I think this is a good topic, because it goes to Pete's decisions on players, and (imho), his sometimes overinflated sense of being able to turn athletes in to Football Players.
There were alarm bells with Percy Harvin, and I hated that signing. I was hopeful, but had zero confidence that that POS would play for this team. He only played when he wanted to. Otherwise, he was "injured." He stole from this team, his team mates, and this fan base. Pete gets an F on that decision.
Christine Michael had some issues, but seemed like he could be an excellent back, but I think that he had some kind of mental, or emotional issues that wouldn't allow him to focus. I've seen people before with health issues, that have involuntary movements, and Michael would get excited and point at the lane he was going to take. ADD? BiPolar? I could be wrong, and it could just be maturity issues. But when he was at the Shrine Game, he would bring his offensive line players Gatorade, and that showed a person who can appreciate the hard work of others.
And then there's Thomas Rawls. He was doing so GOOD! And he could have been a star. But there was something going on that we never heard about. I was encouraged by him, because when he scored, he'd celebrate with his OLine. But, something was up.
Pete couldn't get any of those 3 to recognize the opportunity that they had.
But, he succeeded with Marshawn Lynch, which IMHO, cancels out the failures. The reason we got Marshawn so cheap, is that he was trouble for the Buffalo Bills. He was his own man, and was going to do things his way. Pete is probably the only coach in the NFL that could deal with Marshawn being Marshawn, and still get the most out of him.
I've said ever since we drafted Kam Chancellor, and he started showing up on the field, that if Kam had gone to another team, he likely wouldn't have had the chance to excel like he did here.
Nobody else thought Kam was worth mid-to-late pick because he didn't fit the mold. But Pete and John saw the potential, and took full advantage of it. Imagine if Cleveland would have drafted him, tried to force him to be something he was not. He possibly would have been out of the league in 3 or 4 years.
Nobody's going to be 100% with Professional athletes, but I'd bet Pete has the highest success rate with players that others overlooked, or would have given up on early. And look at the success it has brought us. We've gotten Pro Bowl players late in the draft, saved tons of money, and been able to fill in the talent with that cash.
So who's on the "bubble" as a Seahawk now? Who's having trouble getting the message and following through? I'd list a couple of candidates as LJ Collier, Tedric Thompson, Delano Hill, and Naz Jones. These players I don't see as stubborn, but more that they don't understand what they're being taught, and aren't putting in the time, or having the confidence to put what they are being taught, on the field.
Smart ass comments aside, I think this is a really good topic, that applies to getting the most out of uber-talented players that we've had, as it relates to successes and failures.
Who are those players today? What should Pete do to motivate or guide them? Which past players did you dread ahead of time? and IMHO, most importantly, which players were you right about
![Stick out tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)