeck for most playoff wins in Seattle history (five).

Wilson now has nine TD passes and just one interception in six postseason games, and his passer rating has been over 100 in four of them. In fact, his postseason passer rating of 109.6 is the best in NFL history (hat tip to Hawk Blogger for first reporting that stat).

So why was Wilson so good vs. the Panthers? (1) His offensive line kept him clean, (2) he was perfect on third downs, (3) he got the ball out quickly when he could and (4) he trusted his receivers to come down with long passes.

Continue reading A look at Wilson’s best playoff performance yet →

Week 3: Denver

Mild-mannered Wilson turns into Superman when needed most

September 22, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson catches a pass from Jermaine Kearse in the first half against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 21 (AP) — Russell Wilson catches a pass from Jermaine Kearse in the first half against the Broncos (AP)

Russell Wilson is kind of like Superman — mild-mannered pocket quarterback on your typical offensive series, but man of steel nerves and determination when the game is on the line.

Wilson became the latter Sunday, leading the Seahawks 80 yards for the winning touchdown in their 26-20 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos.

Wilson is such a team player that he often subverts his physical skills in favor of getting the ball to his teammates. But make no mistake: He can carry a team when he needs to.

And he needed to Sunday.

After Peyton Manning somehow led the Broncos 80 yards (with no timeouts) to the tying touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute, Wilson coolly returned the favor in overtime.

Continue reading Mild-mannered Wilson turns into Superman when needed most →