So we ended up paying Michael Bennett less per year than Allen, Peppers, and Ware all got. Considering that Bennett is better right now than all 3 of them, that re-signing was a major steal.
Sucks I think we really needed him. Hopefully one of the younger guys can step up or we find a stud a in the draft. Maybe sign a veteran or two at a cheap price. DL and OL are probably our biggest concerns at the moment.
Need to find some young guys in the draft that you can work into the depth. Part of the success comes from maximizing guys strengths through down/distance situation. I think it's pretty remarkable that no DL for Seattle played more than 57% of snaps last year. Clearly, there will be a few over that number this year.
And congrats to Allen for getting that kind of money. Hard to be critical of a guy for getting paid. Doubt that they will win much though as that roster has some broken elements to it.
Also kudos to the Hawks for knowing what fits what they are trying to do and not trying to do something that will hurt them later. A large part of their success is having a blueprint and sticking to it.
Sucks I think we really needed him. Hopefully one of the younger guys can step up or we find a stud a in the draft. Maybe sign a veteran or two at a cheap price. DL and OL are probably our biggest concerns at the moment.
Sucks I think we really needed him. Hopefully one of the younger guys can step up or we find a stud a in the draft. Maybe sign a veteran or two at a cheap price. DL and OL are probably our biggest concerns at the moment.
Move Irvin to DE and have him rush the QB. He was so effective at that as a rookie and with Smith emerging as the 3rd LB they don't need Irvin as an OLB anymore.
Sucks I think we really needed him. Hopefully one of the younger guys can step up or we find a stud a in the draft. Maybe sign a veteran or two at a cheap price. DL and OL are probably our biggest concerns at the moment.
Move Irvin to DE and have him rush the QB. He was so effective at that as a rookie and with Smith emerging as the 3rd LB they don't need Irvin as an OLB anymore.
Agree this is the better spot for Irvin, but not sure I agree he was "so effective". When the Hawks needed him when Clemons got hurt he was worthless. But as a rotational guy, I agree, he was pretty good. This move makes the most sense to me.
Here's how I'd distribute the DE reps, assuming they don't add anyone:
Avril - 70% Bennett - 60% (with another 20% at DT on passing downs with Avril and Irvin on the ends) Irvin - 50% Mayowa - 20%
Sucks I think we really needed him. Hopefully one of the younger guys can step up or we find a stud a in the draft. Maybe sign a veteran or two at a cheap price. DL and OL are probably our biggest concerns at the moment.
Move Irvin to DE and have him rush the QB. He was so effective at that as a rookie and with Smith emerging as the 3rd LB they don't need Irvin as an OLB anymore.
Agree this is the better spot for Irvin, but not sure I agree he was "so effective". When the Hawks needed him when Clemons got hurt he was worthless. But as a rotational guy, I agree, he was pretty good. This move makes the most sense to me.
Here's how I'd distribute the DE reps, assuming they don't add anyone:
Avril - 70% Bennett - 60% (with another 20% at DT on passing downs with Avril and Irvin on the ends) Irvin - 50% Mayowa - 20%
As a pass rusher you'll have games where you are shutdown it happens. He led the team in sacks and also ruined RGIII career the prior week in the playoffs. In the ATL game easier to game plan against a rookie when Seattle literally had no other pass rushers.
With Avril and Bennett he should be fine. Plus I think the Seahawks will draft an end or still sign one out there. Chris Clemons was a nobody before he came to Seattle so maybe Mayowa or someone else can be that for the Hawks.
Pass rushing is as much about what your team is doing around you as it is anything else.
If you put Bennett on the inside on passing downs, that's a mismatch against most guards. That normally results in either another interior OL stepping over to help or keeping a back in just in case. Most likely, you'll get the interior double team. That then leaves your outside guys one on one with only a back to potentially help and/or chip in case the OT gets beat. The RB doesn't have enough time to try to figure out which one is getting beat and then react accordingly. Therefore, you know that at least one of your DEs is going to get a 1 on 1 matchup on each snap.
All of that assumes that you just rush 4 and then drop 7 into coverage. If you bring a 5th you compromise everything even that much more for the offense without getting exposed defensively.
It's easy to roll your protection over against one guy if you know that that's the only guy you really have to worry about. It's far more difficult to protect if you have multiple threats and/or blitzes that come from multiple spots and angles such that you have to eventually rely on your blocker being better than the rusher.
Your concern with the distribution of snaps is what happens if one of the guys gets hurt. Do you have enough depth to be able to keep giving the offense problems without them being able to roll people over and not worry about other threats.
The problem in the Atlanta playoff game was that there wasn't enough of a pass rushing threat collectively to ensure that there would be pressure without blitzing. And given the way that Atlanta utilized their offensive weapons, blitzing would compromise the pass defense.
Need to find some young guys in the draft that you can work into the depth. Part of the success comes from maximizing guys strengths through down/distance situation. I think it's pretty remarkable that no DL for Seattle played more than 57% of snaps last year. Clearly, there will be a few over that number this year.
Or just have 1 or 2 of the dozen young D linemen currently on the roster step up. They haven't really gotten a chance to play yet. I agree that Seattle will be looking at D line early in the draft, but the depth is there I think.
I must have missed the hype around Mayowa last year.
He was one of the preseason favorites because he was producing while being undersized and generally looked over in the draft. I'm not sure what to think about him. The D line really was that deep last year and he didn't really get a chance to play. On the other side, if he was any good they would have found a way to fit him into the lineup.
And like clockwork hooks are replying in droves with 5 paragraphs to tell him why he shouldn't be worried. Lather, rinse, repeat. I swear if blitzer ends up being a whoosh it will be one the greatest troll jobs of all time. That guy has the entire board by the balls.
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Also kudos to the Hawks for knowing what fits what they are trying to do and not trying to do something that will hurt them later. A large part of their success is having a blueprint and sticking to it.
Here's how I'd distribute the DE reps, assuming they don't add anyone:
Avril - 70%
Bennett - 60% (with another 20% at DT on passing downs with Avril and Irvin on the ends)
Irvin - 50%
Mayowa - 20%
With Avril and Bennett he should be fine. Plus I think the Seahawks will draft an end or still sign one out there. Chris Clemons was a nobody before he came to Seattle so maybe Mayowa or someone else can be that for the Hawks.
If you put Bennett on the inside on passing downs, that's a mismatch against most guards. That normally results in either another interior OL stepping over to help or keeping a back in just in case. Most likely, you'll get the interior double team. That then leaves your outside guys one on one with only a back to potentially help and/or chip in case the OT gets beat. The RB doesn't have enough time to try to figure out which one is getting beat and then react accordingly. Therefore, you know that at least one of your DEs is going to get a 1 on 1 matchup on each snap.
All of that assumes that you just rush 4 and then drop 7 into coverage. If you bring a 5th you compromise everything even that much more for the offense without getting exposed defensively.
It's easy to roll your protection over against one guy if you know that that's the only guy you really have to worry about. It's far more difficult to protect if you have multiple threats and/or blitzes that come from multiple spots and angles such that you have to eventually rely on your blocker being better than the rusher.
Your concern with the distribution of snaps is what happens if one of the guys gets hurt. Do you have enough depth to be able to keep giving the offense problems without them being able to roll people over and not worry about other threats.
The problem in the Atlanta playoff game was that there wasn't enough of a pass rushing threat collectively to ensure that there would be pressure without blitzing. And given the way that Atlanta utilized their offensive weapons, blitzing would compromise the pass defense.