Summer polls recap, Part 2

Clicking here takes you back to Part 1, where the list of popular polls lives. Reading on takes you into Part 2, where a handful of insightful, or surprising, numbers take up residence.

Presented in no particular order whatsoever, except that which is generated randomly at 2:09 a.m. on a Thursday-Friday daybridge.

The Russell Wilson wins experiment

On July 19, you graciously answered two questions — how many games do the Seahawks win with a healthy RW and no other crippling injuries, then how many do they win without him.

The median answer, as supplied by FG members, was 12.5 victories with Important Quarterback Person, and 7.5 without him. Analysts around the league have spent years trying to quantify quarterback wins, especially for the elite signalcallers. You settled on five. Research conundrum: solved.

Trivia Night

Take the July 29 quiz, it’s full of moderately challenging and very challenging questions pulled from the 2016 season. Three right out of six would be an honorable achievement. Some question stumped more than 90 percent of readers.

BBQ Crashers

Thanks to an idea from erstwhile FG writer Patton Richard, we once posed to you a question of utmost seriousness: which Seahawk would you like to see crash your weekend party?

Results? They were perfect.

Michael Bennett, winner, 31 percent

Jon Ryan, runner-up, 19 percent

Pete Carroll, second runner-up, 13 percent.

Honorable mention to Richard Sherman (6 percent), Wilson (5 percent) and John Schneider (5 percent). I think the last five percent of you there are assuming JS would let you wear the belt. He’s not letting you wear the belt.

Line dance

Now that training camp is underway, competition is getting real. Five polls on August 9, one per position, yielded the following FG-predicted offensive line.

LT George Fant / LG Luke Joeckel / C Justin Britt / RG Mark Glowinski / RT Germain Ifedi

It’s not a very original combination. What’s more interesting are the numbers behind the final selection, and the perceived closeness of each competition.

Fant was favored on 89 percent of ballots;

Joeckel won his spot with 80 percent;

Britt, naturally, garnered 98 percent of the vote;

And then, drama. Glowinski edged Oday Aboushi 34-33 at RG, with another 26 percent alotted to Ifedi. A wide-open race. Early camp returns are not disagreeing with you — many line combos are happening on the right side.

While 53 percent named Ifedi to start at RT, Ethan Pocic was not far behind at 42 percent. Therefore, you guys would not be surprised, collectively, to also see:

Fant / Joeckel / Britt / Aboushi / Pocic

along the offensive line when Week 1 begins. As well you should, not, be.

XLIX PTSD

Two numbers stand out in the poll of “what would you have called in Darrell Bevell’s shoes?”

A) The 23 percent of you who answered “feed the Beast.”

That means 77 percent of you preferred a different play call than the one we are force-fed every single day as the supposedly obvious one. But how obvious, really, is it to hand the ball the Marshawn when three-quarters of his biggest fans, who know what he means to the team and what he can do, don’t agree?

B) The 8 percent who answered “what he actually called.”

I don’t subscribe to the theory that the play was a good call. Obviously it didn’t catch Belichick’s people off guard. Obviously the personnel choices were questionable. But it’s refreshing to see than one in 12 of you agree the play works on some level and is sound — or that it at least could’ve been.

Five of one, one of the other

I’ll admit to being surprised that five additional NFC titles don’t even come close to carrying as much emotional weight with the readership as one additional Super Bowl. It’s a 91-9 split, with the 91 going for one championship over the five trips.

Clearly no sane fan cares to lose five title games like the last one, but there are very few franchises who’ve won eight conference championships, who’ve earned eight Super Bowl trips. Just the Patriots (5-4), Steelers (6-2), Cowboys (5-3) and the Broncos (3-5). A 1-7 record in the big game feels gross, until you begin to realize the Seahawks are forevermore linked with those historically great franchises.

Just saying, the 91-9 split was a greater chasm than anticipated.

K.J. Wright and the ESPN Top 100

You guys saw K.J. as the one who most belonged on the list, flawed as it might be. It’s becoming increasingly harder and harder for him to remain under the radar. Good. He deserves all the recognition he can get, because on most teams, he’d be their best or second-best defender, instead of the sixth- or seventh-best or whatever.

Jimmy Graham took second in our little poll. Free prediction: he’s back in the Top 100 after this season.

Frank Clark took third. Free prediction: despite all the hype, he will not make an appearance, not yet.

Eddie Lacy-Thomas Rawls tension

No, not between them. Between how you foresee their usage as it will be, and as it should be.

FG voters: Lacy will get the most touches, by a 51-29 margin

FG voters, also: Rawls should get the most touches, by a 43-31 margin

There’s still plenty of fan attachment to Rawls, and for good reason. His 2015 was spectacular, if a little artificially brief. But Lacy topped five yards per carry last season before his health gave out. There’s talent in both bodies, just waiting to break out. If one struggles early, the calls to replace him could quickly grow loud, but they’ll grow louder more quickly if it’s Lacy who underwhelms.

There’s an easy fix, of course, which is to make Chris Carson the RB1. Everyone wins, right?

Colin Kaepernick exists

This poll series didn’t spend a lot of time on the Kap situation, despite it being a giant media story that continues to burn hotter than the B.C fires. What’s to note is your prediction that he will find a team between the start of camp and Week 1 of the regular season. 44 percent of you opted for that (pretty narrow) time frame.

We are there. We are in it.

Only 6 percent of you predicted earlier; only 17 percent of you said he’ll never play in the NFL again.

If it’s going to happen for Kaepernick in 2017, it won’t be with the Dolphins or Ravens, not after the way the last couple weeks shook out. It’s going to be with a team that loses a quarterback, or one that offers more money, or one that looks attractive at a vet minimum or some other team-friendly salary. Cross Seattle off the list for the first two — please — but keep us in mind for the third option.

More ex-Niners: Jim Harbaugh

57 percent of you confessed, on June 12, that he could be a suitable replacement for Pete Carroll if/when the latter retires. Only 25 percent demurred. Didn’t expect a plus-32 favorability rating for Harbs, but as a giant fan of his, thanks fellas.

It could happen.

Since we’re on the subject, might as well close with your Carroll opinions.

Retiring is for the birds, that is, those who are not hawks

Back near the debut of this column, the question was posed: “How many more years of Pete Carroll do we expect to enjoy?”

17 percent of us said he’ll be gone by the time we reach the 2020 offseason. So, four seasons or fewer. That’s near, but also far. He’s already put seven years of work in here, and he is the oldest coach in the league. (Only if you measure it in age, though.)

56 percent said it’ll happen between 2020 and before the 2023 season begins. A huge answer for a time period that isn’t long. It also means three-quarters of us see him leaving within six seasons.

An optimistic 27 percent give him another seven years or more here. And if you asked me, 3-1 odds against him still being here when ‘23 kicks off... it feels about right. One can imagine people laying money on both sides of that bet.

11 percent give him another decade in our blue and green. There’s not enough gum in the world, people.