Tag Archives: John Schneider

NFL draft, State of the team

Don’t fall for the company line

3 Comments

NFL draftDRAFT COUNTDOWN: 3 weeks. Every Thursday until the draft, we look at draft-related topics involving the Seahawks.

As we all know, the Seahawks are a supposed Super Bowl contender with one major problem: They are starting all over on the offensive line.

The company line has been that there have not been any good linemen for the Seahawks to draft over the last four years. Go ahead and fall for it if you want. But it’s wrong.

Even by the Seahawks’ apparent standards — as carefully derived by Seahawks Draft Blog’s Rob Staton — they should have been able to put together a very good line by now.

Continue reading Don’t fall for the company line →

Contracts, State of the team

More evidence that Chancellor, Bennett will not hold out

Leave a comment

Kam and BennettEntering the offseason, two of the Seahawks’ biggest personnel questions centered on whether Kam Chancellor and Michael Bennett were going to be problems.

It’s looking more and more like neither will be.

Chancellor apparently has made up with the team, based on words from him and John Schneider. And he added to that with recent comments to The Seattle Times, saying, “The past is the past” and talking about being a leader, a big brother and a captain.

Like Chancellor, Bennett has been griping about his contract for a year. Unlike Chancellor, Bennett showed up on time last year and turned in his best season.

Of course, all that did was build up concern that Bennett might give the Hawks another Kam Kam Kick this year and hold out. But it is looking like Bennett has no plans to do that.

Continue reading More evidence that Chancellor, Bennett will not hold out →

NFL draft

Are Hawks targeting Bullard in second round?

1 Comment

DRAFT COUNTDOWN: 4 weeks. Every Thursday until the draft, we look at draft-related topics involving the Seahawks.

John Schneider draftingFor all of the talk about the Seahawks needing to target an offensive lineman with the 26th overall pick, it is looking more and more like they could be angling to draft a defensive lineman.

Florida’s Jonathan Bullard is the hot name attached to the Seahawks these days. They reportedly were set to bring him in for a visit — a move that could well foreshadow his arrival as a Seahawk in late April.

Continue reading Are Hawks targeting Bullard in second round? →

Free agency, State of the team

Still ‘tinkering,’ GM thinks Hawks are ‘very close’ to Super again

Leave a comment

Wilson and SchneiderIn the aftermath of the Seahawks’ stunning 43-8 demolition of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, it sure seemed like the foundation of a dynasty had been laid.

A year later, sitting on the goal line at the end of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks were poised to finish off the second floor of the three-story dynastic castle. But coaching mistakes ruined their first shot at that rare achievement.

First, Pete Carroll allowed Darrell Bevell to make the worst play call in Super Bowl history, and then Carroll followed it up by fielding a ridiculously overmatched offensive line in a stunningly underachieving 2015 season.

When you raise expectations the way Carroll and John Schneider have over the past four years, anything short of winning it all is total failure. The Seahawks were primed to become one of the league’s rare dynasties, and they screwed it up.

Now, as they begin Part III of the PJ Era, they think they can quickly recapture the spirit of 2013 and return to the Super Bowl.

Continue reading Still ‘tinkering,’ GM thinks Hawks are ‘very close’ to Super again →

NFL draft, State of the team

More O-linemen to come, but when?

3 Comments

NFL draftDRAFT COUNTDOWN: 5 weeks. Every Thursday until the draft, we look at draft-related topics involving the Seahawks.

As positively as they try to spin it, it is clear Pete Carroll and John Schneider are not finished with their offensive line.

Carroll said Garry Gilliam can handle left tackle, Justin Britt will improve at left guard, Mark Glowinski is ready to start at right guard and J’Marcus Webb can be better at right tackle for them than he has been for other teams.

Carroll said Gilliam is “an athlete who is really equipped to play” left tackle, Glowinski is “a natural guard” who should “be a big factor” and Britt “is just going to continue grow as a guard.”

“We think those guards give us a really secure spot with big upside,” he said.

But there’s no way the Seahawks are going to training camp with just these guys and center Patrick Lewis. Even on the off chance that they do not add a veteran before the draft next month, they certainly are going to add at least a couple linemen during the draft.

Continue reading More O-linemen to come, but when? →

State of the team

Schneider, Carroll answer personnel questions

1 Comment

In addition to stating that Kam Chancellor will return to the Seahawks this year, John Schneider on Tuesday confirmed the Seahawks’ offensive line situation is indeed as shaky as we all think it is. He also discussed the plan for replacing Bruce Irvin and waved off any silly concerns that Marshawn Lynch is not really retiring.

With Russell Okung and J.R. Sweezy gone, the Seahawks’ line projects (from left to right) as Garry Gilliam, Justin Britt, Patrick Lewis, Mark Glowinski and J’Marcus Webb. If the Seahawks entered the season with that group, they would be in worse shape than they were with the 2015 line.

At the league meetings in Florida, Schneider confirmed that is where they are right now. And he hinted that the team might not add anyone before the draft.

As the line is constituted, Gilliam would battle career backup Bradley Sowell at left tackle while Webb would step in at right tackle, where Gilliam started in 2015. Schneider admitted they are grasping at straws, calling Sowell and Webb “prove-it signings.”

“That’s kind of the stage we are at right now,” the GM told The Seattle Times.

Continue reading Schneider, Carroll answer personnel questions →

Contracts, State of the team

Is Chancellor going to play nice or play elsewhere?

1 Comment

Kam Chancellor during the fourth quarter against Denver (Getty)Either Kam Chancellor is planning to play nice with the Seahawks this year or he is starting up a PR campaign.

How else do you explain the post Wednesday in which he said, “I’m not going anywhere. Seattle is my second home. I don’t plan on going anywhere unless some higher power places me elsewhere. #Loyalty #12s #LOB”

That clearly is a response to speculation that he might be traded this offseason — the logical assumption after he held out through the first two games last season and then appeared to play it safe after he came back (how many Bam Bam hits do you remember?).

Chancellor obviously is speaking to fans, perhaps trying to win back some of those who soured on him after his 2015 shenanigans. And he also is trying to absolve himself of any blame if the Seahawks — “some higher power” — do end up trading him.

But let’s get one thing straight: If the Seahawks do end up trading him, as many of us think they will, he will be the one to blame.

Continue reading Is Chancellor going to play nice or play elsewhere? →

Free agency, State of the team, The roster

We might not like it, but Hawks have their plan

Leave a comment

WebbIt’s easy to see why so many people are scratching their heads over the Seahawks’ underwhelming offensive line moves this week, especially when everyone seems to have a different opinion of where J’Marcus Webb will play.

But there is a method to Seattle’s madness — even if we might not agree with it.

First of all, remember that the Seahawks run a zone blocking scheme, which emphasizes mobility and teamwork over talent. Like it or not, that is the approach the Seahawks have taken the last four years — and apparently the approach they continue to take.

John Schneider said it himself at the Combine: “In terms of our philosophy, we are going to keep attacking it the same way we always have.’’

The Seahawks love size and versatility — and they got both in Webb and Bradley Sowell, the guys who ostensibly replace J.R. Sweezy and Alvin Bailey. Both are huge (Webb is 6-7, 335; Sowell 6-7, 315) and have played every position but center. The problem is neither is that talented.

Continue reading We might not like it, but Hawks have their plan →

It's bigger than football, NFL Combine, NFL draft

Carroll: Clark ‘a great kid in the program’

1 Comment

Frank ClarkA year ago at this time, the Seahawks were in the process of vetting Frank Clark — the controversial pass rusher they were targeting at the bottom of the second round.

They were ripped for the pick by almost every mainstream media outlet, and The Seattle Times did its own reverse investigation into Clark’s domestic incident and criticized the Seahawks’ background research into Clark. (For the record, we told everyone to lay off and trust the judgment of Pete Carroll and John Schneider.)

Not surprisingly (to us), Clark made it through his first season without drawing another bad word from anyone, and Carroll said Monday that the team monitored Clark closely — he reportedly continued counseling that he had started in Michigan — and “he was a great kid in the program.”

Continue reading Carroll: Clark ‘a great kid in the program’ →