The Real West Coast Offense

by silkybrown on May 12, 2008 1:46 AM PDT Comment 9 comments

I am really excited about the upcoming season because I think baseball sucks and I don't really care who I offend when I say that. (No offense)

I don't like the fact that we let DJ Hackett get away. With Branch recovering from a major knee operation, I think we are too thin at wide receiver. We are one more injured receiver away from a disaster that could derail our season. But....who really knows if Hackett could "hack-it" and stay healthy for an entire season.

Many were upset and frustrated when Ruskell traded D Jax to the San Francisco From Behinders, but now he looks pretty smart for doing so. Hopefully he'll look smart again, though I wish D.J. the best.

On to my point. I think this year has the potential to be the most exciting year on offensive that we will ever see during the Holmgren era in Seattle. The reasons are simple. We will see the most complete version of the West Coast Offense since Holmgren arrived here.

Reason #1.

Our offensive line has improved drastically in both guard positions by only adding 1 player in Mike Wahle. He is a big upgrade at LG, while Simms replacing Gray is addition by subtraction. I like Chris Gray and appreciate what he's done for this team, but he just isn't quick enough and doesn't have a good burst anymore.

Reason #2.

We have a player at the running back position who is a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield. This is why Julius Jones was really signed, in my opinion. I don't think people realize how many more offensive plays and options we now have because we have a guy with reliable hands in the backfield. Teams didn't have to scheme against that when Shaun Alexander was in the game, the way teams would have to if they were playing against someone like a Michael Westbrook of the Eagles. Julius Jones probably won't run great between the tackles, but if we can throw the ball to him in the open field in a one-on-one situation, I like the odds of him making his defender miss and turning it into a big play. I imagine he can probably block better than Shaun Alexander....shoot, I'm pretty sure he can block better than Shaun Alexander. We will also be able to run more screen plays. T.J. Duckett can run between the tackles when needed.

Reason #3.

Our tight-end position is hopefully taken care of for the next 10 years now. I believe John Carlson will be the real deal. I truly trust the coaching staff and the front office with this pick. If he is as good as the coaches think he'll be, teams better look out. Why? BECAUSE IF TEAMS ARE FORCED TO DEFEND THE FLAT AGAINST JULIUS JONES, WE WILL BEGIN TO SEE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD OPEN UP....completed passes to the tight-end for 18 yards.....I love the thought of that.

Reason #4

Though I have my doubts, I hope Holmgren will take more chances since this is his last hurrah. He has nothing to lose. I have to give Mike credit though, as he has gambled on a lot more 4th and short type plays than he used to....and I have to say I pretty much agree with almost every gamble he made. It's just too bad our rushing attack for the last 3 years has been such a joke. Our crappy line play and just as crappy rushing desire made Holmgren's decisions look bad. (See playoff loss to the Bears because we can't convert 1 yard plays.) My beef with Holmgren has always been that he can be too predictable and conservative with his play calling. Now that he has some more viable options, perhaps that will change.

I would still feel better if the Seahawks could pick up a solid veteran Wide Receiver before the season starts. That would remove practically any doubts I have about the success of our offense this year.

The sky is the limit Seahawk fans. What do you think?

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Last three years?

I dunno, I thought it was relatively decent in 2005 . . .

Also, you mean Brian Westbrook.

by The Ancient Mariner on May 12, 2008 4:44 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You are right

I meant Brian. Michael is/was a WR for the Redskins I think. Two years…..Three years…..The last few seasons have been a painful haze when it comes to the running game. I need to quit writing these things at 2 in the morning.

Can I buy you a fish sandwich?

by silkybrown on May 12, 2008 5:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Time for Mr.Negative to annoy everyone!

first of all, I acknowledge that I’m an idiot for the above post! I can’t wait for the new season as well, I think our Defence is going to kick ass, possibly the best in the league. However on offence, we really our thin. In point one your positive point is Mike Wahle, coming off a woeful season in Carolina. I’m not writing him off, and I do think he’ll be an upgrade, but it’s not a huge one. Reason two is Julius Jones, yet again coming off a terrible season elsewhere. He was outperformed weekly by Marion Barber and looked a lot like Shaun Alexander when looking for running lanes. He is an above average receiver, and he looks like he’s really committed to bulking up, but it doesn’t automatically solve our stagnant running game. Reason three is John Carlson, a player that could become a premier Tight-End. However, a quick look at the performances of highly touted TE’s in their rookie seasons over the last few years (see Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen) suggest that Carlson’s impact won’t be immediate. Add to this the fact that at WR Branch will miss up to eight weeks, Engram is holding out and Burleson just plain isn’t very good, we look really average. I hope everything comes together, but I just feel like a lot of people are showing a hell of a lot of faith in new players that have been below average contributors for their former clubs.

by ciarannh on May 13, 2008 8:26 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm usually kinda negative too

In fact, I agree with much of what you say. However, I’m gonna stick to what I said. Mike Wahle is a big improvement. He may have had a not so great season, but then again who on Carolina really did much of anything last year? Carolina is overhyped by the media every year anyways. My point though, is that he has been to the pro-bowl not too horribly long ago, and by adding him, we have made not just one, but 2 positions better on the 0-line. Chris Gray is a smart player, but he just doesn’t have the physical skills to take care of business like he used to. We’ve seen that Simms is a good pass blocker, so that will be an improvement at the right guard position having him there. Wahle is a better lineman than Simms, and so that will be an improvement at the left guard position.

I personally am not thrilled about Julius Jones, as I think he is barely above average….Mo Morris can probably do as well…but Jones will be a legitimate threat receiving the ball, and he might even make a living out of that in Seattle. Jones has also always had big games at Qwest field, so maybe Qwest will be a special place for him. If we need power running, hopefully T.J. Duckett will live up to the billing.

I agree that we need to see John Carlson in a game before we can conclude squat, but I don’t think we can even compare his situation to those of Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen. The 49ers and the Bears absolutely sucked last year, and I don’t think you can place all of the blame on the tight-ends. If Davis or Olsen had been wearing Seahawk uniforms, I’d doubt you would have made the same statement. Carlson has a chance to be just one more piece, and perhaps a vital piece that has been missing from the puzzle.

The main thing I agree with you on is our Wide Receiver position. I just don’t trust what the front office is doing on this one. We never really got to see what our offense could do with some of those 4-receiver sets last year because they were never all healthy at the same time. Branch, Burlison, Engram, & Hackett; It’s was just exciting to think about….well, Branch is hurt and Hackett was allowed to walk away. Engram is throwing a fit about his contract, and we’re really going to be screwed if Nate Burlison gets hurt or regresses this year. I’d love if Jordan Kent can step up and have some steady hands. He has the size of Hackett with even more speed. I want to believe the coaches and front office know what they are doing on this one, but after they let a certain left guard walk away whose name I will not utter, it is hard to have that kind of faith in them.

Can I buy you a fish sandwich?

by silkybrown on May 15, 2008 1:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Olsen was injured, and his QB was Rex Grossman.

Vernon Davis also was injured a good deal, and his QBs…Alex Smith and Trent Dilfer.

Carlson hopefully will stay healthy, and he has Matt Hasselbeck.

by redwolf75 on May 15, 2008 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carlson played in a pro-style offense in college

And was quite successful, that bodes well for an easier transition to the NFL than your typical first year tight end.

I don’t think anyone is expecting Julius Jones to come in and blow us all away with his skillz, but he is a huge improvement over Shaun. He can run better than Shaun, less prone to injury than Shaun, he can block better than Shaun, he can catch a LOT better than Shaun. The running game probably won’t be top 10 quality, but it doesn’t have to be for us to win, it just has to stop killing us like it did last year. We won’t know whether that’s the case until the games are played, but we have undoubtedly improved it a lot on paper.

by OlSalty on May 15, 2008 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Plus

Vernon Davis is a workout warrior. John Carlson’s a player.

by The Ancient Mariner on May 19, 2008 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defense wins championships

Gotta say that I kind of agree with you Ciarannh. At wideout we are thin,thin thin. However, Julius Jones backfield catching ability is much better than Shaun’s and that alone can help a westcoast offense. The D is what is gonna help us this year. I know it’s a cliche but D can win it all. Now if Lofa can stay off the sauce, maybe we can put this theory to test!

by AZ Hawk on May 13, 2008 9:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

TE for 10 Years?

I hope you are right.

As far as the running game goes, I really like the fact that no one will be getting a guaranteed 20+ carries. There is no $50 million franchise back. Therefore, there should be some real good competition between JJ, TJ, and Mo for playing time at RB, as well as Weaver and Schmitt at FB.

by josh_h on May 14, 2008 11:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs