Pollard Likely Done

by: Michael Steffes

I guess the Seahawks were on to something when they gave Marcus Pollard his pink slip in March. While it looked for a moment like New England might revive his career for a year or two, something they do for a lot of vets, it didn't happen.

The Patriots have released Marcus Pollard. Apparently his heart wasn't in it because he was third on the depth chart. He told Belichick that he didn't feel right coasting and collecting a pay check. Very honorable, but alas he is unemployed. This looks like it may be the end for Mr. Pollard. He made a nice career for himself coming from a basketball background, and it was truly unfortunate that things didn't work out better in Seattle. ~END~ Read More!

Three Weeks to Go, Injuries Subside

by: Michael Steffes

We were talking about this in another thread, but I thought i would turn it into to a post as well.

There is just under three weeks till the first game, and the Seahawks all of sudden are in much better shape as far as injuries go. With Hasselbeck, Spencer, and Babs all returning to the field, there are only three major injuries.

Bobby- Expected back after the bye
Branch- Maybe week 1, or so they keep saying. He supposedly looked very good doing one legged agility drills yesterday
Locklear- Hopeful for week 1, back before the bye for sure.
Red Bryant- Recovering from knee surgery, expects to begin working his way back up the depth chart as soon as next week

Other injuries include...
Larry Tripplett and Chris Cooper- who at this point are long shots to make the roster
Seneca Wallace- who will be back before the end of the week from a tweaked groin
Will Herring- who is suffering from a non-football related illness. With the emergence of David Hawthorne, Herring's illness should be easily overcome.

Oh, how quickly things can change in the preseason. It is good to see this team getting healthy now, with lots of time remaining to get ready for week one. ~END~ Read More!

Speaking of the Draft

by: Michael Steffes

Hey guys, with the start of the NFL season, that means college football is staring even sooner. Players that play in college end up in the draft. The draft is very important to the Hawks. Following along? Great.

So let me alert you to Scott Wrights Draftcountdown site. I have linked to this site from the beginning, but now it has a new address. Also, Scott has redone the site adding all kinds of new features, including....

* Mock Draft with 7,000 words of analysis
* Player Rankings with 385 of the top senior ranked by position as well as lists
of Overrated / Underrated prospects, Sleepers and a Top 100 Overall.
* Interview with Ole Miss OT Michael Oher
* Heisman Watch where I handicap the race for college football's most pretigious
individual award.
* NFL Player Rankings - Top 10 at each position and a Top 50 Overall
* Ask Scott mailbag where I answer reader-submitted questions
* '08 Dream Draft - New feature where I select players as if I were running an
NFL team.

Scott and I are trying to work something out where he will lend some draft insights on the Hawks as the season goes along. He may jump in as a guest on a podcast or two as well. So give his re-model a look-see and make sure you book mark it for next draft season for sure! ~END~ Read More!

Something to Chew On

by: Michael Steffes

One thing that certainly shouldn't go unnoticed in this preseason is the Hawks recent success with 7th rounders. It is quite remarkable actually. Going back, over the last three drafts, the 7th round has been very friendly to the Hawks.

In 2006, the team took both Ryan Plackemeier and Ben Obamanu.

In 2007, the team took Steve Vallos, who appears to be a future contributer to this team for sure. He is almost a lock to be the back up center now this year, clearly improving his stead throughout the offseason.

In 2008, the team took Brandon Coutu and Justin Forsett. I know, it is only preseason, but both have a decent shot of sticking with the team.

It is a remarkable run. Most teams just expect that they will cut their 7th rounders. Especially playoff teams. In fact, even with specialists, if they are expected to stick in the league they are taken in the 5th or 6th.

One other reason that this is fun to note, is that if you followed this blog through the offseason, you know I am predicting several late round compensation picks next year. Imagine if we give Mr. Ruskell 3 or 4 seventh rounders to play with, right? ~END~ Read More!

Tatupu and da Bears

by: Chris Sullivan

Two quick articles for you guys...

Lofa is getting some pretty high praise from Fox Sports' Adam Schein.

If I am starting an NFL team, and I can pick one player to lead my franchise for
now and in the future, I'm taking Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu.

It's a good article, and worth reading. In other news, as we predicted here last week, Grossman's mediocre performance was apparently enough worse than Orton's medicore performance, that the Bears have named Kyle "Teen Wolf" Orton as the starter for week one. Worth noting, is the stats they quote for Orton... his career is less than half a year for Matt. END Read More!

Heeeeeeee's Back

by: Michael Steffes

And it is about time. Jose Romero is reporting that practice has started and Chris Spencer is on the field with the team. Hallelujah! Its all starting to come together folks. ~END~ Read More!

Charlie Frye and the MMQB

by: Michael Steffes

If any of regularly read Peter Kings Monday Morning Quarterback Article, you may have seen that this morning he mentions Charlie Frye.

Under his 10 Things I Think I Know segment he says this...

Is there a good reason why the Seattle Seahawks should keep Charlie Frye? I can't think of one.

That is a good question. Especially if we all agree now that Seneca Wallace needs to remain the back up and not be run out in a "slash" like role. This team is digging deep into its pocket to come up with extra roster spots, only to keep coming up empty. Is Frye a luxury that we don't need?

I think it comes down to two things. First, how comfortable is Holmgren with only two QBs. They broke camp last year with only two Qbs and until they traded for Frye it was something Holmgren stressed they were trying to rectify. So... could Holmgren sleep at night with only two Qbs? Second, can Charlie Frye be a good QB in the future, assuming the team continues to develop him properly. There is no future starting QB on this roster, post Hasselbeck. Frye was thought of as a promising prospect coming out of the draft and in Cleveland. Does the coaching staff think that he still has promise? If so, they probably keep him. If not, it will be interesting to see if the brass is more concerned about keeping guys like Forsett or Kent who have preformed this preseason, or feeling safe, having a capable third string QB. ~END~ Read More!

Should the Team Start Justin Forsett?

by: Michael Steffes

No, no, not week 1, but next week in San Diego. Justin Forsett has been nothing short of a revelation so far in the preseason. He seems to have forced his way onto the final 53 man roster at this point. So why is coach Holmgren waffling on whether or not he will make the team?

Because Coach Holmgren knows there is a big difference between running in the first half of a game and running in the second. This is further amplified during the preseason because the second half is usually comprised of a mix-mash defensive unit, usually made up of young players trying to make the team, just like Forsett.

The answer to this riddle is simple. The Seahawks would benefit from giving Forsett some snaps with the first team offense next week in San Diego. If anything, give him Morris' carries. The team should know what it has in Morris. They need to be sure of what they are seeing in Forsett. The Chargers have a good interior defense. They also go against a small back, Darren Sprowles, every day in practice. If Forsett rips through them like hurricane, well than that forces the teams hand. If he doesn't, then it will clarify why coach is so reluctant to just say he is too good to cut. ~END~ Read More!

Very quick compliment

by: Chris Sullivan

From our main man, Mike Sando. He was at the game yesterday, and plans to post something in full today or tomorrow covering the game in detail (he had one already, but it was at midway through the 3rd quarter). Anyway, he does mention in his coverage of the other 3 NFC Worst teams:

This looks like the deepest Seattle team I've seen in 10 years of covering the organization.

At least we've got one national reporter giving us credit... END Read More!

Qwest Virgin No More

by: Strategerie

It’s the most fun I’ve ever had while fully dressed. Since the NFL has a shiny new fan conduct policy (and the resulting number to alert on “knuckleheads”; I heard the PSA for this so many times last night I’m starting to believe I could recite it from memory,) I’ll attempt to keep it PG-rated. Yeah, the earth moved for me -- and 50,000 other people.

Our odyssey started a few weeks ago when I admitted that no, we’d never been to Qwest. The lack of ticket availability had scared us off. Plus, we were Husky season ticket holders for many years. We could watch the pros on TV, couldn’t we? At the same time, I still longed to see a game live. Imagine my joy when a certain Seahawks fan made this happen for me! (Contrary to popular belief, I did not sleep with the tickets underneath my pillow.)

We arrived at the stadium in blistering heat. Job One (besides parking the car,) was finding some water. We were very, VERY early: I wanted to watch practice. The stadium? Gorgeous. Is there a bad seat in the house? I think not. I was surprised to note how close the bottom row of seats actually is to the players’ bench, and how LOUD it is. Even in preseason, it’s unbelievable! I spied many people sitting around us wearing earplugs. Of course, the place really rock n’ rolled when our guys made their appearance on the field. Paul Moyer raised the 12th Man flag, and the building shook! To Continue...

My husband is still laughing about the woman sitting in front of us turning to ask me if I’d had to flash my, well, chest to get the strand of game beads I’d bought at the concession stand downstairs. I reassured her that I’d purchased them. After all, it was a PG-rated zone, wasn’t it?

The game, or the real reason why we were there: As others have mentioned, the first half was an uneven effort, highlighted by crowd-thrilling harassment of Rex Grossman and his offensive line. The defense held Chicago to two points throughout most of the first half as well. I’m glad that Charlie Frye got the practice. As the game continued, he seemed to gain confidence in his backs and receivers, and moved the team down the field with increasing effectiveness. When he figured out he could scramble to get himself out of trouble, he stopped throwing picks. I’m hoping Coach Holmgren will continue starting him for the rest of the preseason, because I’d like to see what he can do.

Justin Forsett electrified the crowd. We heard his name all night. If he doesn’t make the team, I’ll be so disappointed. We were also happy to see Logan Payne get some work, and The Heater is already a crowd favorite, too. Great things happen when he’s on the field! Owen Schmitt’s hat popped off during a play, so we all got to see his Mohawk and huge grin. They were having fun out there!

One of the things I noticed while watching our guys beat up on the Bears was the sideline action. Television just doesn’t do Julian Peterson justice, or perhaps he should have his own show. I was laughing aloud at his antics. It seems he was eating something. (Could it be the Gummi worms he said he was eating in the sidelines interview last week?) When he wasn’t doing that, he, Lofa Tatupu, and Mr. Hill were doing their own extra-special version of “The Wave”. Even Matt Hasselbeck joined in. It was easy to spot Julian in his neon-green ball cap and the infamous green football shoes, and he didn’t stop when the game was over. He ran out of the locker room once more to say goodnight to the fans! His joy is infectious. Forget about calling himself “#98”. He’s a goofball -- but he’s OUR goofball!

Speaking of fun, we were treated to overtime. Even if the fans were probably as exhausted as we were from a combination of heat and four quarters of urging the team on, the 12th Man rallied. Everyone was on their feet and cheering the final field goal!

Finally, it was time to go home. I can’t wait to go back. I know we’ll be at Qwest again sooner than later. We’re getting on the season ticket list. We’re searching StubHub and planning on going to some tailgating during the regular season. This was SO much better than I ever could have imagined!

All thanks to Michael for his help in this effort, and again, Go Seahawks! We believe! Read More!