Paul Richardson

[RiverDog]

Once again, I'm highly disappointed in our first selection of the draft. I haven't been a happy camper since we selected Okung and Thomas in Pete's first draft, at least not with our first selection out of the gate. First Carpenter, then Irvin, then Michael, and now Richardson. I guess I'd better stock up on anti venom as I'm absolutely certain that no one except Obi will agree with me. No one projected this guy as being a possible pick given our needs, yet everyone will immediately and in unison fall head over heals in love the instant we make it.

This guy was not a top 50 player. He's a midget with an injury history, a 180 degree opposite from our needs at that position considering that we already had one of the smallest receiving corps in the league and the shortest QB in the league. Plus he's damaged goods. Harvin, Rice, and now Richardson. We're going to have to expand the ward at the VMAC. I can just see the Rams secondary licking their chops. Remember how they hammered Tate last season? This guy had to 'bulk up' to get to 180 pounds, dripping wet. I can't see this guy being Tate's replacement, not at all. Tate held his own in blocking. Kearse is a very good blocker. I can't see Richardson being a starting WR in our run first offense, and I can't see him being any kind of help in our red zone offense. How the heck is Russell going to be able to pick this guy out on a congested, compressed field? Plus the guy has 'difficulty making the easy catches'. Oh, isn't that sweet?! Reminds me of another small, speedy receiver we had at WR, Koren Robinson. He'll be a nice addition to our 3 WR package and hopefully he can return punts. But once again, we've spent our first pick out of the gate on a specialist, a project, or a backup.

Sorry for the rant and for always being a Negative Nancy. I guess it must be my age. But I'm going to need one helluva sales job done on me before I get comfortable with this pick.

[NorthHawk]

Here's an interesting comment copied from PFT quoting Chip Kelly.
I think it sums up the draft pretty well.

"When it comes to the draft, Kelly has pulled back the curtain on the notion, as perpetrated by the media draft machine, that there’s some sort of code that magically can be cracked. There’s not; it’s all a crapshoot and anyone who tries to tell the audience otherwise is dumb or lying.

“You don’t know how it’s going to pan out,” Kelly said Friday when discussing his team’s first-round pick, linebacker Marcus Smith, via CSNPhilly.com. “Just going through the analytics of it, 50 percent of first-round picks don’t make it. That’s through the history of time.”

With all due respect to the efforts of draft experts (real or self-titled) to make the process into something that can be figured out, Kelly realizes that the process is inherently impossible to solve.

“When you draft someone in the sixth round and you say, ‘Hey, we got a steal,’ my first question is, why didn’t you take him in the fifth, then?” Kelly said. “If you’re so smart and you knew what you knew and you knew everything about the draft and you knew the guy was going to be an All-Pro — the people who brag about, ‘We got a sixth-round pick and he became an All-Pro player’ — then the first question is, well why didn’t you draft him earlier if you were so smart? A lot of times you don’t know.”"

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... the-draft/

Edit:
It's a point of view I subscribe to and why I think OL should have been more of a focus in early rounds last year and the year before instead of last picks and UFAs.
I'm still not convinced Cable is a good evaluator of talent along the OL. I hope this year I'm proven wrong.

[RiverDog]

I don't understand how that relates specifically to the thread title, but I agree with Kelly's comments. If we knew Russell Wilson was going to be such a great quarterback, we shouldn't have run even the slightest chance of letting him slide past us and should have taken him at #13 overall. Sometimes that gets lost in the wash, that the teams that were just plain lucky get credit for being such wise sages.

I also concur with your opinion about Cable. But then again, this is about Richardson, not the OL.

[Bird Droppings]

Having selected Mr. Richardson ... as a fourth rounder for the Hawks .... in Chalk Bob's 3 deep poll ... I picked him there because we didn't have a third rounder, and that is where he was "slated" to be taken.

For Dog, and others, who think "ve got took" I can point out the following:

PC scouted him in high school and wanted him to come to USC ... that is a "tell".

They had an official visit with him, twofold ... that is a "tell" (but I sure didn't know it was the team psychologist and a scout who comandeered these visits)

He is a "phreak" ... that is a tell (PC said fastest guy in draft in terms of getting in and out of breaks and immediately in straight line full speed).

Hey, Dog, I'm not touting their record of early picks, although, there was some guy named Thomas they got early, and, yeah, Okung is only an all-pro tackle when he isn't hurt, and they might figure out yet how to "scheme" Irwin (I haven't given up on him yet) ...

...BUT THESE GUYS HAVE MY FULL TRUST ... DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE DISMAL DAYS OF RUSKELL.

Yes, they could have done better in their top selections a couple of years, but you're condemning them before you even see Richardson in camp.

So you can trust the experts in the media world for their evaluations of what the Hawks are looking for more than the coaching staff (including the psychologists).

But, when Harvin is streaking down one side after swinging behind the backfield and Richardson has already blown by a corner then you tell me what foxhole the safeties are going to be jumping into.

zoom

[c_hawkbob]

I got no problem with Richardson, it's our second pick made me quit watching.

[NorthHawk]

I don't understand how that relates specifically to the thread title, but I agree with Kelly's comments. If we knew Russell Wilson was going to be such a great quarterback, we shouldn't have run even the slightest chance of letting him slide past us and should have taken him at #13 overall. Sometimes that gets lost in the wash, that the teams that were just plain lucky get credit for being such wise sages.

I also concur with your opinion about Cable. But then again, this is about Richardson, not the OL.

What your are saying is he's not a top 50 player. Kelly is saying it's a crap shoot so these predetermined rankings mean very little.
I think it's much truer the further down the draft you go.

Seattle seems to have found a formula on Defense, but they don't seem to have a corresponding type of formula on Offense and they were lucky with Wilson in that so many other teams passed on him. On Defense they have a definite identity that they draft to, but I wonder if they have that on Offense. It doesn't have the same feel that the players chosen are Seahawk type players.

[Futureite]

This guy is a stud. Have you watched the Youtube highlights? Not only does he have elite speed, but he is a football player. Catches the ball in traffic, great hands, great acceleration. He was one guy IS was hoping the Niners may take at some point.

I remember about 2 yrs ago posting that we had wxplosive players on O and the Hawks didn't. We argued about that. I said our O was better with Delaney, Ginn, VD and Moss mixed in with our power run game and possession guys. You had Lynch and not much else to threaten the edge

Now it has flipflopped. You have Harvin, Michael and Richardson. Unless we draft someone today, our O is really devoid of speed. I hope that is not an issue, but mixing speed guys in with a power game creates so many matchup problems. So tgis was a great pick for you.

If I were you I'd be real happy with what the message Carroll is sending with this pick. Looks like he is attempting to make the O more versatile and take it to the next level. Where is the problem.

[monkey]

Riverdog, the ONLY reason I am going to disagree with you, is because I already absolutely LOVED the idea of Seattle picking him up. I just assumed it would be much later int he draft is all.
So I am disappointed that with the VALUE of the pick, but NOT the player.
A couple of months back, someone on another website (I've lost the link, and cannot remember where it came from) posted a story about later round wide outs who would be perfect for the Seahawks, and the players the author was slobbering over the most were the other Indiana receiver and Richardson (he also mentioned Jered Abredderis, who I am very high on).
So I started digging into as much game footage as I could find on several of those guys including RIchardson...what I saw was a guy who was a BIG TIME play maker, with vicious speed, who would slide ONLY because of his weight. (There's been some complaints about his hands, and he did drop a REALLY easy touchdown last year in a big spot, which is what spawned the talk about his hands...but that was an anomaly).
If his weight weren't an issue, he'd have been a consensus first rounder.

I'm still not at all impressed with the value, they could have gotten him MUCH later.
Same with Britt, who most projected to be a sixth round or later, (most had him undrafted) pick at best.
So you're not the only one who is a bit disappointed with the draft so far.
I'm just holding out hope that the fourth round changes things...there's still a lot of talent on the board.

The difference is that I am disappointed in the value, NOT the actual player, who I really couldn't much more happy with. Richardson is a FOOTBALLER. He's such a Pete Carroll type of competitor/player.

[NorthHawk]

Apparently he didn't have much help around him, and the media is all about stats so maybe he's a bit of a sleeper.
He has the speed and apparently good hands, so it might be just tweaking his route running and learning the play book.

[savvyman]

The greatest talent that Schneider and his staff has shown over the years is the ability to comb through thousands of hours of tape and discover hidden gems that most other teams had overlooked.

While questioning a selection is a reasonable activity, if any FO has earned the right to be trusted in the area of talent evaluations over the past four years it is this team in Seattle.

Richardson possesses the Special Athletic Attributes that the FO and Carrol have said many times that they look for in their draft picks. Quite simply he must have ranked at the top of the Hawks draft board when it was time for the 45th pick so they took him.

Brit by all accounts is a tough, competitive surly player who has a lot of grit - these are the traits (J. Mora summed up these traits as "Dirtbag") that Cable and Carroll have said in the past that they look for in Offensive Lineman - something Carpenter - who has all the physical tools - seems to lack. More than likely the Hawks - without a third round pick - thought that Brit might not be available in the 4th round - so this is why the he was selected with the 64th pick. Obviously when the 64th pick came around, Brit was the number 1 Offensive Lineman on the hawks board at that time.

Hawks Front Office obviously believes that there is some overlooked talent that they have discovered during their tape review that they believe will be available in the later rounds as evidence by their attempts to generate more draft picks in the second half of this years draft.

[NorthHawk]

The greatest talent that Schneider and his staff has shown over the years is the ability to comb through thousands of hours of tape and discover hidden gems that most other teams had overlooked.

While questioning a selection is a reasonable activity, if any FO has earned the right to be trusted in the area of talent evaluations over the past four years it is this team in Seattle.

Richardson possesses the Special Athletic Attributes that the FO and Carrol have said many times that they look for in their draft picks. Quite simply he must have ranked at the top of the Hawks draft board when it was time for the 45th pick so they took him.

Brit by all accounts is a tough, competitive surly player who has a lot of grit - these are the traits (J. Mora summed up these traits as "Dirtbag") that Cable and Carroll have said in the past that they look for in Offensive Lineman - something Carpenter - who has all the physical tools - seems to lack. More than likely the Hawks - without a third round pick - thought that Brit might not be available in the 4th round - so this is why the he was selected with the 64th pick. Obviously when the 64th pick came around, Brit was the number 1 Offensive Lineman on the hawks board at that time.

Hawks Front Office obviously believes that there is some overlooked talent that they have discovered during their tape review that they believe will be available in the later rounds as evidence by their attempts to generate more draft picks in the second half of this years draft.

They have been great at it on Defense, but their Offensive selections haven't been nearly as successful.

[savvyman]

The greatest talent that Schneider and his staff has shown over the years is the ability to comb through thousands of hours of tape and discover hidden gems that most other teams had overlooked.

While questioning a selection is a reasonable activity, if any FO has earned the right to be trusted in the area of talent evaluations over the past four years it is this team in Seattle.

Richardson possesses the Special Athletic Attributes that the FO and Carrol have said many times that they look for in their draft picks. Quite simply he must have ranked at the top of the Hawks draft board when it was time for the 45th pick so they took him.

Brit by all accounts is a tough, competitive surly player who has a lot of grit - these are the traits (J. Mora summed up these traits as "Dirtbag") that Cable and Carroll have said in the past that they look for in Offensive Lineman - something Carpenter - who has all the physical tools - seems to lack. More than likely the Hawks - without a third round pick - thought that Brit might not be available in the 4th round - so this is why the he was selected with the 64th pick. Obviously when the 64th pick came around, Brit was the number 1 Offensive Lineman on the hawks board at that time.

Hawks Front Office obviously believes that there is some overlooked talent that they have discovered during their tape review that they believe will be available in the later rounds as evidence by their attempts to generate more draft picks in the second half of this years draft.

They have been great at it on Defense, but their Offensive selections haven't been nearly as successful.

Marshwan Lynch was an unwanted player that the FO stole for a 3rd round pick.

JR Sweezy - who is often unfairly maligned - was a 7th round pick.

Breno Giacomini was a freebie off the Green Bay Practice squad.

Russell Okung is a Pro Bowler when healthy.

Golden Tate was outstanding last year.

Doug Baldwin - another good receiver was signed for free.

Russell Wilson? On tract to be an NFL hall of fame player.


I would say the Hawks have had success in selecting players for the offensive side of the ball.

[HumanCockroach]

Apparently he didn't have much help around him, and the media is all about stats so maybe he's a bit of a sleeper.
He has the speed and apparently good hands, so it might be just tweaking his route running and learning the play book.

Dude had the stats on the field where it mattered, 1300 yards and 10 TD'S FIRST team Pac 12 last year, seems to me he was down the list because of weight and pretty much only weight. People believe he is to slight to stay healthy, we'll see. He isn't a "midget" as RD professed 6' is pretty average height, difference between being a midget and an average player as opposed to a monster like Calvin.

Oh well, add this player to the list of "bashing boys" for RD.

[HumanCockroach]

The greatest talent that Schneider and his staff has shown over the years is the ability to comb through thousands of hours of tape and discover hidden gems that most other teams had overlooked.

While questioning a selection is a reasonable activity, if any FO has earned the right to be trusted in the area of talent evaluations over the past four years it is this team in Seattle.

Richardson possesses the Special Athletic Attributes that the FO and Carrol have said many times that they look for in their draft picks. Quite simply he must have ranked at the top of the Hawks draft board when it was time for the 45th pick so they took him.

Brit by all accounts is a tough, competitive surly player who has a lot of grit - these are the traits (J. Mora summed up these traits as "Dirtbag") that Cable and Carroll have said in the past that they look for in Offensive Lineman - something Carpenter - who has all the physical tools - seems to lack. More than likely the Hawks - without a third round pick - thought that Brit might not be available in the 4th round - so this is why the he was selected with the 64th pick. Obviously when the 64th pick came around, Brit was the number 1 Offensive Lineman on the hawks board at that time.

Hawks Front Office obviously believes that there is some overlooked talent that they have discovered during their tape review that they believe will be available in the later rounds as evidence by their attempts to generate more draft picks in the second half of this years draft.

They have been great at it on Defense, but their Offensive selections haven't been nearly as successful.

Marshwan Lynch was an unwanted player that the FO stole for a 3rd round pick.

JR Sweezy - who is often unfairly maligned - was a 7th round pick.

Breno Giacomini was a freebie off the Green Bay Practice squad.

Russell Okung is a Pro Bowler when healthy.

Golden Tate was outstanding last year.

Doug Baldwin - another good receiver was signed for free.

Russell Wilson? On tract to be an NFL hall of fame player.


I would say the Hawks have had success in selecting players for the offensive side of the ball.

+1


Looking across the board FEW teams if ANY have found more success recently on finding offensive players, but you know, that whole he's a first rounder or the first pick so he should be the best player ever realistic view point remains with some. Far to much of that will be ignored because of where they were picked, as opposed to what kind of player they turn into...

[NorthHawk]

I'm talking draft.
There is a body of work at the NFL level to compare for Lynch and Giacomini.

Okung - top round pick, not a late round gem
Sweezy - work in progress - still gets beat regularly - jury is still out.
Tate - 2nd round pick - he should have had a good year
Baldwin - great pickup
Carpenter - 1st rounder that is on the verge of washing out if he doesn't take a big step forward
Moffit - washed out
Bowie - might be a good pick, but was not as good as Giacomini (or he would have continued to play when Breno was healthy)
Bailey - might have a future - we don't know yet

Where's the equivalent of Kam, Sherman, Smith, and Maxwell on Offense?
Those were late round gems.

[briwas101]

Based on where we drafted Richardson, I agree with the complaints about value.

But riverdog, im 99% sure Richardson was drafted so we can cut Harvin if he continues to be a huge bust.

The hawks clearly want to have a speedster but it makes no sense to pay Harvin the money if he isnt producing for us. Harvin gets his second (and hopefully last) chance and Richardson gets a year to learn the pro game.

I wasn't aware he has an injury history so that disappoints me, and his low weight already concerned me, so im a little worried that our replacement for Harvin will be too much like harvin (injured) but at least the Hawks have a backup plan so they arent forced to make Harvin the richest cripple in nfl history.

[HumanCockroach]

I'm talking draft.
There is a body of work at the NFL level to compare for Lynch and Giacomini.

Okung - top round pick, not a late round gem
Sweezy - work in progress - still gets beat regularly - jury is still out.
Tate - 2nd round pick - he should have had a good year
Baldwin - great pickup
Carpenter - 1st rounder that is on the verge of washing out if he doesn't take a big step forward
Moffit - washed out
Bowie - might be a good pick, but was not as good as Giacomini (or he would have continued to play when Breno was healthy)
Bailey - might have a future - we don't know yet

Where's the equivalent of Kam, Sherman, Smith, and Maxwell on Offense?
Those were late round gems.

The question wasn't whether Bowie was better than Giacomini, the question was whether Carpenter was better than Giacomini, since you yourself profess he is about to wash out of the NFL ( which by the way isn't close to accurate either) the started Geno ( who could ONLY play tackle) and Bowie at guard.

as for you Sherman, Maxwell, Kam, Smith. You've acknowleded some of them Baldwin, Wilson, Bowie and Sweezy. Kam didn't dominate his rookie season, he was SITTING on the bench, Sherman was THIRD string behind Trufant and Thurmond the III, I remember fretting prior to the final cut down that they might CUT him, and I had already professed him a pro bowl future starter, Smith ISN'T even a STARTER on the team right now, Maxwell sat for MULTIPLE seasons behind MULTIPLE other players. Just because these guys are STARTING and PLAYING earlier than any of the others, doesn't mean they aren't good players ( no matter how often you try to make the Bowie/ Giacomini case, you're wrong, Bowie outperformed him, and every other lineman for that matter). Hell Bailey, Kearse could be mentioned as well. Late round picks have hit just as often on offense as their has on defense, your expectations are unrealistic on this one. You are thinking all pro, most dominant player in the league, but last I checked, Jones and Hutch weren't those guys year one or two either.

[Zorn76]

LIke I said elsewhere, at least Richardson fills a position of need. Is he the kind of player that we absolutely needed right then and there in the 2nd rd? I dunno. He may have been available much later.

But you can only play cat-and-mouse so long when selecting players. Sooner or later, you just gotta take your guy, even if others declare it a reach. Britt sounded like a bigger reach given the reaction by Mayock. A questionable sounding "Wow" came from his mouth after our 2nd pick, lol. But, whatever. Let's see what they do first.

[NorthHawk]

I'm talking draft.
There is a body of work at the NFL level to compare for Lynch and Giacomini.

Okung - top round pick, not a late round gem
Sweezy - work in progress - still gets beat regularly - jury is still out.
Tate - 2nd round pick - he should have had a good year
Baldwin - great pickup
Carpenter - 1st rounder that is on the verge of washing out if he doesn't take a big step forward
Moffit - washed out
Bowie - might be a good pick, but was not as good as Giacomini (or he would have continued to play when Breno was healthy)
Bailey - might have a future - we don't know yet

Where's the equivalent of Kam, Sherman, Smith, and Maxwell on Offense?
Those were late round gems.

The question wasn't whether Bowie was better than Giacomini, the question was whether Carpenter was better than Giacomini, since you yourself profess he is about to wash out of the NFL ( which by the way isn't close to accurate either) the started Geno ( who could ONLY play tackle) and Bowie at guard.

as for you Sherman, Maxwell, Kam, Smith. You've acknowleded some of them Baldwin, Wilson, Bowie and Sweezy. Kam didn't dominate his rookie season, he was SITTING on the bench, Sherman was THIRD string behind Trufant and Thurmond the III, I remember fretting prior to the final cut down that they might CUT him, and I had already professed him a pro bowl future starter, Smith ISN'T even a STARTER on the team right now, Maxwell sat for MULTIPLE seasons behind MULTIPLE other players. Just because these guys are STARTING and PLAYING earlier than any of the others, doesn't mean they aren't good players ( no matter how often you try to make the Bowie/ Giacomini case, you're wrong, Bowie outperformed him, and every other lineman for that matter). Hell Bailey, Kearse could be mentioned as well. Late round picks have hit just as often on offense as their has on defense, your expectations are unrealistic on this one. You are thinking all pro, most dominant player in the league, but last I checked, Jones and Hutch weren't those guys year one or two either.

If Bowie out performed Giacomini that means they played their 2nd best player at RT when Giacomini returned UNLESS competition for that spot was predetermined.

Carpenter was drafted as the starter at RT. He failed at that.
He was then moved inside and has not yet seized a starting spot after 3 years.
McQuistan was even put in ahead of Carpenter at times.

Kam didn't start his first year, he was learning how to play in our Defense.
He started his 2nd year and immediately impressed.
Sherm got his chance because of injury and again immediately showed he belonged.
Both were great picks.

I don't see any equivalent Pro Bowl late round picks on Offense- do you? Wilson was a mid round pick.

[HumanCockroach]

Obviously, you lack the ability to see this without basing it on special hits. Expecting pro bowl late round talent based on??? Comparing them to pro bowl late round talent that the SEAHAWKS drafted on defense is silly, from top to bottom. Name the late round pro bowl talent throughout the league on offense.... it ISN'T there. Finding STARTING quality late round offensive talent is very very rare, and in this circumstance you are setting the bar at unrealistic INSANE levels. Bowie out performed Giacomini. PERIOD. Giacomini CAN'T play guard, Bowie CAN. Why that is difficult for you to grasp is beyond me. They put their BEST five Lineman on the field.

Finding starting calibre players late in the draft is hard Seattle has found MULTIPLE SB champion starters on the offensive line, WR group ( and for all of your avoidance of it, 3rd round starting QB, is akin to a 7th round starting Tackle), they can be found, BT they are exceedingly rare. Sweezy is or isn't a starting guard? Bowie is or isn't a starting offensive lineman? Baldwin is or isn't a starter or key contributor on offense? Wilson is or isn't a starter? They ALL are, on a TOP TEN scoring offense, for the SB CHAMPS figure it out..

Expecting year 4 Jones, or Hutch, or Largent is the height of ridiculousness, and yet here we are with those expectations, because they found that with guys on the defense? Lmfao .

Kam wasn't sitting to "learn" the D, Kam sat because he had severe holes in his game, and he had holes his FIRST year starting as well ( or have you forgotten how many times he blew his responsibilities in coverage already) Sherman as much ax I loved him immediately, had holes as well, and has improved each and every game, doesn't mean he was a "homerun" out of the gate, you're unrealistic expectation of not just solid play, but ALL PRO play out of players on the offense is laughable. Jones wasn't Jones, Hutch wasn't Hutch, Largent wasn't Largent their FIRST or SECOND year in the league. Period.

[NorthHawk]

Who the hell said anything about Jones or Hutch?
I just said - and it's true that the Offense isn't as good as the Defense.
The FO keeps moving down to pick up later picks so by your own admission they can't find Pro Bowlers on Offense that late.

Kam sat to learn to play in this system. It's why players sit - to learn how to improve and fix the holes in their game.
I'm surprised you don't know that.

[HumanCockroach]

And I'm surprised you don't grasp it takes the same amount of time to learn on the field as off. Kam had flaws SERIOUS. Flaws in his game. I'm not going to debate it with you, they were there, simple as that. He sat because he wasn't ready to start, by your OWN admission again and again, guys are there in later rounds for a reason, and Kam and Sherm were no different in that regard. As a coach or a talent evaluator you learn to adjust to it. Seattle has done a nice job finding starters in later rounds on both sides of the ball, just because one side has only produced starting SB players, while the other has produced all pro's doesn't mean they are "failing" on one side over the other, it means they haven't found an all Pro, nothing more. Just because you can't seem to put into perspective the talent they have drafted or signed on that side of the ball, doesn't mean that your perception is correct. Just means that is your perception. You continue to compare the defensive gems mined to the offensive players selected, when what you SHOULD be doing is comparing offensive players selected to offensive players throughout the league drafted, in which case the Seahawks have hit on MORE of their picks not.less than other NFL teams in those rounds.

the example of Hutch/Jones/ Largent was an example of how unrealistic it is to simply claim players in their first or second year aren't good enough. Something you somehow claim to know about a couple of them. Those players like ALL players take time to develop, hence closing the book on Sweezy, or Bowie, or any other player still playing on their rookie contracts is silly. You are expecting some sort of HOF or All Pro on the offensive side of the ball, when it simply does not work that way. No automatic All Pros in the first round, why would you be expecting them each and every draft in the mid to late rounds? Well because they found the "equivalents" on the defensive side, right? LMAO. Doesn't work that way.

You're grading offense selections of success of the defensive side of the ball on ONE team, look at the HUNDREDS of offensive players drafted where Seattle had picks, and let me know how many of them are top tier players in this league, nay the PREMIER player at their position in the league since we are basing it on those success'. If they aren't first or second team all pro, they don't measure up to Sherman or Chancellor, then get back to me.

[NorthHawk]

People are saying our FO is great at finding lower round gems.
They are - on Defense.
On Offense they haven't shown that same ability - it's clear with the Carpenter and Moffit selections they have issues evaluating top talent along the line. So much so it appears they would rather trade down. Cable said in an interview that the player they wanted was taken (they had previously traded down) and they took Britt. So, do they have the confidence in their board and scouts on Offense or would they rather pass over their guy and get an extra pick?
At some point they have to make a selection and trading down and losing the guy you want does 2 things.
It lessens the pressure on the selection as less is expected, and it gives you another pick to make up for a mistake.

Bowie played well, but as you say moved to Guard to put the best players on the field. That means Sweezy isn't as good at G as a natural T in Bowie. By definition, the OL isn't as good as last year because we lost one of the best 5 linemen to FA.
Why wasn't Bowie always playing G when Breno was healthy? Don't you always want your best 5 players on the field?

Let's hope Britt can start and they also work him or Bowie out at LT for when Okung goes down for his annual injury.
The only thing left is a guard that can start for a few years in a row instead of the revolving door of the past few years.
Maybe Carpenter will be it. I hope so, but I doubt he lasts. If he does and Britt starts, the odd man out is Sweezy who might be a good backup.

Kam had serious flaws - agreed. It's why he sat out to learn how to improve. That's the reason for sitting the first year. We had a bit of a luxury with an experienced Safety in Lawyer Milloy who Kam could watch and learn from. So he sat for a year.

[obiken]

River and I are usually on the same page because we both agree that its true there is no sure thing in the NFL draft, but there are good calculated risk, based on past performance. Here is my issue with Richardson. We needed blocking for Beast. IF the Missouri guy works out fine, but if not we are back to square one. Marquis Lee dropped because of his combine time. He was faster than Jerry Rice, you have look at film. FB speed in a FB suit doesn't always translate to the field. Warren Moon was worst practice player Don James ever had but the best game player. NO one on the West Coast could cover this guy mono e mono, 2 years ago when he had a good qb throwing to him. Our guy is 178 lbs and you are going to ask him to go over the middle at 178, come on. I bet one of you 20 bucks that he doesn't make it past training camp. Pete is not a genius, at drafting, his strength is figuring out real fast if a guy can play NFL FB or not, if not they are gone. You need luck at getting a good QB and we got that, the rest is debatable. I agree NCH, the offense needs work.

[obiken]

The smart pick Would have been to take the kid out of Nevada. You get a guy that started for 39 games, was an animal on the line, and Cleveland snagged him at the top of the 2nd round. IF Harvin stays healthy, IF RW improves like he should, we will be ok. The best bet for me is the WR out of Alabama. He blocks well and he made plays against good competition.

[HumanCockroach]

People are saying our FO is great at finding lower round gems.
They are - on Defense.
On Offense they haven't shown that same ability - it's clear with the Carpenter and Moffit selections they have issues evaluating top talent along the line. So much so it appears they would rather trade down. Cable said in an interview that the player they wanted was taken (they had previously traded down) and they took Britt. So, do they have the confidence in their board and scouts on Offense or would they rather pass over their guy and get an extra pick?
At some point they have to make a selection and trading down and losing the guy you want does 2 things.
It lessens the pressure on the selection as less is expected, and it gives you another pick to make up for a mistake.

Bowie played well, but as you say moved to Guard to put the best players on the field. That means Sweezy isn't as good at G as a natural T in Bowie. By definition, the OL isn't as good as last year because we lost one of the best 5 linemen to FA.
Why wasn't Bowie always playing G when Breno was healthy? Don't you always want your best 5 players on the field?

Let's hope Britt can start and they also work him or Bowie out at LT for when Okung goes down for his annual injury.
The only thing left is a guard that can start for a few years in a row instead of the revolving door of the past few years.
Maybe Carpenter will be it. I hope so, but I doubt he lasts. If he does and Britt starts, the odd man out is Sweezy who might be a good backup.

Kam had serious flaws - agreed. It's why he sat out to learn how to improve. That's the reason for sitting the first year. We had a bit of a luxury with an experienced Safety in Lawyer Milloy who Kam could watch and learn from. So he sat for a year.

How can you in the same post acknowledge that Kam sat for a year because of holes in his game and then say bowie 'should have been starting' because he was one of the five best coming out of the pre season? Is it possible bowie had holes in his game coming out of pre season as a 7th round pick and by the end of the year when he was starting instead of Carpenter ( not Sweezy as you continue to profess)that he had improved enough that he passed Carpenter as a guard? I think not only is that possible, but PROBABLE. Also, it's IMPORTANT to look at the factors that were in place in those situations, ie, Bowie started against the Saints in the playoffs, but NOT in the SF game, why do YOU think that is? could it be possible that Carpenters strength is his run blocking skills while Bowies is in pass protect? I think that is ALSO very likely. Bowie is a bit undersized to play guard, but as with any young lineman, size and strength are the EASIEST areas to improve, technique, footwork etc are FAR more difficult to change and improve.

Ultimately it's a MOOT point. Sweezy, Bowie, Unger, Okung are starters, you can learn to cope with it or not, but to continue to profess lost picks like Carpenter ( possibly, certainly closer to lost than found) or Moffitt ( BOTH top picks, which is oddly enough what you CONTINUE to profess Seattle doesn't use enough on lineman), while moaning they use picks in LATER rounds on guys that are performing BETTER than those top picks, is strange and odd. Bowie graded out better than ALL other lineman on this team last year, I've provided that link for you before, he performed BETTER than ANY first or second year player drafted in the last TWO drafts last year, and yet you STILL bemoan the pick. What that says is he PERFORMED BETTER than ANY LINEMAN you have WANTED in the last two drafts, meaning the PLAYER you WANTED wasn't as good as Bowie. Not sure how to help you any further than that.

You don't like the players chosen, and like others profess some sort of knowledge to what they should have done, as opposed to admitting that Carroll, Schneider, and Cable are BETTER than you at doing so. They know what they are doing, and whether some can accpet that or not, lost it's charm couple months ago when the first panic set in. ( really before the first panic set in, especially coming off a SB win) . When they can't run, can't pass or can't win, I'll be happy to critisize the BEST FO in football, until then, I can accept that my knowledge, and talent evaluation does not measure up to the guys doing it better than anyone in the world at this moment.

[RiverDog]

Based on where we drafted Richardson, I agree with the complaints about value.

But riverdog, im 99% sure Richardson was drafted so we can cut Harvin if he continues to be a huge bust.

The hawks clearly want to have a speedster but it makes no sense to pay Harvin the money if he isnt producing for us. Harvin gets his second (and hopefully last) chance and Richardson gets a year to learn the pro game.

I wasn't aware he has an injury history so that disappoints me, and his low weight already concerned me, so im a little worried that our replacement for Harvin will be too much like harvin (injured) but at least the Hawks have a backup plan so they arent forced to make Harvin the richest cripple in nfl history.

So he's an insurance policy? Is that a good utilization of our first pick in the draft? I know our roster is deep, but it isn't that deep to where we can afford to be spending a 2nd round pick just in case another player, one that we've already spent a #1 and #3 plus a boat load of money, doesn't perform. Somehow that's not very reassuring.

But we'll see. I'm used to this morning after stuff and being disappointed after the draft. I'm also used to being the Lone Ranger. The problem is that I wish I could say that my intuition is all out of whack and I'm just some grumpy old man looking for something to beech about. But I have yet to get over the hangover caused by my angst about the Carpenter pick 4 years ago when many of you in here said I was a complete idiot for not getting on board with, I've been completely underwhelmed by our #15 overall pick in Irvin, and I haven't hardly seen our top draft choice from last season at all. Somebody please tell me where my first impression has been all wrong all these years.

[HumanCockroach]

Right there at the Vmac it's in the trophy case.

[monkey]

Based on where we drafted Richardson, I agree with the complaints about value.

But riverdog, im 99% sure Richardson was drafted so we can cut Harvin if he continues to be a huge bust.

The hawks clearly want to have a speedster but it makes no sense to pay Harvin the money if he isnt producing for us. Harvin gets his second (and hopefully last) chance and Richardson gets a year to learn the pro game.

I wasn't aware he has an injury history so that disappoints me, and his low weight already concerned me, so im a little worried that our replacement for Harvin will be too much like harvin (injured) but at least the Hawks have a backup plan so they arent forced to make Harvin the richest cripple in nfl history.

???

You think we used our first pick in the draft as an insurance policy? I'm 100% sure that's not right.

Richardson is a SPECIAL talent with game changing speed. He's not an insurance policy, he was underrated by the media because they thought his weight would scare teams away from him.
It's just that...his weight.

[HumanCockroach]

Insurance policy to cut a top 5 receiver in the game? SMH.....

[Zorn76]

Based on where we drafted Richardson, I agree with the complaints about value.

But riverdog, im 99% sure Richardson was drafted so we can cut Harvin if he continues to be a huge bust.

The hawks clearly want to have a speedster but it makes no sense to pay Harvin the money if he isnt producing for us. Harvin gets his second (and hopefully last) chance and Richardson gets a year to learn the pro game.

I wasn't aware he has an injury history so that disappoints me, and his low weight already concerned me, so im a little worried that our replacement for Harvin will be too much like harvin (injured) but at least the Hawks have a backup plan so they arent forced to make Harvin the richest cripple in nfl history.

Not trying to pile on here with others, briwas, but Harvin absolutely came through when it mattered most - in the playoffs. He had some key plays vs the 49ers in the conference championship game, and his kickoff return to the house to open the 2nd half sealed the (Lombardi) deal.

Obviously, we were gonna win the SB no matter what. It was just one of those magical Seahawk games that we had seen throughout our history - even during some dark years - and it just all came together that day to win our 1st championship.

Percy Harvin is gonna be given a long leash, and rightfully so. He is the X-factor for Seattle. I understand the skepticism in terms of his health, but him being on the field for a whole season - or even just 10 regular season games plus playoffs - will go a long way in determining the Seahawks' chances of repeating. He's that much of a talent, and he showed it just a few months ago.

[HumanCockroach]

Just saw kind of some weird stats, comparing Harrison to Richardson, the production ( receptions, yardage, TD'S) and the size ( 6'0" 180) along with speed ( 4.49/4.40) are almost identical between the two at the time of drafting, I suppose I could cope with that as the bar for his career.... ( relax I know it means absolutely nothing moving forward, just thought it was odd, and for the life of me, I don't remember any injury concerns for Harrison's "slight" frame and weight).

[HumanCockroach]

Wow! Just spent twenty minutes watching Richardson's film, I no longer question the pick, or even the earliness of the pick, my question simply is how the hell, they could have thought this kid was not only not a first round pick, but a second round pick? This is a STEAL unless he simply can't get on the field. With the exception of the ability to "deliver a blow" this kid is a FASTER Percy Harvin... WTF? I mean having Harvin is hard on defenses, having TWO Harvin's just ain't fair.... (14th best receiver in the draft my ass)



http://vimeo.com/m/81855220

4" of daylight, I beg you.....

the most amazing thing is how fast he gets up to speed, stops and is at full speed again.... this guy is running away from first round corners throughout this video, and making them look SLOW and ineffective. This guy isn't just a good pick, he could be one of those "special picks"... honestly, unless those experts are right about him not remaining healthy, I for see 31 other teams lamenting not taking this guy in the first 40 picks, and he could possibly be the most explosive offensive weapon in the draft. I'm happy as a clam with that choice .

[Zorn76]

HC - Yea, I only watched a lil over 2 min of that video, and can see what you're talking about.

His speed alone is a weapon, much like Harvin. It's the kind of quickness that nobody will be able to ignore, no matter how much (or little) opposing D coordinators figure him to be a part of the game plan.

[HumanCockroach]

If he picks up the offense fast enough to spend time on the field to start the season, it is going to make it really, really difficult to defend this offense. It will remove any safety support in the box allowing Lynch to face 6 man boxes, allow Harvin and Baldwin or Kearse to consistently line up against a safety in man to man coverage, and allow Harvin to face less over/under and double teams, this guy helps EVERYONE on that offense if he works hard at mastering the playbook, he could change the dynamic of this offense drastically. ( not that Harvin alone doesn't already do so)...

I wanted Desean because of what it did to a defense during the off season ( even though it wasn't realistic) and now I get to watch it anyway.......

[Eaglehawk]

Hey do you believe that stuff about missing the easy catches? I'm not so sure I do.
His highlight reel is simply unreal. But then, of course they don't show the drops. Maybe someone on here could show me where he "misses the easy catches". And I can track your sentiments Riv.

That aside, he is one of the fastest persons in the draft. How does that not help us. He is not a midget at 6 feet. Also, getting hurt and rebounding is a good thing, maybe it never happens again? Football is a violent sport after all.

Anyway Riv, my two cents. I see your point, but still think there is a greater upside than his downside only looking at his speed ability to run routes, and arguably good hands.

[RiverDog]

Hey do you believe that stuff about missing the easy catches? I'm not so sure I do.
His highlight reel is simply unreal. But then, of course they don't show the drops. Maybe someone on here could show me where he "misses the easy catches". And I can track your sentiments Riv.

That aside, he is one of the fastest persons in the draft. How does that not help us. He is not a midget at 6 feet. Also, getting hurt and rebounding is a good thing, maybe it never happens again? Football is a violent sport after all.

Anyway Riv, my two cents. I see your point, but still think there is a greater upside than his downside only looking at his speed ability to run routes, and arguably good hands.

Some random comments: Richardson injured his knee in non contact drills and missed the entire 2012 season. No particular point, just a FYI.

The fact that player highlight films are cherry picked by some PR geek that wants to promote his guy is why I don't pay much attention to them. Every player that's good enough to get drafted has a great looking highlight film, and if they looked that good all the time, they'd all be Pro Bowlers.

Richardson originally enrolled at UCLA but was dismissed from the team when he was faced with felony charges for stealing a purse. I'm not saying that should be used to make an argument against him and with the money he'll be making, he won't have the need to steal any purses. Just another FYI and something that popped out at me when I was doing my research that I'm not sure if you guys were aware of or not.

I've seen the comment that he at time struggles to make the easy catches enough times that I don't really need to see film of him dropping passes. Ever since Largent, I've placed a much higher weight on reliable hands for WR's to such a degree that I have very little patience with them when they drop easy passes. I nearly died in the 2004 season when KRob and DJack had a contest to see how many easy passes they could drop. That demerit more than anything else, including his size, his injuries, or character flags caused me to raise my eyebrows. Our WR's did a fantastic job last season of maintaining their concentration, and I don't want to see that attribute compromised.

[NorthHawk]

I see what Pete meant by he gets in and out of breaks real fast.
Even though there weren't a lot of example in the highlight clips, his open field moves show how quick he is.

I'm wondering if the FO is also considering him to be the Harvin replacement when the numbers work like maybe 2016 when the CAP savings would be about 7.5 million and the Dead money about 5 million.

[monkey]

Hey do you believe that stuff about missing the easy catches? I'm not so sure I do.

It happened in a big game, in a big spot last year, where he dropped an EASY sure thing touchdown. It was anomaly but now some people think it's a problem. I don't but it did happen, and so people's judgments have been colored by that. They've gone back and retroactively decided that all of his drops are now because he lacks good hands, or good focus or something...but before that one big drop, no one was saying that at all.

It's just another case of media over-reaction. Nothing more.

[briwas101]

I see what Pete meant by he gets in and out of breaks real fast.
Even though there weren't a lot of example in the highlight clips, his open field moves show how quick he is.

I'm wondering if the FO is also considering him to be the Harvin replacement when the numbers work like maybe 2016 when the CAP savings would be about 7.5 million and the Dead money about 5 million.

Yes Richardson is most likely their replacement for harvin.

As for what year it happens, it depends on Harvin's health and his production (he was mediocre in 2 games and good in 1, not worth it at all).

If harvin's 2014 season is anything like his 2013 season then "the numbers work" for cutting him after THIS season because we would save money compared to keeping him for 2015.

If his 2014 season is like last season then it is in their best interest to cut him after this year or else they would not only be paying him for 2015 (after 2 bust seasons in a row, in this scenario) but they would still have to take a dead cap hit if they cut him afte4 the 2015 season.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, his contract is like a band-aid : the quicker you rip it off the less it will hurt.