Saturday 23 January 2010

For those that haven't heard it


By Kip Earlywine
New Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has really been making the rounds on the radio lately. His latest was an interview with Mitch on KJR, where he discussed his early feelings on the state of the Seahawks defense. Its not a complete audit- he pretty much only talked about the defensive line and Aaron Curry, but he said some fairly revealing things and its worth a listen if any of you readers haven't heard this yet. I took notes and broke down some of the notable things he mentioned, which you can read by clicking "read more."

Of course, I should preface this by saying that this is just a radio interview, and it is the offseason after all. So caveats about Carroll perhaps being tricky or sending out smokescreens apply here, especially since we all know he's unofficially running the franchise. However, for what its worth, Carroll struck me as pretty earnest and surprisingly pointed in his evaluation. And to be brutally honest, if we had a simple-minded coach like Jim Mora or a gee-golly-avoid-specific-details-like-the-plague one like Mike Holmgren, I probably wouldn't bother analyzing a radio interview. But in this interview, I think our team has a coach in Pete Carroll who gives us a pretty good preview of where he's taking the Seahawks. He said quite a few things that perked my ears. Of course, actions speak louder than words, but right now words are pretty much all we have to go on. Here were some of the highlights for me:

Carroll claimed that in all his years at USC, offers from the NFL were rare and he only talked to one owner besides Paul Allen- he basically confessed to not being a hot commodity. Considering the Carroll-to-NFL hype that has surrounded USC for years, I found this information to be a little surprising, not to mention impressively honest.

Maybe its nothing big, but I noticed Carroll liked to say "this worked for me at USC," and never once drew from an experience he had with the Patriots or Jets.

He said he hadn't watched the offense yet, but put a very high stress on building the offensive line and finding running backs that fit the zone blocking system. He endorsed Matt Hasselbeck, saying "we need to build the game around him, that's why getting the running game going is so important." Later on he added: "the easiest formula is to get the run game going...a great deal of our pass attack comes off the running game." Carroll also mentioned that the league is "QB oriented," but overall, I think he made it pretty clear that the running game will be a major priority this offseason.

Carroll thought Curry looked "a little overwhelmed last year, particularly when Lofa wasn't around him to help him." That's good to hear because sloppy play and dirty hits really plagued Curry last year and he needs to be coached out of it. Carroll also makes a good point that not having Tatupu around to direct the defense really worked against Curry.

Despite only gaining 2.5 sacks, Carroll singled out Darryl Tapp, saying he "jumps off the film a little bit" and vaguely mentioned that he could help make things work "scheme wise." First, its good news that Carroll appreciates Tapp. Its easy to overlook a guy with 2.5 sacks, even though he was near the league lead in QB hits. The bit about how Tapp fit the defense scheme wise certainly seems to be hinting at Tapp's potential as a 3-4 elephant linebacker.

"We want speed and agility instead of size or girth." Pretty unambiguous. Carroll wants a fast type of defense like the one the Seahawks used up until a couple years ago.

Carroll praised Mebane and Redding. Mebane is really obvious, of course. I thought Redding played well enough last year (he beat double teams and stopped the run) that he'd be worth bringing back as a backup LDE or 3 tech DT. I guess we'll see, as he'll be a UFA and might get a pretty big payday from someone in what figures to be an extreme market thanks to a non-renewed collective bargaining agreement.

Carroll praised nearly every member of the starting defensive line except Lawrence Jackson. Given Jackson's ties to USC and Carroll, the silence is deafening. It could be an act of misdirection, but it seems Carroll may be more inclined to target a LDE (like Derrick Morgan) than a RDE in this draft after all.

Carroll on USC players: "I'm [very] surprised a lot of our guys got drafted in the 1st round... I've been around them for five years... I didn't think they were as good as other people did looking from the outside in." So much for Carroll overvaluing his own guys. That's good news if it means we avoid a massive first round reach for a USC alumni like Taylor Mays.

Carroll will gameplan, but Bradley will call plays. Well, crap. Bradley is pretty predictable with his blitzing and dropped linebackers into coverage too often (or just completely pulled them off the field for an extra corner). Hopefully Carroll can change that. Bradley didn't endear himself to me much last year when he finished the season alternating pass rushes of 3 and 6.

Finally, Carroll talked about the "elephant" DE/LB role and how it might help the team use Curry more in pass rushing situations. I like that he's trying to fit each player on the team to their strengths instead of forcing them to adapt to scheme, which was the mistake Ruskell/Mora/Bradley made last year. I'm hoping this means he also moves Mebane back to the 1 technique and drafts a 3 tech.

92 comments:

Kevin said...

Rob,

Thanks for the info. I take one exception to something you said:

"Carroll will gameplan, but Bradley will call plays. Well, crap. Bradley is pretty predictable with his blitzing and dropped linebackers into coverage too often (or just completely pulled them off the field for an extra corner). ""

I recall quite clearly that with Mora last year, he was calling the plays, not Bradley. It was his defense, an many opponents already knew his tendencies and play-calls in most situations. Therefore, I see this as different. Maybe now Bradley will be able to 'spread his own wings' so to speak. That's my take on it anyway.

Anonymous said...

Kip-Do you see PC making a play for a guy like CJ Spiller or Jahvid Best to be the centerpiece of a revamped offense? I think both guys would do really well in ZBS and provide a lot in the passing game.

Great article. I really think the PC hiring is going to lead to great things for the Hawks. Like Kip said, I think he has a unique ability to put his "scheme/ego" aside, in order to put players in the best position to succeed.

I think guys like Daryll Tapp, Mebane, and Aaron Curry are going to great things next year.

Kevin said...

Whoops - that was Kip, not Rob, My bad.

Rob Staton said...

No problem Kevin - the three of us will contribute regularly now so we'll make sure it's clear who's writing what.

I think you raise a good point regarding Bradley. Essentially, Jim Mora ran the defense last year whilst Greg Knapp ran the offense. Bradley will have had some input, but how much we'll probably never know. It could've been quite a lot, but I would personally expect that a lot of what we saw defensively last year was schemed by Mora.

It's maybe telling that the only two members of staff retained by Pete Carroll are Bradley and Dan Quinn. It maybe indicates at their level of input last year.

Pete Carroll will have a strong influence on defense, like Jim Mora did previosuly. It'll be interesting to see how the dynamic changes on that side of the ball and how Carroll/Bradley works in comparison to Mora/Bradley.

Anonymous said...

So who would play elephant, Curry or Tapp? Or both? It always seemed like Tapp was on the verge of breaking out. Hopefully that happens with Carroll in charge.

Mr Fish said...

I didn't hear anything that tells me Carroll is willing to abandon his scheme to fit the players.

What I heard is that he's going to find where they fit best in his scheme -- which he describes as using 4-3 "principles" -- and that it's flexible enough that he'll probably be able to find a place for everyone where they can be the best they can be.

Nuances, nuances. Still, it's a refreshing change from the Marshall/Mora approach of plugging square pegs into round holes and exhorting them to play harder when it doesn't work.

Kip Earlywine said...

You could be right about Bradley. I'm limited to what I see on the network broadcasts, but it seemed like most of the time Jim Mora was standing with his arms crossed and giving death-glares. As such, I was under the impression that Bradley was doing the leg work while Mora was more of a "rah-rah" guy. I hope your right- it would certainly make me feel a lot better about the teams decision to retain Bradley and increase his role on the defense.

I think Spiller is a little less likely, first of all because there are a ton of great options at #14 which means the team could go a lot of directions there. Secondly, because Spiller has a decent chance of being drafted in picks 7-13. And last, Alex Gibbs prides himself out of finding late round RBs who produce in the zone blocking scheme. Best has a decent chance of being there at #40, and I'd be pretty happy about drafting him there.

My favorite RB scenario is either somehow signing Reggie Bush if he becomes a free agent, or drafting Joe McKnight (USC) in round 4. Bush is amazingly productive for how few carries he gets, gives the team big play potential and is a great returner. McKnight mixes above average speed and vision with great burst/acceleration, which would make him a really nice fit here. He's basically a bigger, faster Justin Forsett.

This is a deep RB class IMO. So I'm feeling pretty optimistic that it will turn out well, even if we wait til the 2nd half of the draft to address it.

It wouldn't shock me if PC drafted Spiller at #14 or Best at #40. It sounds like the running game is going to be a huge priority this offseason.

For me, perhaps the most critical objective in this draft has to be drafting one of the 3 very good DTs: Suh, McCoy, or Price. It gives the team the ability to move Mebane back to the 1, and a Price/Mebane pairing would collapse the pocket which would really benefit Tapp, who'd start turning some of those QB hits into sacks.

Anonymous said...

Great site! I really feel that what this offense is lacking is an elite offensive talent that can score from anywhere on the field and someone that teams have to gameplan every week to contain. I think Spiller and Best could be someone like that but I'm curious if Mcknight is explosive enough to be a Felix Jones type of player at this level. What are your thoughts on him? I'm excited PC wants to get the running game going.

Kip Earlywine said...

Matt McGuire at Walterfootball always ends his scouting reports by naming an active NFL player that most resembles the prospect he's scouting. When he broke down tape on Jahvid Best, his NFL comparison was "Felix Jones."

Another guy who you might think of as a "little" Felix Jones is Dexter McCluster from Ole Miss. He's got decent speed and broke a few 70-80 yard TD runs in college. His running style reminds me a little of F. Jones. Right now he figures to be a 3rd or 4th rounder.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think this draft is loaded with safeties? I see around 4 fringe first round prospects and 3 first round prospects. There all relativley tall too...

Anonymous said...

I Watched a couple of Ole Miss games and Dexter McCluster is EXPLOSIVE! They even used him as a qb in wildcat plays and he can catch . Do you see him being a good RB in the NFL.

Steve in Spain said...

Thanks for the link, Kip.

I don't think there was any disinformation or smokescreens being thrown up, but Carroll wasn't dishing the dirt either. One exception was the business about the defensive scheme being "4-3 principles with 3-4 personnel" which sounds authentic (but vague nonetheless).

Far from being "deafeningly silent" about Lawrence Jackson, Carroll actually talked about Lo-Jack at greater length than any other player, saying he was a "good" football player. He implied that he didn't think Jackson deserved to be a first-round pick because he wasn't sure he could dominate match-ups at the NFL. But he called Jackson a "work in progress" and that he wanted Lo-Jack to beef up so he could do the more workmanlike drudgery in the trenches. Not high praise, but I didn't get the impression that Jackson was on the outs either. I thought the more telling silence was about Patrick Kearney...

Kevin said...

The comments about Lo-Jack make me think his envisions Jackson in more of a DT role than a DE role. Just my impression on it.

Kip Earlywine said...

I don't expect Patrick Kerney to be a Seahawk next year. He's declining and was average last year- meaning he'll almost certainly be below average from here on out. If this becomes an uncapped year and it probably will, the Seahawks can release Kerney this offseason and take his would be future cap hit off the books. I don't think Kerney will mind either, as in an uncapped environment, he'll probably get a pretty decent 1 year deal from somebody.

I'm reading between the lines with the Jackson comments. I think they were as critical as they could possibly be given Carroll's relationship with Jackson. Its not like Carroll would just come out and say "he's a bum!" : )

I don't really have a strong opinion of McCluster. I'm still kind of new to evaluating RB's for zone blocking scheme, but what I am looking for is burst, decisiveness, and ability to break arm tackles, since the scheme is famous for opening small holes for brief amounts of time. For that reason its important to get RBs that have the best possible ability at breaching the 1st level as quick as possible.

McCluster doesn't really have burst and doesn't really shine IMO until he hits the 2nd level, so I'm not sure if he's a great fit. But I do think he's a good prospect and could be a mid round bargain for somebody. If the Seahawks draft him, it means he got Gibbs seal of approval most likely, so I'd trust their judgment.

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However, for what its worth, Carroll struck me as pretty earnest and surprisingly pointed in his evaluation. And to be brutally honest, if we had a simple-minded coach like Jim Mora or a gee-golly-avoid-specific-details-like-the-plague one like Mike Holmgren, I probably wouldn't bother analyzing a radio interview. But in this interview, I think our team has a coach in Pete Carroll who gives us a pretty good preview of where he's taking the Seahawks. He said quite a few things that perked my ears. Of course, actions speak louder than words, but right now words are pretty much all we have to go on. Here were some of the highlights for me:

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