Siouxhawk":3cq5g6d9 said:
Tical, I respect your opinion and Jville's the most when it comes to our offensive line. What would you like the plan to be and how much hope do you have for the guys already on our roster?
I'll give my two cents.
We should be better this year. Basically 3 of the 5 OL are new. I would expect two of those three to show significant improvement. Based on nothing more than law of averages in how rookies across the league improve after their second training camp.
Gilliam really plateaued last year. We similarly expected him to improve after his first year. He didn't. So it's not a guarantee. But it still is likely that some of those guys are going to be better and play at an acceptable level.
That first camp, the head is swimming. And if you get playing time in that rookie season, you get to make a lot of errors. It's that second training camp, where you have a store of experience (mostly bad) from games played where it's possible for the game to slow down considerably. We can't know how much of the bad play was the result of just blown assignments. That should recede.
We really should get a strong sense on what our deposit on experience last season has bought us before week one. These guys should look considerably better in this preseason. If not -- time to cull the street FAs. This time don't release the Jahri Evans' of the FA pool.
I think the plan will be modest. The market is crappy. Both for UFA and draft. But if you focus on specific role players -- I think you can find real impact value. Seattle wants to run the ball better. Getting a snotbubbling knuckledragger of a RT should be had at a reasonable price.
He won't be able to pass protect for $^&#. But then really there aren't many (any?) options to provide that.
That's how I'd see it. See what you have first. Get a cheap role player early. And reevaluate as TC evolves and other -- maybe even better options -- become available as teams cull their rosters.
As for the original posters' question:
Players I find intriguing:
1. AP.
I get he doesn't pass block or catch passes. That's Prosise's role anyway. AP provides power running. Even if he's not a home run threat he used to be, he still is powerful and that's the kind of RB Seattle covets.
2. Menelik Watson/DJ Fluker.
Seattle's OL profile leans to a run blocking mauler. Watson and Fluker are those things. Their pass pro is bleah. But for the deflated price, the job of RT in our line doesn't leverage quality pass pro. Maulers should be cheap.
3. Kalil/Joeckel.
Ok, so if you don't want one dimensional maulers, and want to get some players who will come at a depressed price but with some possible potential. Kalil tested very much like a Seahawk's lineman. Joeckel is young. Both of these guys *should* be better than Sowell was last year. Often times players like this are deemed bad, because they didn't live up to their draft position. However if these guys were picked around where Ricky Wagner was, would they be considered such bad players?
If you can get them in the 4-5m range would that suffice?
4. Connor Barwin.
I love his game. He just very much screams Seahawk attitude. I think he'd not only fit in here, but excel and enhance what we have on the roster. Of all of the UFAs on the market, Barwin looks like the one best suited for the locker room.
5. John Simon.
We brought him in for a look in the draft. He's not an exceptional athlete. Kind of hard to see us taking him. But I liked him in the draft process. If you're looking at a SAM backer, he'd fill that role nicely. He's more of a run defender anyway and that's likely where the SAM will be used.
6. Legarrette Blount
I honestly didn't realize he was available. I have liked him really every year since coming out from college. I always felt that when it was time for Lynch to retire, that Chris Ivory or Blount should be acquired as bridge players to our next franchise RB.
