SB Nation User Blog: cashless

Community Scout: Aug 3rd, 2009

cashless — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:26:47 -0000

I joined the Air Force a couple years ago, and have been living near the Bay Area for over a year now. So when I realized that my brother's wedding coincided perfectly with the week training camp started being open to the public, I purchased a ticket with the idea I would discuss the other days with my wife and go to a few more. That never happened, but I did have Monday morning, the 3rd of August, to see the Seahawks up close.

I arrived 10 minutes before they were to begin taking registration (although they had intelligently already begun.) The Landing is something I had not seen before, and it really is cool for a shopping center. The Blue Thunder drum "line," a snare, bass drum, and two cymbal players were there trying to pep up everyone at 8 in the morning on Monday. Most fans had a Seahawks jersey or shirt, and maybe 80 % of the jerseys were Tatupu's.

Getting there so early still left me in a line, but I only waited 5 minutes to register and 5 minutes to get on a bus, the majority waited longer behind me. I would recommend being early.

1500 fans was the supposed number. It probably was correct, but it was never crowded as I expected. I had no problem getting to the fence to stand up close and watch any drill. The more I watched, the more I realized how little one practice can tell a fan about what the team will do. It is just not structured for that, rather the players are working on multiple skills that their position may need. Perhaps Babineaux and Russell are not the best man defenders on the team, but every defensive back is given the opportunity to man defend against each other. In other drills the secondary worked on zone against two WRs (Other DBs) and a HB, two men defending against three potential targets. The defensive line worked on their push together, and pass rushing drills together. Everywhere on the team, skills are being worked on, and on a team with 97% off-season workout attendance we will hopefully see some players fill out other dimensions of their game.

Lucas vs Wilson

I really loved watching the WR vs CB competition. Ken Lucas seemed to be very serious. I did see him get beat on a long post by Butler who broke away right at the last second, but Lucas was arguing that Butler was already out of the back of the end zone. Lucas was not made to look slow by anyone in these drills or in the 11 on 11, where I saw him smothering Butler on a 3 step drop by Matt, where he threw it up on a fade route.

Josh Wilson in the WR vs CB competition really showed off his speed. No taller WR caught one over him deep because he was accelerating and jumping to the ball. Also, when WRs came back to the ball Wilson looked incredible, getting his arm around and knocking it out. However, when Logan Payne came back to the ball, it was thrown high and Wilson could not come back and get up high because Payne's body had the right position, so he allowed that catch. He was visibly upset that he allowed that catch, and it is clear that he and Lucas both are taking the idea of competition very seriously.

WR play

Slim looked pretty good, but was beat to the sideline by Branch, who looks like he floats when he is actually cutting. Burleson looked great running, jumping, cutting. In 11 on 11, he caught pass after pass, and ran through defender after defender. By the way they were in shells and shorts so there was no taking players down. Coaches would blow the whistle when they wanted the play to end, and until then offensive players would keep running through arm tackles and defenders would keep rallying to the ball to put their hands on the ball carrier.

In 11 on 11, Jordan Kent was both fast enough and jumping high enough to beat his man repeatedly, only his man was Marquis Floyd. It was similar to preseason where he was catching the ball on many routes. I never saw him drop a pass, and he caught the ball cleanly, however considering his competition I am sure his confidence was high. Similar to preseason, players are facing different levels of competition, and can shine at some point in every practice if they have NFL talent, which pretty much all of them do.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh is better than Bobby Engram, and Hasselbeck had no issues figuring out where he was going to be. In the end zone on a corner route he was deadly, on more than one occasion. He is fast enough to keep whatever separation he's gained, and enough of a leaper to go up for the ball, making sure no one can get to it. The crowd broke out with a cheer when Hasselbeck looked like he was in trouble, threw the ball into a group of defenders and Housh broke in front of them to catch it. They looked great together.

Besides them, I did not see Branch featured much. Obomanu went to the turf to get to a ball, Mike Hass broke out of some zones to catch a pass, Courtney Taylor showed up a few times. I did not see Carlson get many passes in 11 on 11 either. Ultimately the battle for the 4th and 5th WR looked wide open, and very similar to our battle for #1 and #2 WR for some of last season.

Other Notes

I really liked how Teel looked. He was blitzed a lot, I saw him "sacked" once, but mostly he looked downfield and found a man, putting good touch on passes to men who had broken free. I did not see him forcing the ball into a double-team or taking risky passes anywhere. He did struggle some, it would take him some time to find the right guy, but he was not trying to run with the ball, or leaving the pocket.

I could not tell you much about the run game, the backs would run with the ball, but in a practice like that no one knew if he should have been tackled after one yard, or whether he would have broken it. Each back would carry the ball at least 5 yards, and often 7 or 8, but with defenders slapping hands on them and letting them pass. The same goes for the offensive line, defensive line, and linebackers. However, I will say that I was surprised to notice that Patrick Kerney was not limited in anything. He was hitting, getting a push, playing in every drill. The shoulder may give out at some point during the season, but right now he looks like he is having no issues with it.

Courtney Green looked big. He was standing next to DD Lewis, and besides his much skinnier legs, his upper body seemed almost as thick as Lewis' upper body. I did not get to see him do much other than coming up and pretend to tackle. I did not get to see him tested in the passing game to the sideline or deep. However Jamar Adams was tested deep and looked slow. Slow to react or slow to run, I could not tell. However, he did not look like he was going to be an NFL starter this season.

I regret to say I saw little of Jordan Babineaux. Not for lack of trying, but when a guy is on the field, there is no guarantee that a long pass is coming his way, or even a deep route. I did try to see him challenged, but I never caught anything like that.

I did see Russell in action, and he did react quickly and get to the right spots, and he did have the easy INT. His hands looked good on that, he reached out away from his body like a WR and caught it cleanly. He certainly did look like he knew what he was doing and that he was a good player.

One last player I noticed, Cory Redding. First off, he doesn't look like he has any fat on him. He also looks longer than I expected, not like a basketball player, but he seems like he is tall and strong. I did not realize he is 6'4". And he seemed to be in the middle of discussions on the sidelines after plays too. I even caught a picture of him with his arm on Gus Bradley's shoulder, as he waited his turn to get back in.

On the advice side, one last bit. Do not get caught without a sharpie, the players do come to the fence after the practice is over to sign autographs.

TE Cameron Morrah signed, 4 years, $1.79 Million

cashless — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:15:18 -0000

Morrah has signed a four-year deal worth $1.79 million dollars, including what NorthwestFootball.net has confirmed includes a signing bonus of just over $40,500.

After red-shirting his freshman season at Cal, Morrah backed up current Tennessee Titans tight end Craig Stevens in 2006 and 2007. Morrah moved into the starting lineup in 2008, starting 13 games and finishing the season with 27 receptions, 326 yards and a team-high 8 touchdowns.

Bryan McIntyre, Northwestfootball.net

That leaves only our first day picks left unsigned.

Sando has already picked this up as well.

Burleson to train at Athletes' Performance in Arizona

cashless — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:19:46 -0000

Going through Seahawks news, I stumbled across a Burleson tidbit that interested me. He is headed out to train hardcore before the training camp.

Audio for interview here...some of the article below.

Burleson is headed for Arizona to train at Athletes' Performance. Burleson said he plans to be down there for a month, and that his agent Ken Sarnoff provided him with the opportunity to work out at the workout facility for elite athletes.

Burleson said it’s important for him to come into camp in the best shape possible because of the competition at receiver and he’s in a contract year.

“I don’t think I can afford to relax too much,” Burleson said. “There’s too much at stake for this team, this organization. We’re just trying to get our name back out there, trying to climb back to the top of the mountain.

“And for me as an individual, I want to go into this last year in the best shape of my career. And I know if I’m out here I might have some distractions. I might be tempted to travel or be tempted to vacate. But if I’m in Arizona and I’m working out five times a week, twice a day, I’m not going to be tempted to go anywhere because it’s what I have to do.”

Eric Williams

FB Owen Schmitt enters camp as the starter

cashless — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:12:38 -0000

Mora said second-year FB Owen Schmitt enters camp as the starter and that veteran Justin Griffith, who signed recently from Oakland and was Mora's FB in Atlanta from 2004-07, "understands he has more of a mentor role."

Greg Bell - USA Today

The article itself is interesting, talking about how the Seattle players get to take home their playbooks, apparently an unusual move. However, it was the notes at the bottom where the FB quote came from.

Obviously now is the time for crazy speculation about who is doing what, but this seems to be straight forward telling us something that I thought might wait until week 1 to be sorted out. Of course the job could be lost, but for this to not be a straight-forward competition with the started named later is interesting to me. And of course I'm excited to see the havoc.

Mebane at 3-tech, more blitzing

cashless — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:32:54 -0000

He talks about learning more pass rush moves, and how he'll be playing the 3-tech. basic stuff.

"I’m the three technique this year so one of my focuses this year is to get my weight down and my role this year is to bring more energy to the defensive line and the defense so my role has pretty much changed.

"The one guy I’ve been looking at as far as taking different things and different situations is Warren Sapp. He played the three-technique really well and we’re running the Tampa defense is the same defense so I’m just looking at film of what he was doing and when certain plays came at him I’m just trying to focus on him and what he was doing and incorporating that into my game.

But then he goes on to be a little discriptive about a change in defensive tackle roles, as well as the plays the defense is learning.

"This year we’re throwing a lot of different looks," Mebane noted. "From looking at the plays they are giving us, it seems like everybody is blitzing more.

"As a defensive line, the defensive tackles, we’re not sliding this year because the three technique is always going to play the three-technique and the nose guard (Colin Cole) will play the nose.

Scout.com - from Mebane interview on 710 KIRO

To be perfectly honest, the talk about sliding I don't know what to do with. I've watched Lofa reposition the defensive tackles after diagnosing the offensive formations, but how that translates into anything other than ideal run stopping position is something I know nothing about.

The idea of Mebane at the 3-tech sounds fun to watch, and I'm guessing that would make Bryant the backup 1, and Redding/Terrill(?) the backup 3. Blitzing more often sounds fun too, but we'll have to see it in action before we really know how well they are designed.

The Tampa reference I believe is to Tampa Bay's defense with lots of different schemes involved, not to the Bears/Colts "Tampa 2" defense as I understand it. However, it would be interesting to see more written about what Tampa Bay actually did, both back in their SB days, and in the years following as that DL broke apart and they continued to be pretty good.

We're going to be good, real good...We're going to be something special. The talent we have on this...

cashless — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:17:02 -0000

We're going to be good, real good...We're going to be something special. The talent we have on this team and then coach Mora brings everything together just right...Don't flex us in, we'll have our coming-out party in the playoffs.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawksblog/2009210924_tj_houshmandzad_3.html

Ruskell on Curry "had our eye on him for a long time"

cashless — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:07:48 -0000

From Danny O'Neill, Seattle Times Blog

Q: How early in the process did you zero in on linebacker Aaron Curry?

Ruskell: Our people kind of noticed him last year in the offseason. And our people kept coming back with good reports as we went through the season. So we started paying more attention to him in terms of watching him play and that kind of thing and everything came up solid. So we kind of had our eye on him for a long time.

Q: Was the trade of Julian Peterson influenced at all by the presence of Curry, a prospect you liked that played the same position?

Ruskell: Not really. We knew he was going to be a very high pick. We didn't know at that time where ours was going to be. We thought he was going to be a very high pick. So not really though it certainly factored into the fact that this was a guy we really liked.

Q: What does he bring to the team that you didn't have yesterday?

Ruskell: A physical presence on the field. This is a guy that's over 250 pounds, runs 4.5 and you see the speed. Some guys run 4.5 in their workout and you don't see it on the tape. Versatility in terms of the coverage ability. He's a good tackler and he's a good blitzer. He's the whole package for the linebacker position. That's why the coaches were so excited about him because of all the different things you're going to be able to do with the guy.

Gus Bradley coming from Tampa had a guy like that in Derrick Brooks. And I'm not comparing him to Derrick Brooks. Derrick Brooks is going in the Hall of Fame, but what made us select Derrick Brooks all those years ago was the fact that he could do everything.

So it's kind of eerie that those are the same traits that this guy has.

Q: Does this selection impact Leroy Hill's situation with the team?

Ruskell: Continue to negotiate with Leroy. We still want a long-term deal done.

I thought it would be interesting to share Ruskell's idea of who he is. I think it is interesting he compares him to Derrick Brooks. Not the comparison I would come up with, as I always thought of Brooks as an undersized coverage LB. However, I've only seen 10-15 plays out of his entire career, which did include 3 INTs returned for TD.

The Rams GM Billy Devaney also had this to say. Not quite as revealing, but certainly nice to hear. The Rams picked one of the two players I could have considered over Curry, and I'm not sure Stafford over Curry would be correct, but I did like Smith a lot.

“Curry was the first guy we put (tape) on and we were like, ‘Wow! This guy is special,” St. Louis Rams general manager Billy Devaney said after the combine.

“He is really good on tape. And then we started talking about the intangibles and, to a man, everybody said he’s top of the line.”

Clare Farnesworth

Seahawks Defensive Scheme created from scratch?

cashless — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:19:13 -0000

Seahawks Defensive Scheme created from scratch?

As head coach, Mora's fingerprints will be all over the defense.

"I intend to be very, very involved with the defense," he said. "It's my passion. It's what I love to do. It's something I believe I'm pretty good at."

But it's more than just his voice that will be heard.

"I've hired a tremendous defensive staff," Mora said. "We've added some outstanding coaches who have a very similar philosophy to me in terms of how you become a great defensive football team."

And for the past few weeks, the staff has begun drawing up a blueprint for that defense, starting with the ground floor of the playbook.

"We're starting to put the book together from the very basics," Lewis said. "It's kind of amazing, but it's very good. It's refreshing."

They've sat around a table, discussing ideas and concepts with Mora and Bradley both moderating and making sure everyone has a chance to offer input.

"We're sitting around a table like this; nothing gets typed or written really until everybody has a say-so," Lewis said. "It's really dynamic. It gives me a chill."

Marshall interviews for Raiders DC job

cashless — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:02:39 -0000

Marshall interviews for Raiders DC job

Contra Costa Times

Julius Peppers, Terrell Suggs, Leroy Hill

cashless — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:26:23 -0000

Watching the coaching signings, there it feels as though the team is transitioning towards a Tampa 2, although there really is not solid personnel evidence of that yet.

I know that we have good amount of money invested in the defense so far, but I think a good indication of whether we are seriously moving towards this is whether we go after Julius Peppers or Terrell Suggs. That of course is predicated on those teams not locking up those players in some way, which is very likely. But if one of them becomes available, or some other pass rusher with great ability, how we react to that situation I think should tell us about the long-term plans for this team.

Leroy Hill's situation is another one. If we do what it takes to retain him, we will still have two very good pass rushing OLBs, and Hill hasn't shown himself to be the most disciplined LB in coverage. I do not know Mora's defensive background. It was said by someone in a conversation here that he had more of a cover-3, cover-1, traditional 4-3 in ATL, which seems to jive with what our personnel looks like right now, as well as TR's drafting pattern. If that is correct, despite the coach signings, Mora could be the one putting the defense together and some of our fears would be for nothing.

This is completely speculation, we could not go after Peppers or Suggs, retain Hill, and transition to a cover 2. But my belief is that our moves involving these players will tell us a lot about where the team is headed.