Here's what I noticed about today's game: Thank God Stump Mitchell left town. Sorry Clinton Portis, this looks like your last great season.
Okay, so who will be Seattle's starting quarterback in 2010? The draft offers some interesting options.
If Seattle wants to go early, Sam Bradford looks like the prototypical quarterback of legend. He's a perfect guy to stash for a season and then suffer through growing pains with in 2010. The knock on Bradford is that he's only a two year starter and is surrounded by excellent offensive talent. Still, love his low sacks, high completion percentage and good athleticism. Bradford would require a top ten pick, so that would hurt Seattle's versatility and force them into an exorbitant contract. Too risky; not wild about this option. He could slide a little if Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy declare, but I doubt both will. I also doubt Mark Sanchez declares, because USC won't likely win the national title and because ten trillion dollars isn't better than being the man at Hollywood U. If he's there, I really like Sanchez and think Tim Ruskell would target him.
If Seattle's willing to slide a little, Curtis Painter make a pretty safe if a little less sexy pick in the mid to late first.
Beyond that, it gets interesting. There's a lot of rational reasons to love Chase Daniel. He's played insanely well in the tough as hell Big 12. He's the drafts best non-Tim Tebow athlete at quarterback, and he destroys the Lewan projection system: three year starter plus a fourth season playing off the bench and a 68.5% completion percentage. But there's also some quasi-rational red flags. He's short, probably shorter than his listed 6'0". He's also playing in a spread offense. Current head coach Gray Pinkel has been with the Tigers since 2001, and none of Daniels' predecessors touched Daniels passing stats. I'm leaving this one up for debate before I do a little more research, but another something, something HUGE, in Daniels' favor is that he's not a first round pick. For as much as a second rounder and as little as a second day pick, Daniels provides a potentially huge return and If he doesn't work out, the team's not crippled. That's not something you can say about Bradford, Stafford, Tebow or Sanchez. That first round pick could instead go to something more stable, offensive line, defensive line or safety.
A couple more names out there worth looking into: Cullen Harper, a good looking talent on a terrible team. Rhett Bomar - no thank you. Dan LeFevour, who I don't know much about, but has played mostly against inferior competition. Hunter Cantwell, who's a bit of a faded prospect.
However this works out, Seattle needs a developmental quarterback. I'm not saying all of today's passing follies were on Matt Hasselbeck, but even if he accounts for half, that's the worst he's ever played. There's some small chance he bounces back, but it's no longer an option to coast with one viable quarterback. Seattle needs to build for the future, and that doesn't include Charlie Frye.
Game Ball: Maurice Morris. If Seattle reloaded on the line, kept Morris, Jones and Duckett, found a coach willing to split the carries three ways, they'd already have a very good rushing attack. You couldn't find three more complimentary backs, but Mike Holmgren refuses to evenly distribute the carries. Morris is the best receiver and is good in the open field. Julius Jones is the best pure rusher, a good pass blocker and can receive. T.J. Duckett is more than a short yardage back, no matter how NFL teams have stubbornly pigeonholed him. Seattle has very little money and only one draft pick invested in the three. That's huge. They represent something to build around.