Seahawks coming… BIG and FAST…and with SWAG'

The Seattle Seahawks have one of the most intriguing starting lineups in the NFL. They have a tremendous sense of competition at two of the most vital aspects of the offense. The quarterback position has been a three-way competition, but as of August 8, Tavaris Jackson has seemingly been eliminated from that competition, at least for now. In the first preseason game that Seattle will host against the Tennessee Titans, Matt Flynn will start and he will likely play the entire first half. Third round draft choice out of Wisconsin, Russell Wilson, will be taking all the second-half snaps in the second half. Many analysts are taking this as a sign that the Seahawks are cooling off on the idea on the idea of Jackson competing for the starting job. Pete Carroll was careful with his words when he mentioned that Jackson’s reps would be declining by saying; we’ve seen what Tavaris can do. That comment can be taken at least two different ways. Either they’ve seen what he can do and it’s not enough, or they’re happy with his play, he has been consistent and will likely make the roster, and now they need to determine whether or not Matt Flynn and Russell Wilson have what it takes to play in the NFL given their limited experience. Another intriguing set of match ups on the offense is going to be at the wide receiver position. So far, it’s popular opinion that Doug Baldwin and Sidney Rice are secure to make the final roster, with Golden Tate and Ricardo Lockette competing with the chance as well. Although, there is a fly in the ointment, and its name is Terrell Owens. When he was acquired as a free agent who hasn’t played football at the NFL level for nearly 2 years, it was of course big news across the country. Owens has a lot of baggage he carries around from team to team and he has played with five separate franchises and the latest to with mixed reviews. Another veteran Pete Carroll has added to the competition at wide receiver is Braylon Edwards. Edwards has also shown elite wide receiver stats and he has the same size and speed ability that Owens has. Coach Carroll likes players like Owens and Edwards; Big, ranging, athletic and good hands. Both of these players have had a checkered past, but Owens hasn’t been involved with the law. Edwards has had a few run-ins, one of them being a DUI. Both Owens and Edwards have also been out of NFL football for a couple of years. Both of them have shown promise in preseason workouts as well as training camp. Braylon Edwards is likely to see a lot of action in the first preseason game this Saturday, but Owens will play until the second game of preseason. Ben Obamanu is a likely player to make it onto the final roster, but primarily because he is a reliable receiver and place great special teams. Coach Carroll does value versatility and reliability. Obamanu has been reliable and he does contribute in more than just one way. Ricardo Lockette surprised everyone last season when he caught a couple of long passes for touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers, flashing his world-class speed and good hands. He has not been consistent this year in training camp and I think this is primarily why Owens and Edwards were brought in for tryouts. One of the really disappointing things about training camp is the health of several wide receivers; Doug Baldwin, Ricardo Lockette, Deon Butler, Kris Durham and Golden Tate are all nursing minor injuries, mostly hamstring problems. Several players around the league are suffering from ligament, tendon and muscle injuries which likely lead back to fitness questions. The new collective bargaining agreement between the NFLPA and NFL has shortened Camp, OTA’s, minicamp and training camp practices have been shortened from two-a-days to only one practice per day and may have also shortened the number of days per week that fires are required to report to practice. One wonders if any of these injuries are because players are coming in to a shortened Camp not in optimum physical condition. The wide receivers are all in a very vigorous competition and even the injured players will likely compete despite small nagging pains, because it might be the difference in making the team, starting the year on the pup list or perhaps even being released and becoming an injured free-agent. The Seahawks will keep either five or six wide receivers, likely and every chance each player has to prove his worth to Pete and the other coaches is pivotal. Philip Bates, Lavasier Tuinai, Jermaine Kearse, Charlie Martin and Deon Butler are the longshots to make this team, but with key injuries, they may have a chance early in the year. It truly is a vicious competition, though they all seem to get along well. Camaraderie and chemistry seemed to be alive and well with the Seahawks. Pete Carroll has really done a good job of choosing personnel and managing that roster to keep a vigorous competition without things turning nasty like they are with the New York Jets. The Jets are truly reflecting the wild side of their outspoken and unpredictable head coach Rex Ryan. The offensive line for Seattle is a lot better than the national media is giving them credit for. They’re not only solid, they have great depth. The national media is probably reacting to the original cast of players that were drafted especially to start for Pete Carroll last year. John Moffitt and James Carpenter were chosen back to back in the 2011 NFL draft and both of them started their rookie careers with significant knee injuries. Moffat has rehabbed his knee after surgery and is well and penciled in to be the starting left guard this year. James Carpenter who was the first-round pick, (one round before Moffat), has had a longer rehab and will likely sit out the first half of the 2012 season. However, Breno Giacomini filled in last year after Carpenter’s injury and played quite well once he gelled with the other new lineman. Paul McQuiston filled in quite nicely for Russell Okung, who seems like he can’t stay healthy. Max Unger, another injured first string lineman was backed up by Lemuel Jean-Pierre. Paul Fanaika also filled in at several positions and played well. No one will ever truly know why this group played so well together so quickly, but it is likely because of the superior coaching of Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable. With this group, coach and players, did last year was nothing less than miraculous. Now, this upcoming season has all but James Carpenter coming back healthy, plus they added veterans; Frank Omiyale, Deuce Lutui and Alex Barron to add depth. The Hawks also added standout and huge rookie Rishaw Johnson an undrafted free agent, and JR Sweezy a defensive end that has been converted to offensive guard and he has reportedly catching on fast and has unusually fast feet for such a big man. This is going to be a tough final roster to break in on. One good sign of the quality that Seattle has in training camp is how quickly their castoffs get picked up by other teams. Even before training camp began, Seattle dropped players and they were immediately picked up the next day. Those players weren’t even good enough to make training camp; now how many players that were good enough to make it to the Seahawks training camp, but won’t make the final 53 man roster will be picked up immediately by teams not blessed with this much talent? It will be interesting and several players have got to be sweating the competition going on in Renton. One of the weaknesses in Seattle’s offensive sets has been the inability to run to tightend sets for the West Coast offense they use. Zach Miller was the only real threat that they had to catch the ball, and he was more needed to become a third tackle to help Seattle’s running game succeed. In the off-season, the Seahawks were practically gifted one of the best tightends in the new era. The tightend position has become very important, particularly in the West Coast offensive system. Rob Gronkowski and Alex Fernandez were deadly for Tom Brady and the patriots. Just like the patriots, Jimmy Graham, Jason Whitten and JerMichael Finley were very effective as pass catching tightends for the Saints, Cowboys and Packers, respectively. Now, Seattle will be bringing to elite type tightends at their defensive opponents each week and often. Kellen Winslow Junior is one of the best pass catching tightends in the country. He has injuries, but even when he plays injured, he still produces nearly 80 receptions per season. That would completely shatter any tightend record that Seattle tightends have ever put up. With both Zak Miller and Kellen Winslow, Matt Flynn or Russell Wilson should be able to light it up across the middle and whenever they get in trouble in a strong rush. Also, because of the excellent receiving skills that Winslow and Miller possess, linebackers will not be able to focus on just the running game. This will also open up the intermediate and deep passing game as well. No matter how you look at it, the more weapons your offense has, the more problematic it makes it for opposing defenses. Seattle should be able to confuse many defenses on their schedule and they’re going to need it. The first half of the schedule includes some of the best teams in the NFL. It’s critical that Seattle get a quick start if they want to take back the NFC West. The 49ers are thinking about the same thing and you can bet they’re not going to go to sleep on Seattle this year. They better not…

I just wrote about the offense, and they are good, but the strength of this 2012 Seattle Seahawks team is on the defense to decide of the football. This is potentially Seattle’s best defensive team in their franchise’s history. The thing that separates Seattle’s defense from the rest of the league is there defensive secondary. First of all, they are huge. Their corners are big enough to play linebackers, but with the speed necessary to cover. Their safeties are big and fast as well and they are all aggressive and athletic. Three of the four defensive backs from the Seahawks were selected to the Pro bowl last year and the fourth, Richard Sherman, should have gone as well. However, not being elected just might be the chip on his shoulder to make him even more effective and aggressive than he was last year. The next huge improvement for the Seattle defense is on their line. Last year, the Seahawks were very effective at stopping the run, but they weren’t particularly effective in the pass rush. Chris Clemons was the only Seahawks with double digits in sacks with 11 and the next closest was four. Pete Carroll and John Schneider address that in the draft, selecting sack specialist Bruce Irvin to play the Leo end, and linebacker Bobby Wagner to replace David Hawthorne, Seattle’s leading tackler last year, lost to the New Orleans Saints in free agency. Jason Jones was acquired in free agency from the Titans and his specialty is pressure up the middle to create a pass rush. Chris Clemons has been re-signed and will play the Leo end on the opposite side of Irvin. This should create tremendous pressure on the edges and with Jason Jones, Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane and Alan Branch pushing a bull rush up the middle, Seattle’s pass defense problems should be remedied with that huge defensive backfield covering wide receivers and tightends. The linebackers are going to be much better than most think. KJ Wright was a huge pleasant surprise last year, Bobby Wagner is going to be a huge impact with his speed and athleticism, Leroy Hill will give them veteran leadership and a great tackler and another free-agent Seattle brought in for veteran leadership is Barrett Ruud. He has been a tackling machine in Tampa Bay for several years and is back healthy again from a groin injury last year with Tampa. Another X factor linebacker is Korey Toomer. He is a Pete Carroll gem, with his versatility and athleticism; he should be very effective when Seattle implements a linebacker blitz. There is one thing that you will see this year from Seattle’s defensive squad and that is a very active, athletic and aggressive defense. They are going to make mistakes and they will probably be penalized for their aggressiveness, sometimes overrunning plays and sometimes hitting players a little too high, but that’s the way they play and in the long run… They’re going to make it very difficult for teams to execute their plan because of the disruptiveness that they create. They will create chaos for complex offensive schemes and with the 12th man screaming in the background, the Seahawks are going to be flying all over the place almost loading on the noise coming down from the fans.

This is going to be a terrific season for Seattle and I have a very good feeling about Matt Flynn. He is looking very sharp in training camp and has now just been given a vote of confidence from Coach Pete Carroll and Flynn is not a man who shies away from pressure and opportunity, in fact he doesn’t even look at this as pressure… He looks at it like the time to show who he is and what he can do. However, Pete Carroll hasn’t handed the starting job over to Flynn on a silk pillow just yet. Russell Wilson is making a lot of people believers that he can take this team and succeed with every bit as much confidence as Flynn. Both Flynn and Wilson are the most confident quarterbacks I think I have ever seen, without being arrogant or cocky. They are both men with laser focus and a quick learning ability to understand the offensive scheme that they are presented with and they both relish the spotlight. These are the kind of quarterbacks that are going to want the ball when it’s time to execute under enormous pressure. This is not something you develop, this is something that you are born with and I think they both have it.

This is going to be exciting and extremely dramatic… And were only days away from the first preseason game. It already feels like a playoff scenario. I guess it is, for many of the players on the Seahawks roster. Some will, some won’t and the rest we’ll see…

One thing is for sure, Seattle is going to dominate on defense and if analysts think the San Francisco 49ers had a dominant defense last year, this year's Seahawks defense will absolutely captivate anyone that likes an; aggressive, physical, punishing, stunting, Brandon defense that will cause chaos and mayhem every Sunday, disrupting any kind of complex and sophisticated playcalling. The Seahawks mantra will become "Disrupt and confuse" through stunting and speed with a bull rush of power up the middle flushing the quarterback and runners to the edges where the Leo ends (Clemons and Irvin) will swallow them up. One thing is already apparent in preseason and it is infectious, the Seattle defense is performing at a high level and there is no shortage of… Swag!