Carroll on Seahawks' offensive line: 'We're in good shape"

[Jville]

Sowell will be making significant adjustments to his game while transitioning from a pocket passer to the Russell hustle. Russell Wilson demands a lot out of the offensive line.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DavisHsuSeattle/status/713443150941978624[/tweet]

 

[kearly]

Maybe the NFL liked the color of our uniforms?

John Harbaugh pointed the finger at Cable, and so did TJ Lang of the Packers.

I completely agree with everything DavidSeven has said in here.

They may have used Seahawks tape as an example but they could have used just about any team in the NFL if they wanted.

It's also worth noting that Pete Carroll said they were for this rule change and they voted for it.

That change didn't effect us, and neither will this.

In fairness, Tom Cable truly does have a reputation around the league for making chop blocks a bigger part of his game plan.

That said, I'm not surprised that Seattle voted to get rid of it. Kam Chancellor spoke in favor of the ban and I'm sure every member of Seattle's defense would echo that sentiment. Obviously, it would be a big deal if Michael Bennett suffered a broken leg over a chop block. This rule change will benefit athletic defensive lines since it makes it easier for them to knife into the backfield on running plays. Seattle's D-line is one of the most athletic in the league.

It's definitely going to be an adjustment for Tom Cable with unpredictable (and likely negative) consequences, but it's also going to be a boon for our defense. Seattle is a defense first team that is morphing into an elite passing offense, so I could totally understand why Seattle would like this change even if it does come at the expense of the running game.

I think this change will definitely affect Seattle, though it's possible it could actually be to Seattle's benefit. The timing works out nicely with Seattle blowing up their OL and starting over.

 

[Seafan]

"We're in good shape"

I think that means they plan on drafting some OLs.

 

[kearly]

As far as Pete's comments on the OL, I think Pete is saying what he has to say. Nothing more, nothing less.

Regarding my feelings on the OL. I thought Seattle over-committed on Webb but I'm open-minded about both him and Sowell as reclamation projects. I trust Tom Cable so much more to fix a struggling veteran than to develop a raw prospect.

Would I rather have Sweezy at league minimum or have the 4th/5th round pick his departure will net the team? That's a tough call for me, and obviously Seattle couldn't have kept Sweezy for anything close to league minimum. Therefore, letting him go was a total no-brainer.

There won't be an offensive tackle available to Seattle in this draft who is as good of a prospect as Okung was in 2010. But when factoring Okung's injury history, declining performance and high pay, it's entirely possible that Seattle could find a better "asset" in this draft. I'd be just fine with a healthy, average left tackle making minimum money over Russell Okung at a much bigger number. I would have been okay with Okung on a one year deal, but ultimately it was time to start eyeing his replacement either way.

I am excited for this draft, even though its a terrible draft for getting athletes. I see a lot of good, undervalued O-linemen.

Pete Carroll makes starting over fun. It's fun watching hungry players and Pete has a special knack for tapping into that.

 

[razor150]

Pete would say something similar if his house was fully engulfed in flames about to collapse, and the media asked him how it looked.

"We're in good shape. We're almost there, the firefighters are really competing. I think we'll be back in the house any minute now."

But instead off actually getting firefighters to the fight the fire he and is neighbors are spraying it down with their garden hose.

 

[McGruff]

Pete would say something similar if his house was fully engulfed in flames about to collapse, and the media asked him how it looked.

"We're in good shape. We're almost there, the firefighters are really competing. I think we'll be back in the house any minute now."

But instead off actually getting firefighters to the fight the fire he and is neighbors are spraying it down with their garden hose.

Playoffs 5 out of 6 years, 3 NFC championship appearances, 2 Superbowl appearances, 1 championship.

Those are some good garden hoses.

 

[Fade]

On wide zone plays for example the backside can still cut, which is an essential component to the scheme. Frankly the rule change from 2 years ago which took away the ability to cut adjacent players will/has a bigger impact on the scheme.

 

[Tech Worlds]

Pete would say something similar if his house was fully engulfed in flames about to collapse, and the media asked him how it looked.

"We're in good shape. We're almost there, the firefighters are really competing. I think we'll be back in the house any minute now."

But instead off actually getting firefighters to the fight the fire he and is neighbors are spraying it down with their garden hose.

Playoffs 5 out of 6 years, 3 NFC championship appearances, 2 Superbowl appearances, 1 championship.

Those are some good garden hoses.

Three NFC Championship appearances?

 

[Willyeye]

I'd love to see JS make a trade with the Vikings for last year's SPARQ BEAST, Center Nick Easton. Nick Easton was the highest graded O-Lineman in the 2015 preseason by PFF...Easton was also the 7th-highest graded player in the entire NFL in the 2015 preseason according to PFF. The only Offensive Lineman with a higher Sparq score in 2015 was our own Kristjan Sokoli. Nick Easton's 2015 score is WAY higher than any O-Lineman in this years draft. The only place Easton is lacking is in his length, but his athletic prowess more than makes up for it...and in addition to having played Center for 2 years in college, he now has a full season as a backup Center in the NFL....HUNGRY!

Nick Easton had a pSparq score of 126.6 in 2015 which placed him at an NFL percentile of 97.3%. He was the 8th highest of all prospects in the 2015 Sparq. For comparison's sake, Ryan Kelly's pSparq score this year is at 105.2 which places him at an NFL percentile of 55.4%. Ifedi is at 111.1 and 75.6%. This years #1 Sparq beast, Connor McGovern, is at 117.9 and 89.6%. McGovern would have been a distant 11th in O-Line behind Sokoli and Easton last year...even Glowinski came in 5th with a pSparq of 123.6 which put him at 95.7% in the NFL. Truth be told, this year's draft is NOT very athletic. The Combine looked horrible this year. Even with all of the supposedly great D-Line guys this year, they really don't compare to previous year's athletically. I have a feeling the 2016 class will be a disappointment.

If JS could work out a trade for him, like maybe for a 7th round pick in 2016 or 2017, it would actually save us from having to spend a high draft pick on a Center this year. The Hawks wouldn't need to draft a guy like Ryan Kelly or Nick Martin or Graham Glagow...the best rookie Center would already be on the Hawks. I have a feeling Easton would have no problem beating out Lewis for the starting job.

 

[McGruff]

I don't know if anyone has heard, but Willeye likes Nick Easton.

 

[chris98251]

I don't know if anyone has heard, but Willeye likes Nick Easton.

Should be posted in every thread so we don't miss it

 

[justafan]

We went to the SBs with an Oline that was built by investing heavily in the Oline.Very few teams invested more in draft capitol and money.

Now we have become the lowest team in terms of percentage of salary cap spent.

The oline makes up almost 20% of the team while they take up under 6% of the cap at this point.

When your investment on the Oline is closer to 0% than 20% of your cap I think there is a problem.

 

[FlyingGreg]

We went to the SBs with an Oline that was built by investing heavily in the Oline.Very few teams invested more in draft capitol and money.

Now we have become the lowest team in terms of percentage of salary cap spent.

The oline makes up almost 20% of the team while they take up under 6% of the cap at this point.

When your investment on the Oline is closer to 0% than 20% of your cap I think there is a problem.

Yes. But that was before having to pay our QB franchise money. Huge difference.

You cant pay every position top dollar. The economics don't work. They have decided to try and go cheap on the line.

 

[RichNhansom]

We went to the SBs with an Oline that was built by investing heavily in the Oline.Very few teams invested more in draft capitol and money.

Now we have become the lowest team in terms of percentage of salary cap spent.

The oline makes up almost 20% of the team while they take up under 6% of the cap at this point.

When your investment on the Oline is closer to 0% than 20% of your cap I think there is a problem.

Yes. But that was before having to pay our QB franchise money. Huge difference.

You cant pay every position top dollar. The economics don't work. They have decided to try and go cheap on the line.

I don't even think it's a decision to go cheap. Unfortunately those early draft picks and big FA signings never really panned out unless your ok with paying a premium to have a substandard line.

I think it really comes down to signing core players and so far we haven't had one on the line that could stay even reasonably healthy.

Saying we made huge comittments to the O-line during our super bowl run indicates it helped us to get there which is blatantly false. Even with multiple first round picks injuries and sub par play still had our line as our biggest weakness.

It has been an ongoing complaint since Pete got here and signing constantly injured or under performing or in some cases both, to big contracts only commits to being a problem going forward.

The changes being made look painful on paper but they are necessary changes if we hope to see improvement.

We still have the draft and remaing cut downs to make additional moves. Hopefully the line improves but even if it doesn't immediately, it still woudn't be worse.

I optimistic with my fingers crossed but with the understanding the moves were needed. Signing crap players because they are better than your other crap players is no way to get better.

 

[DJrmb]

We went to the SBs with an Oline that was built by investing heavily in the Oline.Very few teams invested more in draft capitol and money.

Now we have become the lowest team in terms of percentage of salary cap spent.

The oline makes up almost 20% of the team while they take up under 6% of the cap at this point.

When your investment on the Oline is closer to 0% than 20% of your cap I think there is a problem.

Yes. But that was before having to pay our QB franchise money. Huge difference.

You cant pay every position top dollar. The economics don't work. They have decided to try and go cheap on the line.

I don't even think it's a decision to go cheap. Unfortunately those early draft picks and big FA signings never really panned out unless your ok with paying a premium to have a substandard line.

I think it really comes down to signing core players and so far we haven't had one on the line that could stay even reasonably healthy.

Saying we made huge comittments to the O-line during our super bowl run indicates it helped us to get there which is blatantly false. Even with multiple first round picks injuries and sub par play still had our line as our biggest weakness.

It has been an ongoing complaint since Pete got here and signing constantly injured or under performing or in some cases both, to big contracts only commits to being a problem going forward.

The changes being made look painful on paper but they are necessary changes if we hope to see improvement.

We still have the draft and remaing cut downs to make additional moves. Hopefully the line improves but even if it doesn't immediately, it still woudn't be worse.

I optimistic with my fingers crossed but with the understanding the moves were needed. Signing crap players because they are better than your other crap players is no way to get better.

Great post.

The amount of money or resources you spend on a position group does not necessarily equal the amount of production you get from that unit. We invested into the O-line early on and ended up with a poor unit year in and out. They're now making a whole sale change in the way they are building this unit from the ground up with younger guys that can play and grow together. Doing it this way we can actually hope for some lasting success.

 

[acbass]

Of course we teach chop blocking. They are gonna go to the ground 90% of the time anyways... might as well do something useful while they're down there. Haha. Seriously, I'm al for getting rid of it. It's dangerous and I HATED when I played d-line. I have a knee surgery as a direct result. Maybe now we can focus on guys that have actually played offensive line in college and get away from these project players. Every year when we lose players to FA, trade, or release them, it at least makes me a little sad that they are leaving. I can honestly say I was relieved when Sweezy went elsewhere. His only somewhat reedming quality, at least to me, was that I could say "it ain't easy being Sweezy" after one of his boneheaded late hits.

 

[Hawknballs]

"We're in good shape."

Translates to

"Given the cap and our options this is what we've got."

hes not going to come right out and say "our oline is probably going to suck."

 

[mrt144]

We went to the SBs with an Oline that was built by investing heavily in the Oline.Very few teams invested more in draft capitol and money.

Now we have become the lowest team in terms of percentage of salary cap spent.

The oline makes up almost 20% of the team while they take up under 6% of the cap at this point.

When your investment on the Oline is closer to 0% than 20% of your cap I think there is a problem.

Yes. But that was before having to pay our QB franchise money. Huge difference.

You cant pay every position top dollar. The economics don't work. They have decided to try and go cheap on the line.

I don't even think it's a decision to go cheap. Unfortunately those early draft picks and big FA signings never really panned out unless your ok with paying a premium to have a substandard line.

I think it really comes down to signing core players and so far we haven't had one on the line that could stay even reasonably healthy.

Saying we made huge comittments to the O-line during our super bowl run indicates it helped us to get there which is blatantly false. Even with multiple first round picks injuries and sub par play still had our line as our biggest weakness.

It has been an ongoing complaint since Pete got here and signing constantly injured or under performing or in some cases both, to big contracts only commits to being a problem going forward.

The changes being made look painful on paper but they are necessary changes if we hope to see improvement.

We still have the draft and remaing cut downs to make additional moves. Hopefully the line improves but even if it doesn't immediately, it still woudn't be worse.

I optimistic with my fingers crossed but with the understanding the moves were needed. Signing crap players because they are better than your other crap players is no way to get better.

It absolutely is a decision to go cheap. Every roster transaction since Okung was first signed has indicated that the O line is their dump stat on the team.

 

[Basis4day]

It absolutely is a decision to go cheap. Every roster transaction since Okung was first signed has indicated that the O line is their dump stat on the team.

The first draft pick by PC/JS was the 6th overall pick to draft Okung, like you said.

In 2011 they used the 1st overall pick on James Carpenter. Whether or not they were trying to trade down or were debating on drafting Andy Dalton doesn't change the fact that two years in a row they used a 1st on O-Line. That same year they used a 3rd rd draft pick on John Moffit.

In July of 2012 they chose to extend Max Unger.

In 2014 they used a 2nd Rd pick on Justin Britt.

Draft Capital, Cap Space, and your Roster are the three forms of currency in the NFL. To say they have always been cheap on the O-Line other than drafting Okung is false.

There is no question that the FO has made investments on the O-Line. Where they haven't succeeded is return on their investment.

 

[DJrmb]

It absolutely is a decision to go cheap. Every roster transaction since Okung was first signed has indicated that the O line is their dump stat on the team.

That is a false statement. They went out and got what was thought to be one of the top OG's in free agency signing Robert Gallery to 15M in 2011. Then they resigned Max Unger in 2012 to a 25M dollar extension. They've shown they're willing to spend money there on who they think are the right guys. They just aren't going to waste any more money on old FA lineman in a position where continuity is one of the most important factors to be successful.