Friday 8 January 2010

In other news...

Obviously the firing of Jim Mora is dominating the headlines today, but this is a draft blog so we'll soldier on with the topic in hand. Joe McKnight (RB, USC), Demaryius Thomas (WR, Georgia Tech) and Antonio Brown (WR, Central Michigan) have all announced they will declare for the 2010 draft. McKnight is an under rated playmaker who quietly had a much improved season for USC as a runner or receiver. His main highlight was a game winning drive to beat Ohio State where he flashed a full assortment of skills. He's improved a fumbling problem too and could be a 2nd round pick.

It's hard to really judge Thomas considering the offense he's played in. The triple option ignores the pass most of the time and it's no surprise that his numbers aren't eye catching. He has size and his draft stock will likely be determined by how well he runs at the combine. Brown put in a nice display for the Chippawas this week and made a number of eye catching plays as a runner, receiver and return man. He'll be a later pick, but one with upside.

So, the Jim Mora era lasted one year. We assume the new GM will pick his own coach and staff. This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the draft. Do we now assume Seattle is going in a major shift of direction? Do they draft a quarterback to kick start the new blueprint? Do they lay foundations on both lines? Do they switch to a 3-4 defense and feel the need to draft accordingly. We'll look at this over the next few days in great detail.

5 comments:

Patrick said...

This is incredibly exciting news! I'm very glad we decided to move on from Mora and my #1 choice since Mora was hired has been Leslie Frazier. I could see this greatly influencing the draft, however I'm not sure how much control we really have at #6. If the new GM/HC decide QB, do we reach at #6? I doubt Bradford makes it past Washington and I really don't see any other QBs worthy

Mike Kelly said...

As muchas I LOVE mock drafts, it would seem to be folly to even start making mocks until the end of January or so after the coaches have been fired/hired and the underclassmen have declared. The Hawks still have the same needs so we can guess based on that but as far as drafting for schemes? Time to throw up our hands and start from scratch again (as far as the draft goes.)

Still I think it needed to be done. Mora is a college coach and needs to discover that fact. He could be great as a Pete Carrol type.

Rob Staton said...

Mock drafts were hard enough when we knew Ruskell, his methods and the coaching staff. They're impossible now!

Patrick said...

Mike, did you mention Carroll before the news has come out that the Seahawks really want Pete Carroll? I'm pretty intrigued by the news of Carroll. I'm somewhat nervous because I hear some people say he should stay in college, however I'm very, very excited with the possibilities he could bring.

Just saw on ESPN, Ryan Mallett himself stated he'll be returning to Arkansas for his senior year

hcg said...

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