Just Another Roster Breakdown (w/ Some Thoughts)

[Pandion Haliaetus]

QB: 05
RB: 06
WR:12
TE: 06
OL: 16
TOTAL: 45

DL: 16
LB: 11
DB:16
ST: 03
TOTAL: 45

QUARTERBACKS (5)
01 Russell Wilson 5'10, 215
02 Tarvaris Jackson 6'2, 215
03 Terrelle Pryor 6'4, 235
04 B.J. Daniels 5'11, 215
05 Keith Price 6'1, 205

Warren Moon would be proud.

RUNNING BACKS (6)
01 Marshawn Lynch 5'11, 215
02 Robert Turbin 5'10, 225
03 Christine Michael 5'10, 220
04 Spencer Ware 5'10, 230
05 Derrick Coleman 6'0, 240
06 Kiero Small 5'8, 250

This is such a talented smash-mouth group.

WIDE RECIEVERS (12)
01 Percy Harvin 5'11, 195
02 Doug Baldwin 5'10, 195
03 Jermaine Kearse 6'1, 210
04 Paul Richardson 6'0, 185
05 Kevin Norwood 6'2, 200
06 Ricardo Lockette 6'2, 210
07 Sidney Rice 6'3, 210
08 Bryan Walters 6'0, 190
09 Phil Bates 6'1, 220
10 Arceto Clark 5'10, 180
11 Chris Matthews 6'5, 220
12 Taylor Price 6'1, 195

Pedestrian? Appetizers? Who Cares... Russell Wilson doesn't need a #1 WR making 75+ catches, 1000+ yards, 7+ TDs in this offense. He just needs efficiently reliable targets , and in that regard Seahawks have a deep group mixed in with some explosive play-makers.

TIGHT ENDS (6)
01 Zach Miller 6'5, 255
02 Anthony McCoy 6'5, 265
03 Luke Willson 6'5, 260 (FB, WR)
04 Cooper Helfet 6'4, 245
05 Rashaun Allen 6'5, 250
06 Chase Dixon 6'4, 240

The top 3, imo, is as solid you can get in the league. Can't wait to see how Willson progresses and to see McCoy compete with more determination after missing the entire Championship season.

OFFENSIVE LINE (16)
01 Russell Okung 6'5, 315 (T)
02 James Carpenter 6'5, 320 (G)
03 Max Unger 6'5, 305 (C)
04 J.R. Sweezy 6'5, 320 (G)
05 Michael Bowie 6'5, 325 (T/G)
06 Justin Britt 6'6,325 (T/G)
07 Lemeuel Jeanpierre 6'3, 305 (C/G)
08 Alvin Bailey 6'3, 320 (G/T)
09 Garrett Scott 6'5,305 (T/G)
10 Caylin Hauptmann 6'3, 310 (T/C)
11 Jared Smith 6'3,315 (G/C)
12 Greg Van Roten 6'3, 305 (G/C)
13 Stephen Schilling 6'5, 315 (G/T)
14 Bronson Irwin 6'4, 315 (G/T)
15 Gary Gilliam 6'6,305 (T)
16 Nate Isles 6'6, 348 (G/T)

Many like to think we didn't address the 0-line enough. 6 of 15 are new faces: new talent, new competition and probably all hand picked by Cable to fit into the system. 4 of the remaining 9 were 2013 rookie projects that should grow from one year to the next. If Okung and Unger can stay healthy and perform to their 2012 grades plus if Carpenter and Sweezy keep tapping into their potential while continuing to make improvements to their strength and fitness... Seahawks O-Line should be much better in 2014. I would just like to point out in comparison: SFO is said to have one of if not the best O-Line in the league, yet despite all the injury mishaps, woes suffered, and rookie growing pains Seahawks graded out better in Run Blocking and Wilson was sacked 44 times (9.8%) to Kaepernick's 39 sacks (8.6%). Not such a bad contrast to the percieved worst O-Line to the percieved best O-Line. And yeah Ill agree, the line was truly horrendous last year but injuries and inexperience took its toll in the worst way and yet the Seahawks survived enough to win 16 games and a Championship. I just don't think the 3 most important and most experienced players will again miss around 20 games while playing through injury or injury rust in many others games.

DEFENSIVE TACKLES (10)
01 Brandon Mebane 6'1,315 (NT/3T)
02 Tony McDaniel 6'7, 315 (5T/3T/NT)
03 Greg Scruggs 6'3, 310 (3T/5T)
04 Jordan Hill 6'1, 310 (NT/3T)
05 Michael Brooks 6'3, 295 (3T/5T)
06 Jesse Williams 6'3, 315 (3T/5T)
07 Jimmy Staten 6'4,310 (3T/5T)
08 D'Anthony Smith 6'2, 300 (NT)
09 DeWayne Cherrington 6'3, 325 (NT)
10 Andru Pulu 6'1, 320 (NT)

TWEENER DT/DE (3)
01 Michael Bennett 6'4, 275
02 Cassius Marsh 6'4, 275
03 Kenneth Boatright 6'3, 275

LEO ENDS (3)
01 Cliff Avril 6'3,260
02 Benson Mayowa 6'3, 265
03Jackson Jeffcoat 6'3, 250

A lot of talent and potential for Dan Quinn and Travis Johnson to work with... loss of Bryant/Clemons/McDonald will sting but not nearly as much as many believe.

LEO/SLBers (4)
01 Bruce Irvin 6'3, 255
02 O'brien Schofield 6'3, 250
03 Mike Morgan 6'3, 245
04 Korey Toomer 6'2, 245

LINEBACKERS (7)
01 Bobby Wagner 6'0, 245 (MLB)
02 K.J.Wright 6'4, 240 (WLB, SLB)
03 Malcolm Smith 6'0, 235 (SLB, WLB)
04 Heath Farwell 6'0, 235 (LB)
05 Kevin Pierre-Louis 6'1, 235 (WLB)
06 Mike Taylor 6'2, 235 (LB)
07 Brock Coyle 6'1, 235 (LB)

To me this is a much better (bigger, faster, stronger) and deeper LBer group than 2006/2007 when we had Tatupu, Peterson, Hill, Lewis, and Bentley among others, IIRC.

CORNERBACKS (9)
01 Richard Sherman 6'3, 195
02 Byron Maxwell 6'1, 205
03 Jeremy Lane 6'0, 190
04 Tharold Simon 6'2, 205
05 Akeem Auguste 5'10, 185
06 Phillip Adams 5'11, 195
07 Eric Pinkins 6'3, 220
08 Chandler Fenner 6'1, 190
09 A.J. Jefferson 6'1, 190


Losing Browner and Thurmond hurt in the sense that the Seahawks are no longer 5 deep in Pro Bowl talent but they got a lot of guys with potential that can take their place just not a lot of inexperience on the back end. However, the top 3 are as good as any , if not the best in the NFL.

SAFETIES (6)
01 Earl Thomas 5'10, 205
02 Kam Chancellor 6'3,235
03Jeron Johnson 5'10, 210
04 DeShawn Shead 6'1, 210
05 Terrance Parks 6'2, 215
06 Dion Bailey 6'0, 200

I'm just going to say it, and I don't care if its true or not: Thomas/Chancellor are the Best Safety Tandem in the History of the NFL or will be if they play out their contracts at their current performance. Its literally like having Easley (if he played FS) and Lott on the same team. I'm a Shead-head I suppose, I'm very excited to see what he brings to the table as Thomas' backup.

ST: Ryan (P), Haushka (K), Gresham (LS).

 

[falcongoggles]

Great post thank you. I really enjoyed seeing it all laid out and the analysis was a great bonus.

 

[400WattHPSHawk]

Great post thank you. I really enjoyed seeing it all laid out and the analysis was a great bonus.

Agreed. Nice job!

Now, let's get you a girlfriend.

 

[-The Glove-]

Very good post.

 

[j hawk]

Well done Pandion. We lost talent from last years team, but I am not so sure this years team might not be even better. I think JS/PC did a great job in the draft and UDFA signings. Its like these guys know what they are doing :lol: . I'm excited about the OL completion, should be some good battles for T and G. I'm not too worried about pass rush but I am a little worried about run defense. With the Hawks setting the new blueprint for winning I believe more teams will be on the run. I should know not to worry, in PC/JS I trust.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Haha, I got actually got married last November, a day before the Atlanta game.

 

[DavidSeven]

I usually resist being too optimistic about random depth guys who have never played a significant down, but I do wonder how the staff feels about CB Akeem Auguste. The Seahawks surprisingly didn't go for a nickel CB in the draft and didn't seem to push hard to retain Thurmond. Auguste has the physical profile to play nickel, and I know there were positive remarks about his practice performance going around during the Super Bowl.

That could be an interesting story this off-season.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

I usually resist being too optimistic about random depth guys who have never played a significant down, but I do wonder how the staff feels about CB Akeem Auguste. The Seahawks surprisingly didn't go for a nickel CB in the draft and didn't seem to push hard to retain Thurmond. Auguste has the physical profile to play nickel, and I know there were positive remarks about his practice performance going around during the Super Bowl.

That could be an interesting story this off-season.

A lot of players have spoke highly of Auguste from Russell Wilson to Richard Sherman. I think the Seahawks got a player in him, his speed is a little underwhelming but other than that he has quality physical tools and is very strong for his size. I was for sure if the Seahawks went CB in the draft they would have went after the Thurmond mold instead of the Browner mold. But they must really like Lane, Auguste, and Adams...and felt they were better than any of the CBs available in and after the 4th round .

Another option I would be happy so see is, if Deshawn Shead continues to develop where he's reliable on the field, it will allow Earl to earn more pedigree by covering the slot defender from time to time.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Also, in another world I would have loved to see what the team could have done with Bruce Irvin as a 6'3, 225 pound CB.

4.3 speed w/ LBer strength, all around athleticism, and capable of trademarking the term "corner blitz".

 

[Happypuppy]

Well done a lot of work went into your analysis. Why would Moon be proud? Price is a decent guy and seems to work hard. other than both from UW not much is similar in their game. I saw moon in school and not a UW qb before or after is near his talent. He was amazing. Great speed, big , smart and a canon for an arm

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Kieth Price is only a fraction of it... 1/5th to be exact.

Moon would be proud because the Seahawks have 5 quarterbacks and they are all black... an occurrence which has to be unprecedented.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Small update: I guess according to Carroll, Benson Mayowa is up to around 265, and Luke Willson is a few pounds shy of 260.

He also talked about Carpenter being lighter but most of us already knew that... I think 2014 will be an exciting one for Carpenter... hopefully he just continues the course and strives to get better than he was the day before.

 

[Tokadub]

Seahawks O-Line should be much better in 2014. I would just like to point out in comparison: SFO is said to have one of if not the best O-Line in the league, yet despite all the injury mishaps, woes suffered, and rookie growing pains Seahawks graded out better in Run Blocking and Wilson was sacked 44 times (9.8%) to Kaepernick's 39 sacks (8.6%). Not such a bad contrast to the percieved worst O-Line to the percieved best O-Line. And yeah Ill agree, the line was truly horrendous last year but injuries and inexperience took its toll in the worst way and yet the Seahawks survived enough to win 16 games and a Championship. I just don't think the 3 most important and most experienced players will again miss around 20 games while playing through injury or injury rust in many others games.

Sorry I just had to stop at this point you just made before I could read the rest of your post...

You are honestly comparing Russell Wilson to Kaepernick in sacks RELATIVE TO OUR OFFENSIVE LINES?

That's kinda a joke, Russell Wilson is THE BEST MOBILE QB IN THE LEAGUE HANDS DOWN (INCLUDING ELUSIVENESS)...

Kaepernick has garbage vision and gets struck like a deer in the headlights whenever pressure comes, he either tries to force the throw resulting in fumbles and interceptions or he just goes all turtle mode and gets destroyed.

You can't compare Wilson's and Kaepernick's sack totals relative to how good the offensive line pass protection is...

WILSON SHOULD HAVE THE LEAST SACKS IN THE NFL (he is the best at scrambling and making plays, and eluding sacks in the entire NFL hands down!)...

The fact that we aren't even ranked in the top 1/2 of NFL in pass protection (only sack count) proves how horrible our Oline is...

If we had any other QB in the league we would have literally had the most sacks on our QB in the entire NFL.

When discussing Wilson's sacks you need to understand how incredibly good he is at avoiding sacks (unquestionably best mobile QB in NFL)...

So really if you account for how good Wilson is at avoiding sacks our Oline is pretty much worst in the entire NFL at pass protection.

 

[themunn]

WILSON SHOULD HAVE THE LEAST SACKS IN THE NFL (he is the best at scrambling and making plays, and eluding sacks in the entire NFL hands down!)...

Not really, mobile QBs are always going to have a higher than average sack rate - there's good reason why Wilson, Kaepernick, Newton, Smith and Tannehill were all sacked around 40+ times last year despite O-Lines ranging from the very best to the very worst - any time a mobile QB tries to run and is tackled before the LoS it will be attributed as a sack, when it's not really.

Additionally, for a guy like Wilson to extend the play to 10-15 seconds means there's 10-15 seconds for someone to catch him and sack him - whereas Peyton Manning's average of <3 seconds significantly reduces his exposure to defenders in the first place. Wilson is better than most (probably all) QBs in the league at avoiding sacks, however, he's going to take one unnecessarily every so often as a result of his propensity to try and extend plays.

a good example would be the opening strip-sack-fumble in the NFCCG, where he bailed from the pocket and tried to extend the play and had the option to throw the ball away or target the TE (though I think the mic-ed up segment after suggested the TE wasn't looking at him so he didn't want to throw it), but instead he tried to avoid Aldon Smith as he has done in the past, but this time Smith was able to catch him and bring him down - and that's because Wilson had the confidence to try and evade him thinking he could extend the pocket further, but was proved incorrect, a less mobile QB would have known he couldn't avoid Smith (or rather, probably couldn't, ever), and would have chosen to toss it away/to the TE, but Wilson didn't. An easily avoidable sack attributable to Wilson, but for every time that happens he evades 5 others, so you have to accept that sacks like that will occur occasionally.

That's why looking at sack numbers isn't a very good way of analysing the quality of the O-Line, yes, the line was awful when Okung and Giacomini were out, but actually pass protected quite well once they returned. There's still certainly room for improvement though, but even if we had 5 All-Pro linemen, Wilson would still get sacked 25+ times in a season as a result of his mobility (but would avoid 100 more)

 

[sutz]

Just one equibble about grammar. I think I know what you meant, but...:229031_shrug:

Losing Browner and Thurmond hurt in the sense that the Seahawks are no longer 5 deep in Pro Bowl talent but they got a lot of guys with potential that can take their place just not a lot of inexperience on the back end. However, the top 3 are as good as any , if not the best in the NFL.

Not just a double negative, but that makes it say the opposite of what I think you mean. Most would say we have a lot of inexperience on the back end.

All in all a great write up. Nice to see them all grouped in one list, with rankings that I believe are your opinion. No matter. Well done.

:th2thumbs:

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

TOKADUB: I don't even need to look at stats to know that Kaep has around the same amount of interceptions in about the same range of passes. He probably has less fumbles in about the same range of running opportunities. And maybe Kaep isn't as elusive as Wilson, he is still pretty damn hard to catch but the big difference is while Wilson looks extends the play, Kaepernick turns into a running back. And I used SFO as an example because they play in the same division and have similar offensive philosophies about running the ball and protecting the ball. Yet, my example was to paint a portrait that the perceived worst O-Line through all its struggles wasn't that far off from the perceived best.

Maybe it doesn't make sense to you... the way I look at it...the most experienced protectors were all injured at some point or another: Okung, Giacomini, Unger, Mike Rob, Zach Miller, Sidney Rice... they were all banged up and took away something from the protection function.

Okung, Giac, and Unger are obvious.

But losing M-Rob hurt because we couldn't run our smashmouth style when teams were loading the box, which meant we had to go to Wilson more often than not.

Miller was hurt for 2 games but banged up in a couple others, what made it worse was losing McCoy, and relying on a rookie to fill their shoes. While Luke Willson did good, he was no where near as good as Miller in blocking and even in that regard Miller had a down year.

Sidney Rice hurt because was Russell's safety valve... in 2012 he was savvy enough to get separation but big enough to win jump balls. He clearly wasn't 100% at any point and that clearly hurt the quick passing game.

Pretty much everything that could have went wrong protection wise almost did yet this team still won 16 games and a Championship.

 

[loafoftatupu]

I see that roster and think the Hawks are still the top team in the league, but I see Harvin there and start thinking about the impact this team will have from it.

He is going to be healthy in camp and will have that preseason that he didn't have last year. He came into the Saints game cold and had no rapport with Wilson because of the missing reps. That won't be the case this season. I remember what Aikman said about seeing Harvin in pre Super Bowl practice, that he looked like he had a jet pack strapped to his back

Then see those sweeps and realize how quickly that he can take it to the house from anywhere. The Hawks essentially red shirted Harvin in 2013.

Not a single team from the NFCW had to face him. I have read the complete dismissal of the guy from both Niner and Cards fans. As if they just assume he is going to be on the sidelines all season. With Harvin, the Hawks win those games they lost last season. Harvin won't just run sweeps in 2014.

 

[two dog]

Where did you get the weights for each player? Not challenging anything, just wondered because my
information appears to be outdated. I understand that player's weights fluctuate during the season,
hell, they fluctuate during a game. But J.R. Sweezy at 320.......who knew?

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Just look at our whole Offensive roster, the Defense can prepare for everything and anything.

We have 5 QBs and none are really similar other than Wilson and Daniels. Give the Seahawks D 6 months to dissect and practice against Terelle Pryor... and let's see what Kaepernick can do after that.

We have 6 RBs and they all couldn't be more different.

We possess almost every type of WR you can think... Mathews and Rice obviously have to get healthy. But with guys like Harvin, Richardson, and Norwood... you're going to see less damage vs the Tye Hiltons, Devone Besses, the Titus Youngs types that have killed us over the years.

Luke Willson should continue getting better and he's one of the most athletic TEs in the NFL.

Preparation is the Separation.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Where did you get the weights for each player? Not challenging anything, just wondered because my
information appears to be outdated. I understand that player's weights fluctuate during the season,
hell, they fluctuate during a game. But J.R. Sweezy at 320.......who knew?

Its just stuff I keep an eye out for always..

However not all of it his completely accurate as I kind of rounded up or down to the closest 5 pound increment.

I also projected some of the players weights based on logic... for instance Mebane is listed at 311 but he looked much bigger than that in 2013. I can also speculate with the loss of Bryant, they'd a want 315-320 Mebane.

Same with McDaniel, he's projected to man 5T and he played between 305-310 last year, I would assume at 6'7 he could play in the 315-325 area no problem like Bryant did.

Some guys I took it down a notch... like Wright... he plays WLB... he's listed at 246... but I could seem actually in the 235-240 range to maximize what little speed he has. And the guy was quality in coverage last year so it kind of make sense. Plus, he looked slimmer in his Men in Kilts thing he did with Scruggs.

Another guy I took down a notch was Shead... he's official listed at 220... but being tasked to backing up Earl Thomas, I could see him slimming down around 10 pounds to maximize his speed and range. The guy is basically a bigger, stronger Chris Maragos and pound for pound they have similar athleticism as well if you look at the numbers.