Always Compete..?

Is it just me or does it feel like there isn't quite as much competition throughout the team this preseason? I mean, anything can happen between now and whenever, but when Coach says that he's shooting for the opener for TJack, and that CMike kind of really doesn't have much competition in Rawls or Smith.
I'm not necassarily looking for surprise cuts or anything like that, but it just kind of feels like outside of a few spots on the oline, and in the secondary, it feels like there isn't much competition on the team and I'm kind of wondering if the team is in danger of settling.
I could be totally off my rocker, but what do you all think?

I also kind of lament losing the 49ers as a credible threat. Now that they are vanquished, do we look at the Cardinals as our new NFC competition? Because we pretty much riipped their hearts out in front of them last season. I actually think playing against these AFC North teams will be great for us this year. Those should be fun games.

Go 'Hawks!

I should point out that I love TJack, I have a custom made TJack Nike game jersey

We returned almost every starter, minus Unger/Carpenter on offense and Maxwell (and possibly Chancellor) on defense, from a team that went to back-to-back Super Bowls.

OL
WR
DB

Those are the positions where we are competing at.
Pretty much every other position is filled,
Your not going to move the QB, Lynch(compete behind him) DL, LB's TE's(Jimmy)

I think this is a sing the team has matured and will continue to mature. Previous years it was helter-skelter in the ranks.

BTW, SF has lost a lot, but I was watching them against Dallas, and I was quite impressed with what they have done with that team. THeir O looks pretty good with Hyde and the different formations. They have Hyde coming out of the Back field for passes, had Davis in the backfield blocking, I wouldn't underestimate the niners just yet.

jonkchar":296ofdtb said:

I should point out that I love TJack, I have a custom made TJack Nike game jersey

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Why?

jonkchar":1qarkhq9 said:

I should point out that I love TJack, I have a custom made TJack Nike game jersey

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You sir are a god among mortals. I kneel before you.

hawknation2015":3uo8mxmt said:

We returned almost every starter, minus Unger/Carpenter on offense and Maxwell (and possibly Chancellor) on defense, from a team that went to back-to-back Super Bowls.

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If Kam Chancellor is going to take this ridiculous hold-out to the next level? (and it looks like he is), the Pete Carroll's "ALWAYS COMPETE" needs to be front and center, because the team needs to treat this open sore with all sincerity, and try to find Kams replacement.
I realize that it's a tall order, but Kam isn't giving the Seahawks any ledge to stand on.
Pete (for now anyways) needs to treat this as a "Moving On" situation.

therealjohncarlson":kyu50ugy said:

jonkchar":kyu50ugy said:

I should point out that I love TJack, I have a custom made TJack Nike game jersey

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Why?

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Wow, I did not think I would ever see someone buy a custom Jackson jersey, that is a lot of cash for a backups jersey. Then again I bought a Rick Mirer jersey.

We were once a team with very few stars and a bunch of undervalued late round draft choices and undrafted prospects fighting to make a roster.

Having guessed right on and/or properly developed many of these players, we are now a team top heavy with high dollar stars that have proven their worth and are being paid accordingly.

Competition is still every bit as important but we now have such a solid core group that the competition is to fill out the balance the roster, and with the money left from our core group, most of the balance of that roster will be lower cost role players so the competition just doesn't seem as important (to us as fans) as it did for the last few years.

As a quality roster matures there becomes less opportunity for competition, although the salary cap keeps that train moving to a certain extent. But I would say the competition is fierce up front at several positions (OL and CB come to mind) and at the backend at many more.

And sometimes if there doesn't appear to be competition at a spot where we think there should be (RB for instance) its because the competition has already been settled. We don't get to see every practice snap and all the film room work. Coaches do, and on that work they make decisions all the time.

I will just say I have been really impressed by the level of competition and development that has occurred on the offensive line. We have three guys with starting experience entering this training camp (Bailey, Jeanpierre, and Lewis) who were presumed to be at the top of the totem poll, solely because of that experience.

The problem was none of those three experienced contributors are complete linemen. Both Jeanpierre and especially Bailey struggled on the whole with the level of physicality and intensity that you would like to see from a dominant offensive line. On the other hand, Lewis lacked athleticism. That made the ceiling for these former starters extremely low.

They could have stood pat with Britt at RT, due to the lack of depth, even though guard was his ideal position in the long run.

By resisting what was easy in the hopes of growing something dominant upfront, they shook things up in a major way by moving Britt to his ideal position and injecting two supreme athletes with high ceilings (Nowak and Gilliam) into the starting lineup. There will be bumps along the way, as they gain their first starting experience and gel as a new offensive line, but the future looks bright. By the end of the season, I expect this to be the best offensive line the Seahawks have had since 2012.

There is competition at every practice. 1s vs. 1s. There also will be position battles, but those become less prominent as starters solidify their jobs. That does not mean, however, if a backup suddenly shows he's better than the starter, Pete will just ignore that. He won't. If Simon somehow became a better corner than Sherman, Simon would get the nod.

The competition on the O-line has been pretty much the story for the offseason. Hawks have legit starters everywhere else.

Another thing to consider is that when you have the caliber of players that the Seahawks do at so many positions, you aren't going to see a lot of new faces as starters. Where you have to really pay attention is who is in the 2nd and 3rd string spots. Even then you might not see much difference. Most of the players being brought in are pushing the ones who were the 2nd and 3rd string guys last year or maybe there is a position or two where it's all new guys fighting for spots. The established 2nd and 3rd stringers already here could get a fire under their ass and fight tooth and nail and keep their spots or the new guys could come in and out play them and take the spots...in the end mostly what the team is working on is total roster strength by hopefully improving the depth of the roster behind all the starters. If a starter does happen to fall off there are players waiting in the wings..but as I stated before, most of the starters are so good they aren't moving back from being starters, no matter how much the guys behind them are competing.

And don't think for a minute that Bennett and Avril playing out of their minds so far doesn't have something to do with Clark and Marsh breathing down their necks.

There has been tons of competition this off-season.

Nothing I've seen from Archer, Rawls, or Smith suggests they should be pushing TJack or CMike. If we had seen a 2012 Russell Wilson situation developing over the first two preseason games, I'm sure it would be different. Theoretically, you could stash all three of those guys on the practice squad anyway. I don't think there's going to be much demand there.

jonkchar":1h5dbh5x said:

Is it just me or does it feel like there isn't quite as much competition throughout the team this preseason? I mean, anything can happen between now and whenever, but when Coach says that he's shooting for the opener for TJack, and that CMike kind of really doesn't have much competition in Rawls or Smith.
I'm not necassarily looking for surprise cuts or anything like that, but it just kind of feels like outside of a few spots on the oline, and in the secondary, it feels like there isn't much competition on the team and I'm kind of wondering if the team is in danger of settling.
I could be totally off my rocker, but what do you all think?

I also kind of lament losing the 49ers as a credible threat. Now that they are vanquished, do we look at the Cardinals as our new NFC competition? Because we pretty much riipped their hearts out in front of them last season. I actually think playing against these AFC North teams will be great for us this year. Those should be fun games.

Go 'Hawks!

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Great post. I too lament the 49ers fall from grace. They made us tougher, and if the road to the division leader is too easy, will we still be a favorite to win in the playoffs? Beating SF twice a year gave this team swagger.

Let's hope the Cardinals are that stone we sharpen our edge on. The Rams will help toughen our Oline.

Dude, jonk, is this you??

Zebulon Dak":1ykmh4qg said:

Dude, jonk, is this you??

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Alright Zeb, how much did you pay that guy to wear your jersey? "Look! There are Tjack! Tjack! Tjack! fans everywhere!"