Stars...the Stars!

[tarlhawk]

Stars are beginning to replace our roster and lead our team forward ...making us relevant now...not just in the early glory years of Russell and our last two Super Bowl appearances from the distant 2013/2014 seasons.

A decade has come to past and our team is slowly gaining recognition. Our culture and coaching have provided a stable winning atmosphere. Our coach has endured the scorn of a fan base expecting SB years every year and dismiss our winning seasons and playoffs as "easy"...if only we didn't "tie the hands of our creative QB". Pete has been accused of having a "heavy hand" while propping up his Defensive and Offensive Coordinators as mere puppets restrained from implementing their own passion yet available as fall guys should our team falter.

Even the media outlets have often ridiculed Pete as stubborn and trapped by past "success formulas"...surely the game has past him by. Our last two drafts have once again thrust our GM back into the limelight (while ignoring the 2020 draft and the limited 2021 draft). His trades and limited forays into free agency often painted him as hardly a GM our fan base could take pride in...ignoring the difficulty of keeping fan favorites like Russell/Wags/Lynch and members of the Legion of Boom satisfied by top dollar extensions.

Enough with the "gloom"...once again our team is flush with stars and future stars. My standard for labeling a team member as star is possible Pro Bowl selection more than the elusive AP All-Pro.

Stars
D-line DT Dre'Mont Jones
Edge/Olb Uchenna Nwosu
LB Bobby Wagner
Cornerback Tariq Woolen
Safety Quandre Diggs
Special teams Michael Dickson
QB Geno Smith
RB Kenneth Walker III
TE Noah Fant
WR DK Metcalf

More Stars
Tyler Lockett/Jamal Adams/Jordyn Brooks/Darryl Taylor

Future Stars
Boye Mafe/Charles Cross/Abraham Lucas/Damien Lewis/Michael Jackson/Julian Love/Dareke Young/Coby Bryant/Colby Parkinson

Rookie Stars of Potential
Jaxon Smith Njigba/Devon Witherspoon/Zach Charbonnet/Derek Hall and * (2) guys from Michigan* Olu Oluwatimi/Mike Morris

Once again the rest of the NFL can take advantage of the releasing churn of Unrestricted Free Agency as difficult decisions are made. DJ Reed/Ryan Neal/Poona Ford/Al Woods/Rashaad Penny are a few of our recent losses. Injuries have plagued our team just like all NFL teams suffer but our limited 2021 draft in particular has stalled Dee Eskridge and Tre Brown to the point of pushing them to the fringes of our roster as both first round picks from 2023 now stand in their way of any significant playing snaps.

Overall our talent base has steadily improved much to the credit of our painful parting of RW as QB and now expectations have risen well beyond the "chip" of being underdogs. Go Hawks