Seattle Seahawks 13-3 2007 DVOA: 11.7%

Passing Offense: 17.2% + Replaced Shaun Alexander with Julius Jones Replaced Marcus Pollard with John Carlson Replaced Chris Gray with Rob Sims - Lost DJ Hackett Deion Branch recovering from ACL tear

Rushing Offense: -9.9% + Replaced Shaun Alexander with Julius Jones Replaced Rob Sims with Mike Wahle Replaced Chris Gray with Rob Sims Replaced Marcus Pollard with John Carlson - n/a

Pass Defense: -0.2% + Added Lawrence Jackson Added Red Bryant Moved Darryl Tapp to situational duty Year 3: Kelly Jennings Darryl Tapp: 24 Hill’s late season development in coverage - Patrick Kerney: 31 Rocky Bernard: 29

Rush Defense: -12.1% + Added Lawrence Jackson Added Red Bryant Moved Darryl Tapp to situational duty Mebane: 23 Hill: 26 - n/a

+ Replaced Josh Brown with Olindo Mare on kickoffs Replaced Boone Stutz (et al) with Tyler Schmitt - Replaced Josh Brown with Olindo Mare on field goals (maybe)

Summary: Anything short of 6-0 in division would be very disappointing.

Arizona Cardinals 9-7 2007 DVOA: -10.1%

Passing Offense: 6.6% + Replaced Kurt Warner with Matt Leinart (maybe) Added WR Early Doucet - Lost WR Bryant Johnson

Rushing Offense:-11.3% + Added RB Tim Hightower - Edgerrin James: 30; 2,849 rushing attempts

Pass Defense: 10.3% + Added CB Dominique Rogers-Cromartie Added DL Calais Campbell Replaced FS Terrence Holt with Antrel Rolle - Lost OLB Calvin Pace

Rush Defense: -1.2% + Added CB Dominique Rogers-Cromartie Added DL Calais Campbell - n/a

Special Teams: -3.9% + Added Early Doucet to punt returns

Summary: A below average team that rolls out practically the same unit as last season, the Cardinals miserable cap shape prevented them from adding much talent in free agency. If Campbell rebounds, Leinart realizes some of his potential and Hightower is an above average feature back, this team could compete. That’s not terribly likely. Still a good sight better than the Rams or 49ers.

Saint Louis Rams: 6-10 2007 DVOA: -33.9%

Passing Offense: -18.0% + Replaced Andy McCollum with Jacob Bell Added Keenan Burton Added John Greco Added Donnie Avery - n/a

Rushing Offense: -19.6% + Replaced Andy McCollum with Jacob Bell Steven Jackson: 25 Richie Incognito: 25 - n/a

Pass Defense: 18.1% + Added Chris Long - Leonard Little, La'Roi Glover: 34

Rush Defense: 3.1% See above

Special Teams: -4.3% Replaced Jeff Wilkins with Josh Brown

Summary: The Rams are in a similar position with Orlando Pace as the Hawks are with Marcus Tubbs, except where Seattle only needs Tubbs to contribute as a second or third string rotational defensive tackle, the Rams are relying on Pace to start the season at left tackle. …! Without Pace, the Rams are a team with a few pronounced strengths (two members of the defensive line, running up the middle, Torry Holt) and a team’s worth of weaknesses (linebacker, secondary, pass rush, pass protection, receiver, special teams, 2nd string quarterback, depth at any position). I think a bounce back in team health, an improved offensive line, a return to respectability by Marc Bulger and 400 carries by Steven Jackson will keep Saint Louis from a second year of embarrassment, but just barely.

San Francisco 49ers 3-13 2007 DVOA: -38.0%

Passing Offense: -43.9% + Replaced LT Jonas Jennings with Joe Staley - n/a

Rushing Offense: -11.1% + Added G Chilo Rachal - Added RB DeShaun Foster Added OC Mike Martz

Passing Defense: 20.8% + Added DB Reggie Smith Manny Lawson: 24 Patrick Willis: 23 - Replaced Bryant Young with Kentwan Balmer Replaced Marques Douglas with Justin Smith Walt Harris: 34

Rush Defense: 1.3% See Above

Special Teams: 4.1% Added Returner Josh Morgan

Summary: A miserable team in the midst of a miserable offseason. Bryant Johnson is a mediocre wide receiver that benefitted from good surrounding talent and a strong scheme. Isaac Bruce will turn 36 November 10th. Presumed 3-4 end Justin Smith will turn 29 September 30th, is fresh off a 2 sack season and weighs less than Darryl Tapp. Yeah, that’s worth $45M/6 yrs, $20M guaranteed. Just a phenomenally stupid move. For much of 2007, the Niners were flirting with all-time ineptness. They’ve lost talent and added Mike Martz. Martz was so bad the Detroit Lions ran him out of depression town on a rail. On the plus side, I bet Patrick Willis racks up the tackles.

On February 28^th, the San Diego Chargers cut Shane Olivea. On November 29^th Olivea lost the starting RT job to Jeromey Clarey. Both tackles are young and former late round picks, 7^th and 6^th respectively. Not too long back, Olivea was considered part of the Chargers’ young core, but amidst reports that he had badly regressed the past season and a half, Olivea fell from the organization’s and particularly Norv Turner’s good graces. I’m willing to bet against Turner when it comes to talent evaluation. What’s surprising, though, is that Olivea is still a free agent.

Whatever’s wrong with Olivea, it doesn’t show up in his pass blocking stats. In his first three seasons in the league, Olivea allowed 4.5, 5 and 5.75 sacks in 16, 15 and 16 games started. Pretty steady. In 2007, Olivea allowed 3 sacks in 10 games started. He didn’t record a single hold - charged with only 2 in his entire career - and was penalized for just 1 false start. Holmgren is known to stress penalty avoidance by his offensive line, and I must think that Olivea’s impressive discipline would be at home in Mike’s system.

His run blocking, is, eh, less impressive. In his first 3 seasons, the Chargers were consistently top 10 rushing around right tackle. In 2007, they were among the league’s worst, 29^th.

I don’t have any video of Olivea handy, but gather from wending through various Chargers sites that fans felt he was doggin’ it. That’s a pretty common accusation when a player unexpectedly looks worse, and no one can provide a real explanation as to why. Olivea played with a bit of a gimpy back, and his right side mate, Mike Goff, could have taken that toboggan like decline ho-hum players often take in their early 30s. Also, lest my eyes deceive me, LaDainian Tomlinson is no longer the back he once was. Still, that Olivea is in the midst of a sudden, very early retirement is curious, minimum.

I won’t go as far as say I endorse Seattle signing Olivea. The front office certainly has a better feel for who the young man really is, and what he’ll do to get back in the game than I do. But, for a team tackle deficient, and again employing Porkchop Womack, it should be considered. The hope for Womack is that the new regime demands the forever talented and forever out of shape utility offensive lineman to do enough conditioning, lifting and prep to be a serviceable tackle. Maybe Olivea doesn’t give a damn. I’ve long held the belief that the supposed “contract push” is an entirely different beast in the NFL. Playing MLB or the NBA might be long and strenuous, provoking certain athletes to fight for that first big payday and then chill, but players in the NFL are quite literally sacrificing their bodies. Linemen, especially, are doing irreparable damage to their knees, likely their backs…and one couldn’t judge too harshly the frankly prudent decision one might make to fight for that first contract and then get out while you can walk. That’s why I love the One Percenters, the fringe, the Owen Schmitt’s, who love every brutal moment, body be damned. Maybe Olivea knows better.

We'll get back into serious draft previews tomorrow, but my time is limited today so let's get this out of the way. Seattle needs a kicker. If Olindo Mare signs with Denver, that's a need they'll have to fill through the draft or, preferably, after the draft. Research has proven that field goal percentage is a poor measure of a kicker. So, let's simplify this. Instead of worrying about which kicker you can count on to get you that game winning field goal (the answer is "none"), let's focus on which kicker can help you win throughout the game by improving your field position with good kickoffs. Here's my top five kickers:

Garrett Hartley: Oklahoma was second to Air Force at forcing touchbacks (29 in 104 attempts). Hartley has a "big" leg, which means he can kick the ball far - not that he suffers from dropsy. Best of all, he's not expected to be drafted.

Alex Trlica: Texas Tech forced 26 touchbacks in 92 attempts, presumably Trlica had something to do with that.

Chris Nendick: Once renowned for his accuracy, Nendick suffered from a slightly larger sample size. More important to us, Northern Illinois posted 16 touchbacks on just 50 attempts. Nendick is a true sleeper. Somehow, I mean that both sarcastically and seriously.

Steven Hauschka: If Hauschka can be lured away from dental school, he might be pro caliber. North Carolina State managed 12 touchbacks on just 57 attempts.

Taylor Mehlhaff: Mehlhaff is the top ranked kicker on many boards, a major red flag. Why spend a 6th round pick for someone who isn't provably better than a free agent? Still, Mehlhaff has the skills. Wisconsin posted 27 touchbacks on just 77 kickoffs.

A kicker isn't worth losing sleep over. Yes, they can win or lose games for you, but, no, there's almost no way to know who will do what when. Except for kickoff length, that's something we can count on. Any of the above kickers, especially Nendick, would make a fine addition to the Seahawks. And each should improve on Josh Brown's 13 touchbacks in 2007, including just 2 over the final 9 weeks.

I taped Cowboys/Eagles II last season. I thought Seattle might face the Cowboys in the NFC Championship, but I also thought Julius Jones might be an undervalued free agent. Why? Gut feeling, nothing more. Well, a little bit more. As I've mentioned before, Jones's brother Thomas had a career renaissance after burning out his welcome with a few teams and I thought Julius may be able to do likewise. Pretty flimsy, I know. When I began to research Jones everything popped up negative: poor performance compared to teammate, declining speed, a seemingly good run blocking Cowboys unit--except for one thing: his receiving numbers were actually improving.

Anyway, I reviewed the tape of Jones, but before I get to what I saw, let me be clear: He only ran the ball 6 times, and didn't record a reception. So, major small sample size alert.

Julius Jones

• First play: Jones breaks an arm tackle and then does something I'm all too familiar with: sits in the hole. Jones is a very patient runner, too patient for the Cowboys blocking.
• Jones recorded 5 very solid blitz pickups and didn't whiff once. He's not a dominating pass blocker, but he's extremely disciplined and, really, pretty solid. He exampled 3 different kind of blocks: a shoulder block, a low block and a Sean Locklear-style shade and wash out. He did not once get out of position and even showed the awareness to "zone block", that is sit between two free blitzers and pick up the more urgent assignment. He did this twice. Once it resulted in a first down completion.
• Jones is, as previously stated, a rudimentary route runner, but, again, a disciplined one. His timing on play-action is solid, as is his sell. He doesn't do anything particularly dynamic in space, but he runs his routes/does what's asked of him.
• There's no avoiding this comparison: Jones looks like a younger Shaun Alexander. He's a weaving rusher that makes many small cuts. He's faster, quicker and much more agile than current Alexander. The end for Alexander was pretty simple: he simply could no longer break with any alacrity out of his cuts, effectively stopping in the hole. Jones gets into the hole, attempts to read his blockers and the defense, makes many quick, small cuts looking for daylight and then explodes into the open area. It's a maddening and demanding style that--on anything but an elite offensive line--will result in tons and tons of 0, 1, 2 and negative yardage rushing plays.
• It's also exactly how Mike Holmgren likes to run.
• The greatest difference between Marion Barber and Jones's performance with the Cowboys is fit. The Cowboys offensive line is stacked with giant, bruising blockers without an iota of finesse or technique. Barber runs straight, headlong through traffic and fights off tacklers, falls forward. It's an undemanding style that doesn't take great blocking to be effective. Undemanding, except on his body. Jones is almost pathologically patient. He lets his blockers setup, and if they don't is lost. Completely lost. Not unlike Alexander.
• Jones looked slow, discouraged and in need of a change. He was quick to the line, but painfully slow through the hole. The hole, if you're wondering, was more like a seam. He was out of place in Jason Garret's offense and had no chemistry with his blockers. He did not, though, look washed up or broken. He looked defeated, victim of too many blown assignments, free linebackers and microscopic holes.

Conclusion: Jones is a bit like Alexander reborn. A smart back with good vision that can be extremely effective, great even, if his blockers are assignment correct and create the kind space he needs. Consistently. If Seattle's line looks like last year's, Jones will only be slightly more effective than Alexander. If Mike Wahle rebounds and Rob Sims takes to right guard, Jones might make for a wonderful reclamation project. The logic seems to be: Morris was never going to be what Holmgren wants. Jones is. Jones is cheap, has no injury history and was once considered a top back. Give Holmgren a player that can work in his system, one he'll actually play. If I'm still not crazy about this signing I will at least say this, it makes a ton of sense. If this O-line comes to play, it also might be pretty damn sweet.

I, like most somewhat attention span deficient Millennials (shudder), like lists, but also recognize them as the lowest of format, weakest of concept, horseshoe on the hackneyed...So! Without further ado, a top 5 list: What free agency has meant for Seattle.

5. Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey: It's actually Put-Zeer if you're curious. It was Put-Ze-Eh, but Jeb decided that was too French. Anyway, Frenchie signed with Seattle for $650,000. A pittance. He's a capable second string tight end who, like Marcus Pollard, once posted a shiny DPAR on another team. Pollard got old, the Broncos and Texans became fed up with Putzier's inability to block. As bad as Pollard was, though productive, Putzier would likely be worse, though productive. Pollard was a limited athlete, who stretched a seam like an Olsen Twin. Putzier adds a little speed, run after catch and overall receiving ability, but, again, is a bad enough blocker to rarely see the red zone. Like Pollard, starting Putzier won't hamstring our offense, but bad players in undemanding roles can take a turn for the worse at the worst possible time.

Summary: Likely a second stringer. Don't be surprised if he's cut before the season starts. Insurance, depth, flexibility.

4. The Longest Yard: Seattle was the 27th ranked team at converting short yardage with the ground game. The line gets debited for that deficiency, but it's not all their fault. Not one of Seattle's 3 returning backs (Alexander 55%, Morris 47%, Weaver 50%) was particularly successful in "Power" situations. To be fair, Weaver only received 4 carries. And to clarify, over the season "Power" situations encompassed all of 33 carries. Still, from a skill-set viewpoint, Seattle didn't have a player on roster known for his ability to mix it up between the tackles and fight for that extra yard.

Enter TJ Duckett. Duckett is a tough, between the tackles pounder. So much of converting short yardage is hitting the hole and falling forward. Making a good showing before the officials guesstimate where you landed. Duckett can't open holes, but he can pop tacklers and win first contact.

Summary: A short yardage back with the potential to be so much more, Duckett is a near-perfect signing: cheap, all upside and fills a need.

3. Defending/Jettisoning Rob Sims: Sims never mastered Holmgren's somewhat complicated blocking lines. That doesn't mean he's a bad guard. Sims suffered unduly from a complex almost conspiratorial set of factors. Foremost, Shaun Alexander. Alexander squandered Sims' good blocks and dodged blame because of Sims' bad blocks. Guards don't get much credit for a hole when the back is tumbling to the ground behind the line of scrimmage. Predictably, neither Holmgren nor any member of his staff ever criticized Alexander publicly, or Chris Gray for that matter, but regularly ripped Sims. Every guard blows blocks, but when you've been targeted, your good blocks are lost or ignored. When you're inconsistent too, people tend to pile on.

More frustrating yet, Sims' pass blocking, a true strength, was totally ignored. In 2006, Seattle owned the 28th best sack prevention rate in the NFL. In 2007, with the same left tackle, right tackle, right guard, quarterback, a worse pass blocking fullback, a center that was at best a push (pass blocking) for the player he replaced, and an inferior receiving unit, Seattle owned the 19th best sack prevention rate. The major difference between those two teams, Rob Sims. Given the very high number of sacks endured/accepted/invited by Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle's pass blocking is a bit underrated. Seattle ended with the 9th ranked pass offense. One built on a 35 year old tight end, an overworked slot receiver and two receiving backs. In other words: third, fourth and fifth options. The line's ability to consistently provide Beck time allowed him to make his reads and allow plays to develop. Sims ability to neutralize his man and protect Walter Jones against the edge rush made all the difference. Pass blocking is a huge but underappreciated part of guard play. The Cowboys signed Leonard Davis to a $49 million contract almost entirely for his ability to pass block. Sims offered a similar level of play for $445,000.

Sims has lost the left guard spot to free agent Mike Wahle. Wahle is a better fit at left, within Holmgren's system and a pretty slick pass-blocker himself. The fallout should leave Sims first in line at right guard, but one wonders. Have we all, coaches included, missed the good in Sims because of an untouchable running back, some inconsistency and a bad repuatation? Hopefully not, because I think Sims will rule right guard.

Summary: Wahle is an improvement over Sims, and Sims is a sea change from whatever the hell Chris Gray was doing last season. Should Sims or someone better than Sims man right guard next season, Seattle will have one of the best pass blocking lines in football. Should they commit to a capable rusher, don't be surprised if their run blocking isn't too shabby either.

2. Shaun Out: Tim Ruskell's public vote of confidence for Seattle's precarious back may be the proverbial kiss of death. Signing Duckett and interviewing Jones are not the actions of a man who was happy with his running back. Neither Duckett nor Jones play special teams, nor does Weaver, Morris or (snicker) Alexander. The only evidence that Alexander will return is Tim Ruskell's word, which, well...

Seahawks' Ruskell dismisses notion that Jackson is on the block

Couple that with the season long cock and bull story surrounding whether Mora would be Seattle's next head coach and Ruskell's recent evaluation of Marcus Trufant and I see a pattern developing. I think Ruskell exploits the media to get what he wants. I think he wants desperately for another team to give anything of value for Alexander. Will he get it? He might, and until his hand is forced there's no reason to let a soul in America know that he thinks Shaun's as waxed as a Townie's CRX.

Summary: Claiming that Alexander is still a feature back is just good business.

1. Best Available Draft: Everyone agrees that taking best available talent is always best policy when drafting. But need often precludes such a strategy. Every team must at least attempt to field a competitive team, so though it might be nice to take 5 straight defensive linemen, Roger Goodell might inquire why one's playing quarterback. And so need is always a factor. A destructive one. When Oakland finally commits itself to JaMar*Bust*us R*Bust*uss*Bust*ell this season, Raiders fans will no doubt bemoan all the better players they could have taken. Bemoan in a grunty, ex-con sort of way. And, no doubt, when all is said and done, dozens of superior talents will emerge from the 2007 draft class, but need, need, need.

Between internal depth, recent signings and a few consistently healthy starters, Seattle has the enviable position of zero needs. Kicker, natch, is only a need in the sense that a team needs one on their roster. Acquiring one is a minor task. From pick 1 to pick 8, Seattle has a chance to grab whoever they think is the best player available. It's an exciting prospect, a draft that could run in all sorts of directions, should push Seattle into the top rungs of contention in the NFC and bolster the foundation for longterm success.

Summary: Good prior drafts plus attaining needs through cheap, serviceable veterans allows Seattle to enter the draft in the best possible position.

I don't want to chase this too far. Right now, talk about Julius Jones is an amoeba like blip on the radar. It's there, sure, but it's far out, tiny and doesn't make much sense. Obviously, if Seattle is interested in signing Jones someone's out, possibly Morris, possibly Morris and Alexander. I've already shared my thoughts on Jones:

With Duckett aboard, I don't see what Jones would offer that Morris does not. In 2007, Jones produced the 41st best DVOA, on the 14th best run blocking line alongside a rusher who posted the second best DVOA, Marion Barber. Barber owned Jones' starting job by season's end and ensured Jones' ouster from Dallas. In 2007, Morris posted the 19th best DVOA, on the 29th best run blocking line alongside a rusher who posted the 7th worst DVOA, Shaun Alexander. Jones only carried the ball 24 more times than Morris, who has been plagued by a reputation of fragility or fatigability or whatever nonsense. In games where Morris received more than 10 carries he averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Obviously, YPC is not a perfect stat, really only useful at the extremes, but if Morris somehow fell apart with use you'd expect it to plummet and it doesn't. Jones paramount skill exiting college was his speed, but didn't post a single run of over 25 yards all season. Morris did so 3 times. Morris is a skilled route runner with good hands, Jones is a decent outs and flats receiver. Though Morris is not a great pass blocker, neither is Jones. Morris, who's entering his contract year, counts 1.33 million against the cap. That's all. He's the lightning Seattle already has, moreso, cheaper than and without a cent spent, move made or gamble taken. No on Julius Jones. Yes on Morris finally getting some long earned carries.

If this finds legs, I'll offer a deeper scouting report on Jones. I'm hoping this is old news obviated by the signing of Duckett.

Marcus Pollard posted the 5th best DVOA among tight ends last season. Marcus Pollard sucks--Sucked last season. How does that work? Well, it's called idiot proofing the tight end position. Mike Holmgren has perfected the art, and you can see it throughout his Seahawks career. Since 2000, Holmgren has divined top 20 receiving DVOA performances from such luminaries as Christian Fauria, Itula Milli, Jerramy Stevens (twice) and now Marcus Pollard. He also setup Ryan Hannam for 28.9% DVOA in 2004, but Hannam wasn't targeted enough to qualify for the top 20. The essential skill for all these tight ends, catching the ball. I'll provide a snippet from one of my game tape breakdowns to explain exactly what I mean.

Simple, Holmgren sets up the play, sells it perfectly and then cashes in. All Pollard had to do was provide the hands and time-worn feet. So then, why can we be pretty sure that Jeb Putzier will be able to perform well in Holmgren's system? Well, simply enough because he's never posted a completion percentage below 60% in his career. With the exception of Stevens in 2002 and Hannam in 2005, that's all it has taken to be a productive tight end in Holmgren's offense.

I know a lot of people are interested in the effect of cutting Alexander, so here's my best attempt to explain it. Shaun signed an 8 year contract in 2006. Within it, Seattle offered Shaun an 11.5 million dollar signing bonus. Now, for the purposes of the cap, that money is spread evenly over all 8 years, 1.4375 million a year. Seattle has paid out 2 years worth of that bonus: 2.875 million, and has 6 more years to pay. If Alexander is cut, that entire remaining bonus is accelerated to the cap year of the cut: 8.625 million. Alexander's cap number for 2008 is only 7.35 million, so the Hawks would be paying more for Alexander to not play than to play. It might be worth it. Nevertheless, Seattle can cut Alexander after June 1st (or simply mark him as a June 1st cut) and split that hit over two seasons. In the first season, Alexander's cap hit from his bonus will be the same: 1.4375, but the rest will be accelerated to 2009 totaling a whopping 7.1875 against the already strapped 2009 cap. That's unfeasible. Seattle is in a better cap situation this year than next, so it makes no sense to designate him a June 1st cut. That's some serious dead money and would likely cost Seattle some serious talent. So, what makes sense for Seattle is to either cut him now, take the hit (if they can) on this year's cap and be done with it, or wait until next offseason and designate him a June 1st cut then. The latter would save Seattle 7 million much needed cap dollars in 2009, and with only 5 years remaining on the contract, only count 5.75 million against the 2010, sure to be larger, cap. I could be missing something; I don't have his contract in front of me, but it fits what I know about the cap and Tim Ruskell's decision not to cut or even consider cutting Alexander. So there you go, I hope this clears things up a bit. Barring a trade, Alexander is likely to be a Hawk next year. Hooray.

In my Seahawks Mock Draft, I have Seattle taking Best Available Talent with their first pick. I'm starting to wonder if that's not a phenomenal place to grab a longterm replacement for Patrick Kerney. Depending on the progress of Baraka Atkins, Seattle is either thin or very thin at defensive end. On a team that schemes around pass rush, that would be a disastrous deficiency. Still, you don't want to reach. You want to take a top value, perhaps one that can learn on the sidelines, or work in a rotation while Kerney remains effective.

That got me thinking about Calais Campbell. Campbell's stock dropped after a disappointing junior season, and has now dropped further after a disappointing Combine. One need only watch the guy to see the talent is there. He's a true 6'8", and wears his 290 like an Italian suite. He's lithe and agile and quick in open space. Had he stayed in school and posted a 10+ sack season, he'd be a confirmed top ten pick. But thanks to a sucky junior season coinciding with an even crappier campaign for his school, Miami, Campbell is in danger of falling out of the first round. You know who else had a sucky junior year, Chris Long. Long recorded only 4.5 sacks in 2006. In fact, since we're above using stats out of context to evaluate a player, right?, let's take a look at the three preeminent ends on the board in a slightly more refined way. Campbell and Vernon Gholston are both two year starters. Long started his sophomore season, but we'll cut him a break (2 sacks) and include only his past two (best) seasons. So instead of unduly focusing on their most recent season, let's look at their past two seasons and adjust for opponent pass attempts faced. That way, instead of getting a static number, we're left with a ratio: Sacks per pass attempt. (Just for the sake of clarity, I then projected their sack totals over 500 pass attempts.)

2006-2007
Long: 1 per 40.2 (12.5)
Gholston: 1 per 36.5 (13.5)
Campbell: 1 per 41.3 (12)

Gholston separates a bit from the pack, but it's far from sizable. Let's examine another contributing factor, the overall quality of each team's defense as measured by FEI.

2007
Ohio State: 0.12579 (1)
Virginia: 0.23201 (25)
Miami: 0.26223 (36)

2006
Ohio State: 0.16128 (6)
Virginia: 0.19721 (18)
Miami: 0.18144 (9)

Only Gholston played on a top 25 defense in both seasons. In 2006, Campbell posted 10.5 sacks. Sacks are representative of multiple player's efforts. From the DBs maintaing coverage to the DTs occupying blockers to the run stuffing linebacker who forced the third and long, the better the team defense around a player, the more likely he is to excel. A sack is indicative of both individual and team excellence.

Naturally, height doesn't define a player. It's less than inadequate, it's stupid. But it's not worthless, especially not when combined with a holistic look at a players build, athleticism and ability to develop. Seattle could take Campbell at 25, use him in a rotation, and allow him to develop under the tutelage of Kerney and Darryl Tapp. Perhaps work on his first step, a clear weakness of his game (to my eyes). Everything I've seen and read makes me think that Campbell is a special talent. When we talk about taking Best Available Talent, regardless of need or position, this is the kind of Talent with a "T" that comes to mind.

Via Seahawks Insider, I found this link. It details Wahle's contract from which we can determine his 2008 cap number. So, $3.5 million signing bonus spread over 5 years, .7 million, plus $2 million in base salary, plus a $100,000 workout bonus = $2.8 million against the cap. In 2009 and 2010 that figure increases to $3.9 million. Everything after that is contingent on him making the team.

Since we're discussing Good News Mike Wahle, here's some more good news to chew on. Wahle suffered a torn labrum (the Glenoid Labrum to be specific) in 2006 and underwent major shoulder surgery around the end of that year. What we're probably talking about is a SLAP tear. Full physical recovery is about 6 months. First, Wahle surviving a full 16 without reinjury is encouraging. If he had suffered permanent weakening it's unlikely he would have been able to play a full season. Here's where I go out on a limb a little bit. While Wahle was able to play in 2007, that doesn't indicate that he had regained full use of his shoulder. Proprioception, or one's sense of one's own body in space, often takes at least a year and a half to recover. Therefore, this fall, with Wahle a full 21 months removed from his major shoulder surgery, and following a full offseason of conditioning (wouldn't want to be out-lifted by Josh Wislon, right?), it isn't unlikely that Wahle will be closer to his 2005 form than his 2007 form. I would say, in my wholly amateur opinion, that it's pretty likely.

Okay, I'm still a little loopy from anesthesia, so that's all from me today. I'll do a full combine review tomorrow, detailing the players who helped themselves and how their improving stocks might benefit Seattle.