Posted by DHarp75 on November 23, 2009 under PartyHawks Central | 
GM Tim Ruskell is likely to be the first casualty of a Seahawks roster that has quickly become noncompetitive.
Driving the wife to the airport this morning, the calls for
Tim Ruskell’s head started the second the morning show came
on the air at 6:01 on KRJ. In a town with no basketball and with the Sounders’ season in the books and the
Apple Cup closing out college football, the heat on the Hawks front office is only going to intensify with an idle media looking for scapegoats.
Fortunately for them, there are plenty of scapegoats to go around.
My buddy Dan asked me if the Hawks will draft an offensive lineman in the first round. Perhaps. But they’ll also be in the best position available status because … well, they need help virtually everywhere. They have a decimated offensive line, no reliable running backs, an injury-prone aging quarterback, few consistent pass rushers and a pair of subpar safeties (and that’s being kind to Babineaux.)
I’m typically the one pointing out the silver linings with the Hawks, but this is close to as bad as it gets. There’s still a bit further to fall – and rock bottom could well come Sunday in St. Louis. The Rams are playing more competitive football while the beleaguered Seahawks will be playing their third straight road game in a season that’s already over.
Sadly, the most entertainment I’ll have down the stretch is watching how many losses Denver can rack up to improve the Hawks’ second first-round pick come April.
Posted by DHarp75 on November 19, 2009 under PartyHawks Central |
Xavier Omon ranks seventh in NCAA history with 7,777 all-purpose yards.
Back from a whirlwind tour of the Big Apple, which was far more uplifting than anything Hawks-related this week. The tree was going up in Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park was abuzz with ice skaters and holiday shops and flavored latte’s were all the rage at Starbucks.
But home now and jumping back into the state of Hawks. I’m not usually a big fan of promoting ProFootballTalk.com – his past style of “throw shit against the wall and see what sticks” journalism didn’t sit well. But he has improved his reporting and credibility in the past year and does follow drama well, and his details from the Mora-Dockett saga have been entertaining.
On the field, the Hawks are facing the possibility of being without cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Josh Wilson, who are both dealing with concussions. That’s a bad sign with Brett Favre torching defenses that overplay against Adrian Peterson.
A interesting transaction of note: running back Xavier Omon was signed to the practice squad. I’ve been following this kid for the past five years as a closet D-II football buff. He comes out of Division II Northwest Missouri State, where he broke a slew of NCAA records. He has decent size at 5-11, 220, but does lack explosive speed. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing him placed on the active roster and given a shot on special teams and a handful of carries.
Julius Jones and Justin Forsett aren’t feature backs for the future, so let’s see what Omon and Louis Rankin can do down the stretch. Neither is likely to emerge as a lead NFL back, but they could be part of the solution going forward.
Posted by DHarp75 on November 11, 2009 under PartyHawks Central |
PartyHawks.com can't make it to Arizona this weekend, but will pass over the beautiful Golden Gate tomorrow.
Travel this week has thrown a wrench into keeping the site updated, but even a slow internet connection in the hills of Northern California can’t keep PartyHawks.com completely offline.
Briefly, thoughts from last Sunday: It was good to see enough fire left in the Hawks to pick themselves off the mat against one of the league’s worst teams and mount a significant come-from-behind victory. It’s easy to point out everything wrong with this team and how horrendous the 17-0 start was. But it could have been absolutely devastating, and they avoided that by showing heart.
Thoughts on this week: It’s probably good the travel schedule is preventing us from a long-planned/hoped-for trip to Glendale to watch the Hawks take on the Big Red Phonies.
It’s pretty straightforward – Seattle can’t run and can’t pass protect. And Matt Hasselebeck can’t stretch the field due to a sore arm and ribs. Defensively, it’s a Catch-22 – blitz Kurt Warner and get beat for big plays with his quick release or sit back in coverage and not stand a chance because Seattle’s cornerbacks lack the size and physicality to battle Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
Posted by DHarp75 on November 5, 2009 under PartyHawks Central |
Former Husky RB Louis Rankin will get a chance to return kicks and get a few carries.
Like him or not,
Jim Mora doesn’t make hollow threats. He was pissed at the Hawks’ performance in Dallas last week, and vowed to start holding some people accountable.
The first to go were Edgerrin James and C.J. Wallace. James certainly wasn’t the problem with the porous running game, but he’s also not the future and Mora didn’t want a potential Hall of Famer languishing on the bench as Seattle takes a look at some younger players.
Former Husky Louis Rankin will get some playing time down the stretch so Seattle can see if he’s a legitimate NFL player. Wallace is a good special teams player, but the coverage units were horrendous in Dallas and Wallace wound up on injured reserve after being waived.
Former Beaver Mike Hass is trying to become the next Ed McCaffrey.
Continuing the Northwest flavor, former Oregon State wide receiver
Mike Hass was signed to the active roster. He has bounced around the league for four years and I can’t honestly say why the Hawks decided to pursue him. He has decent hands and good size but lacks legitimate NFL speed. Seattle has enough of those guys on the roster already. Watching
Marques Colston dominate double teams against Atlanta on Monday night showed exactly what the Hawks are lacking downfield – a big body who can leap and shield defenders from the ball.
Safety Jamar Adams has been on train back and forth from the active roster, the practice squad and the street for the past two years. He’s a body and a special teams guy who likely won’t be active on game days.
Running back Devin Moore, an undrafted rookie out of Wyoming re-signed with the practice squad along with cornerbacks Trae Williams and DeAngelo Willingham.
Moore is an undersized back with the speed to take it the distance. But he lacks the bulk to be an every-down player in the NFL. Down the road he could emerge as a kick-return threat.
Williams is an interesting pickup. He was a fifth-round pick by Dallas last year and was a teammate at South Florida of current Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins. He’s also undersized but is a noted competitor who fights for the ball and works hard. Unfortunately, he lacks what the rest of the Hawks’ secondary lacks – the size to compete with the Larry Fitzgeralds of the world.
Willingham played for Tennessee. He was rated the 195th prospect in last year’s class by NFLDraftScout.com, but was not among the 400-plus prospects we profiled.
Posted by DHarp75 on November 2, 2009 under PartyHawks Central |
Justin Forsett is running out of opportunities.
There was nothing pretty about the whooping in Dallas. The offense couldn’t sustain drives, the pass rush couldn’t fluster
Tony Romo and the special teams didn’t tackle well or make good decisions on returns. A few closer observations from the game:
So long, Justin: Second-year running back Justin Forsett provides speed and elusiveness the Hawks’ other backs just can’t match. Unfortunately, at 5-8 he’s also a human bowling pin. In 30 combined touches this season rushing and receiving, Forsett has put the ball on the ground three times (That’s 10% for the math challenged). The last one landed him on the bench in Dallas. And yet another poor decision fielding a punt inside the 5-yard line cost him his return duties as well. Both issues are trends that are helping the little man play his way out of Seattle’s future plans.
Get T.J. the ball: It’s easy to watch the games on TV and grow tired of T.J. Houshmandzadeh complaining about not getting the ball. But putting that aside, Matt Hasselbeck doesn’t appear to be looking his direction much until garbage time. Granted, Matt doesn’t have time to look for more than one option, but why isn’t T.J. a bigger focal point of the gameplan?
This kid can play: The silver lining of losing Lofa Tatupu for the season is the emergence of second-year linebacker David Hawthorne. Little known entering the season, all he has done in his frist two career starts is combine to make 24 tackles (four for loss) with an interception, two passes defensed, a forced fumble and 2.0 sacks. That’s called a playmaker.
Seriously, Deion, shut it: Deion Branch rises from scrap heap to make one nice catch and immediately puts his mug into the camera and says “Anybody who wants me, come find me.” If that’s a reference to his diminished role in Seattle, is he already auditioning for a roster spot in Cleveland next year? What contending team wants a possession receiver on the downside of his career who can’t stay healthy and then whines to television cameras when he makes his only play of the season?
Big Play Babs … for them: Jordan Babineaux was a fan favorite as a reserve who made several big plays during the team’s Super Bowl run and tackled Romo on that famous muffed field-goal attempt in the playoffs. But as a starter he is proving why he’s an excellent backup. Babs has been exposed routinely this season as terrible in run defense – which isn’t shocking for a converted corner. He let Sam Hurd run right past him on the sidelined when even a nudge would have gotten the job done, and whiffed on another key run in which he was actually in position. He’s no worse than Brian Russell was, but free safety is clearly the weakest link on this defense, and opponents are clearly gameplanning to exploit Babineaux.
