Better off today than August 1st Last Year?

[Sgt. Largent]

Offense and special teams, yes. Line and stable of RB's is stronger, and kicking game should be WAY better.

Defense, no. D-line and defensive backfield are HUGE question marks. Potential is there, but I see our defense struggling this year.

 

[twisted_steel2]

I'll disagree with some of you on the wide receivers, I think we're better this year. The group at WR seems to be a lot deeper to me.

We lost Richardson, but imho he was overrated. Yea he had a decent year, he finally stayed healthy and caught 44 passes. It was ok.

Last year the WR's who contributed:

Doug Baldwin 75
Tyler Lockett 45
Paul Richardson 44
Amara Darboh 8
Tanner McEvoy 5


4 out of those 5 are still here, but they've added so much depth, McEvoy and Darboh are in fights for roster spots at this point.

All the pluses:
Can't wait to see what Brandon Marshall does here.
Keenan Reynolds is an interesting story, I'd never count a guy like him out.
Marcus Johnson has big potential.
Jaron Brown is a solid vet, should be a solid addition.
David Moore has been tearing up training camp. Ready to breakout?

Just seems to me the 5 or 6 WR's who make this squad overall is going to be a much better and overall deeper squad than last year.

 

[mistaowen]

Offense has to be better. They've reorganized salaries to get close to a 50/50 split, far too much was spent on the defense. They had to pay to keep the guys here though, just means drafting on offense didn't work out like it did for the defense. An area they'll need to get better at in the future.

New coaches, consistency on the o-line, Russell is still Russell. WR is a question mark but I think Jaron Brown will work well with Russ. They just need to be able to actually string together drives. Not 3 and out 4 straight times and then a 3 play TD drive. Defense was on the field far too much last season.

The defense will have a learning curve but Bobby will keep them competitive. Guys like Reed, Clark, Jones, etc have to step up. They've been here and haven't been asked to lead yet, this is the year they are under the microscope. Shaq has been learning every day from Sherm and mentioned they still speak weekly. I'm hopeful he will bring some of the LOB mentality for the new guys.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The defense will have a learning curve but Bobby will keep them competitive. Guys like Reed, Clark, Jones, etc have to step up. They've been here and haven't been asked to lead yet, this is the year they are under the microscope. Shaq has been learning every day from Sherm and mentioned they still speak weekly. I'm hopeful he will bring some of the LOB mentality for the new guys.

I'm not worried about Shaq, I'm worried about the rest of the defensive backfield.

Right now our other starters are McDougald, Thompson/Alexander and Maxwell. McDougald is solid, but Maxwell and the combo of Thompson/Alexander scare the hell out of me.

Especially Maxwell, I don't trust him to hold down the other CB spot, stay healthy and play the kind of consistent CB we need on the other side.

 

[hawknation2018]

The defense will have a learning curve but Bobby will keep them competitive. Guys like Reed, Clark, Jones, etc have to step up. They've been here and haven't been asked to lead yet, this is the year they are under the microscope. Shaq has been learning every day from Sherm and mentioned they still speak weekly. I'm hopeful he will bring some of the LOB mentality for the new guys.

I'm not worried about Shaq, I'm worried about the rest of the defensive backfield.

Right now our other starters are McDougald, Thompson/Alexander and Maxwell. McDougald is solid, but Maxwell and the combo of Thompson/Alexander scare the hell out of me.

Especially Maxwell, I don't trust him to hold down the other CB spot, stay healthy and play the kind of consistent CB we need on the other side.

Maxwell played very well last year. He’s always played well in this scheme. Behind him, we have Neiko Thorpe, Tre Flowers, and others.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The defense will have a learning curve but Bobby will keep them competitive. Guys like Reed, Clark, Jones, etc have to step up. They've been here and haven't been asked to lead yet, this is the year they are under the microscope. Shaq has been learning every day from Sherm and mentioned they still speak weekly. I'm hopeful he will bring some of the LOB mentality for the new guys.

I'm not worried about Shaq, I'm worried about the rest of the defensive backfield.

Right now our other starters are McDougald, Thompson/Alexander and Maxwell. McDougald is solid, but Maxwell and the combo of Thompson/Alexander scare the hell out of me.

Especially Maxwell, I don't trust him to hold down the other CB spot, stay healthy and play the kind of consistent CB we need on the other side.

Maxwell played very well last year. He’s always played well in this scheme. Behind him, we have Neiko Thorpe, Tre Flowers, and others.

I'm in the minority on Maxwell last year. I thought he was average at best and got exposed bigtime in the Rams game when we really needed him to step up.

So I'd rather not see that for an entire season. Maybe an entire off season of getting right and working out in our system again will help..........but Maxwell hasn't been great for a long time. So don't be surprised if he stinks and Thorpe is in there after a couple of weeks.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

There was a small glimmer of hope with last years team before the season started. This season,,,not so much. Going to take a couple years.

Come on.....can't we even wait to watch a few Pre-season games before such dire predictions?

I dont think the preseason is a good measuring stick. The NFC West has gotten decisively better except for the Seahawks who have replaced all-pro players with backup talent, yet some fans think we're a playoff team. Makes sense to me.

You have to get younger... holding on to aging vets with huge contracts just because they were all-pros doesn’t make sense we didn’t make the playoffs with those vets in he line up so...

Those all-pros weren't in the lineup. They got hurt. That and Blair Walsh are why we missed the playoffs.

Blaming the contracts is a populist non sequitur.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

The defense will have a learning curve but Bobby will keep them competitive. Guys like Reed, Clark, Jones, etc have to step up. They've been here and haven't been asked to lead yet, this is the year they are under the microscope. Shaq has been learning every day from Sherm and mentioned they still speak weekly. I'm hopeful he will bring some of the LOB mentality for the new guys.

I'm not worried about Shaq, I'm worried about the rest of the defensive backfield.

Right now our other starters are McDougald, Thompson/Alexander and Maxwell. McDougald is solid, but Maxwell and the combo of Thompson/Alexander scare the hell out of me.

Especially Maxwell, I don't trust him to hold down the other CB spot, stay healthy and play the kind of consistent CB we need on the other side.

Maxwell played very well last year. He’s always played well in this scheme. Behind him, we have Neiko Thorpe, Tre Flowers, and others.

I'm in the minority on Maxwell last year. I thought he was average at best and got exposed bigtime in the Rams game when we really needed him to step up.

So I'd rather not see that for an entire season. Maybe an entire off season of getting right and working out in our system again will help..........but Maxwell hasn't been great for a long time. So don't be surprised if he stinks and Thorpe is in there after a couple of weeks.

That and he's older than Sherman by a month. So if you wanted Sherman gone because he was getting long in the tooth, there's no reason to be excited about Maxwell, either.

 

[hawknation2018]

I'm not worried about Shaq, I'm worried about the rest of the defensive backfield.

Right now our other starters are McDougald, Thompson/Alexander and Maxwell. McDougald is solid, but Maxwell and the combo of Thompson/Alexander scare the hell out of me.

Especially Maxwell, I don't trust him to hold down the other CB spot, stay healthy and play the kind of consistent CB we need on the other side.

Maxwell played very well last year. He’s always played well in this scheme. Behind him, we have Neiko Thorpe, Tre Flowers, and others.

I'm in the minority on Maxwell last year. I thought he was average at best and got exposed bigtime in the Rams game when we really needed him to step up.

So I'd rather not see that for an entire season. Maybe an entire off season of getting right and working out in our system again will help..........but Maxwell hasn't been great for a long time. So don't be surprised if he stinks and Thorpe is in there after a couple of weeks.

That and he's older than Sherman by a month. So if you wanted Sherman gone because he was getting long in the tooth, there's no reason to be excited about Maxwell, either.

Except, Sherman is coming off surgeries on both of his Achilles (an injury few athletes ever fully recover from) and was due to make 5x more than Maxwell.

Maxwell is a stopgap player, but he’s a pretty good stopgap player. Maxwell certainly looks more agile than Sherman at this stage in their careers.

 

[adeltaY]

Maxwell tackled really well and had tight coverage, but he had a 100+ passer rating against, so he wasn't making a ton of plays on the ball.

 

[hawknation2018]

Overall, Maxwell had more good games than he had bad games for the Seahawks. He keeps the receiver in front of him, makes sound tackles, and often gets his hands on the ball. In seven games, Maxwell had seven passes defended, a huge INT against the Eagles, and a couple forced fumbles (his speciality). His very good 84.0 grade was by far the highest grade PFF gave to any Seahawks CB last year. You also have to grade him a bit on a curve because he did have to change teams mid-season and adjust back to the Seahawks scheme.

 

[chris98251]

It was attack Griffin last year by everyone, we will have to see this year how teams approach us.

 

[Seafan]

When comparing the defense you need to compare it to last year when Bennett was hurting and ineffective, Kam, Cliff and Sherm were on IR. The team now has Tom Johnson and Shamar Stevens rotating with Jones and Reed at DT. Best DT rotation that I can remember. Clark and Jordan should both be back and that gives them some talent and depth even though at the moment it looks horrible at DE. Jackson gives the team some vet experience there but the good thing about the current situation is Green, Martin and others are getting a lot of reps.

It seems to me the team is content at safety and are prepared to start the year with who they have. There were other cheap vet safeties the Hawks could have brought in. JS has been singing the praises of T2 for several months. WIth McD and T2 they seem ready to move on if necessary. Earl would just be a plus at this point.

Linebackers are better than solid and is the strength of the defense. I'm less worried about the defense than the OL.

 

[Grahamhawker]

Sweezy
.

 

[Schadie001]

OL= leaps and bounds better
WR= has me excited Doug is fine, youngsters are good
RB= Light years better than last year
TE= far better blockers, still good pass catchers

DE= Worse because we lack depth
DT= deeper and better than last year
LB= awesome
CB= Better deeper, Sherm was on the decline
SS= Kam can’t be replaced, but still we are in good shape
FS= Earl will play, but backups looking good

ST= far better

We were a very young team when we won the SB, as those young guys got older we didn’t get better we have been on the decline. We are in good shape.

 

[RolandDeschain]

Losing Bevell and Cable answers this question with an enthusiastic and unilateral "YES!"

 

[pittpnthrs]

There was a small glimmer of hope with last years team before the season started. This season,,,not so much. Going to take a couple years.

Come on.....can't we even wait to watch a few Pre-season games before such dire predictions?

I dont think the preseason is a good measuring stick. The NFC West has gotten decisively better except for the Seahawks who have replaced all-pro players with backup talent, yet some fans think we're a playoff team. Makes sense to me.

You have to get younger... holding on to aging vets with huge contracts just because they were all-pros doesn’t make sense we didn’t make the playoffs with those vets in he line up so...

Absolutely, but results dont just automatically happen. Its a process that takes time. Looking at our team, the OL is the most interesting aspect in my opinion. People are quick to say that its leaps and bounds better than last year, but is it really? I still feel its going to be one of the worst in the league. Carson and Penny are better than what we had last season. WR corps is a wash. They should be decent. TE position lacks. Any productivity at that position will be a bonus. Russ will be Russ.

Defense has me worried. I think teams will pick on the secondary because we wont have enough pass rush to prevent it. QB's will have all day back there and the D will suffer due to it. If the unit is anything above average, i'll be thrilled.

ST's,,,,sure Walsh needed to go, but I dont think we did ourselves any favors by signing Janikowski. I think he's going to cost us a game or two himself this year. Dickson should be good at P.

The X factor in all of this is the absence of Bevell and Cable. Thats a positive that you cant put a price on. Hopefully Pete lets the Offense go instead of that ball control, sluggish stuff that we're so accustomed to seeing, but I wouldnt count on it. Will be an interesting season, but my expectations arent real high.

 

[Jville]

I'm unsure about how to safely go about blocking Poona Ford ...............



.................................. it's not a job I would want.

Looking forward to answers for many questions about the 2018 team beginning "Preseason WEEK 1 · Thu 08/09 · 7:00 PM PDT"