oldhawkfan
Well-known member
It’s obvious from every perspective that this is the area of most need. We have seen a steady downhill slide for the past 3 plus years. Hopefully that slide ended with the final game of 2017. When looking at the running game or lack thereof, most observers including fans and national pundits point to the o line. They aren’t wrong. Many observers also point to the lack of a dominant RB to carry the rock. They aren’t wrong.
I’ve seen lots of posts lately about a plethora of topics eventually morph into discussions about the o line and the top pick in this years draft. The running game in regards to the line vs the RBs can kind of be a chicken vs the egg argument. On one hand a dominant line can make a mediocre back look good. Vice versa a dominant back can make a mediocre line look good. In 2016-2017 the Seahawks had neither.
The philosophy the last few years in building the line has been a process of attempting to turn non o line players into o line players. We have seen this with former TEs, DTs and basketball players. The idea of drafting guys who have played the position and excelled has been a foreign concept lately. Goodbye Tom Cable, hello new old methods of line building and maturation.
Another concept that led to poor o line play was throwing untested, young inexperienced players with the hopes that they would pan out. The good news is that there are at least 5-8 o line players currently on this team with valuable starting experience. In that regard, they are light years ahead of the past few years. We also now have a line coach who won’t be like a pre schooler given free reign to mix colors just to see what he comes up with. Mike Solari hopefully will put each player in a position to learn and play at his optimal ability.
Some would argue that what we saw in Baltimore with Alex Collins last year is a clear indication that it was our line and not the RB talent. Maybe. It could also be that he was just a better fit in their system. We had high hopes for Thomas Rawls. He was an unddrafted free agent flash in the pan. Chris Carson had a good game before going down with injury. He was a late round pick with what looks like potential. This regime has not drafted a RB high in their tenure until this year. Marshawn Lynch cost them essentially a 4th but he was originally a 1st round pick.
PC/JS have approached this off-season with the explicit intent of fixing the running game. They have done so by jettisoning incompetent coaching, bringing in a FA to compete with the existing and maturing linemen and expending their top pick on a highly productive and durable RB.
Running game fixed? We shall see. Improved? Most likely.
I’ve seen lots of posts lately about a plethora of topics eventually morph into discussions about the o line and the top pick in this years draft. The running game in regards to the line vs the RBs can kind of be a chicken vs the egg argument. On one hand a dominant line can make a mediocre back look good. Vice versa a dominant back can make a mediocre line look good. In 2016-2017 the Seahawks had neither.
The philosophy the last few years in building the line has been a process of attempting to turn non o line players into o line players. We have seen this with former TEs, DTs and basketball players. The idea of drafting guys who have played the position and excelled has been a foreign concept lately. Goodbye Tom Cable, hello new old methods of line building and maturation.
Another concept that led to poor o line play was throwing untested, young inexperienced players with the hopes that they would pan out. The good news is that there are at least 5-8 o line players currently on this team with valuable starting experience. In that regard, they are light years ahead of the past few years. We also now have a line coach who won’t be like a pre schooler given free reign to mix colors just to see what he comes up with. Mike Solari hopefully will put each player in a position to learn and play at his optimal ability.
Some would argue that what we saw in Baltimore with Alex Collins last year is a clear indication that it was our line and not the RB talent. Maybe. It could also be that he was just a better fit in their system. We had high hopes for Thomas Rawls. He was an unddrafted free agent flash in the pan. Chris Carson had a good game before going down with injury. He was a late round pick with what looks like potential. This regime has not drafted a RB high in their tenure until this year. Marshawn Lynch cost them essentially a 4th but he was originally a 1st round pick.
PC/JS have approached this off-season with the explicit intent of fixing the running game. They have done so by jettisoning incompetent coaching, bringing in a FA to compete with the existing and maturing linemen and expending their top pick on a highly productive and durable RB.
Running game fixed? We shall see. Improved? Most likely.
