We take a look at the Seahawks chances in the forthcoming season

It is easy to forget that back in August 2006 the Seahawks were widely being touted as the best team in the NFL and at short odds to return to the Super Bowl.

So much for the experts and the power rankings eh, but the erstwhile Yorkshire cricketer Geoffrey Boycott had a saying that if you want a more accurate estimation of how your team is doing then you should add two wickets to the total.

In the same way that 145-3 sounds so very much better than 145-5 then the Seahawks of 2006 sounded much better prospects with a Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander operating at 100% fitness for all 16 games.

Without wishing to start off with a lament for the 2006 season it is a point worthy of note that whatever prediction the best expert in the world makes it will not be worth the keyboard it is typed upon if injuries sideline the MVP and Pro Bowl QB.

Whilst there are always questions about players in the NFL when they start dragging the age of 30 rather than pushing it the situation with Alexander and Hasselbeck is even more difficult to fathom than most. Both were troubled with injuries and I'm not sure either of them operated at anything like 100% for the entire season so they have ready and very real excuses for their drop in production but a nagging doubt remains that maybe their powers are on the wane.

What I do think is that if just one of them has an excellent season whilst the other has a good season, then that will probably be enough to put us there or thereabouts in the play offs.

If the unthinkable does happen then what? Seneca Wallace was something of an enigma last season. He went 2-2 in the games he started, showed some real poise, a genuine scrambling ability, some flashes of brilliance and on a statistical level out performed Hasselbeck but despite all that he just didn't look consistently convincing enough to look like a genuine long term starter. David Greene remains promising but lacking in accuracy which is hardly a ringing endorsement but he is more Hasselbeck like and this pre season could be make or break for his long term career.

At RB Mike Holmgren showed that he didn't really have the confidence to put the game on Mo Morris but the other overlooked question of 2006 was what would have happened if Leonard Weaver had been fit? The overly optimistic imagined him running over NFL defenses a la Larry Johnson and he remains an intriguing part of the Seahawks offense. If he can get on the field then he really could be a dangerous weapon and also look for the former TE to be catching some passes, in fact it looks like all of the RB's will all be used more in the receiving game.

In the wide receiving corps the Seahawks will be learning to live without Darrell Jackson and really need someone to step up and replace him, the way that Joe Jurevicius did in the 2005 season. All eyes will be on Deion Branch but to be fair to Branch he has never really put up the eye catching stats that Jackson could do. The joker in the pack is DJ Hackett who started last season as a bit part player but will start 2007 as the number 2 receiver. One thing Hackett does is to catch the freaking ball so he has a step on Jackson in that regard. Good old Bobby Engram is another player hoping to stay fit and settle in the slot receiver role whilst Nate Burleson ended up as one of the better paid kick returners in the business. The early reports out of camp are that Burleson is really stepping up and he could well challenge Hackett.

At TE the Seahawks looked to replace Jerramy Stevens with Daniel Graham but when that didn't work out we had to settle for 35 year old Marcus Pollard backed up by Will Heller. Pollard looks to be a steady stop gap but if he out performs the 2005 Stevens then he will have had a stellar year. I've probably already said all I want to about Stevens still can't help but feel slightly sorry for him. He's spent his career standing at the edge of a slightly murky pool and, on occasions, has undoubtedly dipped his big toe into it. In all honesty though, I still don't think his behaviour since 2004, both on and off the pitch, have been deserving of him being dragged repeatedly through the damn thing.

The O-line has had less focus on it this off season now the Steve Hutchinson poison pill furore has died down. Walt Jones will still be the best LT in the NFL and Seahawks reporters are getting very excited about 2nd year LG Rob Sims and he maybe well be the surprise of the 2007 season. At C Chris Spencer will look to take up where he left off last season when he replaced Rob Tobeck and hope that his shoulder injury and lack of experience is not going to be a serious problem. Center is never one of the great depth positions but if he doesn't start then it's Chris Gray.

Speaking of Gray he continues to dumbfound with his record of 121 regular season starts only being broken in the final game of 2006 before returning for the play offs. His playing obituary has been written many times but this time he is threatened by tackle Ray Willis who the Seahawks like so much they have been trying him at RG. It should be an interesting contest. Unless I've missed something Sean Locklear will remain RT.

It was acknowledged that the Seahawks needed to bolster the defense in the off season but it hasn't been widely recognised that they snapped up 2 players who were on most people's top 10 Free Agent list. I'm talking about DE Patrick Kerney and FS Deon Grant and early reports out of camp indicate that both will be very positive additions. With Grant looking to be more than a replacement for the departed Ken Hamlin the Seahawks also picked up another free agent safety in Brian Russell from the Browns to compete with Mike Green and Michael Boulware.

For the second year running the Seahawks top draft pick was a CB as Josh Wilson joined Kelly Jennings to compliment the round 1  pick in 2003, Marcus Trufant.  Whatever else can be said the Seahawks can't be accused of not investing resources in the secondary and that even extends to the coaching staff as Jim Mora is seemingly loving life back in the Pacific North West as the defensive backs coach.

Whilst the additions are good news it could be said that a significant amount of the fate of the Seahawks D rest on the fitness of DT Marcus Tubbs. It certainly seemed during 2006 that the Seahawks could manage the losses of Hasselbeck and Alexander but not Tubbs. After he went out for the season it was like carnage for the Seahawks run defense. Coming back from microfracture surgery it was hardly encouraging that he was placed on the PUP list (Physically Unable to Perform) going into camp but the messages are that this is precautionary rather than any cause for concern and he should be activated by the 3rd pre season game.

What the Seahawks have is a potentially very good line of Fisher, Tubbs, Bernard and Kerney, backed up with a mixture of experience and  promising young players on the rotation. As ever injuries will be the key but if the Seahawks can get a full season at 100% out of Tubbs then you could see a very different Hawks team in 2007.

A couple of years ago the linebacker corps was was more of a linebacker cause for concern but Peterson, Tatupu, and Hill have eased all worries. With Koutouvides, Bentley, Laury and 2007 draft pick Herring in reserve then the Seahawks look well placed.

It could be argued that on Special Teams the Seahawks have one of the best tandems in the NFL with Josh Brown as Kicker and Ryan Plackemeier as Punter and there are no worries at all in that regard. In the return game Nate Burleson was exceptional towards the end of 2006 but he is currently moving up the WR depth chart in camp and it might be that rookie Josh Wilson will be asked to add to his record breaking 847 return yards at college.

With the team run down complete what else is left but to ponder the wise words of Paul Gascoigne who once said, "I never make predictions, and I never will". Whilst that pearl of wisdom might have become a Colemanball, it sort of neatly encapsulates what my response would be if asked about the Seahawks chances this coming season.

Expect the unexpected but how times have changed when we can say that anything other than a 4th straight NFC West title would be a disappointment.

HawksHead 11/8/2007

HOME

FORUM

CONTACT