Star Lotulelei Might Be Out! (Rapoport reporting he is done)

[Jakob]

Disregard how Cole played for the Seahawks more than half a decade ago, Cole was one of the many players that improved our defense to #2 overall last year.

Sorry, you lost me at the more than half a decade ago statement. If he is so good now, why so few plays?

Really, he isn't a Seahawk for a reason. And LAST year is not this year, and in case you didn't notice, we are playing in Seattle Saturday, say goodnight John Boy.

Cole was our starter late into the regular season, due to the emergence of Kawann Short we had to give him the starting job. I'm not here to say Colin Cole would be a starter for most teams in the league, I'm just saying he will do a fine job of filling in as the #2 DT for us. It's beyond idiotic to imply if he was good he would still be a Seahawk. Players go elsewhere and do better. Happens to every team in the NFL. The Seahawks thought he was good enough to be inked to a 21.6 million dollar contract not too long ago...

Thanks for assuming I'm a down south redneck named John Boy.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

Fair assessment. I don't know how many examples Russell has of this, but I know in Cam's case a lot of his potentially game winning drives were blown by our defense and special teams. It was kind of expected in his first couple years here that he would put us in a position to win the game and then we'd miss a field goal, or give up a 50 yd. bomb, etc. It's just one of those things that gets lost in those stats. I'm sure it happens to other QBs too, I just know that for a couple of years it happened to Cam a lot...like, a lot a lot.

It's one thing that a lot of us noticed when Luck's defense was bailing him out at the end of games, then he would get the "clutch" moniker, while Cam was let down by his defense and they said he wasn't "clutch" even though he was putting his team in often better or equal position to win than Luck.

Yeah, it's never as simple as a great QB performance = a win. I think Luck gets as many excuses/caveats as anybody. And Wilson has had his share of defensive letdowns too. Most outside of 12-land wouldn't think it, because the 1st go-to is "but he has such a great defense." I started to list them, but felt it got off track. Off the top of my head, in 2012 our defense blew games against Detroit, Miami, and then Atlanta in the playoffs. The first two, it's possible Russell could have done more, but his comeback in the divisional round against the Falcons was about to be a historically great performance when our D let Tony G catch a huge gainer and set up the winning FG at the end. Even then, if Pete hadn't called a timeout to ice the kicker, it's possible that Russell would have been one game away from the Super Bowl his rookie season.

Cam was a Pro-Bowler and ROY in year one, on an awful team that needed help everywhere and had traded the #33 pick overall for Armanti Edwards. Simply put, he had the greatest rookie season of all time, at the time. The offense was amazing in his first year with Olsen, Shockey, and a revived Steve Smith. The D was a sieve and the kicker was an all time bad Olindo Mare. They were 2-14 in one score games and lost in every way imaginable. Stats simply don't tell the whole story. I've seen great statistical games but would say he didn't play great, and vice versa. He has been a consumate professional for the organization and community. That doesn't mean he can't and won't continue to grow.

No doubt Cam took the league by storm his rookie year. I was very impressed that his college game translated so well to the NFL, so I can imagine how he won Panthers fans over right away. My intent wasn't to put Cam down, but rather show how although Russell can "manage" a game by protecting the ball and making good, safe decisions, he can also take over a game unlike any QB who gets saddled with the "game manager" label.

 

[Largent80]

Sorry John Boy, I mean jacob, but Cole will look like Old King Cole when he is done getting trampled by our rushing attack. Check in at the 4th quarter please.

And John Boy from the Waltons is hardly a redneck, you are actually a rube for saying that.

 

[jhawk91]

He does play in the NFC South, not exactly know for great defense. And Marshawn has about 1000 more carries than Stewart as well. On top of that it's like .4 yards difference, big whoop

Just telling you the facts, doesn't hurt my feelings if you don't like the truth

 

[Hasselbeck]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Bobby Wagner was out. Kam Chancellor was playing at 50%. Hill was not playing that game.. not sure where you got that from.

Yeah we had Mebane.. but it would be like your defense without Kuechly and Davis.. that's what Kam and Wagner bring to the rush defense. It's a much different group now.

 

[Hawkfan77]

I understand Seahawks fans don't know about Stewart. He's had an injury plagued few years, but when he's on the field, he's one of the best RBs in the league and you'll find as equally proficient at breaking tackles as Lynch. Maybe "better" wasn't the word, since they're pretty equal aside from Lynch having a healthier career, but consider some of these stats:


compare Stewart over the last month of the regular season to:

December
4 gms - 418 yds (4.0 ypc) - DeMarco Murray (Pro Bowl, 1stT All-Pro)
4 gms - 401 yds (5.1 ypc) - Jonathan Stewart
4 gms - 369 yds (5.2 ypc) - Eddie Lacy
4 gms - 350 yds (5.1 ypc) - Marshawn Lynch (Pro Bowl, 2ndT All-Pro)
4 gms - 345 yds (4.3 ypc) - Arian Foster (Pro Bowl)
4 gms - 315 yds (4.3 ypc) - Le'Veon Bell (Pro Bowl, 1stT All-Pro)
4 gms - 301 yds (4.2 ypc) - LeSean McCoy (Pro Bowl)
4 gms - 257 yds (4.6 ypc) - Justin Forsett, BAL
4 gms - 226 yds (5.1 ypc) - Jamaal Charles (Pro Bowl)

FOX Sports Radio Ben Maller @benmaller 28 Dec
DeMarco Murray, Marshawn Lynch, Le'Veon Bell get headlines, nevertheless Panthers Jonathan Stewart leads NFL with 437 rushing yards L4W.

and Stewart is better on the road:
4.3 ypc at home
5.1 ypc on road

and Stewart doesn't do as well on grass (like we have at BOA stadium), but he loves turf like they have in SEA:
4.0 ypc on grass
6.4 ypc on turf

meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch is the opposite:
5.2 ypc on grass (4.4 ypc on grass at BOA vs Panthers)
4.3 ypc on turf (??? ypc on turf vs Panthers)
4.4 ypc at SEA's CenturyLink Field (turf)

Stewart also has a higher career ypc than Lynch, so this isn't just a recent trend.

As far as Cam vs. RW, there's stats that support both sides. I expect Seahawks fans to prefer RW, and I expect Panthers fans to prefer Cam. RW has taken better care of the ball over his career than Cam, but Cam has been asked to do more. Cam is more inconsistent, but has that greater upside and greater ability to dominate a game than RW. Some of the stuff RW has done against the Panthers is just sick like that prayer sideline heave to Baldwin (I think?) last year, but Cam is just as capable of breaking hearts so the tables can just as easily be turned.

Ummm...you realize he went to high school here and went to Oregon for college right? Hawks are very aware of who Jonathan Stewart is.

 

[FearTheBlitz]

Seems like there's 4 guys that can play RDT. That's Edwards,Ealy,Cole and Love. I think you will see Ealy playing there more then any of those 4. Since this injury happened early in the week it let's the team better game plan then the injury happening later in the week.

 

[Largent80]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Bobby Wagner was out. Kam Chancellor was playing at 50%. Hill was not playing that game.. not sure where you got that from.

Yeah we had Mebane.. but it would be like your defense without Kuechly and Davis.. that's what Kam and Wagner bring to the rush defense. It's a much different group now.

Jeremy Lane was also out. We had Burley as a starter and another DB that isn't even on the team.

 

[Hawkfan77]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Bobby Wagner was out. Kam Chancellor was playing at 50%. Hill was not playing that game.. not sure where you got that from.

Yeah we had Mebane.. but it would be like your defense without Kuechly and Davis.. that's what Kam and Wagner bring to the rush defense. It's a much different group now.

Jeremy Lane was also out. We had Burley as a starter and another DB that isn't even on the team.

Ya we had no Lane, no Maxwell, no Wagner, no Hill, gimpy Kam. Burley played 35% of defensive snaps.

KJ was playing MLB (and not too well). Saying our D was a mess that day is an understatement. And yet it still held the panthers to 9 points.

 

[RunTheBall]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Bobby Wagner was out. Kam Chancellor was playing at 50%. Hill was not playing that game.. not sure where you got that from.

Yeah we had Mebane.. but it would be like your defense without Kuechly and Davis.. that's what Kam and Wagner bring to the rush defense. It's a much different group now.

Jeremy Lane was also out. We had Burley as a starter and another DB that isn't even on the team.

Ya we had no Lane, no Maxwell, no Wagner, no Hill, gimpy Kam. Burley played 35% of defensive snaps.

KJ was playing MLB (and not too well). Saying our D was a mess that day is an understatement. And yet it still held the panthers to 9 points.

Yep, with Simon coming back for this game, it will be nice to have the "entire" LOB for nickel/dime packages (Kam, Earl, Sherm, Maxwell, Lane, Simon)

 

[Chawks1]

compare Stewart over the last month of the regular season to...

Week 17 faced the 32nd ranked defense (21st in rush D)
Week 16 faced the 23rd ranked defense (32nd in rush D)
Week 15 faced the 25th ranked defense (19th in rush D)
Week 14 faced the 31st ranked defense (29th in rush D)

So you're saying he played well against some of the worst defenses in the NFL. Ok, great.

BTW, he's facing the #1 defense in the NFL this Saturday.

^^^^ Yes! How come they never recognize the quality of their opponent they have played? They scored 9 points against us at home. Unless they go to a bag of tricks I don't see how they will score more than 9 in Seattle.

 

[FearTheBlitz]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Bobby Wagner was out. Kam Chancellor was playing at 50%. Hill was not playing that game.. not sure where you got that from.

Yeah we had Mebane.. but it would be like your defense without Kuechly and Davis.. that's what Kam and Wagner bring to the rush defense. It's a much different group now.

Jeremy Lane was also out. We had Burley as a starter and another DB that isn't even on the team.

Ya we had no Lane, no Maxwell, no Wagner, no Hill, gimpy Kam. Burley played 35% of defensive snaps.

KJ was playing MLB (and not too well). Saying our D was a mess that day is an understatement. And yet it still held the panthers to 9 points.

Tolbert was out for us and now he is back. Which in the first game made our TE's line up in the backfield to protect. Now that won't happen. Which will allow Olsen and Dickson be play makers. We have used 2 te sets lately. Dickson has played a key role in the passing game. Tolbert is also the reason why our running game has clicked in the pass 4/5 games. Our oline isn't the same as the first either. It's going to be a tough game. Those talking about stats should know they don't mean anything. The game is played on the field...

 

[Seahwkgal]

Stewart ran 76 yards while severely hampered by injuries while being behind one of the worst OL's to ever see a football field, plus Mebane and Hill were in that game. Taking in to account Lynch never has huge days against us you have to consider Hill a huge loss.

Wasn't Wagner out of that game though? Yeah, that is huge for us. He is not hurt anymore, thank god.

 

[Seahwkgal]

compare Stewart over the last month of the regular season to...

Week 17 faced the 32nd ranked defense (21st in rush D)
Week 16 faced the 23rd ranked defense (32nd in rush D)
Week 15 faced the 25th ranked defense (19th in rush D)
Week 14 faced the 31st ranked defense (29th in rush D)

So you're saying he played well against some of the worst defenses in the NFL. Ok, great.

BTW, he's facing the #1 defense in the NFL this Saturday.

^^^^ Yes! How come they never recognize the quality of their opponent they have played? They scored 9 points against us at home.

Without Bobby Wagner too. lol.

 

[The Great Hawktini]

That would be an enormous loss for Carolina. IMO, he and Davis (not Kuechly) are their 2 best defenders. If true, that's a bigger loss than Hawks losing Hill for this game.

Star has suffered somewhat of a "sophmore slump" this season. He had a big game against the Falcons recently, but he hasn't been as disruptive this season as his rookie year.

That said, this would indeed be a big loss for Carolina.

Says the Niner fan.

 

[Hawks46]

Can't wait for this to be the excuse when we blow them out, injuries only affect other teams... never the Seahawks.

I couldn't help but notice plenty of people in this thead bringing up your own injury excuses at DT, you know, to save face just in case the panthers dominate anyway.

Please. :1:

Or perhaps to show that it's possible to win, even when you lose a "lynchpin" player. Of course you need to have really good depth to do that

Depth... that is the key. We don't have anyone with close to the same skill set behind him. We have mostly 3 technique players behind him.

To be fair, not a lot of other guys have that skill set/athleticism. I'm not saying it screws you, but now you go from being extremely difficult to run on, to just hard to run on.

One guy doesn't make a difference, most times, unless it's your QB. Then again, look at our game in SD. Gates was abusing Chancellor that game. Come to find out, Kam was playing injured. It didn't lose us the game, but it was the biggest contributing factor.

 

[Hawkscanner]

Deleted by poster -- decided to make this its own thread.

 

[sutz]

Hate to say it, but Star is a lynchpin player for the panthers defense. Without him, blockers get to the linebackers much easier on running plays.

Hell, peeps around here were saying the same thing about Mebane when he went down. Hard to feel a lot of sympathy for the team/fans, although I never like to see guys get hurt. That sucks.

 

[ctrcat]

Hate to say it, but Star is a lynchpin player for the panthers defense. Without him, blockers get to the linebackers much easier on running plays.

Hell, peeps around here were saying the same thing about Mebane when he went down. Hard to feel a lot of sympathy for the team/fans, although I never like to see guys get hurt. That sucks.

Injuries do suck. What sucks even worse (for Panther fans) is how a 15 sack run stuffing DE can play in game 1 then be out the next 16 without anything changing all while pleading his innocence. 10% of the cap gone due to an unrelated elevator video and political correctness.

 

[2_0_6]

Reasons like both Star & Hill's injury are more examples on why the Active roster need to be increased. In a game as violent and taxing on the body as the NFL is, the available depth would be beneficial to all teams & especially the players.