Hawkscanner's Post-Game Thoughts-Hawks-Chiefs Wk3 (OFFENSE)

[Seahawkfan80]

I was also curious to get your guys' impressions regarding what I wrote about Trevone Boykin. To me, he came in there with a real chance Friday night to erase existing doubts about him being this team's backup QB. He ended up doing the exact opposite -- he dumped industrial fertilizer all over those seeds of doubt.

Now more than ever, I just foresee Schneider really beginning to amp things up, starting to scan other teams roster and look for who might possibly get cut (or is on the bubble) and might fit in here. I anticipate a possible trade for a veteran QB coming in the very near future.

My question though ... is WHO? Honestly if you think about it, one of most valuable commodities out there ... is a competent veteran back-up QB. There aren't a whole ton around. For that reason alone, a trade may not happen, but you know darned well that if the Hawks find what they perceive is a better option, they will jump on it.

Thoughts?

Boykin.....hmmm.....I was thinking he had cemented his spot after the first preseason game. He did it all and did it successfully. But his arse was on the line. The second game his butt was not on the line as much as he had proven capability and then this third game, again his butt was not on the line per se, but he did need to produce. But I dont think he knew that. He may be a pressure player that needs focus on skillsets all the time to make him operate successfully. For example, I golf. I do my best golf when I do a procedure and focus on all aspects of that procedure. If I get sloppy, the ball gets sloppy and goes where it wants to. Stay true to the technical aspects and I produce. He may need to go back to the technical aspects as tho he was fighting for his job as a backup and thereby light a fire under him to produce.

McKissic....yep. I agree that he is becoming a swiss army knife but moreso a Leatherman. He produces and is a tad tougher then they expect. He gets those extra yards and is not afraid of taking a lump or 2. You mentioned not seeing Prosise and Lockett...and I agree that their rehab may be taking a bit longer. Remember when Rawls came back, he probably came back too early and then proceeded to get injured by in my estimate protecting the old injured area. That is a fault everyone does. Given that we have one more practice game on Thursday, I hope to see a lot more of McKissic and if there is another returner or special teams player available to take on that position, I would like to see that happen. McKissic is going to be on this roster as a multitasker. I think he is a known quantity... and worthy of it. Jack of all trades that can be a master of a few of them.

Thanks for the writeup Hawkscanner.

 

[capncrunch]

Excellent post Hawkscanner. I think Pete likes to use guys in preseason who are expendable and can allow him to keep the likes of Prosise, Rawls. Lockett, etc. off the field. He has already lost his starting LT for the season. I personally anticipate a very successful season for Prosise. I would like to see McKissic handling returns for a while rather than Lockett. Maybe we'll see somebody else get a chance to do it in PS game 4. What I don't want to see is Richard Sherman returning punts as he did a little bit last year, so if keeping a mediocre journeyman like McKIssic around can prevent that I'm cool with keeping him.

I'm encouraged but not excited about what Lacy's performance. I think he'll be a good pounder with some more reps. Last week I said Boykin > Davis. This week of course I am saying Davis > Boykin. They will both get plenty of action if week 4 so we'll see. I like the idea of a trade, but don't have any suggestions either. I guess I'd like an athletic/smallish Boykin/Wilson body type with decent accuracy. I am hoping to see some more Darbo in game 4. Hopefully he can show us something. The Michiagan highlights blew me away.

 

[HawkGA]

First off, thanks for the write up. It's always fun to read takes on the game.

On McKissic, am I the only one who isn't sold on him? I agree with your take about him filling the Procise role, but I'm looking at him as a returner to take pressure off Lockett and I'm not impressed. He catches punts and then hesitates . . . and not for an insignificant amount of time.

 

[IndyHawk]

I like Davis a lot.He stays in pocket and throws bullets if you try to blitz.
Boykin had his chances.I won't be too upset if they kept him.

 

[penihawk]

Great observations and write up. :2thumbs: Here's my thoughts:

1)Wilson was pretty good other than it's frustrating to watch his inability to throw endzone fades for our tall guys to go up and get it. Williams made a great play on a poorly thrown one the week before. Boykin is a schoolyard player and the thought of him having to start a string of games with opposing D's gameplanning would be a disaster! Of the two backups I would take Davis & his game manager abilities/experience.

2)McKissic is definitely a swiss army knife but unfortunately the chinese made version you get at the checkout counter at walmart. It works but just dont ask it to do too much or failure sets in. If we werent in a pickle with a return guy he has no shot at a roster spot IMO.

3)Darboh will either have a season ending injury this week or be cut. I had high hopes for him and may be a guy that just needs a year to get there. Hope we dont lose him before we have a chance to find that out.

4)Rees played better than expected and I hope he can survive out there. The line is far better than last year at this point imo but that aint sayin a hell of alot.

5)RB stable is good this year as long as they are all available. I think Lacy is a guy,much like Lynch, that is better in real games and gets better as the game wears on and the carry total rises. I don't know if he meets expectations sharing time and getting 5-10 carries a game. Carson has special qualities and will be the feature back in this offense down the road.

All in all I think the offense could be and will be much better than last year as long as the injury bug doesn't invade again.

 

[HawkFan72]

Great points on McKissic. It had not clicked with me that they were trying him out in the Prosise role.

 

[StoneCold]

Love reading the analysis since I missed the game. Sounds like we have much promise with a few question marks. I've been wondering lately about Prosise and Rawls. Love them both, but they need to be healthy. I could see us by game 3 having a backfield of Lacy, Carson and McKisic.

I have an irrational love of Kearse. He will be a Hawks his entire career. Let it be written, let it be done.

Just want to say, you guys are very sexy when you talk football. Thanks!

 

[HawkGA]

Anybody know the deal on McKissic? Is he practice squad eligible? I could see trying to put him there while waiting for Procise to get injured.

Similarly, I suspect Darboh goes to the Practice Squad.

 

[Hawkscanner]

Before I get to some of your guys' comments, I just want to say that when I write these kinds of pieces up ... I generally am not looking to advocate for players whom I WANT on the roster. I'm not looking to just give my .02 on whom I think should make the team ... or how a particular player is going to be used. I try to place myself in the mindset of the team (the coaching staff and the Front Office) and view situations the way I believe THEY are viewing things. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

McKissic is definitely a swiss army knife but unfortunately the chinese made version you get at the checkout counter at walmart. It works but just dont ask it to do too much or failure sets in. If we werent in a pickle with a return guy he has no shot at a roster spot IMO.

Now THAT's frickin' funny right there ... and I agree. He may be only a Dollar Store Swiss Army Knife, but I honestly believe that's exactly the lenses that the coaching staff is viewing things through right now. Bingo.

I think you are pretty spot on with Boykin. That was, by far, the worst outing of his career. I don't buy Carroll's comments about receivers not being on the same page. You don't miss that big, that many times, just because the receivers are running different routes.

Part of being a QB is recognizing when a receiver isn't running the right route, and looking for another option. Boykin seems to be doing his best Captain One Read impression, or maybe a no-read impression. He's going to throw it to the spot, whether the receiver has a chance of getting there or not.

Like most pre-season QBs trying to make an impression, he is trying way too hard for the splash, big deep play. He should have approached this game with the same sentiment that he should be approaching regular season games that are well in hand. Just go out, move the chains a couple of times, and give the defense a breather.

TBH I have been pretty impressed with Davis this pre-season. He is doing what you want out of a backup. Nothing flashy, just steady. Protect the ball. Move the chains. Don't lose a game that is already in hand.

I can't imagine we keep two backup QB's. With Davis here, I would probably give him the nod and cut Boykin. I just don't see the kind of progression that would make Boykin worth keeping around.

I can't disagree with you Doc. If the season were to start today ... I'd go with Davis as well.

You know who Boykin is at this point in his career? He's exactly the kind of QB that used to get sent to NFL Europe or to the CFL for seasoning. The dude just needs experience. He needs to start, to start consistently, take his lumps, and learn. That formula worked great for guys like John Kitna. IMO, he just needs 2-3 years to go somewhere (CFL, Arena League, something) ... just learn ... and give the NFL a try again in a couple of years once he's got some game experience under his belt.

 

[FlyingGreg]

Anybody know the deal on McKissic? Is he practice squad eligible? I could see trying to put him there while waiting for Procise to get injured.

Similarly, I suspect Darboh goes to the Practice Squad.

Have to get him through waivers first, which is a gamble.

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/FieldGulls/status/901278655904489472[/tweet]

I can't recall a bigger statistical contrast at the quarterback position.

 

[Ozzy]

Kearse with a spectacular leaping grab?

It was a dime by RW with a defender in Kearse's pocket.

[youtube]_l7PF_gpxyU[/youtube]

Good write up though

*Sigh* ... I think I meant to say spectacular contested catch. Oh well. LOL! Thanks for being my editor in chief on that --
It's been corrected. You're right though, it wasn't just a dime by Russell ... I'd say he got at least .05 back on that one. PERFECTLY thrown pass and execution. That's a much tougher catch than it may look like on the surface to some people.

That was an incredible throw running to his left. Wilson's arm talent is somehow underrated.

 

[Jville]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hawkblogger/status/901870091800764417[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/hawkblogger/status/901875886848221184[/tweet]

 

[LolaRox]

Thanks for the props guys.

I was curious to get your guys' take especially on what I wrote regarding J.D. McKissic. Did any of you happen to notice the same thing I did? That is, not only was McKissic in there as a WR (obviously) ... but what really got my attention was the decision to give him a some snaps at RB!

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why ... and then it hit me -- we haven't seen C.J. Prosise at all this Preseason. They appeared to me to be basically testing McKissic out in the same role Prosise was in last year. Could it be they are thinking of seeing whether or not McKissic could be that dual running/receiving threat? (And he sure looked he had some explosiveness/suddenness to me when he was in there). That would make a lot of sense, especially if they are considering putting Prosise on IR.

Then the decision to have him in there both returning kickoffs and punts. Same exact thing popped into my head about Lockett. Maybe the coaches aren't 100% sure about Lockett's health either. They're seeing if McKissic could perhaps fulfill that role as well.

All of that just made me begin to view McKissic in a whole new light: receiver, running back, kickoff returner, punt returner, special teams coverage guy. WOW! If he could honestly fill in in all those roles, that WOULD make him a real swiss army knife ... and a player that all of a sudden starts to appear pretty darned indispensable. It's why I'm now starting to view him as the leader in the clubhouse for that 6th and final WR spot.

Reactions? Watching that game on Friday night, did any of you guys get the same impression I did?

Yes, I got the same impression, but it isn't a surprise. Pete has said that he is very intrigued by his versatility/flexibility and he thinks McKissic can play RB/WR and be a returner. Pete stated early in camp that they were going to use him in all 3 positions and now that it seems they aren't going to rush Lockett back to returning duties, McKissic has a real chance at making the final 53 (at least to begin the season).

 

[CamanoIslandJQ]

A few of my thoughts:

(1) If McKissic is to be considered in a similar vein as Procise, as in a Swiss army knife capable of playing both RB & WR roles, why is Procise on the roster as a RB and McKissic as a WR? If McKissic is considered as a RB (like Procise) then WR-McEvoy could be retained as a WR. McKissic just needs to continue his positive progress and he could very well take Procise's roster spot, if Procise is IR'ed (or traded). McKissic could end up being the 4-th/5-th RB on the roster and it sounds like his coaches are pretty positive on his overall abilities and versatility.

(2) Seems to me, Boykin was being thrown to the wolves a bit by DB's play calling, perhaps DB thought he was testing Boykin on trying all those consecutive long passes to simulate a late game comeback for a win as backups should be able to do??? IMO, Boykin, in a more "normally called" game play situation can and has produced fairly well. Boykin doesn't call his own plays, they come in from the sidelines and Boykin had to run the plays as called for him by DB with a bunch of mostly rookie receivers in a sloppy preseason game full of flags. In a more "normal" offense, Boykin has shown he can be adequate and Davis is still a bit of an unknown commodity. I think Boykin will slightly edge out Davis for a roster spot this year, however I'm not counting Davis out just yet. If Boykin has another crappy game Thursday, things could still very well go Davis's way.

(3) I noticed, especially in the 1-st half with starters in the game, that the running game seemed a lot more productive running to the right side of the line. That may have been because the more experienced OL is on that side? Something I'm going to be monitoring as the season goes along. I thought Obi did pretty well overall and he has room for some significant improvement, hopefully the whole OL stays healthy this year, RW needs a break from his normal escape mode so he can concentrate on becoming this years MVP (my hot take for this year).

(4) The competition at RB and WR are actually good things, as in always compete and win forever. Whomever wins those position battles will have a lot of impact in the win/loss column. I think the Seahawks have an overabundance of decent quality players to chose from at both positions, so I can see a trade coming for at least one of the players in those position groups. Any future trade, IMO would most likely be for a DL/or/OL player - or draft pick(s).

(5) Kearse is a conundrum, McEvoy is likely valid for the last WR spot on the roster, but does Kearse have to be cut/traded to enable McEvoy to survive? Right now I'm liking McEvoy more than Kearse, so I know what I'd do if I had to make that call. The next few weeks should be "interesting" on the trade front.

:smilingalien:

 

[jammerhawk]

Thanks for the post Hawkscanner.

Was pleased with the OLine, save for the penalties; and appreciate the miscommunication issue between Odi and Joeckel happens but will occur less with them playing more. Odi played well and will be just fine replacing Fant. The right side of the line is still a work in progress.

The running game will be strong, and not subject to being held hostage to unavailability of regularly unavailable players. I totally love what Carson is showing, what a find!

Unlike you I'm not that high on McIssic who I don't think makes the cut, but may be kept on the PS if he clears waivers.

Am thinking the team has been playing it 'slow' in terms of their real O as we haven't seen several key players on the field yet, or those that are clearly on the team have been sparingly used. The O we've seen seems somewhat dumbed down to me.

Kearse will be kept, much the chagrin of the many haters here. I will be disappointed if McEvoy is not kept. Something creative will need to happen with Darboh to redshirt him if the team still wishes to see if he will mature into an NFL WR, otherwise he's a cut, if the competition mantra means anything. Kasen had a weak game but has shown enough to stay. Am losing enthusiasm forRichardson, he's talented but lacks the needed physicality to regularly beat the press. To me the 6 best are Baldwin, Lockett, Kearse, Richarson (only due to the early reports from camp), Williams, and McEvoy. That group gives the best differing attributes and abilities. There could be a surprise or two here.

The D still swarms to meet the ball. Once they figure out the opposing attack they limit the yardage given up. We have seen our 2nd string clearly outplay every other team's 2's. The 1's have been playing very vanilla, and when it's real expect to see the real D, the one we have come to expect.

Have been pleasantly surprised with the play of Bass & Griffin, and Hill is beginning to show why the team liked him. It's hard to crack this roster on D and the team will cut lots of good players. Doubt there will be many surprise changes in personnel. In another thread I thought the team is not yet happy with the talent at 3tech and we may see some others cycled through before that's set. The injury to McDowell screwed up their plans.

Still curious as to which reserve CBs will be kept after the top 3 of Sherm, Lane, and Griffin competition is still on. I believe Nieko Thorape is one though. Do know that the top 4 DBs are Earl, Kam, McDougald, and Hill, usually there is one more but none is special yet. With luck Shead may be back for the playoff run stretch and the team's depth marketedly improved as a result.

The linebacker depth looks solid and there will be a loss of talent when the cuts happen.

I am really liking the results on the field so far.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

I have an irrational love of Kearse. He will be a Hawks his entire career. Let it be written, let it be done.

Do you feel that he will make the Ring of Honor? IMO....he would need three more good years.

 

[KiwiHawk]

His rushing average ............ has climbed from 2.7 yards to 4.5 yards and then to 5.8 yards in wk 3...

I take it you like stats, and I do get what you're on about, and it's fun to see numbers increase every week like that, and I even agree that Carson looks very good, and is likely taking the roster spot away from Collins.

But YPC on a handful of carries? Mate, stats only count with sufficient sample size. Your standard deviation on these stats is larger than the numbers themselves. That's not even counting the situational aspect - you don't look at a guy who punched it in from the 1 twice (and looked good doing it) and point out a 2.7 YPC.

I guess my point is while the numbers are fun to look at, Carson isn't getting appreciably better in the pre-season so much as he's been consistently good, even though the numbers don't tell that story.

 

[sdog1981]

Awesome, stuff. I'm with you on your Boykin points, the whole game I was like "come on man".

 

[Hawkscanner]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hawkblogger/status/901870091800764417[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/hawkblogger/status/901875886848221184[/tweet]

HOLY SMOKES!! Great Stats There. 1/2 the sacks allowed?!? Yeah, I'm shooting my hand straight up. I most certainly am ready to sign up for that. Hopefully this carries on into the regular season. Looking at those numbers, it definitely has the last few years. That gives me some hope.