Roster Spots

by abender20 on Jun 22, 2009 8:45 AM PDT in Daily Links Comment 32 comments

Billy McMullen will have to do a lot more of what it looks like he is about to do if he intends to do what it looks like he is about to do on an NFL roster in 2009 (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Every so often, Eric Williams puts together a look at the Seahawk roster and how the various positions shake out. He provides the average number of players kept at each position in the past, and who he believes is safe, on the bubble, or in trouble. Since the man has a full time job covering the Hawks, it's interesting to see his observations set out in this format. You will click through and read the entire piece because that's how you were brought up.

A few positions have little intrigue to them:

QB. We know who the starting and second string QBs will be, and it's down to Jeff Rowe and Mike Teel to figure out who plays third fiddle. I'm rooting for Teel.
RB. While Eric has five locks at running back with Devin Moore and David Kirtman in the hunt, I can't imagine a situation in which Moore loses out to Kirtman. With Schmitt and Griffith on the roster in a mostly one back offense, it makes little sense to carry a third FB. If the Hawks keep six running backs, Moore should be the guy.
Offensive line. Wrotto should make the cut, and that would leave Williams and Vallos vying for a potential last spot.

Positions of slightly more intrigue:

Cornerback. Kelly Jennings is an almost guaranteed 5th wheel on a team that usually keeps 4.5 corners. I guess that makes sense, as Jennings is exactly half of a corner.
Safety. Which of the three young safeties will hit the practice squad and who will stick around?
Wideout. Outside of the obvious four, the Hawks will have a lot of paring down to do out of the rest of the underachievers. In other exciting news, two white men try to make like Bill Schroeder*.

What roster spot battle most makes your pulse quicken?

*Poor Bill Schroeder. From his Wiki page:

Career stats
Receptions	304
Receiving Yards	4,583
Touchdowns	28
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
No notable achievements

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Actually, I was raised in a non-clicking household

Strictly observant.

by The Ancient Mariner on Jun 22, 2009 9:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Whoah, so there might be a possibility Jennings doesn't make the active roster?

I would think Babineaux would be listed as a safety and Jennings would still get a spot. Poor Kevin Hobbs, though.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on Jun 22, 2009 9:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I can't see the point in keeping Jennings off of the active roster.

You’re right, Babineaux fills both roles and the team needs some depth at safety anyway.

by abender20 on Jun 22, 2009 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd be surprised if Jennings didnt make the roster

Tru, Lucas, Wilson, & Jennings with Babs as a CB/S. Hobbs is the odd man out, but a strong camp by one guy, and a poor by another, could lead things the other way.

WR is gonna be crazy in camp, several guys going for a couple of spots. Gotta love competition.

Guyz, I need ur help. Im txting from my iphone. I'm at a girls house i like, & i had 2 go 2 the bthroom. It was #2, & i clogged the toilet, water is everywhere. What should I do?

by MontpikeMike on Jun 22, 2009 10:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm not convinced Forsett is a 'lock'.

I think the time Forsett had with us might provide an edge for him, but Moore is going to give him a run for his money, I hope.

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevon Snead, OT Ciron Black, DT Gerald McCoy, S Eric Berry, DT Ndamukong Suh, CB Ras-I Dowling 6'2, 200, RB Jonathan Dwyer

by Misfit74 on Jun 22, 2009 10:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The Hawks kept 4 non-FB running backs on the roster last year (Duckett, Jones, Morris, and Forsett).

With Morris gone and no Weaver, I don’t see any reason why Duckett, Jones, Forsett, and Moore can’t all have spots. That goes doubly if Forsett retains some return duties.

by abender20 on Jun 22, 2009 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good point.

Though I still think it’s premature to say Forsett is a ‘lock’. He went from PS to PS last year after being essentially cut by two teams. My opinion is that he has a decent chance make the roster, but ‘lock’ is taking it too far. Our lack of depth certainly helps his case.

I agree that keeping 4 RBs would make sense. If JJ goes down, we’d be in trouble otherwise.

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevon Snead, OT Ciron Black, DT Gerald McCoy, S Eric Berry, DT Ndamukong Suh, CB Ras-I Dowling 6'2, 200, RB Jonathan Dwyer

by Misfit74 on Jun 22, 2009 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm just extremely displeased...

How can there NOT be a battle for punting duties. Dude we got now sucks, and we should have drafted one or signed every single undrafted one we could in order to have an actual competition there…

Please, for the LOVE OF GOD, stop suggesting next year's 1st round pick (or picks) be used for Taylor Mays and or a QB of the future. Let's just let the season unfold, people, and evaluate much deeper in the process!!!

by whiskey chainsaw on Jun 22, 2009 10:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You know there's a passionate fan when questioning the punter position so emphatically...

I love it.

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevon Snead, OT Ciron Black, DT Gerald McCoy, S Eric Berry, DT Ndamukong Suh, CB Ras-I Dowling 6'2, 200, RB Jonathan Dwyer

by Misfit74 on Jun 22, 2009 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, yeah, and the fact that it seemed like Jon Ryan had more touchbacks than Olindo Mare.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on Jun 22, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

if PUNTER is where you are looking for a poistion battle....

SS? CB? Interior -oline? Defensive tackle? RB?

Hopefully we don’t have to use our punters as much this season.

by cro-mag! on Jun 22, 2009 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We'll need to establish good field position If this team is going to be competitive.

Especially with a vanilla-ish defense, and more running of the ball.
I’d love to see someone challenge our punter.

by JamMasterJesus on Jun 23, 2009 1:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That is precisely my point...

and Ryan is horrible.

My fantasy league is incredibly unique; we have 45 man rosters, give points on a sliding scale so all positions are relatively equal, and play 2 DL, 2 LB, 2DB, D-flex and a punter every week.

Punters get their points for averaging over 40 yards per game, and points for inside the 20’s.

Ryan was among the worst in the league at pinning it inside the 20. Say what you will about Plack’s inconsistency, he was always among the league leaders there… I would rather have shady field position from a botched one once in a while and great position with the other team pinning consistently, instead of the other way around…

by whiskey chainsaw on Jun 23, 2009 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

edit please..

other team "pinned’ consistently, not pinning… sigh.

by whiskey chainsaw on Jun 23, 2009 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's an odd setup for points. (in a good way)

And i couldn’t agree more. A little finesse is what separates a decent punter from a good punter.

by JamMasterJesus on Jun 23, 2009 10:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you are interested in more detail...

hit me up privately through my email (link through my name here) and i’ll give you some framework. we’ve been tweaking things for 4 years, but we’ve got a pretty good model now! :)

by whiskey chainsaw on Jun 24, 2009 9:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Only one punter on the roster

I have to imagine that we’ll have another punter in training camp to compete with Ryan…

by eeezzbok on Jun 22, 2009 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope Obomanu and Taylor both find their way onto the roster

Obo for what he’s shown as a receiver, Taylor for what he showed as a gunner. I’d rather have those two than Moore, Morrah or Reed.

The most interesting training camp battle is going to be Jennings and Hobbs though. There were a lot of rumblings last year that Hobbs would unseat Jennings and all Jenning’s has done since is suck. And trip. I wonder how far his first round status is going to get him this year.

by Nate Dogg on Jun 22, 2009 4:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not that I disagree, but

I thought those ‘rumblings’ consisted of speculative drivel from ProFootballTalk or some other similar website, and those were concerning that Hobbs was going to unseat Josh Wilson because all he was doing was ‘using his athleticism to recover from when he got beat’, which seemed to unsubstantiated and made up just to have a false scoop.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on Jun 22, 2009 10:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It seemed like drivel until we saw Jennings play

Although we never saw much of Hobbs, so who knows.

by Nate Dogg on Jun 22, 2009 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Obo I can see

But I’m really hoping we’ve seen the last of Kent and Taylor. Those guys are simply terrible.

Stacey Nelson throws flaming screwballs.
It's great to be a Florida Gator!

by Wayward Llama on Jun 23, 2009 7:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

kent at least has upside...

wouldn’t mind seeing him stick as a 5th receiver.

by cro-mag! on Jun 23, 2009 1:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Except Taylor looked really good at gunner last year

And showed a little bit of why John liked him in the Packers game.

by Nate Dogg on Jun 23, 2009 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They both have upside

But I don’t think Kent will ever be a 100% football player. For being so fast, he gets no separation and has iron hands. Taylor is one of the most hot/cold players I have ever seen. When he’s hot, he looks like he could be a legitimate threat, but most of the time he’s cold, and looks like he belongs on a PS.

I grow tired of hearing about the “young guys improving.” These guys have been in the league a few years and are still pretty crappy. I think we will see Hass make the team before these two. He may not be as quick, but he’s got much better hands.

Stacey Nelson throws flaming screwballs.
It's great to be a Florida Gator!

by Wayward Llama on Jun 24, 2009 5:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hass came into the league in '06 with Obo, a year before Taylor and Kent.

He has never caught a ball.

by Nate Dogg on Jun 24, 2009 9:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget there's a new regime in place

so as for speculating on what players/attributes the new coaching staff tends to favor, we don’t know who really has an edge for the fringe positions. Of course performance through camp and preseason dictates most of it, but for the close competitions the coaches’ bias plays into it quite a bit. With Holmgren the choices got to be almost as predictable as a FB draw on 3rd-and-17, but I’m excited to see how Mora & co. differ in their approach.

by Camarostache '77 on Jun 22, 2009 6:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Who is your suprise CUT.

Looking at the position battles, who do you think will be some of the suprise cuts.

QB- No suprises

RB/FB- Justin Griffith. Some may be shocked, but what if Justin is not 100% and Kirtman has a great camp. Just something to think about.

WR/TE- Obomanu and Taylor. Both guys were thought to have future starting “potential” and I think Kent and Payne beat them both out. Obo has a chance, but I see Taylor being cut.

O-line- No shocks here, maybe Whale could be cut, but the team would have to sold on Wrotto or Unger at LG and I’m not sure they will be. Wahle is a good guard, but his health has to be a worry. Thea real shock would be if Vallos is not on the roster. He played very good last year, and I think the guy could be a good backup at center or guard for a long time.

DT/DE- Here we go, I say Nick Reed makes the team as a DE or OLB. I really think Reed has a chance to be a good pass rushing DE, but the one holdup is that most rookie D-linemen don’t have a huge impact in their first year, so Reed needs a strong camp. With that said Atkins is cut.

LB’s- No shockers here. David Hawthorn will be the sixth and final LB added to the roster not Laury.

CB- Bab’s may be cut. The team will hold onto Jennings for at least one more year, he is still on the rookie contract, and as a fourth CB he may find his groove again. Hobbs makes it as well. So yes I say Bab’s is cut.

FS/SS- CJ Wallace will be cut in favor of Greene. The team doesn’t see CJ as the future or he would have beat out Deon or Brian in the last two years. Green has a future (right now), so I CJ as the odd man out.

PK- Mare will be cut. You can’t keep two kickers again, and Coutu was picked last year as the future. If Coutu can’t win the job outright, who knows what will happen, but you just can’t keep two kickers.

by JustinWF on Jun 22, 2009 7:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs