Graham the man, Kearse shut down

[scutterhawk]

Kearse has been our most consistent deep threat this season with his 16.1 ypc and he has the longest catch of the season. He's our deep threat.

Getting open on scramble drills does not make him a deep threat. There's very little about Kearse, from either a physical or a technique standpoint, that makes him remarkable. No defensive coordinator out there is staying awake at night thinking about him.

Like most of Seattle's WR corps, he's clutch when Wilson buys him an opportunity and that's about it.

Riiiiight. So why is it then, that Football Outsiders ranks him 7th in the NFL in DVOA?

People here have no clue about WR's and never have.

You're exactly right Salish, some around here seem to be unable (or unwilling) to make that connection.
sometimes a WR that has gotten a lot of targets in several games, is film studied by the opponents so as to take him out of contention, in which case, he's sometimes better used as a decoy, (unless he's broken free from coverage for another reception target that is).
I recall BEFORE we even played our first Pre-Season game, there were some in here that said that Jimmy Graham was going to get a lot of double coverage, thus freeing up somebody else to make some catches.
Also, the run sets up the pass/pass sets up the run, but only IF the O-Line can hold up their end of the bargain, and give some time for SOME plays to develop, and quick passes for dinks & dunks are hard to sustain for very long.

 

[chris98251]

Well maybe the Cowboys focused on taking him away, maybe the match up wasn't good, lots of reasons for a player not to light up the stats, but he's a great run game blocker, we don't keep stats on that and most fans ignore that aspect of our offense since it isn't where the camera focuses.

 

[Smellyman]

His feet look like they have become heavier. Does he wear ankle weights?

 

[zifnab32]

Kearse adds nothing to the team. Deadweight has to be trimmed for the future.

He's a pretty fabulous blocker - the bubble screen where Lockette picked up 15ish yards had a pair of beautiful blocks from Kearse/Baldwin.

 

[SeahawksBMX]

Kearse adds nothing to the team. Deadweight has to be trimmed for the future.

He's a pretty fabulous blocker - the bubble screen where Lockette picked up 15ish yards had a pair of beautiful blocks from Kearse/Baldwin.

I noticed that on the live play and again on the replay. I expected Aikman to praise the blocking on that play but IIRC, it went unmentioned. I bet Raible and/or Moon got it.

 

[Tech Worlds]

He adds a play or two here and there but nobody, and i mean nobody is game planning to stop Kearse.

It is absurd to suggest it.

 

[Largent80]

Personally I am hoping P Rich takes snaps away from Kearse, as mentioned above he looks S L O W out there this year and is easily defended. If he is our deep threat we are in deep doo-doo.

 

[Ozzy]

I will be shocked if Richardson hasn't moved past kearse in snaps played by the end of the year.

 

[randomation]

Kearse adds nothing to the team. Deadweight has to be trimmed for the future.

He has, in the past, added clutch plays in big moments (4th and 7 TD in the 4th q NFCCG vs San Fran, 4th Q TD in Super Bowl vs Broncos, game winner NFCCG vs Green Bay, final drive tip catch in the Super Bowl vs Patriots). Admittedly, it is completely impossible to know if any of that is sustainable going forward.

Not sure if there's ever been a more average performer in sports to have as many big moments as Kearse has had, maybe Robert Horry.

He has also dropped easy passes like the 3rd down that would have sealed the deal in the super bowl.

 

[fenderbender123]

Kearse has one game where he doesn't get any catches, yet he's still 3rd on our team in receiving yards. He's averaging the same amount of yards per game as Baldwin with 10 less targets, and has by far the most yards per attempt of all the recievers.

I don't see any reason to dislike his performance. One huge asset he has over Richardson is health/durability.

 

[scutterhawk]

I will be shocked if Richardson hasn't moved past kearse in snaps played by the end of the year.

That will depend on his ability, and willingness to block for others to make plays like Kearse does.
Pete Carroll is playing Kearse for a very sound reason, and a lot of folks around here are either overlooking, or dismissing his value to the Seahawks.

 

[HawkFan72]

I'm glad Wilson seems to be going to Lockett more and more instead of Kearse.

 

[AgentDib]

I've been mostly on the fence about FO until this off-season. MTC was talking to Newsome about whether he incorporates third party advanced stats and he gave a pretty scathing critique of publicly available analysis. Now obviously his job predisposes him towards that viewpoint, but if there was any value out there guys like him would try to make use of it. Unfortunately, the only value that sites like FO provide is entertainment to help fans and analysts build narratives. You can't tease out dependence in football without putting much more into than they do.

I suppose I see why people feel defensive about our receivers (loyalty?) but they haven't been a strong point. 2005 was anchored by Alexander running through the left side of our line and Hass making short accurate passes. Almost all of our receiver salary was tied up in Harvin during the 2013-2014 seasons and he didn't work out. When you look at other receiving groups in the NFL it's pretty easy to be jealous in a vacuum as many other teams have stars that are relied on to win games at the position.

That isn't a cause for criticism of our current group: the subject of this thread is playing on a 1 year contract for $2.3m and is our leading WR in yardage. And while his run blocking isn't always excellent, his effort usually is which is more than can be said for 80% of the "#1" receivers out there. Matthews is playing for $500k while Lockette and Lockett are playing for $600k. We're spending our money on other areas of the offense, such as QB/RB/TE, and so our receiver production is mostly by design.

 

[Seanhawk]

Kearse adds nothing to the team. Deadweight has to be trimmed for the future.

He has, in the past, added clutch plays in big moments (4th and 7 TD in the 4th q NFCCG vs San Fran, 4th Q TD in Super Bowl vs Broncos, game winner NFCCG vs Green Bay, final drive tip catch in the Super Bowl vs Patriots). Admittedly, it is completely impossible to know if any of that is sustainable going forward.

Not sure if there's ever been a more average performer in sports to have as many big moments as Kearse has had, maybe Robert Horry.

He has also dropped easy passes like the 3rd down that would have sealed the deal in the super bowl.

That wasn't an easy catch, but it was definitely a play that should be made by an NFL receiver.

 

[rideaducati]

Getting open on scramble drills does not make him a deep threat. There's very little about Kearse, from either a physical or a technique standpoint, that makes him remarkable. No defensive coordinator out there is staying awake at night thinking about him.

Like most of Seattle's WR corps, he's clutch when Wilson buys him an opportunity and that's about it.

Riiiiight. So why is it then, that Football Outsiders ranks him 7th in the NFL in DVOA?

People here have no clue about WR's and never have.

7th? Cool. Find me a human being that would pick Kearse in the top 40 of wide receivers in the NFL today.

I'll find you three: Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and John Schneider.

I doubt that. They may like the guy personally, but they are all smarter than to believe that he is very good.

 

[tmobilchawker79]

Everyone is going to be loving him even more now that Lockette is going to be IR'd. Better embrace the fact that he's multi-skilled. He can play ST, block, pretty much do all the dirty work that doesn't show on the stat sheet.

 

[Ad Hawk]

I'll find you three: Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and John Schneider.

I doubt that. They may like the guy personally, but they are all smarter than to believe that he is very good.

Strange, then, that they kept him.

 

[rideaducati]

I'll find you three: Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and John Schneider.

I doubt that. They may like the guy personally, but they are all smarter than to believe that he is very good.

Strange, then, that they kept him.

Not really. He was better than the guys they cut...I don't believe this, but he has been in the system a lot longer. You don't get rid of what you have until there is a viable replacement.