Penny for you thoughts

[mykc14]

Because he's a reach. There was at least two and as many as five higher ranked RB's on the board at the time we selected. There was some concern expressed at the Senior Bowl that Penny was a little slow to learn a new offense, and that definetly conjures up memories of CM.


But we'll see. I don't want to start talking negative about this pick. I just don't trust this regime when it comes to their judgment of offensive talent, and when they make a reach like this, it causes a shiver to run up my spine.

I will agree that issues picking up an offense might be similar (although he ran a pro style O in college so it won’t be as a big of a deal as it was for Michael). As far him being a reach he can join every other round 1 or 2 pick in the PC JS era save Okung and ET...

[RiverDog]

SDSU fan here and, of course, I am biased but I think the Seahawk fans are going to love having Penney. He has strong legs, is big enough, is fast, hard to tackle, great patience on the hole, durable, good receiver, great returner and best of all, his attitude is unmatched. Also, I think the Seahawks just picked up a San Diego fan base that was looking for a new NFL team to support. I say good move.

Welcome to The Shack, PT!

[ptthor109]

Welcome to The Shack, PT!

[RiverDog]

I just saw a winner/loser analysis that really concerns me come across my news feed:

Loser: Russell Wilson

This one scribe just can’t comprehend how the Seattle Seahawks continue to ignore pass protection in front of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. It started in Round 1 when Seattle reached for a running back in Rashaad Penny who couldn’t block a feather in the passing game.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/wi ... tp&ffid=gz

Another memory of Christine Michael popped into my head.

[Hawktawk]

SDSU fan here and, of course, I am biased but I think the Seahawk fans are going to love having Penney. He has strong legs, is big enough, is fast, hard to tackle, great patience on the hole, durable, good receiver, great returner and best of all, his attitude is unmatched. Also, I think the Seahawks just picked up a San Diego fan base that was looking for a new NFL team to support. I say good move.

The brief footage I saw of this kid makes me drool. I like the description of patience in the hole as well as great balance, something michael never had and that Rawls never regained after his injury. The kid looks like an athletic freak. For all the grousing about the line there were 2 very effective backs last year, Carson and Davis. Mckissic had his moments as well. None have the athleticism of Penney. Maybe PC and co are going to try to do it with the offense this year. I'm going to give this one a chance.

[mykc14]

I just saw a winner/loser analysis that really concerns me come across my news feed:

Loser: Russell Wilson

This one scribe just can’t comprehend how the Seattle Seahawks continue to ignore pass protection in front of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. It started in Round 1 when Seattle reached for a running back in Rashaad Penny who couldn’t block a feather in the passing game.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/wi ... tp&ffid=gz

Another memory of Christine Michael popped into my head.

This is a stretch, Michael’s pass protection was never a real issue coming out of college. The major complaints about Penny’s pass protection has been that he tends to disengage too quickly looking to get out in the flats as a safety valve, not that he can’t do it. The biggest red flags for Michael were injury, character concerns, and a lack of on-field production. Penny is the opposite in every one of those categories. His character is off the charts. No real injury issues and his on field production is off the charts. I’m not saying that Penny isn’t going to have issues (he may need extra reps/time to learn the playbook, but his character history shows he will take the time to get those extra reps, where Michael wouldn’t) but they won’t be for the same reason Michael had issues. It seems like the only real comparison at this point is that they both were considered reaches by pundits (so was Carp, Britt, Irvin, Wags, RW, and just about every other guy they drafted) and they both play RB. I will also give you that having trouble with the playbook could also be a comparison, but they ran 2 different offenses in college. The spread up-tempo offense Micheal ran is much less complicated with way less for him to learn than Penny’s pro style run first offense he ran in college.

[NorthHawk]

I just saw a winner/loser analysis that really concerns me come across my news feed:

Loser: Russell Wilson

This one scribe just can’t comprehend how the Seattle Seahawks continue to ignore pass protection in front of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. It started in Round 1 when Seattle reached for a running back in Rashaad Penny who couldn’t block a feather in the passing game.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/wi ... tp&ffid=gz

Another memory of Christine Michael popped into my head.

A reach? Really?
Is the writer publishing every draft board to prove his point?
We do know that another team called JS and asked about trading for Penny after we selected him. They wanted him that badly.
That means at least 2 teams saw value in him.
Rob Rang said in his talks before the draft, a lot of teams thought Penny was the 2nd best RB in the draft.

Don't let some of these media fools who rarely see a player outside of the SEC suck you into thinking they really know what they are talking about.
They're the same types who gave us a draft grade of F for selecting Wagner and Wilson.
That in itself says quite a bit.

[NorthHawk]

Right CB, bench and squats are the measure of strength for an OLineman. Its footwork however, that separates the Walter Jones' and Joe Thomas's of the world.

Not really true about the bench press (squats are a different story) and here's why.

1) Some players have much longer arms than others so the shorter armed player has an advantage.
Let's take an extreme example for comparison purposes. You can extrapolate if the difference is say 8".
Player 1 has 36" arms and Player 2 has 29" arms.
Player 2 also has a large barrel chest that is 5" bigger than Player 1.
That means for every rep player 1 does he pushes the bar 1 foot more than player 2.
If they both do 30 reps you would say they are the same strength.
But hold on, player 1 pushed the bar 30 feet more than player 2 in the same time.
So who is stronger.
What if player 1 only did 25 reps? He still would have pushed the weight further than player 2.

2) Player 1 has a maximum bench press of 600 lbs and Player 2 has a maximum bench of 500 Lbs
Player 1 only has 25 reps at 225 but Player 2 has 30 reps.
Is player 2 stronger than player 1?
No.

Why are these examples meaningful? Because at 225 lbs, it becomes an endurance test rather than a strength test for OL and DL.
It's also pretty much irrelevant because if a player is not strong enough, teams can and do put them on weight training regimes.
That teams never do the 225 lbs max reps test after the combine tells us a lot about how it's valued in the NFL.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Third day of the draft and we are still only talking about Penny, what about our other picks, oops, what picks?

[ptthor109]

Before the draft, the SDSU Coaches Long and Horton were being contacted by the teams that picked up RBs in the 1st round just after Seattle picked up Penney. They (the coaches) said they liked Penney for the 1st Round and felt the interest in him also indicated that. Given that info, I could see Penney having gone one, two or three picks later but calling him a "reach" is East Coast P5 Sports Writer bias at its best. Very few of them ever stayed up for the 10:30 PM EST starts on an obscure cable channel. Even if they were up, they were likely busy writing about their favorite team or watching Sports Center.

In his 7 kick-off returns, Penney went to the house on the likes of Penn St, Cal, Cincinatti (in a bowl) and ASU. These are not nobodies. The inferior competition excuse is hog wash. And making out that "pass blocking" is some sort of black art that can't be mastered by an exceptional athlete sounds like a hater in search of an excuse to me.

I'm not saying that Seattle will start scoring at will in special teams play with Penney. I'm saying that he deserves his place in the draft and if the Seahawk's OC schemes things right, defenses won't know what hit them between Wilson, Penney and the other offensive stars on the team. Heck, trade for or get a free agent veteran lineman, if need be. That is what the Owner's money and the Team's Capologist is for.

I just saw a winner/loser analysis that really concerns me come across my news feed:

Loser: Russell Wilson

This one scribe just can’t comprehend how the Seattle Seahawks continue to ignore pass protection in front of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. It started in Round 1 when Seattle reached for a running back in Rashaad Penny who couldn’t block a feather in the passing game.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/wi ... tp&ffid=gz

Another memory of Christine Michael popped into my head.

[csfoster]

Penny is and will continue to be the best back coming into the league this year! A great pick by Seattle who I will now root for passionately as will many many San Diego fans. Congratulations!

[Seahawks4Ever]

Our Offense has had a secret weapon coming into this season and that is LT George Fant. Fant , if he stays healthy would be a stalwart member of what could be one of the most improved in the NFC.

The other pieces just need to stay on the field and I am thinking our guys, especially with a ditching of the ZBS would help both our running game and pass protection and I firmly believe we could return to leading the league in rushing once again.

Penny, running the ball effectively will open up all kinds of opportunities for RW to improvise and rip defenses for big yards. It wouldn't be Wilson and Beast mode II it would be something different, possibly something even better because Penny can catch the ball better than Marshawn does.

The blocking from our TE's will return to what they added the first few years of Pete's offense only better. Vanet paired with Dissly is going to move some piles!

We have Carson coming back and that can only be good, quite frankly, I think our running game is going to be relentless, no one is going to be able to stop us on the ground!!

Our Offense looks almost set and our Defense, well, our Defense is not looking too shabby either.

Like the Legendary PHOENIX the LOB is RISING from its ashes with the repairing again of the GRIFFEN TWINS and the return of Byron Maxwell to be lead again by the Leader of the original LOB, EARL THOMAS!!!

The D-Line looks to be deep enough again to keep everyone fresh and quarterbacks pressured. Oh, one more thing, the guys on the D-Line will also be very versatile so that be moved around and even interchanged with our Linebackers.

Our Linebacker Core will once again be led by Bobby Wagner and they are second to none.

So it falls to Special Teams to investigate where there are any possible weaknesses. Lets see, hmmmm. We MOVE UP in the 5th. rd. of the draft to pick a PUNTER. Did we need a punter that bad? Is this punter that good that we had to trade up to get him?? OK, what is wrong with Jon Ryan ? He has been real consistent ever since he came here and he also is very steady at being the PLACE HOLDER for our Place Kicker, even if he has to spin the laces out, and finding a guy who is great at that you don't throw him away for no good reason. I know that a punter doesn't make much, but, why would Paul Allen pinch pennies considering how many games Jon Ryan has helped our team win because his toe and/or sure handling kept us in a game we were able to come back and/or hold onto and win over what would just be a few measly bucks shaved off of the salary cap.

[Sox-n-hawks]

Actually, he's a beast of a punter who was MVP in his last bowl game. An aussie rules football player who can kick better than most NFL players can throw. GREAT pick.

[RiverDog]

Penny is and will continue to be the best back coming into the league this year! A great pick by Seattle who I will now root for passionately as will many many San Diego fans. Congratulations!

Hey, CS, welcome to The Shack!

[NorthHawk]

Actually, he's a beast of a punter who was MVP in his last bowl game. An aussie rules football player who can kick better than most NFL players can throw. GREAT pick.

I read somewhere that he gets good hang time with his punts.
That's crucial for punt coverage.

[idhawkman]

In his 7 kick-off returns, Penney went to the house on the likes of Penn St, Cal, Cincinatti (in a bowl) and ASU. These are not nobodies. The inferior competition excuse is hog wash. And making out that "pass blocking" is some sort of black art that can't be mastered by an exceptional athlete sounds like a hater in search of an excuse to me.

The reason he had KO returns against those teams is because they don't play against this kid and they thought they'd be able to stop him. The MWC knew about him and purposefully game planned against kicking it to him. Think of why Richard Sherman didn't have many interceptions over the last couple years. Teams quit throwing his direction. Same with Penny and special teams.

[EmeraldBullet]

I think Penny could be a great back for a team that uses the I-form.....but we don't do that, or at least we haven't much recently.

[ptthor109]

https://247sports.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/Bolt/ESPN-writer-picks-Rashaad-Penny-for-Offensive-Rookie-of-the-Year-118097274

An ESPN Writer has pegged Penney as the likely Offensive Rookie of the Year.

[RiverDog]

https://247sports.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/Bolt/ESPN-writer-picks-Rashaad-Penny-for-Offensive-Rookie-of-the-Year-118097274

An ESPN Writer has pegged Penney as the likely Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Except at it relates to team success, I could care less about individual awards.

[NorthHawk]

Except that individual awards are often the result of good play by team mates.
There are some exceptions, but I doubt a RB would be considered for an award if there wasn't much of a supporting cast with the possible exception of HoF'ers.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Sox, thanx for the post about the new punter. After your post I paid attention to the kicking competition PC had later that week (between the TE's & LB's) and the descriptions of people there about how Dickson was doing these incredible things with the football. He could put it any where, had great hang time to distance ratio, and the balls came straight down from a great height with a wicked reverse spin that made catching them almost impossible.

Well, I said that to justify trading up to make this pick and yes it was completely justified. I bet a lot of teams wished they had done the same.

[NorthHawk]

Sox, thanx for the post about the new punter. After your post I paid attention to the kicking competition PC had later that week (between the TE's & LB's) and the descriptions of people there about how Dickson was doing these incredible things with the football. He could put it any where, had great hang time to distance ratio, and the balls came straight down from a great height with a wicked reverse spin that made catching them almost impossible.

Well, I said that to justify trading up to make this pick and yes it was completely justified. I bet a lot of teams wished they had done the same.

It will be interesting to see what he can do. The Pre-season games should give us an insight as to whether this is just smoke or not.

[RiverDog]

Except that individual awards are often the result of good play by team mates.
There are some exceptions, but I doubt a RB would be considered for an award if there wasn't much of a supporting cast with the possible exception of HoF'ers.

Which is one of the reasons why I don't have a lot of respect for individual awards in football. More so than baseball or basketball, individual performances are in large part determined by the performance of teammates.

If Penny gets OROY, it would almost have to be as a direct result of a "vastly improved" offensive line and more than likely be a byproduct of the team in general playing well, so in that sense, I'll be rooting for him to achieve that goal.

[NorthHawk]

Kind of what I was getting at. For him to win it, the Offense would have had to greatly improve.

[obiken]

Kind of what I was getting at. For him to win it, the Offense would have had to greatly improve.

Northy, River, if you accept the fact in combat that you are dead, you are happy with a better result, otherwise you have hope. We have no hope of the Playoffs. LA has Suh and Donald, we are doomed.

[RiverDog]

Kind of what I was getting at. For him to win it, the Offense would have had to greatly improve.

Yuppers, which is why I added as a qualifier "except as it relates to team success."

[NorthHawk]

Northy, River, if you accept the fact in combat that you are dead, you are happy with a better result, otherwise you have hope. We have no hope of the Playoffs. LA has Suh and Donald, we are doomed.

In a team game, the whole could be more or it could be less than the sum of its parts.
That's why the games aren't decided on paper.
We only have to look at last year when we added Richardson. The outcome was less than expected by many, and although Richardson did well, he wasn't the game changer that was expected.

[RiverDog]

In a team game, the whole could be more or it could be less than the sum of its parts.
That's why the games aren't decided on paper.
We only have to look at last year when we added Richardson. The outcome was less than expected by many, and although Richardson did well, he wasn't the game changer that was expected.

The same can be said about Jimmy Graham. He didn't play poorly by any measure, especially considering the injury he suffered, but he wasn't that one player that we were looking for that could get us to the SB.

[Aseahawkfan]

Which is one of the reasons why I don't have a lot of respect for individual awards in football. More so than baseball or basketball, individual performances are in large part determined by the performance of teammates.

If Penny gets OROY, it would almost have to be as a direct result of a "vastly improved" offensive line and more than likely be a byproduct of the team in general playing well, so in that sense, I'll be rooting for him to achieve that goal.

True for every position but QB. A great or bad QB can really hurt or uplift the entire team. I don't think any position in any sport has as much impact just by virtue of the position than QB. They can make or break the team all by themselves. Not to say they don't need other guys to win, but that one position can really make or ruin a season.

[RiverDog]

True for every position but QB. A great or bad QB can really hurt or uplift the entire team. I don't think any position in any sport has as much impact just by virtue of the position than QB. They can make or break the team all by themselves. Not to say they don't need other guys to win, but that one position can really make or ruin a season.

Agreed, to a certain point.

[obiken]

What's he doing with Barry Sanders number???