No more skill player acquisitions please....

I liked the Jimmy Graham trade, loved the Percy trade, Housh (yep) and even the Branch trade but I'm convinced that they are just not good for the growth of a team. It sucked that Jimmy went down but once he did the O actually played better. Forget the big skill guy acquisitions and just build the lines, especially the OL. With a QB like Russ many more Super Bowls will be in this teams future if we take this course. Thoughts?

They can win with the fans. EVERYONE screams how we need a number one receiver on the offseason because our receivers are mediocre. Then we get the next best thing and everyone is unhappy. They whiffed on Harvin because he was a head case and Bevell did not use him well. Graham was slowly bet definitely finding his was into this offense. They did not seem to force it to him and he and Russ have been developing throughout the season. I see no drama or lack of work ethic with him. I think he still can be valuable to our team.

So I guess you are happy with our receiving core without him. Locket helps but should we stop looking if we find a gem. I think many people on the outside look at things from a simplistic view. Dont get Graham and beef up O-line. Not so simple. There is not always those people available. It is not easy to "just pick up a player" of quality without paying. We saw a opportunity with Graham and took a shot. I am glad they took the opportunity. What would we be saying if we thought we could have gotten Graham and didn't. Would we be blaming poor offense play on NOT having him then?

I am mixed. I think we do better with our underdog types and not the genuine Superstars like Harvin and Graham. He was doing really well lately too though. But we are not the high priced free agent haven. We are nobody's kickcing every doubter's ass. Its an attitude thing. Makes no sense though. What a great 4th quarter though!!!

Graham is good as a Hawk. He'll have a good year next season.

So we should get unskilled players instead? Mmmmm OK.

evergreen":3b3kfnbd said:

I am mixed. I think we do better with our underdog types and not the genuine Superstars like Harvin and Graham. He was doing really well lately too though. But we are not the high priced free agent haven. We are nobody's kickcing every doubter's ass. Its an attitude thing. Makes no sense though. What a great 4th quarter though!!!

Click to expand...

Harvin is not and never has been a "genuine superstar". Look at his NFL career. One good season in his entire career. People need to stop living in the past and going off of 3 months of one season of football that he played with the vikings. He showed that he is a mediocre football player outside of those 3 months.

The problem is NOT that the Hawks whiffed on a superstar, it's that they paid a mediocre injury-prone player LIKE a superstar.

Giving somone who's worth $1m per year AT MOST a huuuuuuuuuuge contract doesn't make him a star, it just makes the GM a fool...

Tech Worlds":2fjrnmie said:

So we should get unskilled players instead? Mmmmm OK.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking that he would be happy with 3rd Rounder's or lower.

Jimmy Graham is the best pass catching threat I have ever seen in Seattle. Steve Largent was the greatest but I'm talking about the last 10 years. He blows me away with his abilities. You can't compare him to Percy Harvin! Jimmy will be back next year and it will be great. It was so exciting this year to see him catch a ball down the seam. He is a complete beast and I still love the trade!

Bigpumpkin":jxvmltov said:

Tech Worlds":jxvmltov said:

So we should get unskilled players instead? Mmmmm OK.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking that he would be happy with 3rd Rounder's or lower.

Click to expand...

I may have miscommunicatied what I was trying to point out. All I meant was that I'd rather see them invest in the trenches OL/DL and not go for the big splash skill player. They already have IMO the best skill player in the league in Wilson. Imaging him behind a real good line and also having one really good DT? This teams record would be much better again IMO.

Seabowl for GM, 2016.

Henry the Waterboy is upper deck waterboy. I have seen his credentials......Sometimes he makes splash plays tho. :twisted: :stirthepot:

seabowl":2wncrokj said:

It sucked that Jimmy went down but once he did the O actually played better.

Click to expand...

The offense was doing fine when Jimmy was still in the game.

I agree in principle with the OP.

It seems that skill players (1) have a shorter shelf life and (2) are not as adaptable to different offenses as the big uglies are.

So... I'd rather go after a guy like Joe Thomas, an older vet, than I would a more middle aged player like an AJ Green.

I'll never fault Pete and John for continually trying to improve the roster, even for "skill players."

As much as people hated on Percy, he helped us win the SB.........and up until Jimmy got hurt this week he was on pace to catch a lot of balls. So it's not the nightmare scenario people think it is.

So I do not condone this thread!

I have given this some more thought. The big money skilled players (receiver is who we are actually talking about) may be a waste of time in this offense. Russell's best games are when he spreads the ball out over 7+ receivers in a game. This keeps the defense unable to key in on one player. A marquee player will draw some focus kinda negating the benefit. That is why it is hard to put in a impact guy and expect BIG results. Russ doesn't really play favorites. His favorite player is the WIN no matter how we get there. Plus having a big play impact guy hurts when/if they get injured. If one our receivers goes down it is next man up without a big drop.

I definitely dont fault Pete and John for looking to upgrade. It is just natural. Nobody looks a position and says "I only want mediocre guys in there". Then again maybe they should (or do).

I WANT star players on this team. We have had a lot of hit and misses, however, it is exciting when we get one and Jimmy was playing well, it sucks to have lost him.

Russ seems to be mantally imbalanced when the Hawks have a big name offensive wr or te. Its almost like he feels the need to coddle thier egos by giving them the ball because hes afraid they may bring drama and negativity into the locker room. He just seems so much easier going and fluid when he can decide who to throw to of his valition rather than have predestined fixed targets.

The offense in general is much harder to guard when defenses dont have any 1 thing to gear up for. Who do you guard? Who do you double? I expect the offense to be much more explosive the rest of the way.

Im not happy Jimmy is hurt just as I wasnt happy when Percy didnt work out. It just is what it is.

Jimmy is 7th in TE receiving yards and 9th in TE Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement (Football Outsiders). That isn't bad for the 13th rated passing offense. I think he's been pretty darn effective given that Russ had a sieve for an O Line and only really had 2 solid games where they held up.

He was a player that could expect a rise as this team heats up. Luke Willson will fill in and we'll get some production from him but he isn't the danger to the defense that Jimmy is. I'm sure we'll be successful, but I'm never going to say we're better off without Graham. I would much rather have him.

Largent80":7o11ddbs said:

I WANT star players on this team. We have had a lot of hit and misses, however, it is exciting when we get one and Jimmy was playing well, it sucks to have lost him.

Click to expand...

Jimmy was starting to contribute more, but he still wasn't up to expectations. He was brought in here specifically to help our red zone offense, and for whatever reason, it wasn't working. Whether that was his fault, the OC, or the QB is beside he point.

Kam Chancellor had it right when he called him soft. Graham is a finesse player, and we're a run first, defense orientated, crotch grabbing, smash mouth football team. It was a bad fit, putting a round peg into a square hole.

I like the fact that Pete's always thinking outside the box and trying to upgrade our team. You can't stand still in this league. Parity won't let you. But these last couple of high profile trades, first Harvin and now Graham, just haven't worked out.

I want a star too....I want someone that the other team has to scheme for....if we use him or not. I want the other teams off balance and unsure of what is coming up. We did it to the dismay of the snot nosed brat last year and lost the gamble as it hurt us for 4 games. We had softy here but softy was starting to get into the groove of what we want and the gelling was coming close.

I suppose we are back to getting lucky and going out to win everything for someone...again. :mrgreen: :twisted: