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Although Clayton says nothing about it on Mynorthwest, PFT quotes him as reporting that RW would like for the Hawks to sign Antonio Brown. That can't be a good idea can it? I much rather see Josh Gordon back. He played well and caused no issues in the locker room.

We were just discussing that possibility in another thread.

Probably not. The dude had terminal problems with 3 teams in one season. If we did bring him in, there'd have to be strings galore attached. Besides, we're in pretty decent shape at WR, especially if we get Josh Gordon back.

Percy Harvin 2.0. Lots of talent, but nutty as crunch peanut butter.

I'd much rather spend the money in the trenches.

Oly wrote:I'd much rather spend the money in the trenches.

I agree. DL specifically from my PoV.

NorthHawk wrote:I agree. DL specifically from my PoV.

Man, it's so hard to pick a side of the ball where our line is worst. We have no DT depth, but our starting DEs are lackluster. But beyond Brown I don't see a single good starter on the OL. Maybe Shell will be serviceable at RT, and I suppose Iupati isn't terrible, but the OL was one of the weakest units last year and it looks worse this year.

Oly wrote:Man, it's so hard to pick a side of the ball where our line is worst. We have no DT depth, but our starting DEs are lackluster. But beyond Brown I don't see a single good starter on the OL. Maybe Shell will be serviceable at RT, and I suppose Iupati isn't terrible, but the OL was one of the weakest units last year and it looks worse this year.

The problem with the OL last season wasn't talent as much as it was injuries. We were doing quite well up until the last 4-5 games when the injuries started piling up, including our starting center, which is nearly as critical to the OL as losing your starting QB is to the overall offense.

RiverDog wrote:The problem with the OL last season wasn't talent as much as it was injuries. We were doing quite well up until the last 4-5 games when the injuries started piling up, including our starting center, which is nearly as critical to the OL as losing your starting QB is to the overall offense.

Agreed to a point, but with the departures of the starting C, RG, and RT, the fact that the C and RG replacements look worse-to-much-worse, the lack of an upgrade at RT (it might be a wash, but I'm not confident that Shell will be better), the LG is already old with an injury history, and LT is getting older, I seriously think every position on the OL has a good chance to be worse this season. At best, the tackles will be the same and only the interior line will be worse.

Also, when I try to diagnose our problems last year, I thought it was less the DL than the fact that they got so damned tired so damned quick because our damned OL failed so often we couldn't sustain drives early in the game. Sure, they got back up to roughly 50% ToP by the end of the game, but those strings of early 3-and-outs just had to be brutal on the DL. Perhaps that was due to injuries (I don't have a good enough memory to know whether those games I'm thinking of were the ones where there were OL injuries), but even I thought that improving the OL was the most important task for the offseason. They either needed younger, less injury-prone starters or better depth. Maybe Haynes will make the leap or Hunt will add 30lbs of muscle in the offseason, but I worry about what that line will look like this year.

Oly wrote:Agreed to a point, but with the departures of the starting C, RG, and RT, the fact that the C and RG replacements look worse-to-much-worse, the lack of an upgrade at RT (it might be a wash, but I'm not confident that Shell will be better), the LG is already old with an injury history, and LT is getting older, I seriously think every position on the OL has a good chance to be worse this season. At best, the tackles will be the same and only the interior line will be worse.

Also, when I try to diagnose our problems last year, I thought it was less the DL than the fact that they got so damned tired so damned quick because our damned OL failed so often we couldn't sustain drives early in the game. Sure, they got back up to roughly 50% ToP by the end of the game, but those strings of early 3-and-outs just had to be brutal on the DL. Perhaps that was due to injuries (I don't have a good enough memory to know whether those games I'm thinking of were the ones where there were OL injuries), but even I thought that improving the OL was the most important task for the offseason. They either needed younger, less injury-prone starters or better depth. Maybe Haynes will make the leap or Hunt will add 30lbs of muscle in the offseason, but I worry about what that line will look like this year.

In 2019, despite our swoon in the latter part of the season, we ranked 8th in total offense. We were 3rd in rushing attempts, which keeps the clock moving and shortens games. We were tied for 13th in turnovers, +12 in turnovers/takeaways. Those aren't numbers you would expect to see from an offense whose performance had a significant impact on their defense.

I tend to agree with Oly that being ground down early in the games meant there was less left in the tank later for the DL.
The slow starts are really putting pressure on the Defense to keep us in the game, but we're playing with fire doing that
on a regular basis. I think it's even more important now as we look to have a younger DL who will need more in game
coaching adjustments if they want to be continually effective.

RiverDog wrote:In 2019, despite our swoon in the latter part of the season, we ranked 8th in total offense. We were 3rd in rushing attempts, which keeps the clock moving and shortens games. We were tied for 13th in turnovers, +12 in turnovers/takeaways. Those aren't numbers you would expect to see from an offense whose performance had a significant impact on their defense.

I couldn't find the data when I just looked, but I remember quarter-by-quarter breakdowns where the Hawks routinely lost the ToP battle in the first half, but the 3rd quarter was so amazing that the overall stats still look good. Look I recognize the season was pretty successful--I wasn't even sure they'd make the playoffs, let alone the Divisional round--but I distinctly remember the slow starts and them pulling even based on Wilson's 2nd half magic.

As with most of us on this board, I've played sports a long time. And I always find that if I played two games with the exact same amount of running but Game A had 60% of the running in the first half and Game B had 50% or less of running in the first half, I'm much more exhausted at the end of Game A. That's why I think that slow starts could still hurt the DL even if the overall stats look good.

Duane Brown is concerned about the OL chemistry with all the changes...

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... chemistry/

Antonio Brown pleads no contest to felony burglary with battery in Florida case according to an ESPN article today.

If there ever was any interest in AB on the part of the Hawks, this should put it to rest I would think. I hope it would, anyway.

trents wrote:Antonio Brown pleads no contest to felony burglary with battery in Florida case according to an ESPN article today.

If there ever was any interest in AB on the part of the Hawks, this should put it to rest I would think. I hope it would, anyway.

But I see a report today that Russell is working out with Brown. Between this and previous reports that RW wanted the Seahawks to sign him, I kinda wonder where his (RW) head is at.

TriCitySam wrote: Between this and previous reports that RW wanted the Seahawks to sign him, I kinda wonder where his (RW) head is at.

The very last thing I'm worried about with regard to the Seahawks is where Russell's head is at.

I was watching one of the talking heads this AM and the report was that no one could tell if it really was RW or just AB and 'a QB' working out in Florida.
My first reaction... why the F(=@-0 would Russell be in Florida? I hope it's not true and no, we don't need AB. Russell's history is not good with first year high-maintenance receivers. Look at him and Lockett. I just don't see that with AB.

I really think i'd rather have Gordon, but signing brown would be interesting. We already have a really talented WR core

No, RW is wrong, he working out with him. Putting him in our locker room is like going into the closet with a crazy man, pulling the pin and waiting.