Sean McGrath

[CityHawk]

For those that have been at practices, how has he been doing? Has he improved since last season?

Always seemed like he caught everything that was thrown to him last year.

 

[QuahHawk]

He's got a sweet beard.

 

[FlyingGreg]

He looks good in practice.

The problem is...he looked good in practice last summer also and in pre-season games as well. My concern is if he is able to bring it to the games. So far, he hasn't shown it in real games.

 

[Hawks46]

I don't think he'll ever be a good receiving TE; he just doesn't have the speed to separate, but he can make a decent #2 as he's probably the best blocking TE we have on the roster outside of Miller.

I hope he develops more so we can run some 2 TE sets and pound the rock, then throw out of the same formation. I keep waiting for us to run 2 TE sets, run power football with it, and throw out of it, all while running plays quickly like NE does. That would wear suckas out.

 

[bestfightstory]

He's got a sweet beard.

Incorrect.

He has a pretty decent beard. Probably the best on the team. But there is room for improvement.

At practice yesterday, both RW and TJack hit him for nice plays. It seemed we were emphasizing throws to the tight end. It would be really really valuable to see McGrath/Willson emerge as solid contributors on this team.

 

[kearly]

McGrath was hit and miss in my preseason week 1 notes. But then again, none of our pass catchers looked completely perfect, which you'd expect in the first preseason game. Hawkblogger is almost as invested in fluffing McGrath as he was in Flynn last year, which probably means that he's seen good things in practices. That said, I thought McGrath was a shade above "meh" last preseason and a shade below that last week. Even guys like Kregg Lumpkin and Charly Martin can look great in preseason play. I need to see that level of preseason playmaking from McGrath before I get even mildly excited about having him on our final roster.

I keep hearing about Willson being a factor in practices but it didn't show in the first preseason game. He didn't know how to separate and seemed incapable of locating the soft spots in coverage when his QB was buying time. Poor hands. Blocking was mediocre as expected.

Helfet looks like a miniaturized Zach Miller physically, and that's pretty much the only nice thing I can say about him.

Some TE out of WSU looked like he was nowhere near NFL caliber talent wise, but gave really nice effort and made a positive difference. Kind of sad though when maybe your best TE in the game has CFL level tools. Before that game, I was only slightly worried about TE, but now I see it as a glaring problem, one that could hobble the team if Miller misses time.

 

[Scottemojo]

McGrath was hit and miss in my preseason week 1 notes. But then again, none of our pass catchers looked completely perfect, which you'd expect in the first preseason game. Hawkblogger is almost as invested in fluffing McGrath as he was in Flynn last year, which probably means that he's seen good things in practices. That said, I thought McGrath was a shade above "meh" last preseason and a shade below that last week. Even guys like Kregg Lumpkin and Charly Martin can look great in preseason play. I need to see that level of preseason playmaking from McGrath before I get even mildly excited about having him on our final roster.

I keep hearing about Willson being a factor in practices but it didn't show in the first preseason game. He didn't know how to separate and seemed incapable of locating the soft spots in coverage when his QB was buying time. Poor hands. Blocking was mediocre as expected.

Helfet looks like a miniaturized Zach Miller physically, and that's pretty much the only nice thing I can say about him.

Some TE of WSU looked like he was nowhere near NFL caliber talent wise, but gave really nice effort and made a positive difference. Kind of sad though when maybe your best TE in the game has CFL level tools. Before that game, I was only slightly worried about TE, but now I see it as a glaring problem, one that could hobble the team if Miller misses time.

the OC was on Sirius today, and his indication was that Willson struggles to block. Which is a problem.

 

[kearly]

The OC was on Sirius today, and his indication was that Willson struggles to block. Which is a problem.

Normally I'd try to ease your fears by reminding you that Joker TE's are basically just huge slot WRs... ideally you would only need Willson to block on the line a handful of times a game because he'd be in the slot so much. But if Miller goes down, who's the new #1 TE? If it's Willson, that could be a problem.

I don't trust Miller's walking boot foot, either.

Whoever this year's Evan Moore ends up being, I hope he is a lot better than Evan Moore.

 

[FlyingGreg]

Yeah, the loss of McCoy is looking more and more like a much bigger thing than initially thought. He had his issues too, but he made some big plays for us last season.

 

[Jazzhawk]

The team will be adding someone soon. Eh, not sure if I believe that, but it sounds good in theory.

 

[emurri]

The team will be adding someone soon. Eh, not sure if I believe that, but it sounds good in theory.

I have to agree. As we get into cuts some guys we become available that will be able to help us. I would not be surprised to see a trade, either. John is a master at working and reworking the roster.

 

[m0ng0]

I hope somebody steps up

 

[HawKnPeppa]

If Luke Wilson becomes a factor for us, I suspect it won't be in his first season. Rob Rang described him as very raw during the practice he observed, so that doesn't bode well for him contributing this season. I appreciate how Russell Wilson stays so positive all the time, but when we have marginal or raw players I wish he wouldn't blow so much sunshine up their ass. I'm not saying he should throw them under the bus, but he ought to at least admit they have some learning to do.

McGrath is a reliable blocker, and runs his routes well, but doesn't have the speed or even the quickness to separate. Rang accurately described him as 'a plodder.' Pretty much a like Mike Tice used to be.

I hope Snider can snag someone better after the final cuts, because we have zero quality depth at the position.

 

[Scottemojo]

I love what Kirwan said yesterday: If Pete and John think they need another tight end or kick returner, they will go get one before the season begins.
Not worried.

 

[Laloosh]

Sometimes I have to remind myself that we're not going to go into the season with our best guys in every position. If Willson or McGrath have to step up and they both suck, the coaches need to account for it and find ways to win with other matchups. So we might have terrible tight ends this year, even crappy tight ends will get open once in a while and make plays. Just means we have fewer options, doesn't mean we have no options.

Yes, I am captain obvious on this but sometimes people need reminding that we don't have to be perfect at every position to win.

 

[ivotuk]

Trade Thurmond for a TE.

 

[Scottemojo]

Trade Thurmond for a TE.

You never know. we have o-line, LB, and CB depth that could be used.

 

[chevelle03]

Sometimes I have to remind myself that we're not going to go into the season with our best guys in every position. If Willson or McGrath have to step up and they both suck, the coaches need to account for it and find ways to win with other matchups. So we might have terrible tight ends this year, even crappy tight ends will get open once in a while and make plays. Just means we have fewer options, doesn't mean we have no options.

Yes, I am captain obvious on this but sometimes people need reminding that we don't have to be perfect at every position to win.

Good perspective. I think us fans have become a little greedy over the course of this offseason.

 

[lukerguy]

Trade Thurmond for a TE.

You never know. we have o-line, LB, and CB depth that could be used.

Unfortunately, the perceived value on Thurmond is much lower due to injury and lack of knowledge about his skill than his true value to the Seahawks. I think we could get more for Maxwell, McQ, or Lane and thus I believe would be more viable.