"Off season hectic. Has it been productive"

[Spohawk5092]

article in the Spokane Spokesman Review this morning:

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/ ... en-hectic/

[jshawaii22]

If we had fired JS along with Pete, we probably wouldn't be seeing as much movement as the new coaching staff would need time to adjust to the existing roster and cap situation.
However, since we still have JS, and he made most if not all of the moves so far, it seems pretty typical. No big trades, only one 'big' DLine signing for big $$$. Might be a little quiet, actually.

[c_hawkbob]

Yeah I don't see a whole lot of difference so far either. Typical down roster churn Pete was always big on with not much in the way of major news (other than of course the coaching overhaul). I don't expect to see much difference come draft day either, though I am hopeful.

[NorthHawk]

I'm a bit concerned about the OL and how the same pattern of signing veterans on their last year or two are being considered or signed like has happened the last decade.
If that perspective continues, we will have the same results as always with sub par production up front. Maybe MacDonald and Grubb can influence JS into drafting a top G and maybe Center if Olu isn't the answer.

[c_hawkbob]

I'm hoping that Pete's dislike of spending early pick on O-line doesn't carry over, but we'll see.

[NorthHawk]

I'm hoping that Pete's dislike of spending early pick on O-line doesn't carry over, but we'll see.

What's going on in the back of my mind is that maybe JS was and is the instigator of that philosophy. I hope not and maybe this is a bit of a pre-draft smokescreen.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

I am still not convinced that John Schneider is a good GM. I think the early roster creation was mostly Pete, especially the diamonds in the rough like Sherman, Baldwin, etc. His trades have largely been terrible; he had a really bad string of drafts; and he has mishandled the offensive line in a negligent way. He refuses to bring in elite talent in FA and always waits for the cheaper deals.

I will never forgive him for taking Dee Eskridge when Creed Humphrey was sitting right there.

As far as this off-season goes, specifically, it was necessary to eat some dead cap and get rid of expensive players that were not performing. With a new head coach and an all staff staff (except a few holdovers), there is going to be some growing pains.

I also believe Schneider is leaning heavily on Macdonald and his staff's inputs on the types of players they want.

[NorthHawk]

I would hope that JS is trying to get players that fit their coaches systems.
They just signed Laken Tomlinson so the OG pattern fits as he's 32 at the moment and he's about 325lbs. So basically we got an older Damien Lewis - for less money.
Is that part of a larger signal that JS will continue to throw in any IOL that fits the size profile? Or is it just a stop gap for drafting a younger Guard in this years deep OL class?
The draft should give us a clue.

[Stream Hawk]

Yeah I don't see a whole lot of difference so far either. Typical down roster churn Pete was always big on with not much in the way of major news (other than of course the coaching overhaul). I don't expect to see much difference come draft day either, though I am hopeful.

I would love nothing more than a change in drafting philosophy. Specifically, let’s get some goddamn interior beef very early!

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Yep, like I posted earlier in this thread - I think Schneider is a solid GM but he isn't this maestro that he has been made out to be. His free agency approach has been silly, his trades have been panic knee jerks. IMO, he has been living on the lightning in a bottle they lucked into in the early years of the Pete roster building.

The franchise has 1 playoff win since the 2016 season (against a shattered Eagles team that had to play JOSH MCCOWN most of the game). There hasn't been a Divisional round playoff win since the 2014 season. 9 straight conference championships without a Seahawks appearance. We can't blame the salary cap era; the Chiefs have been to 6 STRAIGHT AFC title games. The 49ers have been to 4 of the last 5. Both have been good about drafting, and the 49ers in particular have made some ballsy trades.

Schneider made a series of absolutely terrible (and for me, borderline unforgivable) draft decisions (***laughs in Dee Eskridge***). Now, I not naive enough to think Pete wasn't whispering in his ear (or, ultimately the final say) - but it has since come out after Pete left that JS was the one ultimately making the choices.

The drafting has improved a lot in the last few seasons, and I will always be curious to know what prompted that and who directed it.

While I would understand trading down at #16 because we are missing some draft capital this season, for my money if one of the following players is still on the board you grab them without hesitation (in order):

TE Brock Bowers
DT Byron Murphy
DE Dallas Turner
DE Jared Verse
WR Brian Thomas

I almost want to put Troy Fautanu on that list, too, but I think we can still get a really good guard later in the draft. And, the signing of Laken Tomlinson mitigates the urgency a little bit for me. I still think they should take one, I am just not sure I want to do it at 16. Graham Barton would be another guy that they might snag - and they met with him at the Combine. The latest ESPN mock draft has Fautanu gone at #10.

[River_Dog]

I am still not convinced that John Schneider is a good GM. I think the early roster creation was mostly Pete, especially the diamonds in the rough like Sherman, Baldwin, etc. His trades have largely been terrible; he had a really bad string of drafts; and he has mishandled the offensive line in a negligent way. He refuses to bring in elite talent in FA and always waits for the cheaper deals.

I will never forgive him for taking Dee Eskridge when Creed Humphrey was sitting right there.

As far as this off-season goes, specifically, it was necessary to eat some dead cap and get rid of expensive players that were not performing. With a new head coach and an all staff staff (except a few holdovers), there is going to be some growing pains.

I also believe Schneider is leaning heavily on Macdonald and his staff's inputs on the types of players they want.

Spending so much draft capital on offensive skill positions at the expense of the OL was/is one of my biggest beefs with the previous regime. In the past 5 years, we spent a #1 on a RB (Rashaad Penny, 2018), a #2 on a WR (DK Metcalf, 2019), a #2 on a WR (Eskridge, 2020, our first of just 3 selections), a #2 on a RB (Walker III, 2022), and finally JSN with a #1 and Charbonnet with a #2 in 2023.

In the meantime, the only OL we've taken in the first two rounds during that same period of time has been Cross in 2022. That's 6 first or second round picks out of 14 selections in the past 5 years on WR's and RB's and just one offensive lineman.

Regarding your observation about Pete's 'diamonds in the rough' in his early years, IMO a lot has to do with his time at USC. Take a look at where some of those diamonds in the rough played their college ball: Sherman and Baldwin from Stanford, Browner from Oregon State, Beast from Cal (acquired in a trade) and Kearse from Udub, Wags from Utah State, all on the west coast and players that Pete had a lot of familiarity with. Most of those players were low round/UFDA's. Plus, he probably got a pretty good look at Earl when he was playing for Texas.

I don't think it any coincidence that the further away Pete got from his college days, the worse his drafting got.

I'm neutral about JS. Like you, I'm not convinced that he's a good GM as it's anybody's guess as to just how much influence he had on some of these decisions. However, I'm impressed with the way he's gone about rebuilding this coaching staff. I'm results orientated, and I expect to be in SB contention within 2-3 years.