Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Friday

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Who is the Pro Personnel Director? | National Football Post
Just about every NFL team has one and their impact, importance and job description varies around the league.

Buccaneers Personnel Philosophy: Where can they save? - Bucs Nation
If you want to win in the National Football League, you need to be better than your competitors. This is obvious, but there's a corollary: you need to find opportunities to do things that your...

Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia Scouting Report " Tom Melton's NFL Draft Blog
Intro: Austin has really emerged in the past few weeks as a dynamic playmaker. Many have taken to calling him Tavon Harvin, alluding to his playmaking ability that reminds many (including myself) of the former Florida Gator, or Tavon Awesome, alluding to the obvious- Tavon Austin is awesome. He is obviously undersized, but he compensates for his lack of size with great speed, elite burst, acceleration, change of direction and impressive vision. He doesn’t have great hands, but when he has the ball in his hands anything can happen. He has made some truly amazing plays and put together some extremely impressive performances this season, and almost single-handedly jump-started the West Virginia offense by balancing the offense when they gave him touches at running back out of the backfield. He’s a dynamic player, and he looks like he has a shot at the 1st round. A creative offensive coordinator could get a lot of mileage out of him, but even in a traditional offense he will make plays on offense and on special teams.

Scouting Notebook: Post-Season Evaluation Process, Declared Juniors So Far, Scouting Notes, and Top 10
In this week's edition of the Scouting Notebook, we'll first discuss the NFL Draft scouting process from here on out, from the Bowl Game scouting to the All-Star Events, the NFL Combine, and more. It's important to note both what NFL teams and what we at Optimum Scouting will be doing throughout this process.

2013 NFL Draft: Breaking down Dion Jordan's strengths and weaknesses - SBNation.com
Breaking down what makes Dion Jordan special and where he needs to improve.

Seahawks.com Blog | Wednesday in Hawkville: All Baldwin wants on Sunday is his two front teeth, and a victory
"Not only do I remember, but it’s a constant reminder – my two teeth are missing," he said. "These are fake ones I have in now."

Thurmond steps back in
Injuries have shortened each of Walter Thurmond’s three seasons with the Seahawks. But with the loss of Brandon Browner, the third-year cornerback will be back in the starting secondary on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has made believers of veteran Seahawks | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
"He doesn't carry himself like a rookie," he said. "He's never shown a sign of being scared." "I think he's just playing good football," added guard John Moffitt. "What you do on the field is how you get respect."

Wilson continues to roll along
The bigger the situation, the bigger Russell Wilson seems to play. And the Seahawks are counting on the same type of play from their rookie quarterback down the stretch and into the postseason.

Week 14 - Bradley Press Conference
Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley talks with the media as the Seahawks prepare to face Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals.

Week 14 - Bevell Press Conference
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell talks with the media as the Seahawks prepare to face the Cardinals.

Kawann Short (DT, Purdue) vs Iowa " Seahawks Draft Blog
In yesterday’s updated mock draft I had the Seahawks taking this guy in round two. The teams greatest need, in my opinion, is to identify a pass-rushing three-technique that can feature in the base defense. There’s a lot of defensive tackle depth among the 2013 draft class, so it’s not a position you’ll necessarily need to target in round one. It’s also worth noting the relatively unsuccessful history of the position in recent years.

Updated mock draft: 5th December " Seahawks Draft Blog
The whole point of doing these mock drafts is to create discussion points. I’m not trying to project the draft in December. That would be ridiculous. Please remember this. Please.

Kam Chancellor sits Thursday with sore groin - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
The Seahawks' ever-changing secondary had another player missing from Thursday's practice. Starting safety Kam Chancellor watched from the sideline with a groin injury. Cornerback Marcus Trufant did not participate due to a hamstring injury, and defensive end Red Bryant continued to rest his sore foot.

Seahawks.com Blog | Thursday in Hawkville: Smith ready to step in again, if needed
"You’re always waiting for the opportunity to show what you can do," said Smith, a seventh-round draft choice in 2011 who tied for second on the club in special teams tackles as a rookie but saw limited action on defense. "I prepare like a starter and want to play, so when the opportunity comes you just do it."

Closer look at evolving Seahawks tactic - NFC West Blog - ESPN
John McTigue of ESPN Stats & Information did the work on this one. "Basically, the Seahawks used more option runs in the fourth quarter and overtime Sunday than they had the rest of the season combined," he noted. "This may have really set up the play-action passing game for Wilson. If you watch the final play again, it was a play action that looked just like a zone read option."

Cards falling right for rebounding Rams? - NFC West Blog - ESPN
John from Tampa asked during the recent NFC West chat whether issues in Seattle and Minnesota could help the St. Louis Rams make a surprise run toward a wild-card playoff berth. The Rams have improved to 5-6-1 following victories over Arizona and San Francisco. A look at what the Rams are up against:

Robert Griffin III triggers Washington Redskins' pistol offense - NFL.com
Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins are terrorizing NFL defenses with a quirky offense that's prevalent in the college game. What makes the pistol so potent? Bucky Brooks explains.

Underclassmen announce intent to apply for 2013 NFL Draft entry - NFL.com
NFL.com is tracking the underclassmen players who have declared their intentions to apply for entry into the 2013 NFL Draft, a list that includes Cal WR Keenan Allen.

Cincinnati Bengals' defensive rebirth explained; Week 14 notes - NFL.com
San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick: There wasn't an organizational consensus on Kaepernick before the season started -- despite his eye-popping physical ability -- and the train of thought is out there that sticking with Alex Smith would've been the smart play. The loss in St. Louis bolstered that idea. And the Miami Dolphins, who frustrated Brady to a degree last week, won't roll over for the Niners. This is a big one for the kid.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Film Room: 49ers-Dolphins
Just like last week’s Film Room feature, Football America is plenty familiar with the home team in this game. So, before we dive into specifics on this match-up, let’s break down the Miami Dolphins.

Underclassmen - Should they stay or go? | National Football Post
NFP offer their advice to three underclassmen.

All-22:This is how you play the deep middle of the field | National Football Post
Breaking down Thomas DeCoud's INT vs. Brees.

49ers vs. Rams: Second-half Colin Kaepernick drop-backs plus All-22 shots - Niners Nation
What exactly did the Rams do to Colin Kaepernick to make him seem so tentative at times? Were there any receivers open, or were his first few reads just not there?

Meet The Digital Upstart That Thinks Millions Of Rowdy Fans Are The Future Of The Web - Forbes
What do you get when you mix a firebrand political blogger, an Internet innovator and a few million rabid sports fans? A valuable startup.

There's nothing like a road win - Seahawks News - MyNorthwest.com
The Seahawks' thrilling overtime win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday was good for this team for obvious reasons. They improved their record to 7-5, beat a very good, playoff-caliber team and proved to themselves that they actually can win on the road.

ProFootballWeekly.com - Laurinaitis has act together for Rams at the right time
With the Rams facing one heavyweight running back after another down the stretch (in order, Buffalo’s C.J. Spiller this Sunday in Buffalo, Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson in Week 15, Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin in Week 16 and Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch in the regular-season finale), MLB James Laurinaitis is getting his act together at just the right time.

Running back success rate
Grading running backs can be tricky; rushing yards tell much of the story but remain a function of opportunity (itself an indicator of talent). Yards per carry sounds nice but often is more misleading than revealing. Last year at Smartfootball.com I analyzed team rushing games using rush success rate, and I will do the same today. Success rate has been around for awhile – The Hidden Game of Football wrote about it in the late ’80s and Football Outsiders has been tracking it for close to a decade. Everyone has their own unique definition, it seems; here is mine.

The Cardinals really had no choice but to go with John Skelton again - SB Nation Arizona
To play Lindley again would have been pure hypocrisy.