How good is Tom Cable, really?

Forget the fact that the Hawks went up against arguably the best defensive front in the league. How good of a line coach is Tom Cable? Since he's been here, we've never had a great line. Serviceable? Sure. For as highly tired as he is, his offensive line products are poo. New England started three rookies this week, two fourth round picks, and one undrafted free agent center. They looked amazing. That line was impenetrable. Denver's line is made up of no names, but even they look better than the Hawks line. The Giants line is littered with high picks, but most of them are playing new positions this year. It pisses me off, to no end, that all Cable's "hand picked" guys can't catch on. Take Terry Poole for instance. He was the first o-lineman taken this year, in the fourth round. His projection was 7th, or undrafted. He didn't evenmake the team. But at least he's on the PS! Tom Cable's pedigree here has been disgusting. And Forget about Sweezy. Both with his coaching, and his picks. He's about as average as they come.

Make sure that you factor in the cost of the Cable O-line... said cost allows the Hawks to keep all the OTHER high-priced talent. Add up the All-Pro's and Pro Bowlers.
Check out the comparative starting O-Line costs for this year between the Seahawks and the Cowboys.
We can't have 50+ All Pro's.

Lets give this line some time. Even a world class OL coach would look bad facing the Rams at 10am with 3 green starters.

I personally have not liked his philosophy. But I am a fan of spending higher picks on OL and building from there. I am not a GM or coach. I know I don't have the answers, but watching our QB get killed with a bunch of converted DTs makes me unhappy.

Rocket":2mhziruj said:

Make sure that you factor in the cost of the Cable O-line... said cost allows the Hawks to keep all the OTHER high-priced talent. Add up the All-Pro's and Pro Bowlers.
Check out the comparative starting O-Line costs for this year between the Seahawks and the Cowboys.
We can't have 50+ All Pro's.

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Great points.

I HATE our offensive line play going back to 2013. Hate hate hate it. But, all things considered I thought they could've played worse today. Many of the Rams pressures, hits, and sacks came on blitzes. Plus they're the Rams. I'm cautiously optimistic. My main gripe from today is really with Bevell and Pete. For the former, I don't even really disagree so much with the 4th down call, just his scheme in general. It sucks. We have very capable personnel, and he can't find a way to exploit opposing defenses. Everything is basically about just beating your man, which is going to cause bring about real inconsistent results. Pete... why'd you have us kick onside? Why Pete? Why...

Not to mention that most of the high priced talent you speak of is on the other side of the ball.

Rocket":2g03xtc5 said:

Make sure that you factor in the cost of the Cable O-line... said cost allows the Hawks to keep all the OTHER high-priced talent. Add up the All-Pro's and Pro Bowlers.
Check out the comparative starting O-Line costs for this year between the Seahawks and the Cowboys.
We can't have 50+ All Pro's.

Click to expand...

+1

Thepeelsessions":3ow2dbul said:

Forget the fact that the Hawks went up against arguably the best defensive front in the league. How good of a line coach is Tom Cable? Since he's been here, we've never had a great line. Serviceable? Sure. For as highly tired as he is, his offensive line products are poo. New England started three rookies this week, two fourth round picks, and one undrafted free agent center. They looked amazing. That line was impenetrable. Denver's line is made up of no names, but even they look better than the Hawks line. The Giants line is littered with high picks, but most of them are playing new positions this year. It pisses me off, to no end, that all Cable's "hand picked" guys can't catch on. Take Terry Poole for instance. He was the first o-lineman taken this year, in the fourth round. His projection was 7th, or undrafted. He didn't evenmake the team. But at least he's on the PS! Tom Cable's pedigree here has been disgusting. And Forget about Sweezy. Both with his coaching, and his picks. He's about as average as they come.

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I think this is a fair post and I appreciate it. I think Cable has eluded criticism very well in Seattle. I really like the guy, but there probably isn't a whole lot of fans who haven't, at one point or another, tossed around what you posted in their heads.

kearly":lxmj0sai said:

Lets give this line some time. Even a world class OL coach would look bad facing the Rams at 10am with 3 green starters.

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+1
They'll get better. I mean, they have to right?

RockinHawks":tg12nevo said:

They'll get better. I mean, they have to right?

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Not necessarily, although they'll definitely LOOK better when not playing against what is without a doubt the best front four in the NFL, and maybe the best front four in the 21st century.

Cable has the least enviable position of perhaps any position coach in the NFL. Trying to convert a bunch of 3rd day untalented d-lineman scrubs into quality o-lineman at the NFL level is the equivalent of trying to build a car out of broken bicycle parts.

If I were a Hawks fan and was going to overreact to one loss, Cable is far and away the last person I'd blame.

I am not a huge fan.I agree he has done a great job of avoiding the criticism of other coaches we have or had.

His resume really isnt much to base a high opinion of him in fact this is probably the most successful run he has has as a coach at any level.
Our offense has relied on ML breaking tackles and making plays very few RBs can do and RW doing what no QB in the league can do with the football in his hands.Making something out of nothing while avoiding turnovers at a rate never seen before in a young QB.

He has been given 2 1st round picks Okung and Carp.He took credit for the carp pick and wasnt able to really turn him into a player worth keeping.Okung hasnt become the player I had hoped,I like him but he has regressed in a lot of areas it seems.

Britt is a questionable 2nd round pick.Another player drafted as tackle who doesnt seem suited to the position.

Moffitt was a 3rd rounder who he wasnt able to do anything with.Moffitt deserves blame also.He again took credit for the pick.

Unger wasnt his pick but he was a talented 2nd round pick who had a good run here.

Neither 4th rounders were on the active list yesterday.

Cable has been given the talent to produce good lines.JS and PC have made an effort to give him talent.

His strategy to turn DLmen into Olineman has been applauded by alot of people here but the best lines in the league have been built with Olineman.I dont see that changing anytime in my life.If he wants to work with blank canvas' he should probably go coach in the college ranks.

The fact he is an ex Raider is just one more thing that gives me the red xxx.

I've asked this in another thread but so far the questions been left un-answered there. Maybe it's better posed here in this thread. How much control does Cable have over his personnel? Is he being asked to produce a silk purse from a sow's ear so to speak? How many of these guys are capable of performing as NFL starters with even their best efforts? I don't know.

IMO... Maybe Sweezy ? Okung* when healthy? The rest really have no business starting in the NFL and most look like practice squad is even a reach.

I listened to a good bit of this game through the radio call and they said Russell was taking too many shots ... after passes and hand offs even on successful plays. Of course they also said he was doing a great job of getting the ball out quickly and some of you have already disagreed with that.

kearly":v4ro4pa9 said:

Lets give this line some time. Even a world class OL coach would look bad facing the Rams at 10am with 3 green starters.

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Yup

brimsalabim":iaklwugu said:

I've asked this in another thread but so far the questions been left un-answered there. Maybe it's better posed here in this thread. How much control does Cable have over his personnel? Is he being asked to produce a silk purse from a sow's ear so to speak? How many of these guys are capable of performing as NFL starters with even their best efforts? I don't know.

IMO... Maybe Sweezy ? Okung* when healthy? The rest really have no business starting in the NFL and most look like practice squad is even a reach.

I listened to a good bit of this game through the radio call and they said Russell was taking too many shots ... after passes and hand offs even on successful plays. Of course they also said he was doing a great job of getting the ball out quickly and some of you have already disagreed with that.

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RENTON — Tom Cable said he told Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider before the NFL draft that if he could have any two offensive linemen available, he’d take Alabama tackle James Carpenter and Wisconsin guard John Moffitt.

thanks. that settles that.

I struggle with what they pay him. Sure, people say "Tom Cable has had top running offenses at multiple stops in the NFL!"

But he also had running QBs, and that makes life easier on RBs by opening more holes and adding to the total. Was Gregg Knapp or Jim Mora the reason Cable had the best rushing offense in Atlanta? No, it was Mike Vick.

It's a tough argument to come down on one side of though. He's had nothing but scrubs to work with. Our best lineman, Okung kept getting freak injuries, and now he's being asked to assist Britt. Add to that, he's had Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch to make him look a lot better than he would have.

What Cable needs to take responsibility for is his early draft picks. Britt was not a good pick, neither was Jame Carpenter, and why can't he motivate Bailey to stay in shape? Maybe he needs to bring back some of that Tough Tom Cable to his offensive line coaching and chew their asses for letting Russell and Marshawn get hit in the backfield?

Something needs to change though. A lot of money and draft capital has been give to this man, he needs to put it all together.

In light of all that though, I do think that once this line starts to click, that it's going to be top ten this year. We just have to suffer through it. Maybe Green Bay will be where we open gaping holes for Lynch, Jackson, and Rawls?

Cable is a God of an o-line coach, I don't know what you all are complaining about, we've been to 2 straight Super Bowls with him as the O-line coach. :sarcasm_off:

it will be impossible to tell until:

A. He moves on and we see what the next guy does with the same talent

or

B. We get him some better players and see what he can do with the talent.

Hmm, so I guess I don't understand the OP.

On one hand, you say Cable gets a pass on a lot of stuff, then you say "forget Sweezy", so in the interest of staying objective, we're just going to throw out his greatest success ? yeaaah, ok.

Cable has taken UDFA's and very low round draft picks and made them serviceable, and at a higher rate than anyone else in the league. Don't get me wrong, I don't like his philosophy. He completely ignores pass protection.

But the Rams' DL is going to make a lot of OL's look bad this year. They're super talented and deep.

Then again, same as with us.......they spent a lot of draft capital on that front 7. Which means they don't have as much in a lot of other places on that roster.