Wide receiver

[LTH]

I just Think Josh Gordon is a significant add...They guy has tremendous talent and if he buys into the locker room like I think he will, this team just got a whole lot better... Metcalf is still learning but IMO he has played better than I thought and he is taking huge strides...Nothing to say about Lockett his play speaks for its self...

At this point the Hawks O is just plain scary... The WR position has good depth...Im just think there is really good things to come...

Thoughts?

LTH

[RiverDog]

Gordon looked really good Monday, making a couple of tough catches. It's going to take a couple of weeks before he'll be able to run all the route trees in the offense, but having the bye week in there will help him get up to speed.

As far as our WR corps being "scary", I'm not quite ready to go that far with my description, but we'll see. Lockett didn't come home with the team and spent the night in a bay area hospital with "severe swelling" in his leg. I haven't heard any word on the seriousness of his injury.

[trents]

Pete is confident Locket will be available for the next game following the bye week. He described the injury as contusion.

[I-5]

Can someone remind me what type of injury put Gordon on the IR that he's not yet fully recovered from? He looks fine on the field, and looks super fit in his instagram, so it's not easy to tell what it is.

[RiverDog]

Pete is confident Locket will be available for the next game following the bye week. He described the injury as contusion.

At least as it relates to player readiness, you have to take what Pete says with a grain of salt. It's not that he's untruthful, just that he can be counted on to give us fans the most optimistic of scenarios. Lockett spent 2 nights in a hospital.

But it helps that we have the bye week to give him more time to heal.

[NorthHawk]

Can someone remind me what type of injury put Gordon on the IR that he's not yet fully recovered from? He looks fine on the field, and looks super fit in his instagram, so it's not easy to tell what it is.

From what I've heard, he has some type of ankle issue. I have no idea how bad it was originally, but with the top athletes, it's a fine
line from being effective and not.

I heard Brady Quinn on NFL Radio the other day and he was talking about Gordon and said he thinks he's lost a step, but could be a very good possession
receiver on intermediate routes. I have no idea how true that is, but it's something I will be looking for.

[jshawaii22]

Well I can tell you that if his first 2 receptions last Monday are any indications, yes, he'll make a good possession receiver. We don't need a 3rd deep receiver, we need another short, over the middle guy like Baldwin was. Look at Monday when Russell never threw a ball over 15 yards downfield to protect him against the 49er's doomsday pass rush. Short and quick moves that use body position to get open.

[idhawkman]

Gordon looked really good Monday, making a couple of tough catches. It's going to take a couple of weeks before he'll be able to run all the route trees in the offense, but having the bye week in there will help him get up to speed.

As far as our WR corps being "scary", I'm not quite ready to go that far with my description, but we'll see. Lockett didn't come home with the team and spent the night in a bay area hospital with "severe swelling" in his leg. I haven't heard any word on the seriousness of his injury.

Yeah, the bye week came at a very good time for us. We need to get healthy again to make the final push and we need JG to learn the offense.

With our current set of WRs and RBs, I wouldn't want to face us - I also lament what could have been if we still had Dissley.

[idhawkman]

Well I can tell you that if his first 2 receptions last Monday are any indications, yes, he'll make a good possession receiver. We don't need a 3rd deep receiver, we need another short, over the middle guy like Baldwin was. Look at Monday when Russell never threw a ball over 15 yards downfield to protect him against the 49er's doomsday pass rush. Short and quick moves that use body position to get open.

This was the most encouraging thing to me. I've long maintained that we don't game plan but what you wrote above indicates that they did for this game.

[jshawaii22]

Hold on now. Russell was sacked 3 straight 3rd downs to open the game, so it may have been of more of a decision that 'we don't have a choice' and from that point the play calls moved from 15-20 yards in the first qtr. down to 5-8 yards as his first option in the 2nd and 3 qtr and only in the 4th and OT did I see him moving out to 10-15 because our OLine started to dominate the game. This in-game transition, not sure if it's Russell or the coaches, but it was the right one this time.

[trents]

Concerning using more short, over the middle receiver routes, remember there has historically been criticism of Wilson's accuracy in those kind of throws. But it looks like he may be improving in that category.

[RiverDog]

Concerning using more short, over the middle receiver routes, remember there has historically been criticism of Wilson's accuracy in those kind of throws. But it looks like he may be improving in that category.

Not sure as I'd have to do a lot more watching of videos, but it seems like Russell is staying in the pocket more and isn't taking as deep of drops as he used to. Perhaps that helps explains his improved accuracy on over the middle routes...if that's what we're seeing.

That's one thing that I'm very pleased about Russell's improved play this year vs. past seasons. He doesn't take 12-15 yard sacks anymore or end up aimlessly heaving the ball up. I'd much rather see him taking an 8-10 yard sack and make it 3rd and 12 rather than 3rd and 20.

[trents]

I'm guessing those long drop backs had something to do with his stature and trying to flatten the angle of vision.

[RiverDog]

I'm guessing those long drop backs had something to do with his stature and trying to flatten the angle of vision.

I think so, too. But it made it harder on our tackles as it allowed DE's to take a shallower angle and still get to the QB, and as a result of the tackles having to move out with the DE's outside rush, widened the gap between guard and tackle.

Bottom line is that I like what I'm seeing out of Russell this year and IMO his improved pocket management is a big part of his success. Having your starting QB throw just two picks 10 games into the season is phenomenal.

[idhawkman]

Not sure as I'd have to do a lot more watching of videos, but it seems like Russell is staying in the pocket more and isn't taking as deep of drops as he used to. Perhaps that helps explains his improved accuracy on over the middle routes...if that's what we're seeing.

That's one thing that I'm very pleased about Russell's improved play this year vs. past seasons. He doesn't take 12-15 yard sacks anymore or end up aimlessly heaving the ball up. I'd much rather see him taking an 8-10 yard sack and make it 3rd and 12 rather than 3rd and 20.

I think he is also able to move up in the pocket, an option he hasn't had in previous years since our G-to-G play was so weak and the pocket collapsed faster than a NY Minute.

[NorthHawk]

I think he was trying to play like Brees with deeper drops, but now is playing like Wilson.
It's normal to look at another who's successful and try to use those tactics, but it doesn't
always work. Players have to find what works for them.

Oh. Agree with the G to G play improvement being a factor, too.

[RiverDog]

I agree with the two posts above. All of that has contributed to Russell's improved pocket management.

The other thing I think is a factor is the normal maturation process human beings go through. Most people have a tendency to get smarter as they grow older, and Russell is now a seasoned veteran that's seen a lot of football. He understands the game and his own limitations better now than he did 2 or 3 years ago. We're watching a player that's at the peak of his career.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

Which makes the Seahawks and their fanbase (us!) incredibly fortunate. Drink it in, ladies and gents.

[Hawktawk]

One huge difference between Russ in all past years was to drop too deep or spin out the back of the pocket under pressure leading to some big scramble plays but also some horrific 15 to 20 yard sacks. This year he's more likely to climb the pocket or slide horizontal to the line of scrimmage while scanning the field in order to find an open receiver. Schottie needs to start getting some credit for continuing to develop Russ.

[RiverDog]

One huge difference between Russ in all past years was to drop too deep or spin out the back of the pocket under pressure leading to some big scramble plays but also some horrific 15 to 20 yard sacks. This year he's more likely to climb the pocket or slide horizontal to the line of scrimmage while scanning the field in order to find an open receiver. Schottie needs to start getting some credit for continuing to develop Russ.

10-4. It's refreshing that so many of us are seeing the same thing.

Russell's reverse spins ala Fran Tarkenton worked great in his first few years in the league, but defenses started getting smart. The offensive left side DE, Russell's blind side, would start taking shallower routes and Russell would spin towards his blindside and right into the rushing DE. But whether or not we should credit Shotty with the change or attribute it to Russell's self awareness, who knows.

Point is that even though his sack numbers are still pretty high...he currently ranks 7th in number of sacks surrendered...they're not nearly as devastating as they were in earlier years.

[idhawkman]

I agree with the two posts above. All of that has contributed to Russell's improved pocket management.

The other thing I think is a factor is the normal maturation process human beings go through. Most people have a tendency to get smarter as they grow older, and Russell is now a seasoned veteran that's seen a lot of football. He understands the game and his own limitations better now than he did 2 or 3 years ago. We're watching a player that's at the peak of his career.

That's actually a good point. I thought over the last few days that RW seems to have the game playing in slow motion for him now as opposed to fast forward earlier in his career. His maturation is definitely slowing the game down for him but that could also be a result of having better G to G play. That said, take nothing away from RW and his ability to make the game look like its totally under his control.