Prisco

[Anointed One]

I think the offense may be better than last year, specifically on the OL.

I think it's undeniable that this team is a lot worse on defense than it was going into the season last year. At best, you're replacing 2 borderline HOFers in the secondary, and at worst you're replacing 3. Even if guys overachieve, it will very likely be the worst secondary we've had in the PCJS era since Lawyer Milloy was playing. LB should be fine/remain the same, but the DL looks quite a bit worse to me. Sheldon, Bennett and Avril is a lot of production to replace. Some of that on the edge can be offset by increasing Frank Clark's role, but there's still a lot of snaps to fill that some very good players took last year. And I was more than fine seeing Bennett go, but even at 33 he was still a very productive player. Ditto Avril when healthy.

Like I said, I think these 4-12 predictions are silly and over-dramatic. But I could absolutely see 6-10 or 7-9 with a lot of gaps to fill and a tough schedule (on paper)

Possibly... I feel the team is set themselves up nicely for a strong run in '19... Going young with a lot of cap room available next year... Should be interesting... I personally would be shocked with a 6-10... I only see that happening if RW get's hurt.. I'd be surprised if we don't finish 8-8 or better... Offense is going to be much better with a better OL and running game... We'll get back to more ball possession, while chewing time off the clock instead of all the 3 and outs that left our defense vulnerable too many times last season... That in itself will help the defense quite a bit imo...

 

[Screamin12th]

I think this team has a chance to be as good as last years 9-7. To be honest i wouldn't at all be shocked if they win more than 9 games but also not to shocked if they loose 9 games.

 

[Uhsplit]

We had to cut fat and we did.
I like the way we are heading.

 

[Screamin12th]

We had to cut fat and we did.
I like the way we are heading.

I do too, just a little late. Would have been better to have pawned off Bennett in 2016 and would have got a lot more for him and he wouldn't have had a chance to kind of poison the waters here. Clark Would be much farther along in his development also because of it. Sherman it's just to bad we couldn't get anything for him. With Bennett gone i think they could have resigned Bruce Irvin and the Hawks LBrs would have been set for the next 8+ years plus we would have another 8+ sack guy to plug in on Rushing downs. hindsight 20/20

 

[JMR]

I think the offense may be better than last year, specifically on the OL.

I think it's undeniable that this team is a lot worse on defense than it was going into the season last year. At best, you're replacing 2 borderline HOFers in the secondary, and at worst you're replacing 3. Even if guys overachieve, it will very likely be the worst secondary we've had in the PCJS era since Lawyer Milloy was playing. LB should be fine/remain the same, but the DL looks quite a bit worse to me. Sheldon, Bennett and Avril is a lot of production to replace. Some of that on the edge can be offset by increasing Frank Clark's role, but there's still a lot of snaps to fill that some very good players took last year. And I was more than fine seeing Bennett go, but even at 33 he was still a very productive player. Ditto Avril when healthy.

Like I said, I think these 4-12 predictions are silly and over-dramatic. But I could absolutely see 6-10 or 7-9 with a lot of gaps to fill and a tough schedule (on paper)

But our defense last year wasn't as good (due to injury) as what we thought we had going into the season. It started strong but took a huge hit with injuries to Avril, Kam, Sherm, and even Malik McDowell (expected to be a contributor even as a rookie). Bennett got his usual nagging stuff as the season went on and fell off down the stretch. The D we ended up with is not something I consider unattainable by this year's group.

I can't see 6-10 unless Russell misses time. I think his low water mark was last year with absolutely zero run game, a historically feeble OL, injuries to multiple HOF level players, and a disaster at kicker that led directly to at least 2 losses. It took all that to finally pull this team below double digit wins and playoffs. Now the organization has had a full off-season to plan for not having Sherm, Kam, Bennett, and maybe ET, and they've made a frontal assault on the line and run game. I don't know if they'll win the division (although I don't think the Rams will just wire it easily like many expect) but I think wildcard is definitely within reach.

 

[Judge Fudge]

Im still 10-6 and us with 6th seed

 

[Judge Fudge]

But our defense last year wasn't as good (due to injury) as what we thought we had going into the season. It started strong but took a huge hit with injuries to Avril, Kam, Sherm, and even Malik McDowell (expected to be a contributor even as a rookie). Bennett got his usual nagging stuff as the season went on and fell off down the stretch. The D we ended up with is not something I consider unattainable by this year's group.

I can't see 6-10 unless Russell misses time. I think his low water mark was last year with absolutely zero run game, a historically feeble OL, injuries to multiple HOF level players, and a disaster at kicker that led directly to at least 2 losses. It took all that to finally pull this team below double digit wins and playoffs. Now the organization has had a full off-season to plan for not having Sherm, Kam, Bennett, and maybe ET, and they've made a frontal assault on the line and run game. I don't know if they'll win the division (although I don't think the Rams will just wire it easily like many expect) but I think wildcard is definitely within reach.

As i said in NFL predictions.

We get ousted by Philly in Wildcard round and Rams waltz in with 15-1........


But they get outsed in divisional by those fucking cheeseheads

 

[seahawksfan234]

....has us going 4-12 in his individual game predictions.

Hmmmmmm.......

I won't even bother posting the link.

I can't believe he is still employed by CBS.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

As JMR mentioned, injuries weakened the defense in a big way last year. I kind of like what I’m seeing from some of the young guns myself, so far. Shadquill and Shaquem Griffin, Rasheem Green, Tedric Thompson, Tre Flowers I feel like the defense is getting restocked, probably take another off season to really fill it out.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

But our defense last year wasn't as good (due to injury) as what we thought we had going into the season. It started strong but took a huge hit with injuries to Avril, Kam, Sherm, and even Malik McDowell (expected to be a contributor even as a rookie). Bennett got his usual nagging stuff as the season went on and fell off down the stretch. The D we ended up with is not something I consider unattainable by this year's group.

I can't see 6-10 unless Russell misses time. I think his low water mark was last year with absolutely zero run game, a historically feeble OL, injuries to multiple HOF level players, and a disaster at kicker that led directly to at least 2 losses. It took all that to finally pull this team below double digit wins and playoffs. Now the organization has had a full off-season to plan for not having Sherm, Kam, Bennett, and maybe ET, and they've made a frontal assault on the line and run game. I don't know if they'll win the division (although I don't think the Rams will just wire it easily like many expect) but I think wildcard is definitely within reach.

I like what the Seahawks are doing, don't get me wrong - I was glad to see them move on from Bennett and Sherman. Kam and Avril were a bit different considering those were unfortunate health circumstances, but I didn't think either guy really projected to be much of a contributor for much longer anyways. It's definitely the right time to start getting younger on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, I don't really see a scenario where our pass rush OR secondary is as good as it was last year. No Earl will hurt, there's one proven corner on the team in Griffin, and 2 of your top 3 pass rushers are gone. Like I said, I was glad they moved on from Mike B, but you can't deny that he was an asset on the DL, even if he had taken a bit of a step back.

I do agree that 6-10 is super unlikely - I'm just of the opinion that it would be the lowest possible record I could see (assuming everything went wrong). On paper it's a REALLY tough schedule this year and it's not that hard to squint and see 10 losses in a "lots of things went very wrong" situation. My ultimate feeling is that it's an up and down year that ends in 8-8, give or take a game in either direction.

 

[JMR]

I like what the Seahawks are doing, don't get me wrong - I was glad to see them move on from Bennett and Sherman. Kam and Avril were a bit different considering those were unfortunate health circumstances, but I didn't think either guy really projected to be much of a contributor for much longer anyways. It's definitely the right time to start getting younger on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, I don't really see a scenario where our pass rush OR secondary is as good as it was last year. No Earl will hurt, there's one proven corner on the team in Griffin, and 2 of your top 3 pass rushers are gone. Like I said, I was glad they moved on from Mike B, but you can't deny that he was an asset on the DL, even if he had taken a bit of a step back.

I do agree that 6-10 is super unlikely - I'm just of the opinion that it would be the lowest possible record I could see (assuming everything went wrong). On paper it's a REALLY tough schedule this year and it's not that hard to squint and see 10 losses in a "lots of things went very wrong" situation. My ultimate feeling is that it's an up and down year that ends in 8-8, give or take a game in either direction.

I don't think our secondary will be "as good" as it has been in the past with ET, Kam & Sherm all in their primes & healthy either. I don't think it will be some big liability though. Shaquill Griffin had a really impressive rookie season and seems to be on the verge of taking it to another level. Solid veteran counterparts at CB in Maxwell and Coleman. Could have found something of value in Tre Flowers, who has reportedly had a very solid camp. McDougald is a solid player at either safety spot. A bit of a wildcard with Tedric Thompson, but he's another guy who has been praised a lot for what he's done this training camp. He was all over the place making plays in pre-season week 1. Maybe more mixed results in this last game.

The pass rush is a bit of an unknown, but Rasheem Green has looked legit way more than he hasn't so far. I would be a lot more comfortable if Dion Jordan was out there, but hopefully he's back soon. I just don't think we'll miss 33 y/o MB all that much. He had some great years here, but each of the last 2 years his nagging injuries slowed him down in the 2nd half of the season. Jarran Reed in his 3rd year, and Naz Jones looked very solid as a rookie. There are pieces to work with there....overall the DL may be a downgrade but again I don't think it'll be a disaster. If we have a league average defense, we should compete for a WC with a top 5 QB and improved OL/running game.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

I don't think our secondary will be "as good" as it has been in the past with ET, Kam & Sherm all in their primes & healthy either. I don't think it will be some big liability though. Shaquill Griffin had a really impressive rookie season and seems to be on the verge of taking it to another level. Solid veteran counterparts at CB in Maxwell and Coleman. Could have found something of value in Tre Flowers, who has reportedly had a very solid camp. McDougald is a solid player at either safety spot. A bit of a wildcard with Tedric Thompson, but he's another guy who has been praised a lot for what he's done this training camp. He was all over the place making plays in pre-season week 1. Maybe more mixed results in this last game.

The pass rush is a bit of an unknown, but Rasheem Green has looked legit way more than he hasn't so far. I would be a lot more comfortable if Dion Jordan was out there, but hopefully he's back soon. I just don't think we'll miss 33 y/o MB all that much. He had some great years here, but each of the last 2 years his nagging injuries slowed him down in the 2nd half of the season. Jarran Reed in his 3rd year, and Naz Jones looked very solid as a rookie. There are pieces to work with there....overall the DL may be a downgrade but again I don't think it'll be a disaster. If we have a league average defense, we should compete for a WC with a top 5 QB and improved OL/running game.

We'll see. That's a lot of names that are relatively unproven that we're counting on. I'm sure hoping I'm wrong, but I see a pretty significant step back on defense this year. It's good to get younger, but that youth will come with growing pains.

The offensive emphasis this offseason has been on the run game, but if the Hawks make the playoffs it's going to be Russell being all-pro caliber again.

 

[Anointed One]

We'll see. That's a lot of names that are relatively unproven that we're counting on. I'm sure hoping I'm wrong, but I see a pretty significant step back on defense this year. It's good to get younger, but that youth will come with growing pains.

The way I see it is yes, our defense will probably take a step back but on the other side of the coin, our offense will be taking a step forward... How much our defense takes a step back will probably ultimately be the fate of our team...

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

The way I see it is yes, our defense will probably take a step back but on the other side of the coin, our offense will be taking a step forward... How much our defense takes a step back will probably ultimately be the fate of our team...

It might not be as bad since a few of these guys already have game experience under their belts from last season. Of course I do expect growing pains but it might not be that bad of a step back. At least that's the hope.