Gil Brandt, Uggh.

[HumanCockroach]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... -step-back

LOL. This guy cracks me up year in and year out ( as if his Cowboy love fest isn't funny enough each and every year, his continued insistence on nothing, and I mean nothing in the way of research done past the Texas is hilarious). He site the "losses" of Browner, Thurmond, Bryant, and Giacomini ( as well as Clem and McDonald, and Tate which I could feasibly agree with, if replacements weren't ALREADY on the roster, or were drafted, upgraded etc) as major talent level blows to the Seahawks, is he willfully ignorant about how little those first three contributed to that SB run ( either by injury, suspensions, or lowered standards of play) or what? I liked Tate a LOT , and defended the guy, but as a whole that group IMPROVED even with his loss, I didn't like losing Clem, Red and McDonald, but last I checked, Clem didn't have a great year, nor did Red. Mcdonald will be the most missed D-line player IMHO. LASTLY there is the big Russian, however his play has never been disciplined or particularily dominant, even "adequate" play matches what was given so where exactly is this huge fall off? I simply do NOT see it.

[Seahawks4Ever]

I can agree with Gil about a few of the teams he mentions but he don't know Seattle. We will miss GT and Walter T. but that is all, and we already had replacements for everybody including Tate and Thurmond. B.B. would have lost his starting job to Maxwell anyhow.

[Futureite]

You aew right in that those players were not dynamic contributors, but when you regularly rotate guys and you lose some of them it is going to effect the team. Forces other players to play more and it hurts when injuries eventually hit. Every fan on every team always thinks some guy they've barely seen play in college or have read good minicamp reviews of is "just as good" as the player that left, but you honestly do not know until the team hits the field. In our case I overestimated Kyle Willams' ability last yr, as he was great as a role player and routinely got behind the D in yrs past. I also figured Vance McDonald had the tools to be a very good Delaney Walker replacement. Turned out KW waa terrible as a starter, and VM dropped nearly everything thrown his way.

In your case you do not know how Irvin will do as a fulltime LEO (if he plays there exclusively), if Jessee Williams is a compliment in the rotation to Mebane, if Cassius Marsh or Hill subs in for Avril or Bennet, if Simon or Lane can man up in the slot like Thurmond; on and on. There is shuffle in the Oline. You really don't know how any of these guys will pan out, how they'll play together or if the chemistry will be the same as it was in 2013. Same for us.

Although both teams have their core in place, they'll be two completely different teams next yr. You probably do not like the "taking a step back" articles. Lol join the club. The only yr of the last 4 that the 49ers were not going to "take a step back" in the majority's estimation was 2012. Annoying, yes. But everyone wants to see a winner fall.

[Zorn76]

A healthy Percy Harvin (healthy being the operative word) makes up for any "losses" we've "suffered" this offseason.

Period.

[Futureite]

A healthy Percy Harvin (healthy being the operative word) makes up for any "losses" we've "suffered" this offseason.

Period.

Well he sure is hell better than Tate!

[c_hawkbob]

Gil's one of my favorite talent evaluators, whether I agree him with about his team prognostications or not.

*edit - And now having read the article (the above statement was made as a quick point of information before heading to work) I gotta wonder why people are freaking out so much ... he didn't say anything outrageous and still has us at the 10-11 win mark. His reasoning is sound.

[Eaglehawk]

Gill acts as if we lost out entire D line and our O line is full of rookies.

That being said I see his point re our O
line problems. Our D should hold just fine.

[kalibane]

Well 1. The game has passed Gil Brandt by. So whatever. 2. These types of columns are coming. That's the way sportswriting goes these days. Writing a column like this writers always feel compelled to add a "bold" pick to their list. That means in almost every column on this subject matter either the Broncos, the Seahawks or the Niners will be picked to take a step back. (More often than not it's been the Niners so far).

Besides a lot of what he said was couched in the fact that the division is so tough. He predicted 10-11 which technically is a step back in terms of record but won't exactly signify that the team is of lesser quality. I actually think listing the Bengals was the biggest example of poor analysis. They may not improve (due to Andy Dalton's limitations) but unless they have injuries they are a deep, fast, young team and I have a hard time finding a reason why they'll be worse than last year.

[NorthHawk]

I didn't think his comments were too outlandish.
We do have a big question mark with the OL.
We did lose some good players.
Our Division is getting tougher.
Being at the top means we have nowhere else to go.
In all it was a pretty easy column to write.

[curmudgeon]

It is beyond time for Gil to take his seat next to "Jerrah" in the Cowboy suite and slurp pureed Texas Catfish Po' Boy through a straw........

[EntiatHawk]

Gil Brandt was a pioneer and has a great memory. But he just does not know that the HAwk have been stashing talent and have a system to get younger players in and playing at a very high level. Having so many players develop into front line NFL starters is not happening by accident.

I actually truly feel this team will be even better than last years team. When we put up another 13-3 season with everyone gunning for us will be sweeeeeeeettttt!!!!!

[HumanCockroach]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2 ... awn-lynch/

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... le-players

as I was saying.... He does this whenever he gets a chance.

[NorthHawk]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/05/15/the-pff-101-no-10-marshawn-lynch/

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... le-players

as I was saying.... He does this whenever he gets a chance.

Not sure what you're getting at.
He's included in a group of running backs who are difficult to tackle.

[RiverDog]

Although I do agree with several of you guys that Brant's outlook was representing the low ball or pessimistic point of view, ie slipping to a 10 win season was a little over the top, I don't think he was all that far off the mark. I did bristle a little bit when he cheapened our 13 win season to note that we got lucky. Yes, we did benefit by Lady Luck a couple of times, but all teams that win that many games almost by definition have to benefit from luck somewhere along the way.

Whether you like it or not, it was a good read and objectively done, including his take on the other teams.

[HumanCockroach]

Look at the attributed broken and forced missed tackles , Brandt attributed to Lynch. I simply haven't seen much ( if any) complimentary pieces done by Brandt about the Seahawks ( and really any team or player west of Dallas to be quite frank). The guy is HEAVY East Coast Bias , I haven't seen anything "insightful" or really even accurate put out literally for YEARS from Brandt. Obviously he WAS a good judge of talent, back in the day, but personally, I still find his east coast bias rubs me the wrong way, over and over and over again. Personal greviance perhaps, but just ONCE I would like to see him NOT claim how "strong" the Boys, or Giants or Eagles are, and actually acknowledge that there are some pretty damn good teams outside of his four or five "go to" teams.

To be fair though, I doubt he even sees a west coast teams play, as that is WELL past his six o'clock bedtime.

[NorthHawk]

Look at the attributed broken and forced missed tackles , Brandt attributed to Lynch. I simply haven't seen much ( if any) complimentary pieces done by Brandt about the Seahawks ( and really any team or player west of Dallas to be quite frank). The guy is HEAVY East Coast Bias , I haven't seen anything "insightful" or really even accurate put out literally for YEARS from Brandt. Obviously he WAS a good judge of talent, back in the day, but personally, I still find his east coast bias rubs me the wrong way, over and over and over again. Personal greviance perhaps, but just ONCE I would like to see him NOT claim how "strong" the Boys, or Giants or Eagles are, and actually acknowledge that there are some pretty damn good teams outside of his four or five "go to" teams.

To be fair though, I doubt he even sees a west coast teams play, as that is WELL past his six o'clock bedtime.

I think you're overly sensitive about this.

He calls him a human bulldozer in addition to making tacklers miss, who remains one of the toughest backs to stop.
What more do you want him to say?

[HumanCockroach]

Probably wouldn't be pointing it out if his numbers weren't so drastically different than what others that provide the info have credited him with. Brandt in his article removes a full 2/3rds of Lynches production. You're welcome to your opinion on the guy. I don't find value in his east coast shaded opinions, he isn't the only "expert" that has that effect on me, but he is right at the top of the list, or at least not far down it.

[kalibane]

Whether you like it or not, it was a good read and objectively done, including his take on the other teams.

Don't think you can make that proclamation. Maybe you found value in it Riv but speak for yourself. IMO this was a hack piece and it doesn't have anything to do with the "negative" slant on the Seahawks or the Author himself (who admittedly I have believed for years no longer has a grasp on today's game). No one knows how good these draft choices are, or how well they or the free agents will fit in their new systems. This is a filler piece that's just written at the slowest time of the year while people are waiting for training camp and there is something real to evaluate.

Not a good read IMO.

[RiverDog]

Whether you like it or not, it was a good read and objectively done, including his take on the other teams.

Don't think you can make that proclamation. Maybe you found value in it Riv but speak for yourself. IMO this was a hack piece and it doesn't have anything to do with the "negative" slant on the Seahawks or the Author himself (who admittedly I have believed for years no longer has a grasp on today's game). No one knows how good these draft choices are, or how well they or the free agents will fit in their new systems. This is a filler piece that's just written at the slowest time of the year while people are waiting for training camp and there is something real to evaluate.

Not a good read IMO.

Agreed. But so, too, is 75% of every other article pertaining to these types of subjects during this time of year.

Man, it is a slow time of the year. Just look at how the posting activity in this forum has dropped off.

[briwas101]

To those of you who are proclaiming Harvin to be an automatic upgrade over Tate (if healthy) just remember that only Harvin only had a good game one out of the three games he played.

So if he keeps that same 1/3 pace and plays 12 games that would mean 4 good games from Harvin this season.

He will never be the player you guys hope he will be. Hell, he can barely even be considered a WR because his average distance from the goalline on receptions in Minnesota was LESS THAN THREE YARDS.

Percy Harvin is one of the worst route-runners in the nfl because he has never had to learn routes. He is a RB who catches just past the LOS and hopes to outrun people.

Is he fast? Hell yes he is fast.

Can he run routes? No.

Can he go up with defenders and come down with the ball? No.

He was easily the most overrated player in the nfl when he was a viking, and he has only become more overrated because of how little he did for us.

Worst move in Hawks history

[NorthHawk]

To those of you who are proclaiming Harvin to be an automatic upgrade over Tate (if healthy) just remember that only Harvin only had a good game one out of the three games he played.

So if he keeps that same 1/3 pace and plays 12 games that would mean 4 good games from Harvin this season.

He will never be the player you guys hope he will be. Hell, he can barely even be considered a WR because his average distance from the goalline on receptions in Minnesota was LESS THAN THREE YARDS.

Percy Harvin is one of the worst route-runners in the nfl because he has never had to learn routes. He is a RB who catches just past the LOS and hopes to outrun people.

Is he fast? Hell yes he is fast.

Can he run routes? No.

Can he go up with defenders and come down with the ball? No.

He was easily the most overrated player in the nfl when he was a viking, and he has only become more overrated because of how little he did for us.

Worst move in Hawks history

They didn't get him to be a traditional receiver.
They got him to get the ball in his hands quickly and let him do his thing in space.
Richardson was drafted to be a speed WR who can run proper routes.

[kalibane]

Yep he was certainly a worse move than Bosworth or McGwire or Stouffer. People like you annoy me Birwas. Not because you don't like the Harvin trade or Harvin but because you have such a hard on for Harvin, you have no ability to remain in the same galaxy as facts.

You can make a reasonable sounding argument that Tate is a better pure WR based on his blocking, his catch rate, his ball skills and his health ... you'd still be wrong but it would sound reasonable at least. But when you start saying stuff like Tate was a better route runner, "most overrated player" or worst move the Hawks ever made you just sound like a clown. Get a grip dude.

[burrrton]

Worst move in Hawks history

Kal beat me to this, but uh, when did you start paying attention to this team??

[RiverDog]

I don't like the Harvin trade anymore than briwas does, but I'm not going so far as calling it the 'worst move in Seahawk history.' That's covering way too much territory and obviously a little premature. We've had a lot of bonehead moves, including the selling of the team to Ken Behring. There's a reason why it's taken us 38 years to get our first Lombardi.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Harvin is so fragile that PC is holding him out of most practices. I would rather have a little more durability in a player, a little more toughness. But, Harvin is a Seahawk and as long as he is I am going to root for him to make plays and be healthy for the whole season. Harvin is hardly the worst player pick up in Seahawks history. When he opened the second half of the Super Bowl with a TD K/O return he justified every dime he was paid last year. That return sealed the deal against Denver and that was priceless!

Paying GT the kind of money that Detroit paid would have been a terrible decision. We have two rookie receivers with more upside than GT plus Kearse who I think is primed for a break out season, why did we need GT a guy who took almost 3 seasons to figure it out?

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 2013 WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

[HumanCockroach]

LOL... worst move in Hawks History.... Did you start watching in 2006?09'? 11'? Seriously? Did you miss just the RECENT bad moves, how about Houshyourdaddy? Branch? letting hutch get to FA? maybe passing on Brett Favre in favor of Dan fricken McGwire? trading away the rights to Tony Dorsett? Cutting Babbin when they were desperate for a pass rush,drafting Curry #4 overall for cripes sake, choosing Mora over Holmgren? the list is ENDLESS and tedious.But after a SEASON Harvin? LMFAO even IF he produces 4 great games a season it is FAR more "great" games than either Housh or Branch produced in their CAREERS in Seattle.

Difference with Harvin is he is capable of winning a game at ANY moment, he is that damn good.


ROTFLMFAO worst move in Hawks history, good lord.