CM over Turbin

I work in Alaska so I must have missed something. I got back about a week ago and all I'm hearing is CM is expected to beat out, or already has beat out Turbin for #2. Whats going on here? Just speculation, or is there solid evidence for this?
edit: CM not CL..sorry

Nothing has been decided that I am aware of.

Training camp and preseason will sort this out... not before.

I say that it's pure, unadulterated speculation.

Yup, that was my first thought. How could this be, training camp hasn't even started. But it seems thats all I'm hearing, From comments here on .net to friends saying the same. I was wondering if I missed something while I was gone.

Until Pete says it, it isn't so.

I think it's because Pete and Bev have talked C-Mike up a lot recently. People are jumping to the conclusion that this means Christine has locked down the #2 spot.

Nothing is written in stone, but so far, in mini camps and OTA's, the word from the coaches is that Michael has progressed a lot since we drafted him. He's improved the areas where he needed to improve to bring his overall game up to NFL speed. He already has the explosiveness to play the position. I would say that Michael is the odds on favorite to be the number 2 guy this year, but these Seahawks of Carroll and Schneider don't hand out positions, they are earned. Guys like Sherman, Thomas, Wilson (to name a few) have earned their stripes and have their spots. Last year, Turbin earned his and was the backup back behind Lynch. Michael gets his shot this year. If I were a betting man, I'd bet he wins it, but I am 100% certain that no decision has been made on that by the team.

sc85sis":8uws48tz said:

I think it's because Pete and Bev have talked C-Mike up a lot recently. People are jumping to the conclusion that this means Christine has locked down the #2 spot.

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I think it's just that, talking up a guy. I don't think its proof of anything. I recall a interview of Cable a month or so ago and he was asked about Michael and seemed to tempter the enthusiasm for him, saying he's doing a good job. He then said that Turbin is doing tremendous. It made it sound (in my mind) that yes, Michael has made major strides, but that they are equally happy and impressed (probably more) by the development of Turbin this year.

This may not be the interview (may have been KJR) But this also has good stuff.
http://mynorthwest.com/category/pod_pla ... &p=1007&n=

I imagine all the talk about Christine Michael coming out of the Seahawks camp has been a mix of leverage for the Lynch contract "situation", motivation for Turbin, a teeny bit of PR talk since he didn't play last year, and a healthy dose of legitimate excitement for Michael.

But like others said, it'll be worked out during training camp, preseason, and the competition will continue into the regular season.

Turbin has the most horrible luck. EVERYTIME he busted out a long run (Saints, Superbowl) the offense was called for holding. Word is he is even faster this year. I don't think the backup job is going to be handed to CM.

JKent82":28s5dwev said:

I imagine all the talk about Christine Michael coming out of the Seahawks camp has been a mix of leverage for the Lynch contract "situation", motivation for Turbin, a teeny bit of PR talk since he didn't play last year, and a healthy dose of legitimate excitement for Michael.

But like others said, it'll be worked out during training camp, preseason, and the competition will continue into the regular season.

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Yep.

And I'd like to add here that if Michael does not grab the 2 spot at some point this year, we can nickname him "The Mistake".

IMO all the hype for CM at camp was to head off any press banter about Marshawn potentially holding out. If that were the case then CM or RT would be the #1. And it would look bad if you go into training camp with no clear honcho, hence the "Running back by Committee" comment from Bevell. That being said I think the job is a jump ball so far. CM may have an edge in raw skill, and even speed but RT has the edge in experience and the ever critical blocking ability. My pick at the moment is CMike, I just like the explosiveness I have seen from him. I have wanted to see a CMike/Percy Harvin backfield set for a long time now.

On more than one occasion, Tom Cable has said Turbin has outplayed Michael this off-season. We'll see how they look when the pads are on.

DavidSeven":1zgpy8y1 said:

On more than one occasion, Tom Cable has said Turbin has outplayed Michael this off-season. We'll see how they look when the pads are on.

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And that doesn't frighten me the way it does others. I'd love to see Turbo get some more reps before writing him off. I said last year I would have him running every day in ankle deep sand. I hope he's done that. He can sledfoot at times, which causes balance issues, which leads to being easily removed from his feet. But improve that area and we have a back with decent speed, capable of running with power, that can block and never drops the rock. I personally like the guy and hope for his success on this team.

Christine is the flavor of the month around here and turban is considered limited. At least around here that is.

God I hope so. I can't stand Turbin. He only gets more than 3 yards if he is untouched because of a hold. He runs far to upright and never breaks tackles, ever.

Turbin averaged a respectable 4.4 ypc as a rookie. He didn't get worse, the line did. You probably know this but you can't accurately gauge an RB off of 7 or 8 CPG. Pete didn't draft Michael to replace Turbin.

I'm 99% sure that if we didn't have Marshawn Lynch on the roster last season, Michael would have been our #1 back. He is clearly the guy you want in obvious run situations, but Turbin was better suited as a 3rd down back. Plus, I think Pete Carroll wanted to make sure Michael wasn't handed anything, that he'd have to compete for his job like anyone else.

I find it interesting that one of the issues was "blocking" (granted, picking up blitzes is super important for a RB), yet we ran out Paul McQuistan to play matador at LEFT TACKLE for a few games when Okung was hurt. Where's the emphasis on "blocking" there?

MissoulaHawkFan":1dopttdj said:

I find it interesting that one of the issues was "blocking" (granted, picking up blitzes is super important for a RB), yet we ran out Paul McQuistan to play matador at LEFT TACKLE for a few games when Okung was hurt. Where's the emphasis on "blocking" there?

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I think the decision on McQ at LT was based on assignment and communication experience. In terms of pure athleticism, Bailey was probably the better option. However, combined with Bailey's lack of experience and injuries elsewhere on the line to Max and Breno, they felt McQ was still the best option. If Breno had been healthy, then my feeling is they would've felt better about Bailey at LT (early on, they slotted Bailey for LT and Bowie for RT). They likely felt having two rookies at tackle along with a back-up center was too much inexperience to simply run the plays correctly. There's a ton of communication at the line and adjustments need to be made rapidly.

So, yeah, playing McQ at LT still had everything to do with blocking (...I mean, of course, he's an O-lineman). Not saying it was the best decision (hated it myself), but they did get away with it.

kidhawk":2wcxv0sf said:

Nothing is written in stone, but so far, in mini camps and OTA's, the word from the coaches is that Michael has progressed a lot since we drafted him. He's improved the areas where he needed to improve to bring his overall game up to NFL speed. He already has the explosiveness to play the position. I would say that Michael is the odds on favorite to be the number 2 guy this year, but these Seahawks of Carroll and Schneider don't hand out positions, they are earned. Guys like Sherman, Thomas, Wilson (to name a few) have earned their stripes and have their spots. Last year, Turbin earned his and was the backup back behind Lynch. Michael gets his shot this year. If I were a betting man, I'd bet he wins it, but I am 100% certain that no decision has been made on that by the team.

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People who talk about 33 beating out 22 seem to have amnesia. During a recent radio interview, Cable acknowledged that 33 improved, BUT said that 22 has improved noticeably more than C-mike has.

I agree that 33 will have to EARN the spot, and the battle is uphill. I predict he gets increased snaps this season, but will not supplant Turbs.