Unsung Heroes of 1st Quarter

[chf]

I can't take credit for this - ripping it off from Bob Condotta of the Times.

What was the biggest fear/weakness going into the season? The O-line.

Who is a player that a BUNCH of Seahawks fans wanted gone from the team, traded for some deflated footballs or cut outright?

Justin Britt.

The O-line has given up half the sacks it did last year at this time. Big changes across the board, but Britt is a guy everyone hated as a scrub, AND he's learned a new position on the fly in the NFL, and he seems to be not only surviving, but thriving.

That should get more attention.

As a side note, that's also indicative of what the also much maligned Tom Cable brings to the table. But I digress.

So Bravo Britt.

Who are your candidates for unsung hero of the early Hawks season?

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Britt has been the shocker for the season. There was no way to see this coming, but really happy to see him thriving at center.

 

[Anointed One]

When I read this thread title prior to opening it, Britt was the first guy that came to mind... He's been phenomenal so far and CABLE deserves a lot of credit for seeing the opportunity for Britt and to for Britt's progress in his ability to pick things up as fast as he has...

A year or two ago, fans were calling him a bust but now he's playing at a Pro Bowl level... John Clayton mentioned last week that a statistician had him ranked as the #7 best player in the NFL... Cable deserves a lot of credit for this productivity because he was the guy fans here were blaming for his lack of productivity...

 

[Uhsplit]

God bless those who post here that have some degree of patience and just a little vision to let things play out. We all feel bad when the bad crap happens to our team, but this is Pete's team and I'm not giving him any crap for his transgressions because his positive contributions far outweigh any bad decisions. Cable is Pete's hire and our HC also named TC as assistant HC. I am completely good with that.

Lot's of unsung hero's so far...McCoy, Reed, Smith, McDaniels, Kam hitting again, Shead covering very well.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Britt has been the shocker for the season. There was no way to see this coming, but really happy to see him thriving at center.

Britt has been doing a good job, I've actually been very impressed with our O-line in general ... We've faced some tough D lines also ..

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Britt has been doing a good job, I've actually been very impressed with our O-line in general ... We've faced some tough D lines also ..

Started off rough, but much improved. They have drafted better at OL as of late, next year they put the finishing touches on it.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Britt has blown me away this season. It's not his contract year.. although it's quickly approaching, but for a 25 year old I can't imagine that is the first thing on their mind, especially when Britt has already hauled in $3.5M essentially.

He's playing like a top 5 center at the moment. If Ifedi can produce and Glowinski keeps it up our interior has looked the best it has in a while. Wilson made a few questionable decisions in some of those games (throw it away man, especially if you're injured) he still got horse collared which is what it is although annoying no flag occurred.

Feel with Wilson's mobility his ability to step up in the pocket and move is a HUGE asset, I'd almost rather have NO pressure up the middle compared to the outside. I feel most QBs that are competent throwers are better with no pressure inside... it's just that FEW teams can actually generate pressure from the inside, so if you have a decent QB that can step up and a team that allows no inside, the DE/OLB-3-4 package can be nullified. When your QB has to move to the outside because of inside pressure RIP all but the ELITE OTs in the league, which can be just as hard to come by as elite pass rushers.

Either way happy about Britt and Michael. Two 2nd rounders in recent years that don't seem to be going to waste. I hope both are C'able' (..... feel free to berate me for that) to keep it up.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Ugh I was trying to edit as I did not type what I meant to say (sorry guys, 11:42 CST after the Cubs won). What I meant to say is few teams actually HAVE a QB that can recognize when to step up and when the inside blocking has the defense beat. If you have a QB that can recognize this (which IMO Wilson can) and go mobile or step up into throws, it can nullify the DE/3-4 OLB outside package throws.

It's the reason Brady has done so well and why Cam got us last year in the playoffs.

 

[chf]

Lot's of unsung hero's so far...McCoy, Reed, Smith, McDaniels, Kam hitting again, Shead covering very well.

McDaniel is another good one. Played well for a canoeist.

 

[Uhsplit]

Started off rough, but much improved. They have drafted better at OL as of late, next year they put the finishing touches on it.

Yeah, I'm not sold on our T's as of yet. Hoping that Sowell and Gilliam improve as the season moves on. We can go a long way with average production out of our OL.

 

[seattlefan75]

I might have missed the Justin Britt hate I always liked the guy. I thought he was an above average guard and I felt that this was a good opportunity for him to play at a pro bowl level with the amount of experience he has with his first few years with the seahawks.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Pretty much agree about the interior line play this year. It's been solid. Tackles have still been real shaky but the O-line as a unit is performing much better than I thought they would. Can't complain too much about that.

 

[Uhsplit]

I might have missed the Justin Britt hate I always liked the guy. I thought he was an above average guard and I felt that this was a good opportunity for him to play at a pro bowl level with the amount of experience he has with his first few years with the seahawks.

The impatient ones despised Britt at RT, then despised him and his coach for the switch to LG.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

The impatient ones despised Britt at RT, then despised him and his coach for the switch to LG.

Britt was bad as RT and even worse at LG, folks just hated his play at those positions. Wasn't personal, he just wasn't adequate at those positions. Who knew he would be good at center? Only the Seahawks coaching staff.

 

[Screamin12th]

Some people wanted Britt gone? I am sorry but i really didn't see to many people saying they wanted Britt gone. Yes he wasn't a good RT but he was a solid Guard ( not a super star ) who showed many times at guard that he was stronger than the man across from him.

Now after saying that i feel Britt is our best lineman right now. I also feel that Marsh is not getting enough playing time ( that will change now ) and has been a stud almost every time he is on the field. Am i the only one that has notice this or have others also seen it?

 

[SonnyCID]

How about the revival of the old Greg Perry commercials?

 

[Uhsplit]

Britt was bad as RT and even worse at LG, folks just hated his play at those positions. Wasn't personal, he just wasn't adequate at those positions. Who knew he would be good at center? Only the Seahawks coaching staff.

It takes time to groom an offensive lineman. It is possible he would play much better at RT and LG than he showed us earlier.

 

[chf]

After searching 'Britt'

first :30 seconds of looking

As I said in the previous post, as bad as I think Bailey is, I believe he's still better than Britt and should have more play time on the OL.

You just have to pick your poison. Bailey's false starts or Britt's horrible technique and inability to block. I'd take Bailey's false starts, at least it won't get Russell killed.

I agree. I posted in the Cable thread that I thought that I thought Lewis and Bailey should be starting. It's sad to think that Britt is a much worse guard than he is a tackle.

does justin britt know how to play football? holy hell...

There's TONS of others, Flyerhawk posting a video of Britt wiffing badly in some games. etc etc etc.

I'm guessing people have selective amnesia.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

After searching 'Britt'

first :30 seconds of looking







There's TONS of others, Flyerhawk posting a video of Britt wiffing badly in some games. etc etc etc.

I'm guessing people have selective amnesia.

He was criticized by many, including me and rightfully so. His play prior to this year was pretty bad, lots of el matador type of effort. Cable mentioned he had picked up some bad habits trying to play like Sweezy ( why would he want to do that?). Great that he playing good now, but let's not pretend he was playing well previously.

 

[chf]

I am in no way trying to re-write history. Just noting that sometimes it's good to be patient with players. If he'd been good before, he wouldn't be an 'unsung' hero.