Tag Archives: Shaq Griffin

#SEAvsJAX

The formula for winning: Darnold, JSN and D-line

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The Seahawks’ most reliable factors so far this season have been their QB1-WR1 connection, their defensive front and their special teams. They lost to the Bucs last week largely due to a rare bad game by the defensive line.

They won 20-12 in Jacksonville today because that unit returned to dominance and helped out Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who continued to play as well as any QB-WR duo in the NFL.

Last week, Mike Macdonald said Baker Mayfield had too many “Mississippis” (a reference to the old backyard football pass rush rule). Well, the Seahawks got to Trevor Lawrence after one “Miss” on half of his dropbacks today.

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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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Injury report, The roster

Hawks face a Lynch scenario with Avril, Kam

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Seahawks bandagesIn a cruel twist, the Seahawks could lose two of their star defenders to injury-forced retirement in the next few months.

Kam Chancellor will join Cliff Avril on the sideline for the rest of the season with a similar spinal concern, as Avril was set to have surgery to repair a disk in his neck. Pete Carroll said both will have to decide whether to try to continue their careers next year.

So now the Seahawks find themselves in a Marshawn Lynch situation again — needing to know the fate of these stars by early February so they can move forward with the rest of their roster.

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State of the team, The roster

How the roster looks as summer starts

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)The Seahawks embarked on their summer vacation in high spirits — all the apparent negativity of last season and this offseason seemingly dissolved in a big pool of love and happiness. And they seem very focused.

As the Hawks conducted their minicamp last week, we heard nothing but positive things from Seattle’s top defenders. Earl Thomas is healthy again, in mind and body. Kam Chancellor has polished up his once-dented leadership armor. Richard Sherman sounded like a team player again. And Michael Bennett is physically lighter but still philosophically heavy.

The players seemed of one accord, ready to get back on the Super track. And Pete Carroll said his team is as mentally sharp as it ever has been heading into summer.

“I think we had our most compliant OTA season and really proud of that, finally,” he said, referring to penalties levied against his club for overdoing it in past years. “Old dog, new tricks, man. It was hard. But we finally figured it out. And, in doing so, we were able to up the reps that we got on guys.

“I think we’re the smartest we’ve been coming out of this camp than any of the past years. We’ve had the most situation work. We’ve had the chance to put guys in all variety of spots that they have to think and make decisions and choose how they play and fit in with us. So we just feel like we’ve made a lot of movement forward. We have a lot of stuff to get done in camp that does not fit this time of year. This is OTA football. Not real football. That will come.”

Before it does, let’s take a look at how the roster stands …

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CHAWK LINES, Minicamp
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks OTAs & minicamp

Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman both backed Russell Wilson in the wake of rift reports.

Bennett also shared more of his life philosophies (most of which make great sense).

Sherman came across as happy and ready to be a team player again.

Sherman’s attitude was one of several reasons Pete Carroll called it a “very successful offseason.”

Carroll said Jimmy Graham and Earl Thomas were the most impressive players this offseason.

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Minicamp

Rookie defensive backs ‘looked the part’

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Griffin 26Seattle used four draft picks on defensive backs — an apparent attempt at setting up LOB 2.0 down the road — and Pete Carroll said they “made a really good first impression” as rookie minicamp began Friday.

“They all moved very well. They all caught the ball really well. They looked fast. They just looked the part and felt very comfortable,” Carroll said.

“There’s a lot of play time behind these two safeties in particular and you can just tell,” Carroll said of third-rounder Delano Hill and fourth-rounder Tedric Thompson, who both reportedly were rated as second-round talents by Seattle. “They’re very savvy, very comfortable, communicated really well right off the bat, made a really good first impression.”

Carroll said third-round cornerback Shaq Griffin “can fly.” Griffin, who ran a 4.38 40, said the coaches told him to forget everything he learned at Central Florida.

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NFL draft, The roster

Post-draft roster review

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NFL draftPutting aside questions about Malik McDowell’s desire and Ethan Pocic’s position, the Seahawks accomplished all of their major goals in this draft: interior rusher, O-line competition, lots of DB depth.

They also added a couple of big receivers, which could be bad news for Jermaine Kearse, and replaced key role players Kelcie McCray and Tony McDaniel.

Asked if the roster is better than it was after the 2016 draft, Pete Carroll really couldn’t say that. The best he could do was: “I feel strong about it.”

He pointed out the three linebackers Seattle has signed, the O-linemen added via free agency and the draft, the two D-linemen.

“We’ve done some great stuff up front to make it more competitive. We’ve boosted the competition, obviously in the DB room but also at the receiver side of it. … I feel like it’s really going to be a competitive go.”

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NFL draft, The roster

Boom! Seahawks make secondary primary focus

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NFL draftThe Legion of Boom officially has been refreshed — thanks to an explosion of draft picks in Rounds 3-6.

As founding members Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman approach the twilight of their Seattle careers and DeShawn Shead recovers from a major knee injury, one of the big goals of this draft was to add to the secondary.

The Hawks accomplished that in a big way with the selections of cornerback Shaq Griffin and safeties Delano Hill, Tedric Thompson and Mike Tyson. It is the most defensive backs John Schneider has drafted — coming after none in 10 picks last year.

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