I'm actually liking this offseason...

These are the kind of signings that I love. Under the radar depth signings to bolster our rotations. I'm confident going into the draft that we'll pick up some good pieces on the lines and at LB and we'll go into the season with a strong, young roster with overachieving one year veterans.

Anyone else feeling positive going into the draft?

Maelstrom787":1olhfn63 said:

These are the kind of signings that I love. Under the radar depth signings to bolster our rotations. I'm confident going into the draft that we'll pick up some good pieces on the lines and at LB and we'll go into the season with a strong, young roster with overachieving one year veterans.

Anyone else feeling positive going into the draft?

Click to expand...

yeah, i kinda feel the same. Bruce Irvin....that one is gonna be kinda difficult to replace, at least right away IMO. other than that, I'm glad we aren't shelling out big deals on average vets.

We always have a shitty O-line with 7th rounder DT's so whats the difference this year lol

I'm feeling very positive. They are well ahead of schedule in assembling a training camp roster.

I think the key to enjoying the off season lies is in embracing change. Why fight change? Why not embrace it and look for signals that telegraph what directions those changes imply?

For me, looking for signals has become such a fun vehicle for enjoying the off season. :th2thumbs:

I am with you here. Just filling up the roster with what could be help along the way to competition for the draft. If we get to where we dont absolutely need someone til the second or third rounds, I am happy with it. We are filling in them underholes that we need backfilled due to losing some in FA...but so be it. What Petey and JS are doing as a model is one that is consistent with a Parity team. Let the other teams do the parody.

Go hawks.



P.S. can I still say Go Hawks or has that been trademarked yet??

Our FO has been quick to identify major needs and with the exception of the execution in relation to the OLine quite successful in improving and maintaining the roster. They alone have the true vision of what they are trying to accomplish but so far with a few unfortunate flubs they have been exceptional and have built a strong team here.

So far so good, considering the issues and cap situation they're facing.

I didn't think we would be able to resign Lane and Kearse but they are still here luckily. Rubin was a nobrainer to keep and I'm happy we did. I was afraid the FO would overpay for Mebane and Sweezy but we didn't which is nice. Okung will probably leave but with his injury history that might not be a bad thing. Losing Irvin kinda sucks but I don't think he's worth anywhere near the 9 million he's gettin now. So it was a smart move not to overpay for him.

Siliga, Sowell and Webb aren't spectacular pick ups but they aren't expensive either and provide us with some answers at positions of need.

So far this off season is looking a lot less rocky than I expected.

I'm pretty much in agreement here. IMNSHO, we're already a playoff caliber team even with the losses we've seen so far. Super Bowl contender? IDK, honestly, but really that's hard to predict any year. I guess saying we're a playoff bound team says we're SB contenders. :229031_shrug:

The team is at a place where even with some off-season losses, we're still pretty good. The O-line was and is a concern, but overspending in FA is not really a good option. I like that they are looking for under the radar guys that want to play for a contender, and are willing to sign on for short term prove it deals. One of the key things that P&J seem to look for is guys who genuinely want to be here. What better way for a player to prove that than to take a chance on the contract?

We do have some talent in the wings waiting for their shot that might just surprise us.

sutz":31f9u5qt said:

I'm pretty much in agreement here. IMNSHO, we're already a playoff caliber team even with the losses we've seen so far. Super Bowl contender? IDK, honestly, but really that's hard to predict any year. I guess saying we're a playoff bound team says we're SB contenders. :229031_shrug:

The team is at a place where even with some off-season losses, we're still pretty good. The O-line was and is a concern, but overspending in FA is not really a good option. I like that they are looking for under the radar guys that want to play for a contender, and are willing to sign on for short term prove it deals. One of the key things that P&J seem to look for is guys who genuinely want to be here. What better way for a player to prove that than to take a chance on the contract?

We do have some talent in the wings waiting for their shot that might just surprise us.

Click to expand...

That's the vibe I'm getting as well. If they have another solid draft we'll be all good.

I'm in agreement. Any offseason we don't trade a 1st round pick for a superstar that doesn't fit here I'm happy

Jerhawk":oc1pqykl said:

I'm in agreement. Any offseason we don't trade a 1st round pick for a superstar that doesn't fit here I'm happy

Click to expand...

I also agree because they are kicking the tires on quite a few people but I don't agree with this. The Percy Harvin experiment didn't work but he still was a big part of a Super Bowl win and Jimmy Graham was our leading receiver when he had his fluke injury. There is no proof that Jimmy Graham has not fit in here. Everyone is begging for a big target for Wilson and we have one of the biggest. He had 8 catches for over 140 yds vs Carolina in the regular season, that might have been a nice target to have had in the playoff game?

peppersjap":1yk3aak6 said:

Jerhawk":1yk3aak6 said:

I'm in agreement. Any offseason we don't trade a 1st round pick for a superstar that doesn't fit here I'm happy

Click to expand...

I also agree because they are kicking the tires on quite a few people but I don't agree with this. The Percy Harvin experiment didn't work but he still was a big part of a Super Bowl win and Jimmy Graham was our leading receiver when he had his fluke injury. There is no proof that Jimmy Graham has not fit in here. Everyone is begging for a big target for Wilson and we have one of the biggest. He had 8 catches for over 140 yds vs Carolina in the regular season, that might have been a nice target to have had in the playoff game?

Click to expand...

Agree about Graham. Jury still out on him and I hope he can come back.

Harvin? Without him we would have won the SB 34-8. Big part? I don't think so. :229031_shrug:

peppersjap":1l4o4f15 said:

Jerhawk":1l4o4f15 said:

I'm in agreement. Any offseason we don't trade a 1st round pick for a superstar that doesn't fit here I'm happy

Click to expand...

I also agree because they are kicking the tires on quite a few people but I don't agree with this. The Percy Harvin experiment didn't work but he still was a big part of a Super Bowl win and Jimmy Graham was our leading receiver when he had his fluke injury. There is no proof that Jimmy Graham has not fit in here. Everyone is begging for a big target for Wilson and we have one of the biggest. He had 8 catches for over 140 yds vs Carolina in the regular season, that might have been a nice target to have had in the playoff game?

Click to expand...

The harvin trade was a disaster, and we saw the effect of trading Unger had on the o line. Yes, we went 10-0 without him the previous season, but his loss was felt.

Jimmy graham had a great game against Carolina, but our offense took off after his injury. Look at Russells stats after the Pittsburgh game. Trying to say those two blockbuster trades have been beneficial to this team in anyway is asinine

As long as we can pull a few more Frank Clark/Tyler Lockett's from the draft rather than Moffits and Christine Michael's we'll be just fine.

Well they haven't made any ridiculously expensive and utterly stupid FA acquisitions yet. So there is that.

It is pretty clear they are going more into the "give Russell Wilson the offensive pieces and he will win you a championship" side though. Which the data pretty clearly indicates that outcome would be exceptional and rare with that approach (It is more important for team to have a dominant defense to win the SB, and teams with dominant offenses + closer to average defenses tend to not make the SB. Based on the data, the most common attribute that SB winners share is a dominant secondary.)

So we will see if that works out, but I am really hoping we have some guys in the wings for the secondary. Because it is pretty clear that no strong secondary means no trophy.

Also I feel like this is Deja Vu. Last year, my concern was that gutting our offensive line was going to be our biggest impediment to the SB. We did a 10-6 instead of the 8-8 I expected, but then again we went through a stretch we got to face several teams that had no QB or the 3rd string backup guy. So the little bump didn't mask the reality it wasn't near a SB contender.

Now we lose more of the OL, and potentially even another guy later. And losing our versatile LB/pass rusher (who we couldn't afford so it is not a mistake on the FO) - but I certainly wouldn't say it was a great offseason.

We lost some pieces, replaced a few with guys that weren't as good, and are just hoping we can make it back to the top of the mountain with a much less dangerous army than we had a few years ago. But at least they did not make any crippling acquisition that will haunt the team for years and screw up our cap.

It should still be a dangerous team but nowhere near as dominant as it was 2-3 years ago.

I was struck by John Schneider's remarks about the team having lost too much of it's physical dominance in 2015. This off season theme appears to address the size and physicality of the line of scrimmage. I thought it got kind of ugly verses the Cardinals and Rams last year. I particularly like that they are making moves to add to big physical competition for the line of scrimmage.

Enjoying the off season and this year's theme.

Jerhawk":24qem6qj said:

peppersjap":24qem6qj said:

Jerhawk":24qem6qj said:

I'm in agreement. Any offseason we don't trade a 1st round pick for a superstar that doesn't fit here I'm happy

Click to expand...

I also agree because they are kicking the tires on quite a few people but I don't agree with this. The Percy Harvin experiment didn't work but he still was a big part of a Super Bowl win and Jimmy Graham was our leading receiver when he had his fluke injury. There is no proof that Jimmy Graham has not fit in here. Everyone is begging for a big target for Wilson and we have one of the biggest. He had 8 catches for over 140 yds vs Carolina in the regular season, that might have been a nice target to have had in the playoff game?

Click to expand...

The harvin trade was a disaster, and we saw the effect of trading Unger had on the o line. Yes, we went 10-0 without him the previous season, but his loss was felt.

Jimmy graham had a great game against Carolina, but our offense took off after his injury. Look at Russells stats after the Pittsburgh game. Trying to say those two blockbuster trades have been beneficial to this team in anyway is asinine

Click to expand...

Biased at all? High-profile signings aren't automatically a bust. There are night and day differenences between Graham and Harvin. Graham and Russell took awhile to mind meld, but Jimmy didn't spend his time in the training room exaggerating an injury. He also didn't pick fights with his teammates bases upon nonsensical reactions to their comments to the press.

Also, you mentioned Russ 'taking off" after Pittsburg?? Look at his numbers DURING the Pittsburg game. Jimmy was a big part of that. That's were your bias is blatantly evident. You chose to not include one of Russ's best games of the season.

To expect the Hawks to make splashes in FA knowing how much money they had to spend would be setting yourself up for disappointment.

It is the draft and undrafted FA's that will bolster the team, so in that regard it's going to be a LONG 2 months to wait.

Jville":3uu33ecl said:

I was struck by John Schneider's remarks about the team having lost too much of it's physical dominance in 2015. This off season theme appears to address the size and physicality of the line of scrimmage. I thought it got kind of ugly verses the Cardinals and Rams last year. I particularly like that they are making moves to add to big physical competition for the line of scrimmage.

Enjoying the off season and this year's theme.

Click to expand...

That's my main concern thus far. Bruce and Sweezy added bully to the squad. Two exceptional tough guys. Where and how is that replaced?

Aside from that I like the approach and stable of OLineman. I would still like to see one more DT and one possession receiver added.

I liked how Kearse was used immediately following Grahams injury, post up, shallow routes. Id love Roddy or Anquain brought in for that role.

Mebane was the best interior rusher on the team. Someone is needed to replace that. Even if it's two players.

Like almost anything in life, "we gotta do something" is a very expensive mindset that hardly ever pays off. It takes much more discipline to stick with the process, which IMO pays off far more often than it doesn't.

I'm certainly glad the Seahawks haven't panicked and decided to overpay league average players. Some of these teams are going to be dealing with serious amounts of dead money on the cap when guys that are being paid like elite players, perform like the slightly above average players they are.

Now, I get the market principle behind this, but these things are very fluid. Seahawks FO has done an amazing job of navigating the market and letting it come to them.

We have an elite core in place, let's utilize low level signings and the draft the keep building. I really feel like we are going to have a big time draft, similar to last year. Maybe not sexy at first, but once the proverbial bullets are flying, we will see the stars come out ie Lockett & Clark.

TwistedHusky":19qn3e89 said:

Well they haven't made any ridiculously expensive and utterly stupid FA acquisitions yet. So there is that.

It is pretty clear they are going more into the "give Russell Wilson the offensive pieces and he will win you a championship" side though. Which the data pretty clearly indicates that outcome would be exceptional and rare with that approach (It is more important for team to have a dominant defense to win the SB, and teams with dominant offenses + closer to average defenses tend to not make the SB. Based on the data, the most common attribute that SB winners share is a dominant secondary.)

So we will see if that works out, but I am really hoping we have some guys in the wings for the secondary. Because it is pretty clear that no strong secondary means no trophy.

Click to expand...

The 2013 Ravens? 2014 Broncos? 2015 Patriots?

Those defenses were not dominant by any stretch and played in the last 3 Super Bowls (and won 2 of them)

The most common attribute most SB winners (and losers) share is the QB. Defenses will win games, and we know the stats on the #1 defense vs. the #1 offense. But our #1 defense didn't take the team to a Super Bowl this season.

Team needs more balance.