Coffee and Cigarettes: Seahawks Links for Thursday

THURSDAY WOOOO!

2011 Age-adjusted team rosters
Measuring team age in the N.F.L. is tricky. Calculating the average age of a 53-man roster is misleading because the age of a team’s starters is much more relevant than the age of a team’s reserves. The average age of a team’s starting lineup isn’t perfect, either. The age of the quarterback and key offensive and defensive players should count for more than the age of a less relevant starter. Ideally, you would want to calculate a team’s average age by placing greater weight on the team’s most relevant players.

Camp Dayz - Richard Sherman
Follow along as Richard Sherman gives an inside look at the first few days of Bing Training Camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Confident Seahawks CB Richard Sherman ready for Year 2 - BostonHerald.com
"He was all out of whack," Bradley recalled. "But they all went, ’Wow, what a difference from how he is now to back then.’

Seattle Seahawks Season Preview: Matt Flynn Must Live Up To His Contract - Sports Network - IBTimes.com
Carroll has set out to carve a defense a top ten defense, but the Seahawks offense rank in the bottom third in the NFL. As the preseason approaches for Seattle I have three 2012 season stories for you to look forward to:

Broncos claim ex-Seahawks WR Cameron Kenney - CBSSports.com
Why would the Broncos claim ex-Seahawks wide receiver Cameron Kenney off waivers, as they did Wednesday? The answer lies in the slight injuries that hit the Broncos during their practice earlier in the afternoon, with three receivers -- Eric Decker, Greg Orton and D'Andre Goodwin -- all coming up lame with injuries.

Seahawks Russell Wilson: Can a third round quarterback succeed in the NFL? - CBSSports.com
Former Wisconsin standout Russell Wilson may not be the favorite to win the Seahawks three-way quarterback competition, but he's in the discussion. If coach Pete Carroll were to give Wilson the keys to the Seattle offense this season, Wilson would become the first quarterback drafted in the third round to start a game in his rookie year since 2010 (Colt McCoy, Browns) and only the second since 2007 (Trent Edwards, Bills). So what kind of track record do third round QB's have in the NFL?

A few minutes with Seahawks running back Kregg Lumpkin | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
Lumpkin’s performance in camp has left a good impression on Seattle head coach Pete Carroll. "Kregg caught a bunch of balls last year in the role that he played," Carroll said. "He’s a good blocker. He hasn’t carried the ball as much as some of the other guys, but he’s 237 pounds, so he runs heavy and thick. Getting into the games and seeing him, we’ll get a lot of looks on where he is."

Seahawks Insider live chat replay | Seahawks Insider

Training camp: developing the 'Nickel' corner | National Football Post
Five keys to getting production from the position.

Browns’ brass understands that ownership switch could bring sweeping changes | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
In Cleveland, where the news recently came out that the Browns will transfer in primary ownership from Randy Lerner to Jimmy Haslam III, there's that same kind of disconcerted feeling. And, there probably should be. The current administration, led by team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert, has struggled to make a go of it in what may very well be the NFL's most competitive division.

101Sports.com: Tony Softli - CBA Restructures Training Camp Way of Life
Now, the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) mandates that the first day of training camp be structured roughly the same for everyone. Mandatory team and position meetings, plus physical exams, unfold. Organized on-field activities apart from running and conditioning, however, are prohbitied.

Rise of the Youth - Football Daily Dose - Rotoworld.com
Last season, Victor Cruz began the year behind Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon. Jordy Nelson was looking up at Donald Driver. Donald Brown was buried beneath Joseph Addai, while Laurent Robinson was behind Kevin Ogletree and Jesse Holley.

Jumping off the Page - Football Daily Dose - Rotoworld.com
So here's a refresher on the top-ten skill-position players generating league-wide buzz while making a run up fantasy football rankings.

Quick Hit: Top Rookie RB’s Workloads " Pick 256
With all 32 back in camp, much attention will be paid to the rookie class of 2012 and their ability to contribute this year. One position where rookies can immediately step in and make an impact is the RB spot. While rookies tend to get worked in slowly at many positions – QB, WR, LB to name a few – rookie RB’s are often thrust into starting spots or given big part-time roles. Here are the top 25 all time heaviest workloads by percentage of their team’s rushing offense for rookie RB’s:

Is Landry Jones the best quarterback in NCAA? - Mocking The Draft
While Matt Barkley runs his mouth and says he could have been drafted higher than Robert Griffin III, Landry Jones is steady working to prove people wrong. Since his freshman year at Oklahoma the Artesia, New Mexico native is ready to show everyone what he is capable of. At 6’4, 218 pounds, he is by far the best pocket passer in the 2013 NFL Draft. Yes, I said "The Best" and I really feel that way. Jones is so underrated and I believe that no one is showing him the love he deserves. So I welcome all of you to jump on the LJ12 bandwagon I am starting now, by breaking down a little of what impresses me the most about the senior quarterback.

2012 Program Preview - Nebraska - Mocking The Draft
Ah, Nebraska. Where coaching legends forge their political resumes. Where one of the greatest college players ever can leave you breathless one moment and then never play a single down in the NFL. Oh, and Bo Pelini.

Exclusive Interivew with James Gayle, DE, Virginia Tech " Tom Melton's NFL Draft Blog
Tom: What is your accurate height, weight, and 40 yard dash time? James: 6’4", right now I weigh about 266 or 267 and the last time I ran I ran a 4.45 40 yard dash time, but I think I only weighed 257 or 258 at that point

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2011 Pressure Plays, Offense
Last week, we went over the DVOA ratings for defenses when they put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Today, we'll flip things around, and see how quarterbacks performed when pressured by defenses. If you want more detail about how we define pressure and what types of plays are included in the stats below, feel free to go back and read the intro to the defense article here. And, let's not forget, you can find all these stats and more in the statistical appendix of our wildly popular and currently available book, Football Outsiders Almanac 2012.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Introducing DVOA v7.0
Football Outsiders Almanac 2012 introduced the latest iteration of our DVOA formula, which we are calling DVOA v7.0. As promised, for those of you who may not have bought the book, we want to explain the changes in the new rating and look at what the changes mean for historical ratings.

Seahawks rookie Bobby Wagner learning fast - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
"It's crazy and physical, because it was competition Tuesday," he said. "We just tried to get after it and make plays, you know, lots of picks and sacks."

Seahawks WRs can be Fantasy Gems
Scott Engel of RotoExperts.com breaks down the Seahawks wide receiver position as it pertains to fantasy football in 2012.

5 components of an NFL contract that may surprise you | National Football Post
A close look at the NFL contract.

Why Your Team Sucks 2012: San Francisco 49ers
Some people are fans of the San Francisco 49ers. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the San Francisco 49ers. This 2012 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group.

Seahawks' John Moffitt says he's fully healthy - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
"I feel really good," Moffitt told "The Kevin Calabro Show" this week. "I feel like I'm back to 100 percent."

NFL Training Camp 2012 -- Jeff Fisher Era begins with an emphasis on physicality - Jim Trotter - SI.com
At Rams Park, the team's year-round training facility in Earth City. Mother Nature gave the players a break for the first full-squad practice of the Jeff Fisher Era. Four days after temperatures topped out at 108 degrees -- it was the 11th day of 105 or higher in St. Louis this summer -- a cooling rain moved through the area and made the afternoon relatively pleasant. Just over 1,600 fans attended the opening practice, which might not sound like much after the Cardinals drew 14,500 and the Broncos nearly 6,000. But it was an impressive showing considering space is limited and the team has not had a winning season since 2003.

NFL Training Camp 2012 -- Jeff Fisher, Rams hope better protection can benefit Sam Bradford - Jim Trotter - SI.com
"You can say what you want, but if somebody comes up and punches you in the face, the first time you might shake it off, the second time you'd probably blink and the third time common sense is kicking in and you're looking to avoid it," said new Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. "Hits on the quarterback is not something you worry about with just Sam Bradford; everybody is worried about it with their quarterbacks. There's such a big emphasis on these pass rushers -- obviously blitzes have gone to a high level. Everybody is being creative with the blitzes they're throwing at offenses, and we have to adapt with the way we design our protections, the way we call games. We have a few things that we can use to our advantage, like our cadence and screens. But if any coach said 'I don't worry when my quarterback gets hit,' he's lying to you. Over time if you get hit enough it's going to affect you, just like if a corner gets beat a couple of times on deep routes early in the game. You can say what you want, but it's going to affect him. Maybe not consciously but subconsciously it's in his mind."