kearly
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I'm looking forward to hearing Pete's annual offseason press conference some time in the next week. Though Pete is always a crafty politician who watches what he says with great care, I find him to be refreshingly candid. In every previous year he told us the areas of the team he wanted to upgrade, even getting pretty specific at times (speed at LB, etc). So I figured now would be a good time to look over the roster and highlight a few areas that might warrant consideration of some form.
-Malcolm Smith saw quite a bit of action after KJ Wright's injury, and the result was four interceptions in five games with two pick sixes. Though Smith plays LB, he's actually one of the fastest players on our entire defense (4.44 forty)... only Earl Thomas is (barely) faster (4.43 forty). Smith is not the hardest hitter, but he's a very good open field tackler and just seems to always be in position to make plays. Every time Seattle intends to drop two linebackers into their cover 3 zones it behooves Seattle to have Smith on the field. A lack of safety depth forced Seattle to play with 3 linebackers much more than they previously had, and I think at the very least, Smith has proven that he should be the team's defacto #3 LB. Smith is still under contract dirt cheap for one more season.
-What to do with Bruce Irvin? Irvin at his very best reminds me a little of Kam with wheels, but on the whole he's "only" been our 4th best LB in 2013. Considering that Seattle's linebacker situation has so much depth and that offseason additions at safety could revert Seattle back to it's preferred 3 safety "big nickle" packages with just 1-2 LBs on the field, Irvin could be at risk of becoming a specialist player who only sees a few snaps a game. As a pass rusher, that's not necessarily such a bad thing, but at LB it kind of feels like a waste. The good news is that Irvin has enough athletic versatility that he could find a role on all 3 levels of the defense, but what I'd prefer the most is to see the team experiment with Irvin as a Atari Bigby / Winston Guy type 3rd safety who specializes in attacking downfield and blitzing from all over the place.
-I think Schofield is actually a better all-around player right now than Clemons is at this point in their careers. Clemons can still bullrush a little, but his outside burn is nowhere close to what it once was. Schofield is a sound all around player that may not threaten 11 sacks, but he can blow you away with his run defense and his ability to defend the edge while forcing QBs to move in the pocket. My preference would be to lure Jared Allen to Seattle on a short term deal with promises of a ring, but if Seattle stays in house, I would be totally fine with promoting Schofield to the #2 pass rusher role. He's not a star, but he hustles and makes plays and with the supporting cast on defense that makes him a plus defender for us.
-I kinda think Mike Rob has played his last meaningful game with Seattle. I'm guessing Coleman takes over next year. Here's hoping the second go around won't be as painful.
-I think Percy Harvin has proven himself to be the Earl Thomas of our offense. By that I mean he's a guy who's mere presence on the field makes everyone else's job suddenly feel so much easier. I was kinda on the fence with this trade when it went down, but even in very limited action it is abundantly clear that his value to Seattle's offense goes way beyond his numbers. I now think this trade was incredibly clairvoyant on the part of Carroll, anticipating his team's biggest need almost a full year before it actually manifested itself on the field. If we didn't have a Percy Harvin, our top priority this offseason would be to find a Percy Harvin.
-I think the team will try to keep Rice with a restructure. IMO he's the most talented red line receiver we have on the team, and finding big WRs with polish is not easy to do, especially on the cheap. I also couldn't help but notice that opposing DCs started ignoring our WRs not too long after Rice hit IR. And when defenses ignored our WRs so that they could cheat up to punish Wilson and Lynch, that's when our offense went from outstanding to ugly. Seattle might just outright release Rice and acquire somebody else, but part of me suspects such a tact is plan B.
-Seattle should look at centers in this draft. Jeanpierre is a free agent, and the team needs to be prepared for a scenario where Unger's 2013 performance setback could potentially be permanent. Maybe Unger bounces back, but Seattle just can't afford another season of such poor interior run blocking and shouldn't take chances. Unger's interior run blocking used to be one of the biggest strengths on the entire team. In 2013, it swung to the other side. He was a liability. Did you know that Seattle was successful running the ball on 3rd/4th and short (2 yards or less) just 49% of the time this year? That percentage was dead last in the NFL. With Marshawn freaking Lynch carrying the football. Unthinkable. Unacceptable. Seattle had some lead blocking issues early in the season, but mostly it's been an inability to run block up the middle that was the biggest driving force behind that number.
-Giacomini had a nice season, and deserves another contract, IMO.
-JR Sweezy has made fewer splash plays but also fewer mistakes. Apples to Oranges, but we saw Kam and Earl start off with volatile debuts before losing some explosive plays in favor of sound play, before discovering how to be smart and dominant at the same time in 2013. If Sweezy continues to be steady going forward while remembering how utterly dominant he had previously been as a raw but athletic run blocker, he could nail down that right guard spot for a good long time.
-I think McQuistan will be gone for sure, and Carp will probably compete with Bailey and Bowie at LG next Summer. I think our biggest need on OL is actually at center, assuming we retain Giacomini. And even then, maybe Unger bounces back. Seattle's offense would certainly reach another level if Unger plays like his 2011 or 2012 version next season.
-Malcolm Smith saw quite a bit of action after KJ Wright's injury, and the result was four interceptions in five games with two pick sixes. Though Smith plays LB, he's actually one of the fastest players on our entire defense (4.44 forty)... only Earl Thomas is (barely) faster (4.43 forty). Smith is not the hardest hitter, but he's a very good open field tackler and just seems to always be in position to make plays. Every time Seattle intends to drop two linebackers into their cover 3 zones it behooves Seattle to have Smith on the field. A lack of safety depth forced Seattle to play with 3 linebackers much more than they previously had, and I think at the very least, Smith has proven that he should be the team's defacto #3 LB. Smith is still under contract dirt cheap for one more season.
-What to do with Bruce Irvin? Irvin at his very best reminds me a little of Kam with wheels, but on the whole he's "only" been our 4th best LB in 2013. Considering that Seattle's linebacker situation has so much depth and that offseason additions at safety could revert Seattle back to it's preferred 3 safety "big nickle" packages with just 1-2 LBs on the field, Irvin could be at risk of becoming a specialist player who only sees a few snaps a game. As a pass rusher, that's not necessarily such a bad thing, but at LB it kind of feels like a waste. The good news is that Irvin has enough athletic versatility that he could find a role on all 3 levels of the defense, but what I'd prefer the most is to see the team experiment with Irvin as a Atari Bigby / Winston Guy type 3rd safety who specializes in attacking downfield and blitzing from all over the place.
-I think Schofield is actually a better all-around player right now than Clemons is at this point in their careers. Clemons can still bullrush a little, but his outside burn is nowhere close to what it once was. Schofield is a sound all around player that may not threaten 11 sacks, but he can blow you away with his run defense and his ability to defend the edge while forcing QBs to move in the pocket. My preference would be to lure Jared Allen to Seattle on a short term deal with promises of a ring, but if Seattle stays in house, I would be totally fine with promoting Schofield to the #2 pass rusher role. He's not a star, but he hustles and makes plays and with the supporting cast on defense that makes him a plus defender for us.
-I kinda think Mike Rob has played his last meaningful game with Seattle. I'm guessing Coleman takes over next year. Here's hoping the second go around won't be as painful.
-I think Percy Harvin has proven himself to be the Earl Thomas of our offense. By that I mean he's a guy who's mere presence on the field makes everyone else's job suddenly feel so much easier. I was kinda on the fence with this trade when it went down, but even in very limited action it is abundantly clear that his value to Seattle's offense goes way beyond his numbers. I now think this trade was incredibly clairvoyant on the part of Carroll, anticipating his team's biggest need almost a full year before it actually manifested itself on the field. If we didn't have a Percy Harvin, our top priority this offseason would be to find a Percy Harvin.
-I think the team will try to keep Rice with a restructure. IMO he's the most talented red line receiver we have on the team, and finding big WRs with polish is not easy to do, especially on the cheap. I also couldn't help but notice that opposing DCs started ignoring our WRs not too long after Rice hit IR. And when defenses ignored our WRs so that they could cheat up to punish Wilson and Lynch, that's when our offense went from outstanding to ugly. Seattle might just outright release Rice and acquire somebody else, but part of me suspects such a tact is plan B.
-Seattle should look at centers in this draft. Jeanpierre is a free agent, and the team needs to be prepared for a scenario where Unger's 2013 performance setback could potentially be permanent. Maybe Unger bounces back, but Seattle just can't afford another season of such poor interior run blocking and shouldn't take chances. Unger's interior run blocking used to be one of the biggest strengths on the entire team. In 2013, it swung to the other side. He was a liability. Did you know that Seattle was successful running the ball on 3rd/4th and short (2 yards or less) just 49% of the time this year? That percentage was dead last in the NFL. With Marshawn freaking Lynch carrying the football. Unthinkable. Unacceptable. Seattle had some lead blocking issues early in the season, but mostly it's been an inability to run block up the middle that was the biggest driving force behind that number.
-Giacomini had a nice season, and deserves another contract, IMO.
-JR Sweezy has made fewer splash plays but also fewer mistakes. Apples to Oranges, but we saw Kam and Earl start off with volatile debuts before losing some explosive plays in favor of sound play, before discovering how to be smart and dominant at the same time in 2013. If Sweezy continues to be steady going forward while remembering how utterly dominant he had previously been as a raw but athletic run blocker, he could nail down that right guard spot for a good long time.
-I think McQuistan will be gone for sure, and Carp will probably compete with Bailey and Bowie at LG next Summer. I think our biggest need on OL is actually at center, assuming we retain Giacomini. And even then, maybe Unger bounces back. Seattle's offense would certainly reach another level if Unger plays like his 2011 or 2012 version next season.
