Impressions After Final Preseason Game

[RiverDog]

No Russell Wilson, Chris Carson, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Bobby Wagner, or Jamal Adams. Same story for the Chargers. It's pretty hard to get a good idea of how we're going to look when your stars don't play so much as a snap. However....

Alex Collins looked great, runs with authority, is elusive, nose for the goal line, and so on. At this point, he's playing heads and shoulders above former #1 pick Rashaad Penny. Is it time to consider trading Penny, perhaps for a decent cornerback or offensive tackle?

Speaking of offensive tackle, Duane Brown is still not on the practice field and we're just two weeks from the opener. Neither Jamarco Jones or the rookie Forsythe did anything to inspire any confidence that we can survive even a short Brown holdout. If something doesn't get done this week and Brown is still not on the practice field, we're in big trouble heading into Indy.

Even taking into account that he was completely unblocked in his strip sack that resulted in the first Hawk TD, Cody Barton looked great at LB. Daryl Taylor looked pretty good as well, albeit it against backups. Nick Bellore needs to change his name to Swiss Army Knife. Michael Dickson might be our best defensive weapon.

Comments?

[NorthHawk]

Our backups were better than theirs last night, but I liked the glimpses I saw on Offense with them being quicker out of the huddle, some crossing routes, and pre snap motion.
It was good to see that Taylor can get on the field and considering it's really his rookie year he might be able to contribute. I'm still frustrated by 3rd and long conversions on us
and if we don't get a pass rush it will be ugly again this year. More than ever we need pressure up front because our DBs aren't as good as the LoB. The real test will be in 2 weeks
in Indianapolis. I will be interested to see how our 1st teamers compare to theirs.

[RiverDog]

Our backups were better than theirs last night, but I liked the glimpses I saw on Offense with them being quicker out of the huddle, some crossing routes, and pre snap motion. It was good to see that Taylor can get on the field and considering it's really his rookie year he might be able to contribute. I'm still frustrated by 3rd and long conversions on us and if we don't get a pass rush it will be ugly again this year. More than ever we need pressure up front because our DBs aren't as good as the LoB. The real test will be in 2 weeks in Indianapolis. I will be interested to see how our 1st teamers compare to theirs.

It used to be that the starters, even vets like Russell and Bobby, got a fair amount of work in the 3rd, or what used to be, the 2nd from last preseason game, but things have changed. The rationale for these shams that they call games, which more accurately should be called intersquad scrimmages, grows smaller each year.

One of the things that concerns me is our situation at cornerback. Tre Flowers is the weak link. He does not have that 6th sense necessary for a DB to know when to turn his head, locate the ball, and make a play on it. Opposing OC's and QB's must be licking their chops thinking of those sideline timing routes to a big, tall, athletic receiver. It's going to be absolutely critical that we get a good pass rush with our front 4 as we do not have the strength at cornerback to play one-on-one with NFL quality receivers when we send guys like Adams on blitzes.

But our first game opponents are having their problems, too. Carson Wentz had foot surgery earlier this month and wasn't expected to start in the opener. However, his recovery is going extremely well and he's been practicing this week and could be available. One of his potential replacements, Sam Ehlinger, sprained his knee in their last preseason game and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. That leaves either Wentz, who hasn't seen any game action at all as a Colt and very limited practice time with his new receivers, or Jason Eason, who hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game.

[NorthHawk]

Hopefully we can start the season with a semblance of a pass rush unlike last year.
I still have questions about the middle of the DL, too so the Defense as a whole is suspect at this time in my opinion.
I see they played Taylor as a stand up DL or LB yesterday. I hope he can just be a DE and let him learn that position first before moving him around.
It's good to have a versatile player, but for gosh sake, let him learn how to be an NFL player at one position first. It's hard enough making the leap
from College to the Pros let alone learn techniques for 2 positions. They do that with the OL, too and look how well that's worked.

The Colts lost TY Hilton in practice recently and the early report said he would be out multiple weeks with a neck injury. So their injury train is
rolling but we seem to play down to teams who are hurting so it wouldn't surprise me if we came out flat. But who knows? We might end up
with one of our better teams since 2014.

[RiverDog]

The Colts lost TY Hilton in practice recently and the early report said he would be out multiple weeks with a neck injury. So their injury train is rolling but we seem to play down to teams who are hurting so it wouldn't surprise me if we came out flat. But who knows? We might end up with one of our better teams since 2014.

Plus they put OT Eric Fisher, who tested positive for Covid but is asymptomatic, and LG Quenton Nelson, as a result of being a close contact and who is coming off a foot injury, on the reserve/Covid list. According to protocol, Nelson can return in 5 days and Fisher, if he is vaccinated, he can return in 10 days, if not, he has to sit for 14.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/co ... uxbndlbing

[TriCitySam]

The team came out ready to fire. Eskridge showed some flash as did Collins, and a solid showing by Geno and Darrell Taylor. A couple mistakes by Jamarco Jones could make him vulnerable. If they don't keep 5 RB's - and that likely means we cut 1 more WR - Penny could be on the street. Maybe Collins won't make it, but he looks quicker. I suspect they try to pedal one. Probably not room for Rhattigan, but I'm rooting for him.

[RiverDog]

The team came out ready to fire. Eskridge showed some flash as did Collins, and a solid showing by Geno and Darrell Taylor. A couple mistakes by Jamarco Jones could make him vulnerable. If they don't keep 5 RB's - and that likely means we cut 1 more WR - Penny may could be on the street. Maybe Collins won't make it, but he looks quicker. I suspect they try to pedal one. Probably not room for Rhattigan, but I'm rooting for him.

As poorly as Penny' has played, especially when you contrast him with Collins' performance, I don't think we'll cut him. He has more trade value and a higher upside than DJ Dallas and Travis Homer, plus Pete would be admitting that he made a big mistake by burning a #1 pick on him. You have to think that there'll be some teams calling about either him or Collins. They sure gave the ball to Collins a lot last night, which makes you wonder if they weren't showcasing him.

The final cut to 53 comes this Tuesday, so we won't have to wait long to find out.

[jshawaii22]

Given neither are starting right now, what Collins has in spades over Penny is Cap Space. Cutting a former first round pick might be the ticket to get our LT back on the field. I don't see any issues at all with that. Collins ran downhill and looked like he did with the Ravens. As far as I see, DJ Dallas is also a better #3-4 then Penny for the same reason. It's far more important to get our OLine then keeping a backup because you don't want to admit he's a bust.

Penny = $10.7 million

Collins = $900,000.

[Aseahawkfan]

Collins beat Penny in the preseason. Pete often goes with who he thinks has won. So we'll see how that goes.

If we can get something for Penny in trade, we will. It would not surprise me for John and Pete to straight up cut bait with Penny and get Collins the shot. Collins may have earned a spot on the team and Penny may not have.

[RiverDog]

Given neither are starting right now, what Collins has in spades over Penny is Cap Space. Cutting a former first round pick might be the ticket to get our LT back on the field. I don't see any issues at all with that. Collins ran downhill and looked like he did with the Ravens. As far as I see, DJ Dallas is also a better #3-4 then Penny for the same reason. It's far more important to get our OLine then keeping a backup because you don't want to admit he's a bust.

Penny = $10.7 million

Collins = $900,000.

That's a great point that I hadn't thought of.

To me, this situation with our RB's will be a good test to see if Pete's once famous cliché "always compete" still holds water. It's blatantly clear to everyone that at least Collins, if not Collins and DJ Dallas, have outperformed Penny, and not just in the Chargers game. Despite all the hype we'd heard about Penny as TC started, how he was finally healthy, had lost weight, and was quicker and more explosive, Collins consistently looked better than Penny in the Broncos game as well. Here's what Pete said about Penny at the start of TC:

“He (Penny) looks great,” head coach Pete Carroll added. “He worked out here all throughout the offseason and it really paid off. Best he’s looked since we’ve seen him.” And here's what Penny himself said about his fitness heading into camp:

I feel 100 (percent). This is the lightest I’ve ever been. I feel very explosive. Honestly feel like I’m back in high school again, like, I feel way faster,” Penny said on Thursday.

So, if Pete cuts or trades Penny and goes with Collins and/or Dallas, then "Always Compete" is still a valid motto that exemplifies his management style. If he keeps Penny, then you can add a kicker that says "except when one of them is a former #1 draft pick"

[NorthHawk]

We didn't see a lot of expected starters in pre-season this year, so it's really hard to tell what the evals might look like.
Pete always takes a lot of his decision making from the practice field so it wouldn't surprise me if Penny ended up at #2 on the depth chart.
This year even more so because of how he switched it up with not playing most starters at all so far this year. I guess last year opened
his eyes somewhat about how to protect the health of players and still get the work done to properly prepare for the regular season.

[RiverDog]

We didn't see a lot of expected starters in pre-season this year, so it's really hard to tell what the evals might look like.
Pete always takes a lot of his decision making from the practice field so it wouldn't surprise me if Penny ended up at #2 on the depth chart.
This year even more so because of how he switched it up with not playing most starters at all so far this year. I guess last year opened
his eyes somewhat about how to protect the health of players and still get the work done to properly prepare for the regular season.

Both players got a significant amount of work in two preseason games. In the Broncos game, Penny had 5 carries for 8 yards and caught one pass for 5 while Collins had 7 carries for 20 yards and 2 receptions for 17. The Chargers game saw Penny carry the ball 7 times for 24 yards and caught one pass for 6 yards. Collins carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards with a TD and caught all 7 of his targeted passes for 52 yards. Plus the eye test was even more revealing of the difference between the two. Collins was a lot more impressive, made jump cuts and showed a real elusiveness along with a pile driving Beast Mode style of finishing runs while Penny seemed like he was always down at first contact.

If the Hawks have Penny evaluated as the better RB, then something is seriously wrong with their process. Plus as JS pointed out, we're paying Penny over ten times the money Collins is getting, money that could be put to better use on assets much more valuable than a #2 or #3 RB.

[NorthHawk]

That's nothing compared to how much work they got in practice.
I read a comment from someone that said Collins had a problem in practice with holding onto the ball.
We wouldn't see that, but it would be a huge red flag for Pete who preaches no turnovers on Offense.
That's what's meant by we don't know how Pete will look at it.

From what I saw on TV of Collins and Penny, I, too think that Collins is the better choice but we don't
have a say in the matter and are evaluating from an incomplete picture.

[RiverDog]

That's nothing compared to how much work they got in practice.
I read a comment from someone that said Collins had a problem in practice with holding onto the ball.
We wouldn't see that, but it would be a huge red flag for Pete who preaches no turnovers on Offense.
That's what's meant by we don't know how Pete will look at it.

From what I saw on TV of Collins and Penny, I, too think that Collins is the better choice but we don't
have a say in the matter and are evaluating from an incomplete picture.

Yea, maybe. But at this point, even Dallas looks better than Penny, plus there's the money that has to be factored in.

We won't have to wait much longer. The cuts should be announced no later than tomorrow.

[TriCitySam]

Given neither are starting right now, what Collins has in spades over Penny is Cap Space. Cutting a former first round pick might be the ticket to get our LT back on the field. I don't see any issues at all with that. Collins ran downhill and looked like he did with the Ravens. As far as I see, DJ Dallas is also a better #3-4 then Penny for the same reason. It's far more important to get our OLine then keeping a backup because you don't want to admit he's a bust.

Penny = $10.7 million

Collins = $900,000.

What I read, was that Penny's '21 cap number is about $3.4MM, and if we cut him we save $2MM but have $1.3MM in dead money. He's a UFA in 2022.

[jshawaii22]

I don't doubt your figures and Over the Cap.com has updated Penny as of today and he is at 3.5m if he makes the roster. Maybe they can keep both. As we found out last few years, you never have enough running backs.