By Rob Staton
Although only so much can be drawn from being crowned 'April Champions', the Seahawks are universally being considered as the team who had the best 2010 draft. Mel Kiper gave Seattle top marks and an 'A' grade. Here's more of the same:
Clark Judge says the 2010 NFL Draft will be remembered fondly for one reason: "When Carroll returned to the NFL he insisted on being his own personnel director, and now we know why. Carroll knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. Welcome back, Pete. Welcome back, Seattle."
Rob Rang projected the Seahawks would draft Jimmy Clausen sixth overall after 'over spending' on Charlie Whitehurst (can we put that to bed now?). Seattle didn't take Clausen as he predicted, but Rang gave the Seahawks a good review anyway: "In terms of immediate impact, as well as long-term potential, there wasn't a better draft in 2010 than Seattle's."
Steve Wyche says Seattle had the most impressive three days at the draft: "The Seahawks' improvement in 2010 will likely hinge on the play of veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck or recently acquired Charlie Whitehurst, but these other moves show that Carroll is serious about having an immediate impact upon his return to the NFL"
Todd McShay and Scouts Inc have calculated a way to rank how the teams drafted based on value. The Seahawks easily came out on top: "Moves to bolster the offensive backfield with veterans only makes this draft better."
Bucky Brooks awards the Seahawks an A+ grade: "Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider knocked it out of the park in their first draft."
Don Banks is often critical of the Seahawks, but not today: "How can you not like what Pete Carroll and John Schneider have accomplished so far in their Seahawks makeover? Seahawks fever. I might have just caught it."
Don't forget to check out my own analysis of the Seahawks 2010 draft.
15 comments:
Rob, yes - Pete Carroll's and John Schneider's personnel skills as displayed in their draft picks gives me new hope that maybe they have found a hidden gem in Charlie Whitehurst as well. This will be fun to watch. ...I looked back over a number of the mock drafts (I believe Mel Kiper nailed Okung and Thomas), and almost all of them had Golden Tate going in the late first or first 5 picks of the second round. Surely, the Seahawks would have selected Tate if they had stayed put at 40, and instead they got both him and Whitehurst at 60. Had the Seahawks not traded for Whitehurst, they most likely would have selected Clausen at 14 and would be without Earl Thomas today.
Unfortunatly the drafts that look good on paper don't always translate, and the drafts that get ripped for "reaches" like Lofa Tatupu and John Carlson look really smart down the road. I love that Carroll and Schneider have already guarunteed this to be an exciting season (which mora and ruskell failed at), but a draft grade the day after the draft is worth about as much as a 2011 mock draft right now. For better or worse, though, I don't
think I've been this excited for the hawks since 2003.
I just get the impression that Seattle, as with much of the NFL, were just not enamoured with the QB talent on offer. Teams were high on Bradford, but he went first overall. Teams were not high on Clausen. The Seahawks knew they needed to do something at QB - knowing that Hasselbeck has had injuries, he's in a contract year and is in his mid 30's. Bringing Whitehurst in is a semi-gamble in that he cost a pick and a move down, but if he works out it's a steal. If he doesn't, you've paid for the chance. However, too much negativity surrounded the move for my liking. I have no issue with my team taking a chance on the most important guy on your football team that involves a mere drop in the second round and a 2011 third rounder.
The fact that a guy who would've been an option at #40 was there at #60 makes it a non-debate now. For me, it's now Whitehurst for a 2011 third. That's fine by me.
ARNF - absolutely expectation has to be tempered and you don't win anything in August. However, I think this team found value in every round. If guys don't work out, they still got good value based on draft rank.
They also found more than 1-2 guys who will start and compete on day one, 2010 season. Again, that has to be applauded because usually in one draft you really only expect your first round guy to contribute and maybe the second rounder. Okung, Thomas, White and Washington will play larger roles immediately. Golden Tate - they'll find ways to get him on the field making plays. That's five already - and that's before we consider any kind of production from Vickerson, Chancellor, Thurmond, McCoy and the rest.
A good start to the new road forward.
We might just steal this trophy/honor from Washington this year:
http://images.chron.com/blogs/texanschick/RedskinsOffseasonChamps.jpg
But seriously, I'm glad that we can part with the moping and the whining, the vapors and the fainting couches that accompanied the pre-draft moves by this FA. The Eagles' moves showed that Tapp isn't anyone's defensive centerpiece. Clausen's fall showed that the FO was right in getting an NFL-ready developmental prospect so that they didn't have to reach for him or McCoy. Heck, even the Golden Tate pick showed that we weren't giving up too much to move from the #40 to the #60. This FO has shown that they aren't chumps, that they know what they're doing and that, at least until September, the Hawks are in good hands.
The only part of the team I'm uncertain about is the pass-rush. It looks like we're going to have a Clemons/Foley/Reed/Davis on one end of the line and a DT/DE tweener on the other end. I'm not sure how everything will work out, but I'm looking forward to the results.
Thanks, Rob, Kyle and Kip for all the great coverage this year (and hopefully more to come).
Lots more to come Ben. Plenty of analysis on the picks and I'm working on a couple of things that could be amazing (stay tuned). Then it's on to 2011 stuff over the summer in preparation of the new college season. I've got a lot of things to keep the blog busy between now and then.
Thanks Rob for the amazing draft coverage.
Great job covering the draft. It seems after your player analysis you can finally take a vacation. Ha ha.
As far as the draft goes, I thought we did a great job. Even if it doesn't translate to solid starters, etc, the draft at least did the one thing Carroll wanted...added depth for competition. We will see who the gamers are and the people who want it the most. hopefully this will elevate some of the players' game. We're gonna have a great competition at WR with all our depth. If we resign Lawyer Milloy, Babs is really gonna have to start making tackles to even get on the field. and we know our elephant and RBs are all fighting for roster spots. After that, we'll see if people can step their games up on Special teams to try and make this team.
I know a lot of people are concerned about our lack of a pass rush DE, but what they seem to be forgetting is that the "pass rush stud" on Carroll's D is the "elephant" (easy to do, as nobody but USC fans has any idea how the elephant really works)
Carroll has shown he seems to know what he's been doing with the rest of the team, so I'll withhold judgment on the elephant until I've seen it in action for at least half a season...
Yah. Let me chime in. Great job. This is the best Seahawk coverage on the net. Good scoop too!
Rob,
I enjoyed reading your blog more than any other local or national draft blog. Thanks to you and Kip for a great time and lots of interesting things to think about.
It seems to me Pete Carroll will succeed or fail with the Seahawks mainly based on how his quarterback plays in the window of time about 3 - 7 years from now. He is totally rebuilding the team, and most likely he is projecting what the team should look like for the 2013 season and working towards that. Hasselbeck obviously will not be his QB during that window. So, Carroll has this year to decide if Whitehurst can win a Super Bowl in, say 5 years from now, or he just doesn't have it in him. If not, then Carroll will mortgage the farm next year to go after Locker.
Taylor Mays will be the second coming of troy Palmalu...and everyone is going to point to the fack pete carroll sabataged his senior year with weird centerfield scheme....then let Texas alum convince him that his longhorn guy.......earl thomas was better for the team than Mays...mays will make a lot of turn overs and alot of fumbles and people not sleep the night before...laying wood....for singletons's playoff bound 49ers........
The new rules for the NFL don't allow Taylor May's type of wood to be layed anymore( Blindside). The 49ers took a gamble on May's, in my opinion. Carrol knows him well. I doubt he would have taken him at #60.
Very good coverage guy's, love the site. I check in every day, looking forward to more.
Thanks for the positive feedback guys - always appreciated and thank you for making this blog a joy to be part of.
Mrjocisoo7 - I think what we have to consider here is the scheme Pete Carroll wishes to run. The Seahawks targetted Berry and Thomas for a reason - they want a safety who can cover a slot receiver, who can line up at corner, who can cover the centre field and make that instinctive turn over. Taylor Mays has a lot of qualities - size, speed, big hits. But he isn't going to shadow a slot receiver, watch the QB's eyes, make that instinctive interception. That's not his fault and it's not Pete Carroll's. There was nothing that said Pete had to draft USC guys just because he used them a certain way or told them certain things after their junior year (when he had no idea he'd back in the NFL 12 months later).
Mays would've been best served letting his play do the talking and not complaining to a journalist. But at the end of the day, Seattle weren't the only team that passed on him. That isn't down to Pete Carroll.
they said the same thing about Troy Palomou when he was coming out too...teams passed on him and was critic of the same exact thing. Thats why Taylor Mays was confident teams would attribute his play to the system....and not knock him...guess what?...he is now a 49ers...and was the rave of Rookies this week..Seattle's favorite son was drafted 49th...an Omen that he has Dennis Smith...Troy Palamou skills and will be in the Hall of fame also....and pete Carroll will rue the day he ...chosed a Tweener...over a real hard run stuffer....
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