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I was honestly meaning to write this last night, but my immediate gut reaction following the game was … ????????????????? Basically, it was “I don't know honestly know what the heck it is that I just saw!?!”
It's taking me some time to sort through things today, so after re-watching the game film again, here are a few thoughts I have and some things that stood out to me about the offense from last night's game …
FIRST OF ALL … LOTS and LOTS of penalties last night. More laundry was being thrown around out there than in the entire State of Washington’s football programs’ locker rooms combined. It was freaking Flag Day in Seattle! Sheesh! Admittedly it was going both ways, BUT I think when the game tape is reviewed, the officiating in that game is something that the NFL isn’t going to be particularly happy with.
QUARTERBACKS …
Russell Wilson … looked very much like Russell Wilson. Wilson was 13 for 19, passing for 200 yards and showing great accuracy on several deep passes. He moved around well in the pocket, stepped up to avoid the rush when he had to, and looked very much ready to start the regular season. The one knock I can point to came on a ball that should have been intercepted that was meant for Richardson (I don’t know if that was on Wilson or on Richardson, as the ball was thrown to the inside and Richardson was clearly playing it the other way). All in all though, he looked very much like the vintage Russell Wilson we’re used to seeing.
Trevone Boykin … *Sigh* Where to begin? Well, the Seahawks receivers are still waiting on him to begin, as (unbelievably) he was 0 for 6 on the night. It was amazing -- the announcer at one point talked about Boykin having accuracy problems … as as if on cue, Trevone Boykin at that moment threw high, missing the receiver. It was like that all night long for Boykin, as he was high and off target pretty much every time he put the ball in the air.
I don't want to make too much of one bad game ... or one good game for any player … BUT Boykin IMO came into last night’s game with a chance to really lock up the back-up QB job. What he ended up doing was planting more seeds of doubt.
Austin Davis … Austin Davis is who Austin Davis is -- and you certainly saw it on display last night. He’s a QB who’s very much in that “don’t screw it up” category. He’s not flashy. He’s not going to make WOW plays. He’s just a guy who’s going to execute the offense as it’s scripted, complete high percentage throws, and basically manage the game. YES, he did make a good key throw on that 28 yard TD to Tanner McEvoy … but he’s a game manager. That’s what he is.
To me, last night’s showing by the back-up QB’s did nothing to dissuade Schneider from continuing to look for an established veteran QB to back-up Russell Wilson. As the Preseason winds down, I’d look for him to scour other teams’ potential cuts and it wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever to see him pull off another trade.
WIDE RECEIVERS …
Jermaine Kearse … reminded fans why he’s on this team (and is going to remain on this team). During Seattle’s 2nd Drive in the 1st Quarter, Kearse made a spectacular contested grab of a Russell Wilson pass for a big 39 yard gain with the defender right there in his hip pocket. Sure he’ll frustrate by dropping his share, but then he’ll make great plays like that.
Tanner McEvoy … McEvoy made 2 very good grabs late in the 4th Quarter during the battle of the backups. He made a nice slant catch across the middle for a 15 yard pickup … and then (of course) the 28 yard leaping catch for the TD. As nice as that admittedly is, I believe the guy I'm going to talk about next has the edge on him.
J.D. McKissic … To me, J.D. McKissic was perhaps THE STORY of the night. And that’s not just purely for the numbers and his overall performance (which I thought was outstanding) … but moreso for the the way that McKissic was being used that made me sit up and take notice. Honestly, J.D. McKissic is a virtual swiss army knife of a player that fulfills a ton of roles on this team -- and that just might make him indispensable in the end. What am I talking about? Let me show you …
What really stood out to me about McKissic was the diversity of roles that you saw him playing in.
McKissic was targeted twice, catching those 2 passes for 21 yards, including an 11 yard completion from Russell Wilson in the 2nd Quarter.
But then the Hawks ALSO decided to put him in there at running back and I was like, “What the heck are they doing THAT for?” Then it hit me all of a sudden -- McKissic was for all intents and purposes in basically the exact same role as C.J. Prosise was last year. We haven’t seen Prosise all training camp long, so the thought occurred to me, “What if they’re not sure if they’ll see Prosise at all this season? What if they’re seeing if McKissic could fill that same basic exact role?” If Prosise ends up being put on IR to start the season … they may envision McKissic as being someone who could potentially be that dual receiving/rushing threat on the field. And he did well, as he ended up with 7 Rushes for 46 yards … including a 15 yard scamper late in the game.
To top it off, the Hawks also had McKissic in there on Kickoff Returns and returning Punts as well. He had a nice 27 yard kickoff return to open up the 2nd Half … and a 12 yard return of a Punt early in the 2nd Quarter. That again brought to mind our return game and the fact that we have yet to see “No E” grace the field yet this Preseason. If the Hawks are unsure about their return game with Lockett coming back from injury, their use of McKissic in that role (coupled with all the questions surrounding Prosise) may be an indication that they are strongly considering him for that final receiver spot.
Amara Darboh ... It was encouraging to me to see Darboh get out there once again. Unfortunately what stood out to me about Darboh's game was ... [sound of crickets] Exactly. He didn't exactly set the world on fire. Now to be fair, the one pass that was catchable was knocked away by a great defensive play by the DB ... and the other one was sailed out of bounds by Boykin. I hate to say it about this kid because I LOVE his story ... I LOVE who he was at Michigan and see a lot of big play potential in him ... but I believe in the end he's on his way to getting cut. Hopefully the Hawks can sneak him onto the practice squad because I think that's where he's going to end up if he ends up not being snatched away by another WR hungry team like the Jets or the Browns.
RUNNING GAME …
Chris Carson … Chris Carson was one player whom Pete Carroll absolutely fell in love with during the Pre-Draft process. Since the draft and the start of training camp, Carson has done nothing to dampen that infatuation. The tough running style, consistently getting YAC, the shiftiness, great vision and ability to hit the holes quickly, the explosive burst, great hands, great blocking -- all of that has continued to show up during all of training camp and into the Preseason games against other teams FIRST UNIT defenses. That continued last night, as in a lot of ways it was the Chris Carson show. Carson was in there right in 1st Half putting up quality numbers against a very stout Chiefs defense. In addition to that, he had a BEAUTIFUL 37 yard reception downfield from Russell Wilson in the 1st Quarter as well. Carson isn’t just making this team … he’s going to see playing time when it actually matters this season.
Eddie Lacy … Though he had only limited duty last night, Lacy showed that he still can play. Lacy had a nice run off right tackle (Ifedi actually did a nice job of walling off his man on that play) for 11 yards in the 1st Quarter … and he had a nice rumble in the 2nd Quarter that came just shy of the goal line. The Hawks had him out of there after that series, but I believe he showed enough to give Hawks fans hope that their running game will be back to normal smash mouth levels in 2017.
OFFENSIVE LINE …
Rees Odhiambo … With George Fant going down, perhaps the biggest question mark of all for me (and a lot of fans) was, “What was going to happen with the Left Tackle spot?” Well, I don’t know if he’s going to end up being the full time answer or not, but I’d say that Odhiambo’s performance last night left coaches and fans alike with an overall positive taste in their mouths. Going up against the Chiefs 1st Unit Defense he got decent push in the run game and mirrored his man fairly well in the passing game, He wasn’t dominant by any means (as he got pushed back on a couple of runs) and he allowed the only sack of the game, as he whiffed on a Chris Jones swim move. But other than that, in general, I’d have to say that Odhiambo did well.
All in all, I’d have to say agree with Atylla in saying, “The offensive line as a whole wasn’t a dumpster fire.” It’s a pretty well known fact that both offenses and defenses are fairly vanilla during the Preseason. Teams usually don’t want to show their bag of tricks, so generally you won’t see a lot of stunts and defensive coordinators trying to incite confusion with formations or pre-snap movement.
That said, I feel after watching this unit as a whole that they ARE improved from last season. Are they going to be a top 10 Offensive Line? Probably not … but then again, they don’t have to be. As long as this unit ends up showing marginal improvement -- ends up ranking (say somewhere in that 18-24 range) … to me if they do that, with a healthy Russell Wilson that has his mobility back again, this offense is going to be fairly deadly. Watching this Offensive Line as a whole last night, I felt like that is a pretty realistic expectation this season.
It's taking me some time to sort through things today, so after re-watching the game film again, here are a few thoughts I have and some things that stood out to me about the offense from last night's game …
FIRST OF ALL … LOTS and LOTS of penalties last night. More laundry was being thrown around out there than in the entire State of Washington’s football programs’ locker rooms combined. It was freaking Flag Day in Seattle! Sheesh! Admittedly it was going both ways, BUT I think when the game tape is reviewed, the officiating in that game is something that the NFL isn’t going to be particularly happy with.
QUARTERBACKS …
Russell Wilson … looked very much like Russell Wilson. Wilson was 13 for 19, passing for 200 yards and showing great accuracy on several deep passes. He moved around well in the pocket, stepped up to avoid the rush when he had to, and looked very much ready to start the regular season. The one knock I can point to came on a ball that should have been intercepted that was meant for Richardson (I don’t know if that was on Wilson or on Richardson, as the ball was thrown to the inside and Richardson was clearly playing it the other way). All in all though, he looked very much like the vintage Russell Wilson we’re used to seeing.
Trevone Boykin … *Sigh* Where to begin? Well, the Seahawks receivers are still waiting on him to begin, as (unbelievably) he was 0 for 6 on the night. It was amazing -- the announcer at one point talked about Boykin having accuracy problems … as as if on cue, Trevone Boykin at that moment threw high, missing the receiver. It was like that all night long for Boykin, as he was high and off target pretty much every time he put the ball in the air.
I don't want to make too much of one bad game ... or one good game for any player … BUT Boykin IMO came into last night’s game with a chance to really lock up the back-up QB job. What he ended up doing was planting more seeds of doubt.
Austin Davis … Austin Davis is who Austin Davis is -- and you certainly saw it on display last night. He’s a QB who’s very much in that “don’t screw it up” category. He’s not flashy. He’s not going to make WOW plays. He’s just a guy who’s going to execute the offense as it’s scripted, complete high percentage throws, and basically manage the game. YES, he did make a good key throw on that 28 yard TD to Tanner McEvoy … but he’s a game manager. That’s what he is.
To me, last night’s showing by the back-up QB’s did nothing to dissuade Schneider from continuing to look for an established veteran QB to back-up Russell Wilson. As the Preseason winds down, I’d look for him to scour other teams’ potential cuts and it wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever to see him pull off another trade.
WIDE RECEIVERS …
Jermaine Kearse … reminded fans why he’s on this team (and is going to remain on this team). During Seattle’s 2nd Drive in the 1st Quarter, Kearse made a spectacular contested grab of a Russell Wilson pass for a big 39 yard gain with the defender right there in his hip pocket. Sure he’ll frustrate by dropping his share, but then he’ll make great plays like that.
Tanner McEvoy … McEvoy made 2 very good grabs late in the 4th Quarter during the battle of the backups. He made a nice slant catch across the middle for a 15 yard pickup … and then (of course) the 28 yard leaping catch for the TD. As nice as that admittedly is, I believe the guy I'm going to talk about next has the edge on him.
J.D. McKissic … To me, J.D. McKissic was perhaps THE STORY of the night. And that’s not just purely for the numbers and his overall performance (which I thought was outstanding) … but moreso for the the way that McKissic was being used that made me sit up and take notice. Honestly, J.D. McKissic is a virtual swiss army knife of a player that fulfills a ton of roles on this team -- and that just might make him indispensable in the end. What am I talking about? Let me show you …
What really stood out to me about McKissic was the diversity of roles that you saw him playing in.
McKissic was targeted twice, catching those 2 passes for 21 yards, including an 11 yard completion from Russell Wilson in the 2nd Quarter.
But then the Hawks ALSO decided to put him in there at running back and I was like, “What the heck are they doing THAT for?” Then it hit me all of a sudden -- McKissic was for all intents and purposes in basically the exact same role as C.J. Prosise was last year. We haven’t seen Prosise all training camp long, so the thought occurred to me, “What if they’re not sure if they’ll see Prosise at all this season? What if they’re seeing if McKissic could fill that same basic exact role?” If Prosise ends up being put on IR to start the season … they may envision McKissic as being someone who could potentially be that dual receiving/rushing threat on the field. And he did well, as he ended up with 7 Rushes for 46 yards … including a 15 yard scamper late in the game.
To top it off, the Hawks also had McKissic in there on Kickoff Returns and returning Punts as well. He had a nice 27 yard kickoff return to open up the 2nd Half … and a 12 yard return of a Punt early in the 2nd Quarter. That again brought to mind our return game and the fact that we have yet to see “No E” grace the field yet this Preseason. If the Hawks are unsure about their return game with Lockett coming back from injury, their use of McKissic in that role (coupled with all the questions surrounding Prosise) may be an indication that they are strongly considering him for that final receiver spot.
Amara Darboh ... It was encouraging to me to see Darboh get out there once again. Unfortunately what stood out to me about Darboh's game was ... [sound of crickets] Exactly. He didn't exactly set the world on fire. Now to be fair, the one pass that was catchable was knocked away by a great defensive play by the DB ... and the other one was sailed out of bounds by Boykin. I hate to say it about this kid because I LOVE his story ... I LOVE who he was at Michigan and see a lot of big play potential in him ... but I believe in the end he's on his way to getting cut. Hopefully the Hawks can sneak him onto the practice squad because I think that's where he's going to end up if he ends up not being snatched away by another WR hungry team like the Jets or the Browns.
RUNNING GAME …
Chris Carson … Chris Carson was one player whom Pete Carroll absolutely fell in love with during the Pre-Draft process. Since the draft and the start of training camp, Carson has done nothing to dampen that infatuation. The tough running style, consistently getting YAC, the shiftiness, great vision and ability to hit the holes quickly, the explosive burst, great hands, great blocking -- all of that has continued to show up during all of training camp and into the Preseason games against other teams FIRST UNIT defenses. That continued last night, as in a lot of ways it was the Chris Carson show. Carson was in there right in 1st Half putting up quality numbers against a very stout Chiefs defense. In addition to that, he had a BEAUTIFUL 37 yard reception downfield from Russell Wilson in the 1st Quarter as well. Carson isn’t just making this team … he’s going to see playing time when it actually matters this season.
Eddie Lacy … Though he had only limited duty last night, Lacy showed that he still can play. Lacy had a nice run off right tackle (Ifedi actually did a nice job of walling off his man on that play) for 11 yards in the 1st Quarter … and he had a nice rumble in the 2nd Quarter that came just shy of the goal line. The Hawks had him out of there after that series, but I believe he showed enough to give Hawks fans hope that their running game will be back to normal smash mouth levels in 2017.
OFFENSIVE LINE …
Rees Odhiambo … With George Fant going down, perhaps the biggest question mark of all for me (and a lot of fans) was, “What was going to happen with the Left Tackle spot?” Well, I don’t know if he’s going to end up being the full time answer or not, but I’d say that Odhiambo’s performance last night left coaches and fans alike with an overall positive taste in their mouths. Going up against the Chiefs 1st Unit Defense he got decent push in the run game and mirrored his man fairly well in the passing game, He wasn’t dominant by any means (as he got pushed back on a couple of runs) and he allowed the only sack of the game, as he whiffed on a Chris Jones swim move. But other than that, in general, I’d have to say that Odhiambo did well.
All in all, I’d have to say agree with Atylla in saying, “The offensive line as a whole wasn’t a dumpster fire.” It’s a pretty well known fact that both offenses and defenses are fairly vanilla during the Preseason. Teams usually don’t want to show their bag of tricks, so generally you won’t see a lot of stunts and defensive coordinators trying to incite confusion with formations or pre-snap movement.
That said, I feel after watching this unit as a whole that they ARE improved from last season. Are they going to be a top 10 Offensive Line? Probably not … but then again, they don’t have to be. As long as this unit ends up showing marginal improvement -- ends up ranking (say somewhere in that 18-24 range) … to me if they do that, with a healthy Russell Wilson that has his mobility back again, this offense is going to be fairly deadly. Watching this Offensive Line as a whole last night, I felt like that is a pretty realistic expectation this season.
