Seahawks Roster Cuts: Quick Analysis

A quick recap of the first cuts that the Seahawks made on Sunday. To read my breakdown on Edawn Coughman, Donny Lisowski, Ron Parker, Lazarius Levingston, Phil Bates and Jameson Konz, see this breakdown that I wrote yesterday, naming 15 players that I would consider as potential cuts for the first round.

As for the rest, here's a quick analysis on each:

1. Alex Barron - OT - I thought Barron showed well in the first couple of PS games, and appeared to have improved in terms of the false starts. He's certainly more athletic than Omiyale or Barbre, and considering the lack of strong depth at tackle, I simply didn't see him departing with the first group of cuts. That said, we don't know what goes on in the locker room, and he certainly wasn't perfect by any means this preseason.

He did struggle with anticipating defenders' moves at the point of attack, and continued to struggle with some pretty fundamental aspects of the position - i.e. overextension, narrow feet, planting/over-setting, etc. I just thought it was a bit early for this cut, considering how little depth there is at tackle currently. Could Seattle be looking for a replacement? Possibly. Don't put it past them. There could very well be someone else the ‘Hawks are targeting, and there are certainly a few guys left on the roster who are expendable in the case that they are.

2. Deuce Lutui - OG - I thought Lutui actually performed better than Paul Fanaika, but Fanaika gets the nod...for now. Lutui made some mindlesss mistakes though, and in terms of his age, past weight issues and lack of quickness to get down field and cut at the 2nd level, it's really not a huge surprise. When picking between older or younger, younger is always preferred with all else being equal, and the encouraging play of J.R. Sweezy and Rishaw Johnson make the inconsistent veteran Lutui expendable early here.

3.Cameron Morrah - TE - You may have already read my bubble posts, where I've warned of the possibility of Morrah getting beat out by the younger Sean McGrath for the 4th TE spot, and that appears to have materialized early here. Not only does McGrath stay, but so does Cooper Helfet...for now...indicating that the ‘Hawks are going to let those two compete for what would be a 4th TE spot, in the case that they decide to go with that many at the position.

Anthony McCoy has staked his claim as the clear-cut 3rd TE on the roster. I still have Helfet near the top of the bubble list, and there is still one cut remaining, but the ‘Hawks clearly see the same quickness and athleticism to the spot that we've pointed out in previous posts, and probably want to see more. As of now, McGrath has performed the best of these two, and continues to provide both solid blocking and receiving. Considering the injuries and fragility of the top 2 TEs on the roster (Miller, Winslow), a guy with the versatility of McGrath could be appealing to keep around.

4. Terrell Owens - WR - Yeah, he was pretty bad when he was in there. The one thing I will say, that I thought would sustain him through the preseason, was that he can still run routes, and can still get open. He has simply looked unnatural catching the ball though, and I suppose that's a pretty important element of playing the wide receiver position. The hands have been bad. As in, it looks like he left his hand-eye coordination in the Dr. Phil green room. The only real catches he made were both chest-trapped. And we won't even get into what he has or hasn't done from a locker room standpoint, since we can't see in there, but we'd have to be naive to not consider that something could've gone wrong there as well.

5. Roy Lewis - CB - Here's another one that isn't much of a surprise, and is more about getting him to IR, than cutting him. Teams must waive any player that they want to release or place on IR, prior to the season starting. If they clear waivers, the team that waived them retains them to their IR or settles on a payout for the injury. Lewis is highly regarded among this coaching staff for his physical style of play in the slot, and special teams abilities, and could still be a factor once healthy. There could be a chance he gets claimed considering his combination of youth and experience, but considering that this is a time when teams are looking to off-load players more than on-board them, especially injured ones, he probably clears waivers and sticks around. Just depends on the severity of his injury, and whether or not the ‘Hawks want to walk it out with him. I had listed Lewis ass "Not Competing/In Danger" in the most recent "On The Bubble...Defense" article from Wednesday.

6. Tyrell Sutton - RB - I've thought and written from the beginning that Sutton probably wasn't going to make the roster - I just didn't think it would happen this early. Sutton had some good moments, particularly in PS week 2, when he had a couple of long, explosive plays, one being a TD catch and run. Considering that he really doesn't bring any element to the team that they didn't have previously in Justin Forsett, and considering how well Kregg Lumpkin and Vai Taua have performed in the more ideal versatile, physical roles they've been playing, Sutton's time here was limited from the beginning. That being said, I could see him returning in the case that Leon Washington goes down to injury.

There is still at least one more cut due by tomorrow at 1PM EST. This may come in the form of a PUP designation (i.e. Carpenter), or another waived/injured type of situation. Or there could be another outright release.

Derek has transitioned from doing league-wide NFL Draft analysis at his blog to a more focused and specific, Seahawks-centric draft - free agency - pro player personnel site called "ScoutTheSeahawks." It's now up - and it's definitely a site you must bookmark. Derek also maintains a really great free agent trackerthat is much more in-depth than most places because of his background doing deep scouting of NFL Draft prospects. It's updated daily.