Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Wednesday

Hump day!

2013 NFL Draft: Tracking the best pro days and prospects to watch - SBNation.com
Plenty of prospects still have something to prove at their school's pro days in the coming months.

A Statistical Breakdown of the Top Pass Rushers (Pt. 1, Sacks) | Second Round Stats
Analyzing the NFL Draft Through Statistics and Film Study

The Shutdown 50: E.J. Manuel, Florida State QB | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
With the 2012 NFL season in the books, and the scouting combine in the rear-view, it's time to take a closer look at the 50 players we think will be the biggest difference-makers at the next level from this draft class. To that end, we're happy to start this year's Shutdown 50 scouting reports (Hint: There may actually be more than 50). You can read last year's group here. The final 50 players listed were chosen and ranked based on game tape, combine results, overall positional value, and attributes and liabilities on and off the field.

The Arizona Cardinals players who are due roster bonuses | Insiders
Roster bonuses have been around in the NFL for a long time, but they used to be due in the fall, when a player made the roster coming out of training camp. That wasn’t good for players who were released because there were fewer spots available elsewhere at that time of the year.

Pro-Day Workouts: Week of March 4th
While the Tuskegee pro-day takes place later this afternoon, the teams star running back, Derrick Washington, actually participated in Troy State’s pro-day yesterday. Washington timed in the 4.6’s after tipping the scale at 226-pounds. He posted marks of 31.5-inches in the vertical jump, 9′-3” in the broad and 19-reps on the bench. Washington will also participate in position drills during pro-day at Tuskegee today.

So… Jarvis Jones to Seattle. Could it happen? Should it? « Seahawks Draft Blog
It just seems so unlikely that the Seahawks would draft Jarvis Jones if he made it to the #25 pick. Pete Carroll and other members of Seattle’s coaching staff were at USC when he was told by the school’s medical team that he should cease playing football to avoid life threatening injury. He has spinal stenosis, a condition that has cut short many promising careers. Although it’s highly unlikely a scrubbed up Carroll was the guy making that particular judgement, imagine that scenario for a moment. You’re part of an organisation that warns a player he should stop playing to avoid possible permanent and serious injury. Then when he turns pro, you offer him a contract? The ethics don’t add up there.

Mike Mayock breaks down post-combine draft stock - NFL.com
Mike Mayock went back to the film on a few players after they opened eyes at the NFL Scouting Combine. What players helped themselves last week?

Mock draft No. 2: Chiefs' moves open door for Milliner to go No. 1 - CBSSports.com
The Chiefs are solving needs (Alex Smith, Dwayne Bowe and Branden Albert), which leads me to believe a quarterback or an offensive tackle will not be their top pick. If they can*t trade out, then Dee Milliner makes the most sense.

A name to know: TE Jared Cook | Seahawks Blog | Seattle Times
Tennessee’s Jared Cook was going to argue he was a wide receiver — not a tight end — if he was designated as the Titans’ franchise player. Easy to understand why given the $4 million difference in franchise-tag prices between the positions and the reality that Cook lined up in the slot or split out wide more often than he put his hand in the dirt.

How we define competition
What does competition mean to you? ”The modern day way of looking at competition is to say you’re striving against something; that’s a way to look at it that we generally accept,” Coach Pete Carroll explained at last year’s Nike WinForever Workshop. “In our mentality, we’re talking about striving for something: striving for what you want to become, what you can be.”

Northern Iowa WR Sinkfield reportedly runs 4.19 40 - NFL.com
Northern Iowa wide receiver Terrell Sinkfield ran a blazing 40-yard dash on Monday, but he could be more than just a fast athlete. What was his hand-timed speed at Minnesota's pro day?

Matt Barkley is a fourth-round talent, Greg Cosell says - NFL.com
Matt Barkley is expected to be a first- or second-round pick in April's draft, but NFL Films guru Greg Cosell believes that's bad value for a quarterback who might not have NFL-level skills.

Seahawks sign Darren Fells, former international basketball player, to three-year tight end deal | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider are known for making unconventional moves, and this is certainly one of them. But Fells' success as a player without any known college football experience would not be without precedent. The San Diego Chargers signed former college basketball player Antonio Gates to an undrafted free agent contract before the 2003 NFL season. A decade later, the eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro has established his position as one of the best tight ends of the modern era.

Vince Young to work out at Texas’ pro day | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Free agent quarterback Vince Young is not giving up on his NFL career. According to Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, the two-time Pro Bowler will work out for NFL talent evaluators at the University of Texas pro day on March 26. Mandel adds that Young is back on the school's Austin campus as he finishes work towards his college degree.

NFP Pro Day Preview March 4 - 8: Part One | National Football Post
Russ Lande gives insight into four important Pro Days the first half of this week.

NFP Pro Day Preview March 4 - 8: Part Two | National Football Post
Russ Lande offers his thoughts on five more schools holding their Pro Days this week.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff tackle Terron Armstead builds on impressive combine with ‘outstanding’ Pro Day | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Every year, there's at least one guy you've probably never heard of who gets the wires hopping with an incendiary performance at the scouting combine. This last year, it was Arkansas Pine Bluff offensive tackle Terron Armstead who stood out when he ran an official 4.71 40-yard dash -- a new record for any offensive lineman at the scouting combine -- at 6-foot-5 and 306 pounds. He also came in second to Oklahoma's Lane Johnson with a 1.64-second 10-yard split in his 40.

Pro Days: Gophers' MarQueis Gray battling to find NFL fit - CBSSports
Predraft workouts can't mask the fact that Gray was extremely inconsistent during his Gophers career and continues to wage an uphill battle to be drafted next month. NFLDraftScout.com projects Gray as a better tight end candidate, and he did work out as a pass-catcher Monday, which is a more likely route toward securing a look as a priority free agent after the draft. He lacks the top-end speed to succeed as a wideout, although Gray claims he can run in the 4.5s when completely healthy. "That works for me," Gray said of potentially playing tight end. "As long as I'm on a roster and playing and the coaches like what I'm doing, that's all good for me."

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Word of Muth: Free Agent Tackles Part I
It’s the offseason, which means the action has moved from the field to the front offices of the NFL. Readers of this site would probably agree that the draft is the most effective way to build and improve your team. It’s young, cheap labor that can grow into star-level players at replacement-level prices.

2013 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Florida State QB EJ Manuel | Bleacher Report
Timing can be everything, and EJ Manuel certainly picked a good draft to enter as a supremely athletic quarterback who is a work-in-progress as a passer...

2013 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Cincinnati TE Travis Kelce | Bleacher Report
Most tight end draft boards are going to be led by Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert and Stanford's Zach Ertz . Travis Kelce hasn't been healthy enough to jostle either of those guys out of the catbird seats at the Senior Bowl or the NFL Scouting Combine...

Career Receiving Numbers Translated to the 2012 Passing Environment
I’ve written several posts about how to grade wide receivers and did a three-part series on one ranking system two weeks ago. Grading wide receivers requires one to adjust for era, but there are many different ways to do that.

Numbers Breakdown: Are We Overlooking Brian Quick's Star Potential? | RotoViz
Why did I ignore Brian Quick when he got drafted with the #33 pick in last year’s draft? Was it because I was too infatuated with A.J. Jenkins to notice anything else? Was it because players from non-BCS schools have a harder time sticking? Is it because nothing about the Rams has gotten me fired up in a decade?