This originally was a post as part of the "draft Suh with our first pick" post. But I think it deserves it's own post as I feel this will lead to a pretty good debate.

It seems every fan wants a new QB. This post is meant to debate whether the Seahawks organization (not YOU) feels we need to pursue a top-tier QB through draft or free-agency.

Please keep in mind that I'm taking the position of the Seahawks organization. I have absolutely ZERO insight into the Seahawks organization. But I have this sinking suspicion that our QB situation will look no different in 2010 and here's why.

Reason 1a: Hasselbeck is still viable. 

He’s had huge games this year (one example: Jaguars). His performance has regressed this year, but it could be attributed to: injuries (ribs, shoulder), an inconsistent and ineffective offensive line, a mostly new crop of receivers with which he’s not familiar, a new offensive scheme, a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new playbook and an ineffective run game. Whew, that’s a lot of potential reasons.

 

Next year he’ll likely play better. Yes, he'll be 35. But he’s never been much of a downfield passer, so his declining arm strength doesn’t factor with our offense. He's convinced by the S&C coach to get in better shape. He’ll be fully healthy. He’ll have more experience with all of the new pieces (players, coaches, scheme) of the team. 

Reason 1b: If Hass doesn't work out, we have a starter between Seneca Wallace and Mike Teel 

Seneca a very talented backup. He’s extremely versatile and could fit a Michael Vick scheme (for which we have the scheme and the coaching staff to support). He’s played somewhat well when starting; some of the silly errors simply need to be coached out of him (like running out of bounds instead of throwing the ball away). He’s not a franchise quarterback, but could be serviceable and cheap. 

Teel played well in the preseason and could be aggressively developed into a starting QB material. This is a long shot, but possible.

Reason 3: We will win games in 2010 with our absolutely stifling defense

In one fell swoop, we can complete our defense during the draft and free-agency. We add an elite DT (Suh, McCoy, or Dockett) to pair with Mebane. Our interior line becomes monstrous and even the best o-lines struggle to contain our DTs, thus freeing our DEs to wreck havok. We draft or sign an elite Safety (Berry, Mays) to pair with the much improving Babineaux. We re-sign Redding, cut/restructure Kerney and add a young, aggressive DE to replace/eventually replace the aging Patrick Kerney.

As a result, our rush defense becomes dominant (it’d already be ranked 4-5 if you remove the two long runs by Gore from the first 49ers game, when Mebane/Lofa/Hill were out), our pass rush improves (we’re already 12th in the league) and our pass defense likely improves because we better rush the passer and have more talent in the backfield.

We force numerous three and outs, force turnovers, and score through sheer time of possession.

Conclusion

Do I agree with this logic? Maybe. Am I nuts? Maybe.

Is this how the organization will think? This is the big question.

I honestly won’t be shocked if the Hawks don’t draft or sign a QB in 2010.

Flame away!

Our beloved Seahawks travel to Houston to take on the up-and-down Texans. Here's some interesting info and stats:

Texans defense seems soft: 30th ranked pass rush (19 sacks on the year), 14th ranked pass defense (214 yards allowed per game) and the 22nd ranked rush defense (118 yards allowed per game).

Texans offense is strong, yet pretty one-dimensional: 9th in total yards (367 yards per game), 4th in passing yards (278 yards per game) and 29th ranked rush offense (88 yards per game). 

The Texans rushing game took a hit today as the Texans put Steve Slaton on IR. Chris Brown will likely start in his place. 

The Texans passing game may not be 100% against the Hawks. Matt Shaub dislocated his shoulder during Sunday's game with the Jaguars, but did return to finish the game. He's listed as questionable for Sunday, but it appears he'll play against the Hawks, even if not at 100%. 

The Hawks offense has been pretty inconsistent, and thus over the year below average: 23rd in total yards (317 per game), 14th in passing offense (223 yards per game) and 27th in rushing offense (93 yards per game). 

The Hawks run defense has been keeping the team afloat: 21st in total defense (350 yards allowed per game), tied for 12th in sacks (27), 25th in pass defense (243 yards allowed per game), and 13th in rush defense (105 yards allowed per game; had we not allowed Frank Gore to bust those two long runs in the first game, we'd be ranked closer to 4th or 5th place). 

All stats were taken from NFL.com. 
It's kinda nice that we'll be facing a team that doesn't have a dominating defense. Playing the Cards, Niners, Vikings and others make our offense look pretty sad at times. I'd love to see an offensive shootout. The "defensive battles" are getting old. 
If anyone has anything to add, I'll update the post! (Pretty sure I can, at least!)

Although the poll Danny posted ("How many catches with TJ have in 2009") wasn't terribly interesting nor the results surprising, his analysis of newly-inked free agent receivers is.

Turns out it's rare that receivers, in their first year with a new team, catch 70+ passes. Only 15 players have done it in the past 6 years, only two of which were above 30 years old. It is interesting to note, however, that Danny does not include the total pool of "new" receivers over those past 6 years, so take the stat with a grain of salt. (Anyone wanna do that research and post the result? eh? ehhh???)

Although not terribly statistically sound, it's still quite interesting. Let's hope TJ can buck that trend.