SB Nation User Blog: Vasilii

Mike Holmgren on Hutchinson & his future

Vasilii — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:25:47 -0000

Sports Radio offers an interview with Mike Holmgren. No doubt his remarks on Hutchinson will get the most interest, and he's non-committal on the Browns, so let's just quote his take on rebuilding franchises.

“You know I think it’s a very valid question you raise. I think to do that with any team, to a certain extent we did it going into Green Bay and a little bit coming into Seattle. It takes a tremendous amount of energy, but there is a certain appeal there, a draw there. There’s something in my personality to that. Taking on those types of projects, that kind of gets me going, but there’s a lot of work to do. The important thing going into any organization is that all the principles, all the decision makers are pointed in the same direction with the same motives, with the same desires and then you have a chance. As you look around the NFL, I’m not sure you can say that about every team and it shows. I think the teams that are successful, through ownership, down through management, down through coaching, there is a singleness, a purpose, there’s enough credit for everybody, no one gets territorial, its just good and it shows on the field. I think in the case of the Cleveland Browns or any of the teams that are struggling, that question has to be answered first before you even have much of a chance I think.”

Cosell’s Coaching Tape: Cards O v Panthers D

Vasilii — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:14:31 -0000

Cosell’s Coaching Tape: Cards O v Panthers D

I'm personally a big fan of Greg Cosell, and his coaching notes, while short, usually help gives an insight in why a game went as it did.

Trufant, Hill back practicing with Seahawks

Vasilii — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:03:20 -0000

Trufant, Hill back practicing with Seahawks

Seahawks vault up FO's DVOA rankings

Vasilii — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:22:35 -0000

Football Outsiders weekly DVOA rankings are always worth a read, especially when the Seahawks are doing well.

The statistics are unambiguously positive. Seahawks vaulted up from #21 in total DVOA to #14, with a middle-of-the-pack offense (#17) and defense (#12) . Our DAVE is 14 which needs to be higher, but considering these stats are over the entire season including 3 stinkers, this isn't bad at all.

What surprised me most was our schedule; according to FO, our first 5 games were against middle-of-the-pack teams (18th), but we have the easiest remaining schedule of all teams.

Also Jacksonville is now the least consistent team in DVOA on a week-to-week basis. Go figure.

Sport Radio Interviews QAs Owen Schmitt

Vasilii — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:01:29 -0000

Sport Radio Interviews QAs Owen Schmitt

The answers are of the hilarious quality you would expect from someone who opens a game by knocking his head open. "I didn't think my head would split open" is a leading candidate for quote of the year.

Branch says he may never fully recover

Vasilii — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:28:11 -0000

A bleak-titled AP report is not as bleak in content.

"You will never be back to normal once you have this type of procedure done. I actually feel stronger, but it’s not normal," said Branch, who turns 30 next month. "Something has been done that removed (parts) of my knee. My biggest thing is to continue to strengthen it."

Still, Branch said he will attempt to play the same way and make the same moves that made him a star earlier this decade with the Patriots.

"I’ll be OK. I’ll never think about my knee once I take the field," he said.

It's a fairly contentless report in actual analysis of the seriousness of the injury or how well Branch looks to have recovered. But he does sound bleak, and he has turned 30.

I've made the point before and I'll make it again: I'm not sold on the optimism of a mass perfect return from injury of Seahawks players. I think realistically - considering the injuries and age involved - we should be very, very happy if half the players who missed time last season actually make a full 16 games this season. And since those players include our starting QB, DLE, OLT and WR1, we're still looking down the barrel of gaping holes in key positions on our roster.

Little big man on campus - Nick Reed

Vasilii — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:38:10 -0000

Just a feelgood piece on 7th-round Defensive End out of Oregon, Nick Reed.

Too short to play DE in the NFL? Maybe. Maybe not.

"Every game film you put on in college you say, 'There it is again.' He has that relentless attitude you're looking for," said new Seahawks defensive line coach Dan Quinn. "So I'm anxious to see if he can transfer the things he does innately well and we can add some more things to what he does." Quinn notes that when he coached Jason Taylor with the Miami Dolphins, Taylor weighed just 244 pounds, though admittedly the one-time NFL MVP was a different style of player with a 6-5 frame. He said Andre Carter played at about 255 pounds while he was with the 49ers as well. "Nick is in that ballpark," Quinn said. "There are not a lot of defensive ends that size, but there are some. It all comes back to if you're a lighter guy, you have to play with a physical nature to still have that presence. "When we're playing we don't say, 'Well, he's 248 or 255.' He's physical, he gets off the spot, he's relentless. Those are the things we're looking for." Reed had the same non-stop motor when he played at Mission Viejo High as a teammate of USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. He wasn't a big-time recruit like Sanchez, but went about proving he belonged at the Pac-10 level as one of the league's premier defenders.