SB Nation User Blog: 12thman

Colin Cowherd gives Seahawks "A" in draft.

12thman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:11:10 -0000

Morning all. Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio just opened his show talking up the Seahawks. He says it's hard to grade the draft on its own too early because you never know which late-rounders will make the final roster. Apparently the Texans have had the most draft picks from the last 2-3 years make the roster. No one ever gave them high draft grades though. Here's Cowherd's take. My comments in Italics

While the Seahawks' draft, especially Day 1, was great addressing in needs with the best available "safe" talent, Colin also factors in other offseason happenings.

He claims Housh is worth 16 game starts and 70 caught balls. Easily the best signing of the offseason for any team. Fits the system like a reborn Bobby Engram

Hasselbeck, worth 7 starts last year, easily doubles that number this year.

Curry is worth 16 starts. How many starts did we lose off the linebacking corps last year? A few from Tats?

Unger is worth 16 starts. This one might be a stretch, only happens if Spencer or one of the guards has regressed that much. One possible scenario, left to right- Walt, Unger, Spencer, Sims, Locklear. That leaves Willis, Wahle and Wrotto as primary backups. Thank you Lord. Anything to see Vallos not play another snap off the practice squad.

In Cowherd's mind, he sees at leat 50-57 starts we lost last year to injury being replaced. He gives 4 other teams "A's" based on offseason signings and draft picks. The Bears, Eagles, Browns, and Falcons. Good take in my opinion. The Eagles adding Peters, Hobbs, and two major rookie offensive weapons certainly grades high. No mention of our Denver 1st rounder next year.

Plaxico Suspended For Hawks Game

12thman — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:00:35 -0000

Taken from Yahoo Sports.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress was suspended for one game by the New York Giants on Wednesday for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

General manager Jerry Reese and coach Tom Coughlin informed Burress of the suspension Wednesday morning before the team held a bye-week practice.

The suspension takes effect immediately, meaning Burress will miss the Giants (3-0) game against the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 5.

Burress will be allowed to return to team activities the following day.

This bodes very well for the Hawks. The only thing slower than Brian Russell is Amani Toomer. Are things beginning to look positive for a change?

Update by John Morgan: Typically, I argue not to overstate the value of one player. Great teams make stars, but stars do not make great teams. Plaxico Burress is an exception. Not just because he's so much better than the Giants other receivers, but because he's perfectly matched for Eli Manning's abilities and inabilities. In 2007, Burress accounted for 139 DYAR. Manning, -70. While that could be a function of Burress' position, scouting data backs up the numbers. Manning is notorious for his overthrows and the 6'5" and exceptionally rangy Burress was the perfect foil for Manning's inaccuracy. Well, nearly. Burress receives a lot of wild passes "targeting" him, and as such has hovered around a 50% completion percentage in his three years with New York.

In the past three season, Burress has missed one game. In 2006, against the Houston Texans, Eli Manning, including sacks, attempted 30 passes for an adjusted net yards per attempt of 4.43. That season, Manning and the Texans opponents averaged 5.6 adjusted net yards per attempt. What production Manning had that day came through his tight end and running backs. The wide receivers combined for five receptions for 52 yards. The only remaining wide receiver from that group of Mike Jennings, Tim Carter and Amani Toomer is Toomer. Toomer suffered worst of all, targeted four times, for an interception, an incomplete and two receptions for 16 yards. Toomer is now 34, and tore his ACL in 2006. Toomer is also now New York's nominative number one receiver.

Toomer and Burress have accounted for 55% of Manning's passing yards in 2008. The team doesn't "lose" Burress' production as some would imply, but that doesn't example how dependent on his top two wideouts Manning is. With the loss of Burress, Toomer will presumably shift into the number one receiver spot on the right, and Steve Smith will move into Toomer's spot on the left. The 5'11" but fast Smith is a better physical matchup for Kelly Jennings (or Josh Wilson) than the 6'3", slow but physical Toomer. With Marcus Trufant more than able to shut down Toomer, the Giants will need to emphasize their run game. Brandon Jacobs, fast for a big man, but slow and inagile for a running back, is the type of bruiser Seattle's fast, gang tackling and aggressive front seven feasts on. Needless to say, the loss of Burress creates a cascade that weakens the Giants offense and improves Seattle's matchups. It doesn't, however, weaken New York's still dominant defense. Seattle must manage to sustain drives and protect Matt Hasselbeck or risk losing a defensive-led bloodbath.

Lofa Tatupu issues an apology

12thman — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:17:01 -0000

As taken from Seahawks.com

Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu has released the following comments regarding the events of this past weeked.

"I want to apologize to my family, teammates, the Seahawks ownership and organization, and the fans for making a poor decision and putting myself in a bad situation. I take seriously my role as a leader on this team, and in the community, and because of that I'm disappointed and embarrassed by the level of poor judgment I used last weekend. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. This will never happen again, and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

I believe this may end up having a positive effect on the entire team. Lofa knows he is in the doghouse with the coaching staff, management, and especially the fans. I bet he's really ashamed of himself right now. What better way to put this behind him than to redouble his efforts and put even more focus into football.

I'm almost hoping he has to miss a game for this. This is a serious problem, and we cannot have public figures and role models for young athletes going out and making these kind of mistakes. I would like to see Lofa talking to children about the dangers of drinking and driving in the future. A single game suspension would send a clear signal as to the gravity of his mistake.

Maybe D.D. can have one start this season...