WR Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas - likely PC/JS pick?

MontanaHawk05

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It makes me nervous that Wilson's having to scramble so much because his wide receivers aren't getting open (big issue against SF, as others have pointed out, although it obviously wasn't a problem). But Pete Carroll doesn't give a damn what I think, and so far he's had no reason to. If he were interested in a short timing passing game involving crisp, precise route-runners, he wouldn't have drafted Golden Tate as his first big WR. Or Russell Wilson, for that matter, as Wilson's not going to be seeing all the up-close stuff as well as Brady or Manning can. So as much as I'd like Wilson to have options at every level of the field, I somehow doubt that falls in line with Pete's priorities.

One thing that I'll bet PC and I would agree on, though, is this offense's lack of a deep threat. The acquisitions of Kris Durham and Ricardo Lockette, both burners and little more, plus (perhaps) this front office's inability to part with Deon Butler for longer than a month, suggests that PC is still looking for someone who can threaten downfield. That would only help things more upfront, give our runners (RB or otherwise) an extra couple of yards or so, draw away defenders from shorter zones, maybe give Doug Baldwin a little more room to work his slot magic. Makes me think that this will be a prime factor for Pete when he goes plumbing through the college tapes.

Now throw in the fact that the Green Bay drafting formula that John Schneider marinated in likes to find its WR value in the 2nd and 3rd rounds (Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Randall Cobb, and now Golden Tate, all from the #36-78 pick range since 2006), throw in all the other earmarks of PC's preferences at wide receivers, and who besides Brandon Coleman (I doubt he declares, or gets out of the first round if he does) jumps out at you?

Cobi Hamilton of Arkansas has had consistently solid production this year, and PC's gotta love his YPA - it's averaged 17.2 through four years of college. He's really risen to the challenge as the Razorbacks' top receiver in his senior year (1,335 yards, 5 TDs).

I'm only reading scouting reports at this point, but they're pretty consistent and they seem to point to Pete Carroll. 6'3" and good at using it to his advantage. Red-zone threat. Physical and aggressive with the football, a huge plus for this team. Good leaper, hands-catcher, decent in traffic with a wide catch radius. Sneaky-good at YAC, natural body control. Able to track, adjust to, and shield balls from defenders. Willing downfield blocker. Known as a big-play producer. So far, so Seattle.

As far as speed, it's decent for his frame (4.5) but doesn't make him a true burner. He's a "build-up speed" guy downfield once he gets a few steps. It's been enough to force college defenses to respect him as a deep threat - his best separation seems to occur there, and his YPA backs it up.

The things that hold him back seem to match up with the things that Pete Carroll doesn't care about. Again, his initial speed isn't explosive. He won't get a lot of separation on short routes, at least in his first couple seasons. The majority of his routes at Arkansas have been either deep downfield or crossing routes, drags, and curls. It's a limited route tree and that seems to be the big reservation with scouts, but it fits Seattle fairly well. Darell Bevell runs a lot of these with Rice and Baldwin, and Russell Wilson is the kind of QB who can easily buy time for Hamilton to break open on a deep post. And Hamilton sounds like he'll do a good job validating those deep sideline prayers that Wilson puts up for Tate.

Reading the scouting reports, I was struck by how much he sounded like a bigger, slightly less nimble version of Golden Tate, right down to the bewildered tone from scouts who wonder how he gets so much YAC. There's some inconsistency in aspects of his game like burst and lateral explosion, but this team managed to beat the inconsistency out of Tate and they're sure not reliant on Hamilton being the complete package in year one.

The wide catch radius and size, on the other hand, remind me of a slightly faster Mike Williams with a more natural feel for deep routes. Or maybe I'm a complete idiot when it comes to scouting. But I do think it's telling that he draws quick comparisons to two recent Seattle receivers whom Carroll went for. Good physical qualities, good matchups with our offense's priorities, room to develop. Could be very PC.

After satisfying scouts who were waiting to see how he'd handle the #1 job at Arkansas, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Hamilton drafted by Seattle with their late second pick. Maaaybe even early or mid-second if we trade back from late first.
 
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MontanaHawk05

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Scottemojo":3k0d4p88 said:
Think unique talents. Does he have them?

Very droll, but Pete does have established preferences on offense in addition to his philosophy of "find weird freaks and build around them". Hamilton, on first glance, seems to fit a lot of them, plus bringing an element (downfield threat) that he's been seeking for a while.
 

kearly

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Nothing about Hamilton is unique. He's a pretty nice WR to have though. I was a fan of his when he was a 500+ yard WR. This year he exploded for 1300+ during an otherwise nightmarish season for the Razorbacks. He looks the part of an NFL WR, catches well (for a body catcher) and has good speed after the catch.

This is looking like a loaded FA class at WR and there could be 10+ WRs this year that carry round 1-2 grades. And I bet JS already figured this out last year when he poo-poo'd last year's celebrated WR class.
 
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MontanaHawk05

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There's nothing terribly unique about Sidney Rice or Doug Baldwin either (except for his small stature). They're just good receivers.
 

Scottemojo

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MontanaHawk05":3d1c69aq said:
There's nothing terribly unique about Sidney Rice or Doug Baldwin either (except for his small stature). They're just good receivers.
I disagree. I think all three of our receivers share one unique quality: Superior body control.
 
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MontanaHawk05

MontanaHawk05

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Scottemojo":3jefoj8f said:
MontanaHawk05":3jefoj8f said:
There's nothing terribly unique about Sidney Rice or Doug Baldwin either (except for his small stature). They're just good receivers.
I disagree. I think all three of our receivers share one unique quality: Superior body control.

That's something you always want in a WR. Plus it's something Cobi has.
 

kearly

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If Seattle is looking for unique, then I'd expect Coleman, Patterson, and Austin to top their draft board.

I agree with Montana though, I don't think uniqueness is ever a requirement, it's just a plus thing to have. Our WR corps are filled with fairly standard WR types. Golden Tate is the only one of them that I'd consider unique.
 

Scottemojo

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kearly":1zegl9hd said:
If Seattle is looking for unique, then I'd expect Coleman, Patterson, and Austin to top their draft board.

I agree with Montana though, I don't think uniqueness is ever a requirement, it's just a plus thing to have. Our WR corps are filled with fairly standard WR types. Golden Tate is the only one of them that I'd consider unique.

I think unique applies after the premium picks are gone. They want big tough hands catchers if they have their druthers, with speed being the unique skill they hope to get.

But I could see Austin if they think he presents enough of a matchup issue.
 

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Scottemojo":5xbwyoml said:
MontanaHawk05":5xbwyoml said:
There's nothing terribly unique about Sidney Rice or Doug Baldwin either (except for his small stature). They're just good receivers.
I disagree. I think all three of our receivers share one unique quality: Superior body control.

Does superior body control fall under Jump ball ability? Because I think this is something that all our receivers have too.
 

kearly

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Scottemojo":1tq4yh88 said:
I think unique applies after the premium picks are gone.

Agreed. When it comes to the top 25 picks or so, JS's draft board was strikingly similar in 2012 to other teams who revealed their big boards.
 

kearly

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hawksfan515":24arc6ao said:
Does superior body control fall under Jump ball ability? Because I think this is something that all our receivers have too.

Body control is one thing, but I actually rate Baldwin and Tate very poorly at high pointing. Their lack of height and jumping ability doesn't help, but in Tate's case he just looks lost when trying to locate the ball and ensure he has better positioning than the defender. It amuses me that he's had some huge jump ball victories this season given that he often handles it so poorly.

As much as I like Austin, I suspect he wouldn't be a major consideration because while he does give Seattle a big play x-factor, he doesn't address Seattle's two biggest needs at WR. The first of those needs is having another legit jump ball WR in addition to Rice. The second of those needs is having a savvy route runner who can force himself open and make those days of Wilson holding the ball for 18 seconds (literally) nothing more than a memory. Wes Welker and Danny Amendola are among the best in the NFL in this latter category, and both could be unrestricted free agents this spring.
 

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kearly":1h3m00pj said:
hawksfan515":1h3m00pj said:
Does superior body control fall under Jump ball ability? Because I think this is something that all our receivers have too.

Body control is one thing, but I actually rate Baldwin and Tate very poorly at high pointing. Their lack of height and jumping ability doesn't help, but in Tate's case he just looks lost when trying to locate the ball and ensure he has better positioning than the defender. It amuses me that he's had some huge jump ball victories this season given that he often handles it so poorly.

As much as I like Austin, I suspect he wouldn't be a major consideration because while he does give Seattle a big play x-factor, he doesn't address Seattle's two biggest needs at WR. The first of those needs is having another legit jump ball WR in addition to Rice. The second of those needs is having a savvy route runner who can force himself open and make those days of Wilson holding the ball for 18 seconds (literally) nothing more than a memory. Wes Welker and Danny Amendola are among the best in the NFL in this latter category, and both could be unrestricted free agents this spring.

Really? I thought Tate was elite at winning jump ball situations. Shows how much I know.

Just for reference, what would you call the TD catch he made against the Jets? I thought that was a kinda good play in a jumpball situation (If i recall the play correctly though, the CB played it horribly). And the magnificent catch he made right before halftime at the Miami game was more body control, correct?
 

kearly

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I would call it the one well timed play he's made this year. On most of them he doesn't go far enough downfield and ends up playing the defender (or steals simultaneous possession in one infamous case). Watch that Golden-Gate play again and notice how much higher, better timed, and better positioned Jennings' leap is. In fairness, Tate had to hustle a little and push a guy over just to get there, so that example is a smidge unfair. But most of his jump balls this season have looked like that- out of position, catching the ball on the way down, and having the corner on him being in better position or getting higher than Tate does.

Baldwin is only a little better. The difference between Rice and the other two guys is night and day when it comes to high pointing the ball. Rice has a huge advantage to begin with considering his height and length, but he has better technique too. Rice is a natural hands catcher and both Baldwin and Tate tend to body catch a lot- which is another reason Rice is so clearly superior as a jump ball WR. Rice gets pretty high on his jump and does a great job catching the ball at the top of it.

In fairness to Tate, he partially makes up for his jump ball deficiency by having outstanding hands, body control, and (ironically) concentration on those deep passes. I don't personally rate him highly as a deep threat, but he more than makes up for it with his YAC and dependability on short/intermediate passing.
 

hawksfansinceday1

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kearly":3tzwvmrd said:
.................Wes Welker and Danny Amendola are among the best in the NFL in this latter category, and both could be unrestricted free agents this spring.
I absolutely love Amendola Kip and he would fly way further under the radar than Welker (thus cheaper). Is he younger too? And more importantly, enlighten me on how he'd be different than Baldwin.
 

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I think if the Hawks got Amendola he'd almost be as popular as Russell Wilson. Seems like a Seattle cult-hero waiting to happen. I doubt Fisher let's him go but if things didn't work out with the Rams I think it'd be an excellent addition for the Hawks, obviously.
 

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hawksfansinceday1":2d3flo2v said:
kearly":2d3flo2v said:
.................Wes Welker and Danny Amendola are among the best in the NFL in this latter category, and both could be unrestricted free agents this spring.
I absolutely love Amendola Kip and he would fly way further under the radar than Welker (thus cheaper). Is he younger too? And more importantly, enlighten me on how he'd be different than Baldwin.


Danny Amendola is 27 years old, with a bit of an injury history though, that's holding him back from a big contract.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4991/danny-amendola

Impending free agent Danny Amendola said he wants to return to the Rams.
The Rams would like to have their slot receiver and Sam Bradford security blanket back as well. Amendola, 27, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason after playing 2012 on a one-year deal. He certainly holds a ton of value to the St. Louis offense, but durability concerns have ravaged his career to this point. The Rams will have to weigh the factors and make a decision.

Says he wants to return to the Rams though. If we got Danny Amendola..... :3: :3:
 

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