757Niner":36lqcnku said:
Just as funny seeing 'Hawks fans all giddy about FA signings, thinking the Super Bowl is won in March. All excited by the addition of a guy like Avril, a pass-rusher that has been dominated by the weakest link on our O-Line(Davis), two years running. Grasping at straws about our newly acquired players when nothing could be further from the truth. Fun times right?
For starters, I don't recall claiming the Super Bowl
was won in March. And I don't think any fans on this board, aside from obvious jest, truly believe the Seahawks have secured next season's title based on their moves in the past few days.
However, you'd have to be a complete homer to suggest the moves Seattle made won't significantly bolster what was already a pretty strong team. Kudos to Anthony Davis for playing well in two games against Avril. Davis is a fine offensive tackle and could play the blind side easily in my view. Had Eric Berry dropped to #6 for Seattle in 2010, I think there's every chance the Seahawks would've moved up to make sure they got Davis with their other first round pick (assuming Okung was gone).
But you know what? Even if Avril sucks twice against you guys next season, he might still be a terrific signing. I don't recall Chris Clemons having a major impact in the 42-13 beat down. Avril will play the LEO so he's going to line up against Joe Staley exclusively. If Staley wins that battle in the same way Davis won, then it still won't necessarily be a determining factor in our two games in 2013.
Against other teams though, Avril could still have a lot of success. The LEO position is designed to be favourable to Avril's skill set. He should prosper overall.
As for the other two guys, Bennett will probably line up all over the place and I'm excited to see how he fits in. It's going to be difficult in obvious passing situations for teams to block a rush of Bennett, Avril and Irvin with potentially Clemons coming back into the mix too. Harvin is a flat out playmaker. If he'd joined San Francisco instead, I can honestly say I'd be petrified and would've congratulated you guys. There aren't many guys like Percy out there. And if you're being truly honest, you'll admit that he's far better than any player we could've wished to draft at #25. A lot of people point to the injuries (not as bad as feared) and character (people said the same about Lynch, Carroll seems to be able to control these guys). We have a lot of background with Harvin given Bevell worked with him in Minnesota and Carroll recruited the heck out of him. That gives me confidence.
At the same time, it looks to me like you guys are putting a lot of faith in the draft. You've lost some good players. I hate the idea of Dorsey as a nose tackle. Dahl is crappy, sorry but he is. I get he probably won't start. I've always been a Boldin fan but remind me when he last had a regular season where he showed up like he did in the playoffs? I fear he'll go back to being what he always was in Baltimore -- a big possession guy who doesn't really threaten you all that much. I think you had an elite possession receiver already in Crabtree. I think what you need is a couple of burner's given Kaep's got the arm to make it happen. You talk about Avril getting beat by Anthony Davis... have a look at Boldin's numbers the last time he met our secondary.
Dashon Goldson is a big loss and I didn't like your secondary anyway before he moved on. Justin Smith is 34 this year and even if he's back to his dominating best in 2013, he won't last forever. I think you'll admit your defense suffered quite a bit without him.
Now maybe you have the draft to end all drafts? But either way, the onus is on you guys now to keep re-tooling and get younger on the DL and in the secondary, while also finding a couple more weapons on defense. Plus you're going to have some expensive re-signs coming up (like us, I appreciate that).
Compare this to us. From 2012 we've got two starters... TWO... who are free agents. Alan Branch and Leroy Hill. That's it. We might even still re-sign Branch. If not, that's two holes to fill with eight draft picks or whatever else we do in free agency. As a cumulative, we've significantly improved our roster in the last seven days. You guys have weakened yours. And the draft will be very important for you.
So that's why Seahawks fans are feeling pretty good about life right now. It doesn't mean we'll beat you twice, win the NFC West or the Super Bowl. But right now I don't think anyone can argue that we've made improvements and you've got work to do before the summer.