FlyingGreg":fznw4fzx said:
But here we are...looking at 10-6/11-5 if some things go REALLY well but certainly 9-7 at the least, I would suspect. Considering all of the above factors, is that a travesty? A lot of people want to contrast us with the 49ers, but we are not on the same point of the rebuild arc as San Francisco is. The 49ers are loaded with upper-level talent because they were bad for a long time and collected a lot of top draft picks that enabled them to draft the cornerstones of their team. The Seahawks, however, are usually in that middle-of-the-road status and have not had the same ability to ascend as quickly (IMO). This by know means is meant to take a shot at the 49ers - I give them credit for building that team, but let's be fair - they have had a LOT of ammunition to do it. The decade of poor performance before Harbaugh arrived was fertile ground for them to acquire the likes of Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith.
Just wondering aloud, boys and girls...fire away.
Great post, Greg. And one other thing should be noted. We haven't had the same access to top draft picks as the 49ers have over the years, but even absent that fact, we have to recognize that we had a stretch where the drafts just turned out terribly. Sure, they might have looked okay on first glance, but there was a lot of drop-off. Holmgren's drafts continually left our defense struggling. Ruskell landed us Tatupu and Hill early on, and that seemed to buy him a lot of rope from fans (myself included). But after that first draft, there were a TON of picks that never really panned out (especially in the 1st round). So when Carroll and company took over, that was one bare cupboard they inherited.
And that seems to be a wrinkle that gets glossed over by people who are flabbergasted by how long the rebuild is taking. They'll point to quick turnarounds by this or that team, but fail to consider that those quick turnarounds often had to do with adding a couple of key players and/or adding new leadership. Those quick turnarounds NEVER involved the level of roster turnover and culture change that have occurred and are occurring in Seattle. Considering how young our roster is, and how Carroll and Schneider have really torn this thing down and started from scratch, the Seahawks could almost be considered an expansion club in some ways. We had some veteran leadership in 2010 help us transition into the new regime, but nearly all of it departed over the course of the next two years. Now, out of the guys on the team, only 8 pre-date Carroll/Schneider (Obomanu, Unger, Morrah, Bryant, Mebane, Hill, Tru, Ryan). It's like we've gone from a tricycle to a bike with training wheels, and now we've finally taken the training wheels off and we're starting to learn how to really ride. Racing comes next (yeah, I know, weird metaphor, but it's early).