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Quickhits: Seahawks Scrimmage

Here's the quickhits, as I've only 15 minutes from some God forsaken  Hotwire internet café:

Logan Payne does hit the soft spot well and breaks out of his route quickly, flashing open. He doesn't play well in traffic, and shows shaky poise when defenders are narrowing in on him. That, plus just adequate overall quickness is a marginal package. Ideally, like Bobby Engram, he could develop into a solid slot receiver, dicing up the middle zone and converting third downs. But with little in the way of RAC or deep threat ability Payne must be a bulldog, every-target, every-catch receiver. He's someone to watch during the preseason, because should Engram miss time, Payne could develop into an Engram-like third down machine. Could.

Ben Obomanu, remember him? Remember him. I've always liked Obo's long speed, length and potential, but he's a shaky route-runner and unsteady as a receiver. Today, he showed me something very promising: An ability to play underneath, in the scrum, the garbage, the fracas among the big hitters. He turned a quick hitch into a nice sweep into a touchdown. After a shaky first season, Obomanu has become a dark horse, forgotten by fans, but he's got the talent and ethic to make a jump. His zone awareness already has.

Owen Schmitt will need to refine his chops for at least one season on special teams. He's surprisingly rough, and suffers lapses in concentration-as a rusher and receiver. His blocking, how the man makes his cash, looks intact. I'm excited to see him and Justin Forsett tandem in the preseason.

I'm calling my shot here: I think Forsett excels in the preseason and makes Morris expendable. I love Force's second gear and how it combines with his toughness/elusiveness/resilience to turn his every rush into pocket dynamite. The cool thing about Forsett is he's surprisingly adept at shedding contact and breaking tackles. And when the shackles come off he burns into his second gear like a factory tuned S2000. That second gear turns ordinary and broken rushes into 5-25 yard gashes.

I really like Jamar Adams' length. He's long, agile and surprisingly adept at Cover 1. He made a nice break on a ball in the end zone, displaying nice read, nice quickness but only so-so hands. Those hands are what separates him from being a viable free safety. But those hands aren't a mortal deficit, they can be improved. He's also a little chippy; plays with cockiness, a little aggression, meanness. After bottling up Julius Jones-Jones churning his legs, fighting for extra yardage-the undrafted rookie planted the veteran millionaire Adams swaggers, shirt untucked, with a lot of ego. Take that for what you will.

Carlson's there. His spacing, route running, zone awareness and hands are all above pro caliber. Plus, it was very nice to see him twice take a reception and quickly redirect for some run after the catch.

Laury isn't there as a coverage backer, but that takes time.

Despite expectations, Duckett isn't a true knock`em sock`em power back. Not in the Marion Barber vein, anyhow. He's more of a picker. What makes him intriguing is that tackles just bounce off him. He doesn't bowl defenders over, but when defenders attempt to bowl him over he's steadfast and gets back to speed immediately. I hope Seattle sees Duckett as a complete back and doesn't pigeon hole him as a short yardage back. It's a waste.

Frye makes terrible reads, consistently throwing to covered receivers or into traffic. The result: lots of tight windows and quick tackles. Not impressed.

Nice long reception by Bumpus. If you combine his poise with Payne's awareness you'd have something.

Kent is still a real work in progress. He loses nerve when covered, but will make the team as a deep threat. Kent tracked the ball over his shoulder without breaking stride on a nice touch-bomb by Frye.

I didn't pay much attention to the line play because the 1st v. 2nd and 2nd v. 1st team format made for a lot of funky matchups. What I can say, joyfully, is this: Baraka Atkins has made progress to an adequate first step and for a player so athletic, strong and talented, that's a small but decisive step to an exciting future.

Coutu ended the scrimmage with a 56 yard kick. Coutu and Mare stand at a stalemate-equally bad. Neither kicked the ball with much authority, and though neither kicked off, they were clearing the cross beam by the narrowest of margins. I watched the two pre-practice as people filed in, and I would say Mare is narrowly in the lead. He started the kicking drills, was in pads when Coutu was sans pads, and looks just a hair stronger on kicks. But someone is going to need to show me something more because I was not impressed.

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John, I hung around today for your update in no small part because I was dying to hear something about Forsett. That is fricken’ awesome. I’ve thought for a while that he’d make the team. How many carries do you think he might need in a game to find his rhythm?

by shams on Aug 2, 2008 2:34 PM PDT   0 recs

Wow...

First, I read another two people’s writings about the scrimmage and then this one.

I have to say this was the best. It continues to be the more dynamic and detailed scope of the team and it’s progress.

Keep up the good work, John.

by Misfit74 on Aug 2, 2008 4:17 PM PDT   0 recs

our kicking situation isn't looking to bright....

"I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger."
-Ichiro on Dice-K

by seatownsports on Aug 2, 2008 4:34 PM PDT   0 recs

Just got in a minute ago.

That big bloated word-dump is usually what I shape into a readable story. So sorry that it isn’t tighter; better written. Here’s a couple snippets that missed the cut:

Hodges looked pretty good in-game, but when he and Plackemeier were punting before the scrimmage, Plackemeier stood out as the better punter. His punts had better loft, getting a similar distance but with better height. Plack was also better at placement, especially on pinning the ball in the 10. The only place I saw Plackemeier struggle was with directional or in Madden coffin corner kicks. His first two CC punts, the first bounced into the end zone. The second was too close to the middle of the field and easily returnable. It’s a really small sample, so maybe it’s nothing. I recorded Plack 2/6 on punts before I started watching the kickers.

You can see why the team signed Castelo. He looks quick and agile. It’s too bad he seemingly lacks NFL level strength and tackling ability.

Watching the stretching I kind of looked for who was into it and who was going through the motions.

Into it: Mike Wahle, Jordan Kent
Going through the motions: Rocky Bernard

Engram looked great, however little I saw of him. We think of Engram as a physically limited, possession receiver, but his agility and speed shows just how athletic a player has to be to even qualify as NFL caliber. That’s also why I’m sad so say I have serious doubts Michael Bumpus will ever make the league.

Carlson has a weird take off into his routes. Kind of a choppy step that doesn’t seem to generate great acceleration. But whatever you’ve heard, however his showing at the combine might dog him the rest of his life, he’s pretty dang fast. He’s not Kellen Winslow, but he’ll aggressively challenge the seam. Carlson is a deep threat.

The thing about Frye is, he seems kind of shell-shocked. As soon as he sees someone “open” he fires, and in doing so throws into some really tight windows and offers up his receivers for some punishment. His raw tools did not seem so bad, and maybe he can learn. I don’t know.

Owen Schmitt slipped after receiving a hand off. I am surprised to see him so lost. I thought the pro game might be a hard transition for Schmitt, but because of the jump in athleticism. Instead, Schmitt just looked psyched out. I hope he refinds himself in the preseason.

I really don’t like what I saw from Seattle’s offensive linemen. I’ll leave it at that until the preseason.

by John Morgan on Aug 2, 2008 6:18 PM PDT   0 recs

I liked the big brain dump.

It’s really interesting to hear about Forsett, sounds like you might move change his scouting report a little if you had to do it again.

Very excited to hear about Obomanu, I’ve been rooting for a while now.

Plack’s punting? I thought he was hurt.

by Nate Dogg on Aug 3, 2008 10:04 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah, he and Hodges were punting before the scrimmage.

Hodges made all the punts during the scrimmage.

Actually, I would say Forsett looked about how I scouted him. I think I might push his 1st to +, but I watched quite a few games of the guy and I wouldn’t make many changes after a few exhibition snaps. The big mistake I made was to compare him to James, when clearly Forsett’s second gear is head and shoulders above late career Edge.

by John Morgan on Aug 3, 2008 11:03 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Good stuff, John. That is cool you got to check it out first hand.

House of Sparky Manager - www.houseofsparky.com - Go Sun Devils

by ASUBoyd on Aug 2, 2008 9:14 PM PDT   0 recs

Nice writeup – What I find interesting here is what is happening at WR because if Kent is to make the team, I wonder what the ramifications of that are to some of the others. I assume that Engram, Burleson, and Obomanu will make the team and Branch could stay on the PUP list into the season. If Kent makes it as a deep threat, I think the last spot or spots would come down to Taylor and Payne with Bumpus maybe having a shot at the practice squad if that.

I hope Frye shows some improvement… soon.

by PascoJoe on Aug 2, 2008 9:54 PM PDT   0 recs

The scrimmage was pretty cool

A couple things I noticed:
They had a TON of Schmitt jerseys for sale in the Pro Shop. I didn’t actually see anyone wearing one, though.

When Holmgren asked the crowd to get loud, it sounded pretty good for only ~10k people. According to Frank Hughes, the players were impressed too.

by Strang on Aug 3, 2008 11:27 AM PDT   0 recs

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