Coffee and Cigarettes: Seahawks Links for Wednesday

Seattle Seahawks news, rumors, links, info, interviews, analysis, and more!

NFC West: What's left in free agency - NFC West Blog - ESPN - The time has come for some accounting now that the top unrestricted free agents have found homes. Others continue to wait. I've put together charts showing how many and which UFAs for NFC West teams remain unsigned. The deadline passed Saturday for teams to make qualifying offers to these players.

Post-camp feel: How I rank the NFC West - NFC West Blog - ESPN - General impressions on how the NFC West standings should shake out following visits to each training camp in the division:

2011 UFA market: NFC West scorecard - NFC West Blog - ESPN - With training camps winding down, I've found time to update rosters and put together team-by-team reference material for unrestricted free agency. The names below match official NFL counts. These are for players with at least four accrued NFL seasons whose contracts expired following the 2010 season. I've added comments for each team.

Seahawks.com Blog | No. 91 is No. 99 " - Scouts Inc. has compiled its rankings of the Top 200 players in the NFL and the Seahawks landed five players on the list, topped by defensive end Chris Clemons at No. 99. Also included: No. 104, wide receiver Sidney Rice; No. 145, left tackle Russell Okung; No. 159, tight end Zach Miller; No. 199, cornerback Marcus Trufant.

Brandon Thompson & Jayron Hosley gametape " Seahawks Draft Blog - I’ve been asked about the defensive talent in the 2012 draft class and admittedly we’ve focused a lot of energy on quarterbacks this summer. With the college season looming it’s time to turn our attentions to a couple of defensive prospects. Brandon Thompson (DT, Clemson) is someone I’ve been asked about in the past while Jayron Hosley (CB, Virginia Tech) is a cornerback who is far from faultless, but has a lot of playmaking qualities. Let me know what your thoughts are.

NFL 2011: Carroll’s 2nd year brings plenty of changes and departure of familiar faces - The Washington Post - They became the faces everyone in Seattle recognized, the spokesmen for the franchise and the two players fans connected with quickest. Matt Hasselbeck and Lofa Tatupu were the heartbeat of the Seahawks — one the quarterback for the last decade, the other the fiery defensive captain, both linked to Seattle’s only Super Bowl appearance a half-dozen seasons ago. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? ( Ted S. Warren / Associated Press ) - A fired up Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll in the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011, in Seattle. They were two successful, proven veterans and among the few constants in a wave of change. And now the 2011 season begins and both are gone.

Stampeders rooting on former teammate at Seahawks' camp - It’s one of the better feel-good stories of the Calgary Stampeders’ 2011 season, and it’s playing out more than 700 kilometres and a time zone away to the west. That’s where former Stampeder all-Canadian cornerback Brandon Browner is chasing his dream, attending training camp in Renton, Washington, with the Seattle Seahawks, and according to various glowing reports, excelling in his bid for stateside employment.

The Brewery | John Schneider vs. Tim Ruskell: An undoing of bloated linebacker contracts | Seattle Times Newspaper - Over the past 19 months, the Pete Carroll/John Schneider front office has undertaken many home-improvement tasks to reset the Seahawks. But nothing they've done is as stunning or as telling as their efforts to reduce the franchise's linebacker financial burden. Our Seahawks beat writer Danny O'Neil explained the intricacies behind the latest bit of news (first reported by ProFootballTalk.com) regarding the Seahawks' linebacker salary purge - they've restructured Aaron Curry's contract, essentially reducing the years from six to four. Curry, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, is now truly about to embark on a make-or-break third season after two disappointing years to start his career.

17 Power, A Seattle Seahawks Blog: On Tarvaris Jackson, Part 4 - Coaches don't just hand their quarterbacks a playbook and set them loose. Handling of a QB by their head coach defines the QB, not entirely, but to a pertinent degree. We Twelves are aware of this. Notorious are the stories of Mike Holmgren's temper and how it kept Matt Hasselbeck disciplined and accountable on the field. Seneca Wallace usually played with a watered-down playbook and a tight leash held by Holmgren. Read up on almost any successful team, and you'll find that the relationship between coaches and QB's is well-defined.

From the Sidelines: vs. Minnesota - "We’ve got to play how we’re capable of playing."

First Impressions - Vikings @ Seahawks | ProFootballFocus.com - In Seattle’s first preseason game, I charted all the throws made by Tarvaris Jackson to illustrate a point: by-and-large he doesn’t do much wrong, but he just won’t attack downfield and all too readily comes off his first or second read in favor of a dump-off. In that game he was without both Mike Williams and Sidney Rice, a pair of 6’4+ weapons on the outside. Did things get better with them both in the starting lineup this time? Well, no. He did take a couple of downfield shots to Rice, but missed the field by 5 yards on one and should have been picked on another. If you’re only working from the box score, ignore his pick-six. That INT came off the hands of Golden Tate on what should have been a first down throw on 3rd-and-7. Beyond all of this, the opening play of the game is what I want to highlight when talking about Jackson’s problems. Seattle lined up four-wide while the Vikings stayed in their base, leaving the outside receivers covered with CBs, safety Hussain Abdullah on one slot receiver (Golden Tate) and Chad Greenway covering Sidney Rice in the other. Regardless of the call, that ball has to go to Rice. It didn’t. It was incomplete.

NFP preseason Top 25 | National Football Post - With the 2011 college football season commencing a week from Thursday, let’s take a look at the NFP’s preseason Top 25.

Seahawks Blog | Contractual contraction: LB Aaron Curry | Seattle Times Newspaper - The change in the contract of linebacker Aaron Curry has very little to do with the 2011 season. He is the team's starting strongside linebacker. That was going to be true before his six-year rookie contract was changed to a four-year deal, and it's true now the contract has been changed.

Seahawks release Vai Taua two days after his first NFL game | KSBY.com | San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles - Lompoc native Vai Taua continues to learn about the business-side of the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks released the Cabrillo High graduate on Monday just eight days after signing the undrafted free agent rookie. The 22 year old played for Seattle on Saturday. He rushed for 15 yards on 2 carries in the fourth quarter in his first NFL game. The Vikings beat Seattle 20-7 in the preseason game.

Three Seahawks concerns that are overblown - Seahawks News - MyNorthwest.com - Lack of leadership. The departures of Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu and Lawyer Milloy have caused a lot of hand-wringing over the lack of veteran leadership in the Seahawks' locker room. True, they are young. At last count, there were only nine players on the roster with seven or more years of NFL tenure. There are a lot of Rs, 1s, 2s and 3s next to the 90 or so names on the roster.

Monday Metatarsal Musings - Or footnote: A look at three things that went well in Saturday’s loss to the Vikings, and three things that need work as the Seahawks prepare for this week’s game against the Broncos in Denver.

Tarvaris Jackson, Charlie Whitehurst In Ersatz Seattle Seahawks Quarterback Competition - SB Nation St. Louis - The Seattle Seahawks' quarterback situation has gotten more complicated than ever; with Sam Bradford improving, Kevin Kolb installed, and Alex Smith backed up by a rookie, did Seattle make a mistake in entrusting the job to Tarvaris Jackson?

Following up: Seahawks' QB options - NFC West Blog - ESPN - Ian 202128 blamed receiver Golden Tate and the Seahawks' pass protection for Jackson's issues against Minnesota in the second preseason game. He thought coaches were asking Jackson to strike farther downfield, nearly impossible given the protection. He also thought Whitehurst repeatedly had extended periods to throw 

Seahawk Breakdown: O-line Will Be A Work In Progress This Season " 12th Man Rising | A Seattle Seahawks Blog
SURPRISE OF THE GAME: Welcome back Leroy Hill.  He looked like his old self for the first time in two seasons.  Remember how tough and effective this guy was in 2005, his rookie season.  He single handedly shut down Carolina’s premiere receiver, Steve Smith, in the NCF Championship game and was just as much a part of that season as any other superstar on the team.  Hill was doing the same thing this game except that now it was Adrian Peterson.  I love watching Hill play football when he loves the game.  He is a run stopping machine who plays with a violent streak.  He runs at warp 9 and finds great angles of pursuit.  When he is committed to football, he is a Pro-Bowl type player.  Unfortunately when he’s not committed to football, he’s an injury with narcolepsy and a big salary.  Watch out for Hill this season.  I think he’s on the comeback trail.  He’ll be 28 next month, and only played in a single game last year, so there’s plenty left in the tank.  I really want to believe in the motive of Hill as well.  Leroy Hill’s motive, experience,and health have never been better going into this season, and I hope to see him become as leader on this defense as the season progresses.  *The Heater is still my favorite though.

Carroll: No quarterback competition yet | Seahawks Insider
Lots of stuff to report today, so let’s get into it. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll addressed the recent news about Aaron Curry restructuring his contract, saying that it has had little affect on the team because it happened months ago, before the lockout began in March. "That’s really old news for us," Carroll said. "As far as I understand that was a long time ago when that happened. If you’re reacting to that now, understand that that happened months ago. That’s not news that’s pertinent to what’s going on right now to us.

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