Kevin Hobbs and Other Students of Jim Mora

Or something.

As far as point 1, I knew I saw this somewhere, took me awhile to find the link, but per Danny O’Niel and according to Mora this should clarify things a little:

First, we start with a verdict regarding cornerback Kevin Hobbs, who was largely pinned for blame when tight end Kris Wilson caught a 32-yard pass. After all, Hobbs was the closest defender and the one the cameras caught looking around all flustered.

Except there was a reason he was flustered. Coach Jim Mora said Monday Wilson wasn’t Hobbs’ responsibility on that play.

“The secondary didn’t blow that coverage, that was a linebacker,” Mora said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawksblog/2009683397_site_seeing_tue.html

Still a defensive breakdown, and I share the same concerns you listed with pass defense / Mora secondary coach. It’s unnerving. As is Mora’s defensive track record, though I hope they put these nerves to rest this year. Having a good second corner (Lucas) and Wilson where he ought to be at this stage in his career should help immensely.

The secondary was very unimpressive. I didn’t expect a complete turnaround, but I expected improvement. I didn’t see much.

Granted, Trufant didn’t play. He is the cornerstone of our secondary.

Let’s all hope and pray that his back fully heals before the season.

Rankings are for NY/A. Ideally you’d want ANY/A but whatever.

San Diego – Secondary Coach
89 – 4th
90 – 14th
91 – 24th
New Orleans
92 – 1st
93 – 4th
94 – 22nd
95 – 22nd
96 – 13th
San Francisco
97 – 1st
98 – 22nd
(DC) 99 – 31st
00 – 29th
01 – 14th
02 – 21st
03 – 17th
Atlanta – Head Coach
04 – 19th (up from 31st)
05 – 8th
06 – 31st
Seattle – Secondary
07 – 9th (up from 17th)
08 – 26th

Who is more likely to make the team, Kevin Hobbs or Travis Fisher?

If you follow history. He’ll take a well coached team and hype them up, get them playing at a level they’ve never played at before. Then, a la Wade Phillips, the structure beneath them that they once knew will crumble and the team will sag back to the pack. Rankings aside, the success on the scoreboard goes hand in hand with those rankings.

Holmgren built a solid foundation. Maybe Mora learned enough from him, and with the help of Ruskell can sustain that foundation. But history says- the fire on this team will not be as bright in the future as it is today.

Two points to make here.

First, last year’s secondary was abysmal as the entire team was abysmal, but they weren’t any more abysmal than the rest of the team. However, they looked more abysmal because of their situation — the spotlight was on them. The offense was horrendously injured and ineffective, and couldn’t stay on the field, resulting in a tired defense. The defense had injuries as well, though not so many as the offense — but I clearly remember our top three defensive players starting the season with a giant Q-tip where one of their hands should have been. One large contributing factor to the secondary’s appearance of abysmality was the freelancing and undiscipline of Julian Peterson. The guy was fun to watch when he made plays, but last year he didn’t make plays nearly enough to make up for his mistakes. He was fundamentally unsound, and he left assignment gaps that had to be compensated for by the other LBs, which then had to be compensated for by the corners… $#!T rolls downhill, and our secondary was stuck at the bottom. This year, with our front seven being far more disciplined and effective, our back four are going to look a whole lot better. Oh yeah — the fact that someone else besides Marshall is drawing up schemes and assignments can’t hurt, either.

Second, if we understand that the poor performance of last year’s secondary isn’t directly related to the performance of this year’s secondary, we need to stop linking the two. Yes, Mora was the seconday coach last year and he’s now the head coach. Mora himself has stated that the secondary was horrible last year (he mentioned that one of the other D coaches watching film was hesitant to criticize the secondary play shortly after he was hired exactly because the current head coach was last year’s secondary coach, and when Mora saw it, he demanded the coaches say exactly what they think even if it reflected poorly on him). But we now have new secondary coaches, new defensive schemes, new personnel up front, and all we have to go on this season is a bunch of practices and one pre-season game. A bit to early to draw conclusions, good or bad, and especially too early to hit the panic button IMO.