Coffee and Cigarettes

Good morning!

Kolb's numbers may not fit Cardinals - Stats & Info Blog - ESPN:  Very interesting read here and something that will be of importance to the Hawks if Kolb ends up in the desert. Apparently, he's not very good against nickel, dime and bandit defensive looks. "Kolb's passer rating against five-or-more defensive backs over the last three seasons is 66.4. That puts him in the same company with guys like J.T. O'Sullivan (66.0), Dan Orlovsky (64.1) and former Cardinal Matt Leinart (68.0)."

On Kyle Orton's viability for Seahawks - NFC West Blog - ESPN: "Sando: The Seahawks aren't attacking the quarterback situation very aggressively. They're building for the long term, focusing on the supporting cast and determined not to force the quarterback situation if there isn't a franchise-caliber option available. Do Orton and Kolb qualify in the Seahawks' eyes as must-have, championship-caliber quarterbacks? That seems doubtful. I suspect the teams that know those players best would keep them if they viewed Orton and Kolb as being in that class. For that reason, I doubt the Seahawks will meet any lucrative trade demands for Orton. The team might be more apt to bring back Matt Hasselbeck for another year, or even go with Charlie Whitehurst. Again, I'm sensing no rush from Seattle to patch the situation."

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Walkthrough: Empty Premise: A look at the week ahead from Football Outsiders. Always a good read.

"It's third-and-2. Your team breaks the huddle and lines up in an empty backfield formation. You groan. Way to take away any threat of a run, you think. Way to limit your pass protection options. In the name of getting one more receiver off the line quickly, the team has telegraphed its intentions. What a horrible trade-off.
That's what I think, at least. I have written in the past about my frustration with empty backfield alignments on third-and-short. Down-and-distance situations like third-and-2 or third-and-3 may now be passing downs, but that empty backfield set takes running plays completely out of the equation unless Michael Vick or Tim Tebow is on the field. And with those guys in shotgun, the quarterback draw isn't going to fool anyone."

Clink the link to read the rest.

21st to 30th Defensive Prospects - Mocking The Draft: Mocking the draft already rolling out good coverage of the 2012 draft class' prospects. This takes a look at ten from the defensive side of the ball.

31 to 40 defensive prospects - Mocking The Draft: This is the next ten my friends.

Nick Foles 2012 NFL Draft prospect notes - Mocking The Draft: A good look at Nick Foles, a QB that some people have linked to the Hawks because of his supposed effectiveness in the WCO. 

Will the NFLPA choose not to recertify? - CBSSports.com: "You know how we've talked over and over again about how the owners think the NFLPA's decertification is a sham because everybody just kind of assumes that the trade union will recertify after this labor fight ends? Well, the NFLPA might not recertify after all. In fact, Yahoo! Sports' Mike Silver is reporting that executive director DeMaurice Smith said he's come "full circle" - from the ultimate union man to a man who thinks a union-free existence might be the way to go."

Warner: players will 'have to give in' - CBSSports.com: "In statements that will surely not make his former teammates (and the rest of the league's players, for that matter) very happy, Kurt Warner told USA Today that eventually the players will have to cave in to the owners in order to end the labor strife. "I'm still optimistic that they're going to find a way to make sure there's football," Warner told the paper. "The players have too much to lose. And as much as I hate to say it, at some point, the players have to give in. And, hopefully, they can gain some other things on their side.

"But ultimately, they have too much to lose."

Fans not buying Goodell’s ‘Fans want 18 games’ rhetoric - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports: "What I found interesting about this particular statement is that I have never heard or read any fan saying or writing that an 18-game regular season would be preferable in the abstract. Having listened in on one of Goodell's season-ticket calls and having read summaries of others, I cannot, for the life of me, remember even one of these season-ticket holders saying anything to the effect of, "Mr. Commissioner, we have got to have more regular-season games!" What I do hear, over and over, is Goodell's contention that the 18-game season is somehow a balm for the fans ... when in truth, the fans aren't particularly interested in the idea."

Maturity issues, still-raw mechanics cloud Vince Young’s future - NFL - Sporting News: Russ Lande with his continuing series of scouting reports on QBs. This time it's Vince Young's turn to face the music.

Undrafted free agents to watch " Seahawks Draft Blog: Rob's take on which UDFAs the Hawks might have some interest in. 

NFL.com news: Johnson: Palmer might quit, should if he doesn't want to be a Bengal: "Tank Johnson thinks Carson Palmer's threat to retire is "definitely serious," and he agrees with Cincinnati teammate Cedric Benson that if the quarterback isn't willing to give his all, the Bengals have no use for him."

The prize of next year's NFL Draft | National Football Post: "The obvious big prize presented to the team with the worst record in the 2011 NFL season (if there is one) is quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford. He has all the tools to be not just a good but a great quarterback in the NFL. If there ever was a franchise player, Luck is it."