Seattle Seahawks Announce Practice Squad, New Names

by John Morgan on Sep 7, 2009 2:48 PM PDT

Seattle's practice squad is headlined by a couple new faces: Roy Lewis formerly of Washington and Blake Schlueter. Schlueter is a former Horned Frog. Years of cosmetic surgery have...

His acquisition is interesting. Like Vallos, Schlueter is an undersized college star that only fits in a very-pure zone -blocking scheme. If you're looking for further writing on the wall about the future of Chris Spencer, note Schlueter is 286; that Schlueter is another bad-frame, good at football pick. A guy Alex Gibbs might like.

Lewis should be familiar to most. I assume the Husky standout and former captain is the honorary Michael Bumpus signing with side benefits. He could have been hidden on a bad team.

The rest of squad is familiar.

Jamar Adams S

Mike Hass WR

Devin Moore RB

Logan Payne

Kyle Williams

And one open spot.

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was Greene claimed by someone else?

Slightly surprised he’s not on the PS.

"I'm tired of chasing after my dreams. I'll just find out where they're going, and catch up later." - Hedberg

by jteckmann on Sep 7, 2009 2:53 PM PDT reply actions

That was my first thought, too

esp. since Ruskell had said we’re keeping all our draft picks, and I would think we would have been better off PSing Greene over Adams.

Other than that, I don’t see anybody missing.

by The Ancient Mariner on Sep 7, 2009 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm wondering..

what was it about Greene’s play that ultimately failed to make the grade. I thought at times he looked good as a rookie, other times invisible (not always a bad thing as a safety), and once in awhile liable for a big play by the offense. Jamar Adams did outplay him vs. the Raiders, but a lot of that was due to Greene having to leave the game because of injury.

by Catoblepas on Sep 8, 2009 5:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Seconded. Whither Greene?

"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?" - Dr. Venture

by Eegah on Sep 7, 2009 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions

Not sure

One open spot.

by John Morgan on Sep 7, 2009 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Roy Lewis

Roy Lewis was seen as more of a S prospect than CB at Pittsburgh, so this may have something to do with the team deciding they needed to choose between Adams and Greene as a S on practice squad, and letting Greene walk.

by Stevo's on Sep 8, 2009 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions

what does the open spot mean?

It feels like there is ano9ther roster move coming.

by dingoeatbaby on Sep 7, 2009 3:22 PM PDT reply actions

Or they could be leaving a spot in case Reed, Bennett or Walker struggle.

A Mariners fan in Seattle

by Coach Owens on Sep 7, 2009 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions

They wouldn't do that

Players can be signed from, cut to or released from the practice at any time. If Seattle wants to send someone down, they can make room.

by John Morgan on Sep 7, 2009 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Touche, Mr. Morgan, touche...

A Mariners fan in Seattle

by Coach Owens on Sep 7, 2009 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions

Couldn't we add Coutu?

We should have Coutu for the final spot because if Olindo Mare struggles we could activate Coutu from the pracitce squad and be our kicker.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 7, 2009 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Eh, kickers who can't kick the ball deep aren't that hard to find.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Better than bringing a 50 year old kicker out of retirement.

Yeah Olindo may not struggle much this year and he may not get injured but he is an old fella and adding Coutu would be good. It would be easier for the front office to just activate Coutu from the practice squad if Mare struggled or got injured instead of searching for a kicker in the free agent market.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 7, 2009 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions

Coutu is a scrub..

He can’t kick far enough to be worthwhile. End of story.

by michaelfox99 on Sep 7, 2009 4:37 PM PDT up reply actions

I hope your not saying that just because of his kickoffs.

Just cuz he kicks about 5 yards shorter than Olindo Mare on kickoffs that makes him a bad kicker? Yes he’s more accurate than power but give him some time. I’m not saying that they should start him over Olindo Mare because that’s just ridiculous but let’s not forget that this is Olindo’s last year in Seattle unless they re-sign him so i’d keep Coutu for now.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 7, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions

Olindo Mare can net us touchbacks, Coutu can't, and it isn't too incredibly difficult to replace a kicker should Mare leave next season.

Use that practice squad spot for someone more worthwhile.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 5:16 PM PDT up reply actions

I seem to remember a lot of people said that about replacing a certain longsnapper.

Sam Bradford, future Seattle Seahawk.

by Carl Shinyama on Sep 7, 2009 5:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I was as worried as anyone when we replaced Josh Brown with Mare

But we’ve seen first hand that kickers are extremely fungible. And with the exception of Boone Stutz we’ve seen that long snappers are also readily available. It just doesn’t make any sense to spend more than one roster spot on a kicker, punter or long snapper.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 7, 2009 5:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Tell that to the Yahoo! FF auto-draft! >:(

A Mariners fan in Seattle

by Coach Owens on Sep 7, 2009 5:39 PM PDT up reply actions

As far as Boone Stutz goes

I have to think there were countless better options, Ruskell just managed to select one of the few that was worse. Heck, Stutz was replaced by someone pulled out of retirement who did a respectable job.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions

They said that about Longsnappers as well

Remember when our team went through 3 long snappers in 2007. Coutu has a lot of potential. Just give him some time to develop on the kickoffs. And people are treating it like our team has only the Kicker out on kickoffs and we have no kickoff coverage. Even if Coutu kicks it to the 10 yard line, we have a pretty good kickoff coverage team that will knock returners down below the 30 yard line.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 7, 2009 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions

We happened to find the one long-snapper that was worse than the one we had

and he was replaced by some random player pulled out of retirement who did a fine job. Long-snappers, kickers, and punters are fungible.

Also, touchbacks are valuable. Even if we have the best coverage unit in the NFL, the difference between Coutu and Mare could be something like 7-10 yards field position. That’s valuable as well. At the very least, touchbacks prevent opportunities for returners to bust off big gains.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 6:39 PM PDT up reply actions

I suppose the point I'm trying to make

is that Coutu isn’t anything special and he can be replaced easily.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 6:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Seattle has cycled Kickers ever since I can remember.

Kasay, Lindell, Brown, etc.

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevan 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 Sep 7, 2009 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions

Seems to work, doesn't it?

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 6:40 PM PDT up reply actions

I'd say so.

Todd Peterson wasn’t terrible, either. Fungible kickers? Who knew?

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevan 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 Sep 7, 2009 9:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Apparently John did.

He had to talk a bunch of us off the ledge when Brown left.

by BrianL on Sep 7, 2009 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions

I was more annoyed with Brown than angry about him leaving.

He was one of the rare kickers who was a fan favorite and actually had people wearing his jersey.

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

by Fearless Frog on Sep 7, 2009 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions

We don't even have a franchise RB...

and you want a ‘franchise Kicker’?

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevan 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 Sep 7, 2009 10:27 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah I want a "franchise" everything on our team

I always look for a guy on our team that will stick arond for a long time. Our linebackers are a good example. They are all “Franchise” linebackers for us and that’s what makes them a solid group. And yeah we need to find a good runningback for us. A franchise kicker is important. A good example is the Kansas City Chiefs. They have struggled on special teams and I don’t know how many kickers they have went through in the past year. It’s crazy.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 8, 2009 7:25 AM PDT up reply actions

There's not enough payroll and capspace to have a franchise everything on a football team.

Furthermore, kicker isn’t exactly a position where talent is scarce. If Mare walks, he can be replaced without too much of a struggle. We don’t need an Adam Vinatieri locked up for ten years to be successful long-term.

by BrianL on Sep 8, 2009 8:17 AM PDT up reply actions

absolutely would be smart to put Coutu back on practice squad

point is that Mare is an older kicker and, if injured, a K of his caliber would not be available. Coutu would be a solid reserve at a critical position if he is still available for PS.

by Stevo's on Sep 8, 2009 8:21 AM PDT up reply actions

Is Coutu even eligible for the practice squad?

Was he inactive last year?

A Mariners fan in Seattle

by Coach Owens on Sep 7, 2009 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah I think he's eligible for the practice squad.

by Seahawksfan23 on Sep 7, 2009 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Sando has an interesting table in his latest blog entry

He took a look at how many players each NFLW team will have available for practice at each position:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/4502/seahawks-practice-squad-division-wide-persepctive

Going strictly by this table, it would seem the Seahawks would want to add a LB to the practice squad, in order to come closer to the average roster depth in the division.

by Mr Fish on Sep 7, 2009 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions

I am not sure that's a huge concern

Seattle has three starters locked in for huge money and multiple years.

by John Morgan on Sep 7, 2009 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions

Agreed

I just thought the table was interesting.

You’ll note that I did say “going strictly by the table” because there are obviously other considerations.

by Mr Fish on Sep 7, 2009 3:57 PM PDT up reply actions

I always figured practice squad was more for the scout team

To help the starters practice. Being short a linebacker might hurt in that area, but then I guess Reed or Bennett could also play linebacker for the scout team if they needed a fourth.

by B.B.Finnegan on Sep 7, 2009 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions

That's a consideration

and I think that’s what Mr Fish meant as well (I feel silly typing that “Mr Fish”). I was just saying that Seattle might have anomalous depth at linebacker because it has an anomalously talented linebacker corps. Practice squad is both literally a squadron of practice players kept for the purpose of practice and a means to retain talent. A team with three confirmed starters at linebacker—confirmed for the next two years and probably confirmed for the next six—could see more reason to retain talent at another position than reason to ensure a rounded practice squad.

by John Morgan on Sep 7, 2009 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions