SB Nation - Chris Gray

The Offensive Line Part 4: A Failure Not Earned

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:00:42 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

It's hard not to be mad after yesterday's travesty, but class, and the ability to direct one's anger where it belongs, separates the losers of yesterday and the losers of tomorrow.

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Offensive line, right? It's a joke made thousands of times since 2005. From what little I saw of yesterday's game, the line was bad enough to kill the offense itself. The Seahawks week six line, Kyle Williams - Steve Vallos - Chris Spencer - Max Unger - Ray Willis, is the worst line Seattle has started since Tim Ruskell took over. Williams and Vallos are essentially replacement level talent, and Spencer to Willis is not the kind of intimidating right side that can hide a piecemeal left.

Seattle was poorly built but lucky in 2007 and as things turn out, it has been well built but unlucky in 2009. Kyle Williams was never meant to start. Seattle imported a player from across the country to keep Williams on its practice squad. Williams was buried behind Sean Locklear, Brandon Frye and theoretically Walter Jones.

Let's blow up the Jones situation again. Jones underwent microfracture knee surgery last fall. I thought that might be the end of his career, but I was in error. It might still be the end of his playing career, but Jones is very much a Seahawk and very much on the Seahawks roster. He cost $8.6 million against the cap each of the last two seasons and I believe costs even more than that this season. Maybe Jones is never going to play again, but in Ruskell's world, Jones is an investment and a failing one Seattle can't shake.

Before training camp, Jones passed his physicals. His microfracture surgery was a success. The rub is that the procedure is not likely to preserve Jones career and its short term consequences have left Jones unable to play. So the greatest player in Seahawks history, through no fault of his own or others, has become a big, fat boondoggle.

Seattle did invest into its tackle position. It signed Locklear to a contract with incentives if he stuck at left tackle. Locklear has been reasonably healthy and had shown some skills that could translate. The team was not relying on Locklear for its future, but with the entire tackle situation queered by Jones health, Locklear represented a cheap, low-downside bridge from the Jones era to whatever followed. Seattle re-signed Ray Willis to a two-year, inexpensive contract. Willis seems like a steal now that his early-career health problems are behind him. Funny how unpredictable injuries are.

Seattle's success kept it just outside 2008's historic offensive tackle class and it's hard to discredit Seattle for selecting Aaron Curry fourth overall in 2009. Linebacker is not typically a foundational position, but Stafford was gone, Sanchez was iffy, the tackle class overblown -- its best talent taken at two and its second best talent Andre Smith. Eugene Monroe is tossed around, but Monroe had serious injury concerns. He started the season for Jacksonville but has since been benched. If you saw the solution to Seattle's offensive line woes on October 11, you weren't sitting in Qwest Field.

At the time and in the short term, Curry appears to be the right pick. Seattle then traded its second round pick for the 2010 first round pick of the Denver Broncos. It was team with a rookie coach, Kyle Orton at quarterback and one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2008. It was a smart decision then and whatever has happened since doesn't change that.

Unless it wasn't a smart decision. Eben Britton was available. He is playing right tackle now and may forever play right tackle. Seattle could have selected Andy Levitre, though Levitre is a guard. It could have drafted William Beatty, but neither player has done much for their respective teams. Instead it traded that pick for a better pick and traded back into the second to draft Max Unger. Unger has started all season and seems mostly competent for a rookie right guard.

So it was a smart decision. And yet Seattle's offensive line is in ruins. That is a microcosm for this entire debate. Tim Ruskell has made many smart decisions, but the Seahawks are not winning games. A general manager's job is to build a winning football team. Seattle is 6-20 over the last two seasons. It has clear and recognizable weaknesses at offensive line and in the secondary. Both are units Ruskell has invested in.

Ruskell drafted Ray Willis and he starts. He drafted Chris Spencer and Spencer starts, but has missed time because of injury. He draft Rob Sims and Sims starts, but has missed time because of injury. He drafted Unger, the rookie. He signed Sean Locklear as a low-downside stop-gap until the team could know what to do with Walter Jones, and Locklear's injury has been felt worst of all. He drafted Steve Vallos and Mansfield Wrotto, but Vallos has shifted around and started bad. Wrotto can't seem to impress Seattle's coaches. He got Brandon Frye for nothing, but Frye went down, and Williams for nothing, his asking price, and Damion McIntosh for almost nothing, but maybe a week too late.

Ruskell built his line through the draft and without great expenditure. His picks have been mostly mild to moderate successes. He may not envision an elite line or maybe just never saw value when Seattle was on the clock. That might be arguable, but it isn't indefensible.

So how did the offensive line become offensive? Injuries, age and one very bad decision, it would seem. Steve Hutchinson hangs over Ruskell. Walter Jones, Robbie Tobeck and Chris Gray got old. Jones, through not fault of anyone, has become a burden. Locklear, the young tackle many were gushing about in 2005 has suffered a rash of disconnected injuries. Sims, the young guard many were gushing about in 2006 has suffered a rash of disconnected injuries. Kris Dielman said "no". Unger is a rookie. Spencer has been competent and not too long ago was a steady, established starter. Mike Wahle filled in for a season before his body broke down. Tom Ashworth was expunged. No one Ruskell inherited from 2004 except Hutchinson who was worth retaining wasn't retained.

Revisiting Ruskell's decisions when they were made does not reveal great missed opportunities, but missed opportunities. It does not reveal a general manager that ran a historically great line into the ground, but instead one crucial mistake and the irrepressible destructiveness of time. It does not reveal a man who ignored the line, but added good talent to it, good overall, good respective to the available players and good respective to their cost. It reveals that yesterday's game, awful as it was, is the kind of game every franchise endures. Ozzie Newsome saw it week one of 2007. Bill Polian saw it in week three of 1987.

They saw, we saw, an everyday, frustrating as hell, meltdown -- The kind that happens every Sunday. But there's no heads to call for and no easy answers to rebuilding.

The Offensive Line Part 3: The Healthy Year

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:51:01 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Players like Matt Hasselbeck make but also create hard decisions. He has been undoubtedly Seattle's greatest quarterback ever, but when is too soon to prepare for the future? And how can you win when you know the player you acquire is not likely better than Hasselbeck's past?

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Steve Hutchinson is an amazing talent. Seattle wasn't building a line of amazing talents. Chris Gray was sagging, Walter Jones in decline, Sean Locklear as serviceable as ever and Chris Spencer and Rob Sims still getting their feet wet. But it had a healthy line. Jones missed one game, the only game missed by Seattle's starting five, and he missed that game as a precaution. It's not well remembered today, but Seattle's 2007 offense was good, even with Shaun Alexander. It was a twelth ranked offense and a 9^th ranked passing offense. The run game was solid outside of Alexander. Maurice Morris had his best season as a pro.

Seattle was healthy in 2007 and other than right guard, it did not seem to have pressing needs at offensive line. Jones was writing the book on modern dominance at left tackle and his historic peers at the position commonly played into their mid- to late-thirties. Sims and Spencer were the subject of Mike Holmgen's scorn, but neither player played that bad, and both were still very young at a position that historically peaks late.

The big flub happened in 2006 and hurt Seattle in the 2007 draft. Tim Ruskell traded the Seahawks first round pick for Deion Branch and then signed him to a six-year, $39 million. He desperately wanted out from Darrell Jacksons's contract, could not retain Joe Jurevicius after Vicious signed for less to play for his hometown Browns, had no interest in keeping Jeremy Stevens, was about to lose Bobby Engram to Graves Disease, and had signed Nate Burleson as a inexpensive project wide receiver and return man. Burleson has fulfilled both roles well. He has cost Seattle $2, $3.5 and $4 million against the cap his first three seasons.

Ruskell saw the Seahawks a contender and didn't see a better opportunity to add a wide receiver. He may have reached a bit, but the enormity of his decision is overblown. Late first round picks are seldom superstars and often outright busts. Had Seattle switched Branch for a generic, late-first round receiver, that receiver would have underperformed the disappointing Branch. It could have used that pick elsewhere however. It could have drafted Ben Grubbs, Arron Sears or Justin Blalock. All three have been solid, though Sears career may be over after a frightening concussion.

This marks the point where we can first say Ruskell was deemphasizing the offensive line. He didn't add significant talent in a significantly talented class, opting instead to draft project player, Mansfield Wrotto, in the fourth. The team made a run at Kris Dielman, but when Dielman frowned at Seattle's weather and went home to San Diego to sign for less, the Seahawks didn't have a plan ‘B'. Its good health at offensive line may have hidden a rotting foundation. Chris Gray started 16 but arguably shouldn't have started one. Excepting Jones, it wasn't very talented, and the youth movement Ruskell started with Spencer, Willis and Sims, was not added to or challenged. Tom Ashworth and Floyd Womack were still primary depth and the most promising successor to Jones was Locklear.

The year that Ruskell's plan was its most effective was also the year Ruskell's plan looked most ominous. Seattle didn't land one of that free agent class's big name guards and didn't acquire talent that could start in a pinch. Had the same injuries occurred that year as have this, Seattle was thinner and weaker and more likely to collapse with Tom Ashworth, Mansfield Wrotto and Steve Vallos thrust into action than even Kyle Williams, modern Wrotto and modern Vallos.

But it didn't and line depth didn't seem like such an awful big deal in 2007. What line could look good blocking Shaun Alexander? It had young parts, an ageless veteran and a defense that was starting to look like the future of the team.

The Offensive Line Part 2: The Transition

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:58:30 -0000

This is the season Seattle lost Steve Hutchinson and the foundation of its offensive line began to crumble. Walter Jones was still among the very best at his position, but he was 32 and would turn 33 less than a week after Seattle was bumped out of the playoffs.

That run was paved in part by Tim Ruskell's first ever pick, Chris Spencer, replacing an effectively retired Robbie Tobeck, and rookie Rob Sims replacing the irreplaceable Hutchinson. When Spencer and Sims helped spring an already washed-up Shaun Alexander for 108 yards and two touchdowns against the sixth-ranked Bears rush defense, all was right, Ruskell was in good graces and the future of the Seattle Seahawks seemed bright.

The line was crumbling though. Jones was approaching old, and the intolerance to pain medication that once stood as a testament to his greatness began to loom as a horrible "what if?" Sims could not replace Hutchinson. Chris Gray was 36. Without that insane left side to protect him, Sean Locklear could no longer be trumped up by contrived stats. Seattle was halfway between the collapse of an all-time great offensive line and a rebuilding effort that couldn't possibly be as successful.

Seattle did not invest much into rebuilding the line in 2006. The draft was a bit top heavy and talent poor. Seattle could have selected Guy Whimper with its Sims pick, Willie Colon, Chris Kuper or Jeromey Clary, but if Sims has maybe not been the most valuable lineman selected in the second day, he has been a good player for the pick and more successful than much of his class.

Seattle could have spent an earlier pick but didn't. It's almost impossible to argue that had Seattle kept spent its first or second round picks on offensive linemen, it would be a better team today. Its first round pick, Kelly Jennings, has busted, but so has Winston Justice, selected 39^th, and neither Deuce Latui, 41^st, nor Daryn Colledge, 47^th, strike me as significantly better players than Sims. It could have made a play at a tackle like Marcus McNeill, Andrew Whitworth, Jeremy Trueblood or Eric Winston, but it believed itself set at tackle, and it seemed to be.

Instead, Ruskell added Tom Ashworth. Ashworth was awful: Another body on the pile of winners and veterans that Ruskell has burdened the team with. But Ashworth was fourth string and therefore as likely to play as Kyle Williams. Sean Locklear had been healthy to that point. Ashworth was behind Jones, Locklear, Ray Willis and even Floyd Womack.

Injuries became a factor. Locklear missed five games. Willis missed 15 and was put on IR. Womack was starting at left guard. Locklear's injury forced Ashworth into action and he played like the fourth string tackle he was. The line did not play well and compared to 2005, it was awful.

The talent Ruskell had added was good. It was young and cheap and seemed promising. The line had declined from a peak it could not possibly reach again, but where it had been expensive, aged, but elite, it was now turning into cheap, young and serviceable.

The Offensive Line Part 1: Ruskell the Rookie

John Morgan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Seahawks fans are eager for a fall guy after watching their guy fall, but sometimes things go bad without an easy enemy to blame.

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Normally I take this time to rewatch the game a few times and decide my storylines for the week. I have still yet to see the game. The bye week is on its way and there's plenty to discuss, but actual tape analysis might be a little slow coming.

I didn't need to see it to know that starting Kyle Williams beside Steve Vallos was going to be a problem. It was a not so subtle and not so brief reminder that football coaches can overvalue intelligence and intangibles. Vallos chemistry with Williams didn't make it off the practice field. The more important matter is how did Seattle's line get so bad? Could it be significantly better? And is there still hope for improvement?

From Caviar to Cat Food

Seattle started two future Hall of Fame talents on its Super Bowl bound 2005 team. Walter Jones was the best tackle of a historic class. The best tackle in the history of the NFL, according to some. No one currently associated with the Seahawks deserves credit for Jones success or Jones eventual decline. Three fifths of that historic 2005 line are retired or nearly so. The remaining two are paving the way to Canton for another back and injured, respectively. Knowing that so much of that talented line simply got old is cold comfort, but comfort.

Tim Ruskell bears some responsibility for the Seahawks losing Steve Hutchinson. As we know his style better, his fingerprints appear all over that botched attempt to save fifty bucks. The actual mistake was minor compared to the outcome. Ruskell was blindsided by a poison pill clause that introduced the world to the phrase "poison pill clause". He was backdoored by a wily GM and a guard that wanted out. If we can't ever fully excuse Ruskell from that mistake, I think we should at least maintain perspective.

The Seahawks line was in need of new blood as soon as Ruskell took over. The interior was comprised of two journeymen soon to retire and a free agent. The 2004 team, the team I affectionately call the Trader Bob Superfund, was bereft of promising offensive line talent. It was the principles, Chris Terry, Floyd Womack, Jerry Wunch and Wayne the Pain Hunter.

As has been Ruskell's lot, he was fixing the team at multiple positions during the offseason. He drafted Chris Spencer in the first, Ray Willis in the fourth and Doug Nienhuis in the seventh in a linemen- and linebacker-centric draft. Neinhuis was a pure bust, but Willis has developed into a cheap, talented right tackle. Seattle re-signed Willis this offseason and he's been a rock on an otherwise chalk line.

Spencer is a bit more controversial. He hasn't excelled and he hasn't been awful. He hasn't been healthy and he hasn't been wracked with injury. Spencer is only 27 and his potential is still strong, a potential that could mean eight more years of productive football, but he's a free agent or restricted free agent after this season and might not be worth his open market value.

Ruskell did invest in the offensive line. He did it at the right time and with some success. Willis was the first lineman selected in the fourth round and he has been the second most successful. I will give Jason Brown the benefit of the doubt, though I am not sure Brown is in fact more valuable than Willis. Seattle could have selected Logan Mankins or Michael Roos with its Spencer pick, but it didn't. Roos is a pure tackle and could have perhaps played right tackle for Seattle, allowing Locklear to move inside, but Seattle didn't see offensive tackle as a pressing need, or guard for that matter. Value for value, Willis has been a similar find to Roos. It's also notable that Chris Gray would play three more serviceable seasons at right guard, but Robbie Tobeck was out of the league the very next season. Ruskell added starter caliber talent at the right positions at the right time in his very first draft as a GM.

2008 Season Retrospective: Steve Vallos

John Morgan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:52:55 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Use of a disembodied arm for purposes of clubbing is disallowed in the NFL.

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Overview: Steve Vallos received a crash course in training camp on playing center. He started the first three preseason games at center and received praise from Seattle's coaching staff. After Chris Spencer was lost for the season in week 12, Vallos started the final five games of the regular season. He had one false start and no holding penalties.

What went right: Vallos stepped up and played a position he was inexperienced at and never suffered the kind of automatic-benching meltdown he was entirely capable of. And by season's end, he was no longer an abject liability at center.

What went wrong: Vallos was overmatched in the preseason and then abused in his first two regular season games. He looked unfit for the speed or power of the game. He was a turnstile against Dallas. So bad it's a wonder Seattle mounted any offense at all. His play leveled off and eventually Vallos wasn't single-handedly undermining Seattle's offense, just interspersing poor play with ineffectual play.

Outlook: The Cult of Vallos started because of poor reading comprehension. It was fed by an irrational dislike of Chris Spencer. Mike Holmgren said Vallos was doing very well considering the circumstances. The circumstances were a hobbled Chris Spencer and a lower back injury that put Chris Gray at risk of paralysis. The circumstances were that Vallos played all five line positions at Wake Forest, all five except center. The circumstances were that Seattle was unprepared for the loss of Gray and Spencer, and Vallos was doing yeoman's work at a position he didn't know. That's being a team player* and that's respectable and one understands why the coaches singled him out for praise. No one thought he was performing well.

Seattle graded Vallos with their actions drafting Max Unger in the second round and preempting any notion of Vallos ever starting. Unger or Spencer will man center for the foreseeable future. If Unger doesn't secure a starting guard spot, he would automatically become the second string center and likely doom Vallos to being cut. Long ago when he was drafted, I was a fan of Steve Vallos. I like accomplished college tackles moving inside and playing a less demanding line position. A player can be marginally athletic at tackle and adequate or above average at guard or center, but you gotta be strong. Vallos isn't. He's not real football big despite his listed weight, and as a center he withstands the bullrush like a tackle. If Vallos isn't a Hawk, there are rosters yet for him to be signed to and cut from. Maybe he grows into his body and has a nice little career. There's a coaching career somewhere should he want it. My antipathy for the guy got a little out of hand because of the backup-quarterback treatment he was getting from some fans, but as far as seventh round selections go, I think Vallos will be a success.

*The counterargument is that Vallos might not have made the team had he not stuck at center.

Tuesday links and notes; more reaction to Houshmandzadeh's departure; taking a quick look at FA centers

Kirkendall — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:17:04 -0000

+ When MRIs become a formality. Oh how we love this. Now that he signed his deal with the Seattle Seahawks, it's being reported that Houshmandzadeh is getting an MRI as a formality. Joe Reedy makes the point that since he's being paid well, that the MRI could be standard to make sure they are getting a healthy wide receiver. Every player typically receives a physical before they are signed just in case guys like Jim Bowden are dealing undisclosed injured players. But an MRI? We're not sure how many instances we've hard of this being a formality.

What's impressive is that overall reaction around the community of blogs is fairly sided with the Bengals, rather the receiver. Can't place blame | Did it the right way | Not really upset | Blessing in disguise.

James Walker points out that by making a run for Laveranues Coles, that the Bengals have little to no confidence in their younger receivers, which reestablishes the long standing argument. Who the hell are drafting these guys? An alternative point is that the Bengals are positioning themselves to letting Chad Johnson go, either their trade or outright release (the latter will bring Cincinnati into a riot).

C Trent agrees, saying, "now it's time for Andre Caldwell, Jerome Simpson, Chris Henry and Chad Ocho Cinco to step up." His point is that another 31-year old receiver isn't the biggest need.

Carson Palmer says after Houshmandzadeh's departure, "we'll be OK."

+ The Bengals have yet to address center in free agency, a position that's long been underachieving since Rich Braham's retirement after two games in 2006. Matt Birk is expected to visit the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. Other centers available include:

Jeremy Newbery, Chargers
Melvin Fowler, Bills
Tom Nalen, Broncos
Chris Gray, Seahawks
Al Johnson, Dolphins
Nick Leckey, Rams
Chris Morris, Raiders
Rudy Niswanger, Chiefs
Scott Peters, Cardinals
Duke Preston, Bills

Moving on.

The Miami Dolphins signed former Raiders center, Jack Grove, to a five-year deal worth $30 million. Jason Brown signed a five-year deal worth $37.5 million with $20 million guaranteed. Center Eric Ghiaciuc is testing the market, writes Joe Reedy, however, he could be re-signed. Oh, joy.

Any interest for Vonnie Holliday?

While saying that Laveranues Coles would find a fit with Cincinnati more lucrative, Matt Bowen writes, "He would get to play with quarterback Carson Palmer and line up opposite Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson. Receivers always go where they’re going to get the ball and where they see the best option at the quarterback position."

NFP position rankings in the upcoming draft includes the following running backs.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia (5-11, 208)
Chris Wells, Ohio State (6-1, 237)
Shonn Greene, Iowa (5-11, 235)
LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh (5-11, 210)
Donald Brown, Connecticut (5-10, 210)
Rashad Jennings, Liberty (6-1, 232)
Jeremiah Johnson, Oregon (5-9, 208)
Andre Brown, N.C. State (6-0 224)
Glen Coffee, Alabama (6-0, 209)
Javon Ringer, Michigan State (5-9, 205)

Both Ray Lewis and Derrick Brooks are available in free agency. Who would have thought that the market for those two would be so quiet?