Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Tuesday

Two more days, you guys.

Broaddus: Warford Among Talented Guards After Top Two
Everyone’s heard the names of Chance Warmack and Jonathan Cooper at guard, but here’s a look at some guards that aren’t getting as much publicity.

Broaddus: These Guys Suggest DT Class More Than Top-Heavy
As we continue our series on the NFL Draft, let’s take a look at the defensive tackles.

Broaddus: Productive Backs Available After First Day Of Draft
Continuing coverage of the upcoming draft, here are some running backs to take a look at toward the middle or late rounds:

Broaddus: Analyzing QBs With Intriguing Tools, Athleticism
This year’s draft lacks the same star power at quarterback as last year, but here are a few quarterbacks that could go in the early or middle rounds of this year’s draft:

NFL Draft Insider News & Notes: Monday 4/22
- Colorado’s Nick Kasa has developed into the contingency plan for teams looking to draft a tight end outside the initial three rounds of the draft. Unlike the higher rated players at the position, Kasa does not offer immediate starting possibilities but is a sensational developmental prospect expected to be plucked off the board in round four. The New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins have displayed heavy interest in Kasa.

2013 NFL Draft: Prospect sequence list drives team decisions - NFL.com
Ziggy Ansah or Geno Smith? Deciding between players at different positions is hard. Daniel Jeremiah has been in draft rooms and reveals how these decisions are made, supplying his top 50 prospects.

2013 NFL Draft: Ten things I believe amid all the misinformation - NFL.com
As we approach the 2013 NFL Draft, misinformation abounds. Daniel Jeremiah cuts through all the noise to provide 10 strong opinions -- like a feeling that Sharrif Floyd might slide out of the top 10.

2013 NFL Draft: Okoye puts law, Olympics on hold for NFL long shot - CBSSports
Lawrence Okoye took up the discus seriously two years ago and became an Olympian. So don't bet against the impressive British athlete being selected in the NFL Draft despite zero football experience.

2013 NFL Draft: Seattle Seahawks spotlight - CBSSports
A shared vision by the Seattle coaching staff and personnel department has transformed the Seahawks into a potential powerhouse. With many of their best players still playing for relatively cheap rookie contracts, Seattle was once again aggressive this off-season. But will it pay off with a Super Bowl?

Five Bold Predictions: Barkley drafted in first round, but not Lacy - CBSSports
NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Rob Rang offers his five bold predictions for the 2013 NFL Draft, including a few Pac-12 playmakers who will make the first round -- though not all of them quite as high as others project.

Scouting Report: Eddie Lacy isn’t worth a first-round pick | 100 Yards and Running | Blogs | theScore.com
Nick Saban appears to be on the verge of a football dynasty with the University of Alabama. He’s not only winning championships, but he’s also churning out multiple high-end prospects each year. This year, there are five potential first-round selections coming out of Alabama: cornerback Dee Milliner, offensive tackle D.J. Fluker, nose tackle Jesse Williams, guard Chance Warmack, and running back Eddie Lacy. While all of them show great promise and talent that’s worthy of selecting, there’s one that doesn’t quite fit in the picture: Lacy.

Scouting Report: Is Matt Elam best suited to be a "box safety"? | 100 Yards and Running | Blogs | theScore.com
There’s only a few days left of critiquing draft prospects before they go off to another city, where they’ll play in another scheme and for a new team. Team fit is such an important aspect of drafting a player because it is frequently the deciding factor in how successful he is. If he’s playing in the wrong locker room, position, or scheme, then there’s a good chance the player will fail to develop. It’s why when there are conundrums like what position Florida safety Matt Elam will play in the pros, it’s important to ask all of the questions that come to mind.

Scouting Report: Margus Hunt is raw | 100 Yards and Running | Blogs | theScore.com
Margus Hunt is unlike other prospects — he’s older. He’ll be 26 years old this July, making him the oldest prospect in this year’s draft class. You can tell his maturity by his interviews, which was obvious when he talked with NFL Network following his impressive showing at the NFL Scouting Combine. He was cool and calm while telling his fascinating journey to the sport of football.

A Metrics Study of Undervalued Draft Prospects | The Sideline View
The majority of my writings on draft statistics have been on players who will be picked in the first three rounds, but late round prospects merit discussion as well. I’ve gone through and picked out players who had positive metrics in college, but just aren’t being discussed much in the draft process for one reason or another.

Bottom 16 Skill-Player Groups - Offseason Low Down - Rotoworld.com
Evan Silva examines the NFL's Bottom-16 offensive skill-position groupings and provides a potential 2013 breakout player for each club.

2013 NFL Draft Rankings: Quarterbacks | NFL Philosophy
The Franchise Quarterback. It’s what every team is in search of on draft day. Teams spend millions of dollars on scouts, travel, and new methods to find this ever elusive creature. If a team has a franchise QB, they will forever gloat to those that don’t. If a team doesn’t have a franchise QB, they spend every waking second thinking about it. It consumes them.

Run on tackles could cause Cardinals to consider Branden Albert | ProFootballTalk
The Arizona Cardinals could use a left tackle, and they have the No. 7 overall pick in a strong draft for left tackles. But with talk increasing that all three of the top tackle prospects will be gone within the first six picks, the Cardinals may need to look elsewhere.

Scouting Football Talent - NFL Draft First 5 Facts | TheFootballEducator.com
Putting the finishing touches on a first round draft choice requires ensuring that all the boxes are checked off and the various angles examined. The Football Educator is not a fan of the mock draft process, but recently I was asked to present my Top 10 picks from a general manager’s perspective. Along with Charley Casserly the two of us surmised who we would each select given the scenarios facing the club at the time.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | A Closer Look at Touchdowns in the Red Zone
You hear it all the time from commentators on TV: the closer you get to an opponent’s goal line, the easier it is to tighten up and make a stop. Of course, the caveat here is that it seems to become much easier to punch the ball in when you have a first down inside the opponent’s 5-yard line. But what about scoring touchdowns from farther out, say six to 15 yards from the goal?

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Playmaker Score 2013
Sometimes, there simply aren't many good wide receivers in a given draft. Take the 2002 class, for example. Eleven wideouts went in the first two rounds of the draft that year, but a decade later we find that only three of those men ever gained more than 1,000 yards receiving in an NFL season. Deion Branch leads that class with a paltry sum of 6,644 yards, an average of less than 50 yards per game over his career.

Tavon Austin Is a New Breed Of Player, Like So Many Before Him
It’s become trendy in recent weeks to discuss how players like Tavon Austin are "changing the game," after the success of multi-dimensional athletes like Percy Harvin, Darren Sproles, Randall Cobb, and Aaron Hernandez. Many football analysts have described these players as the next phase in the evolution of the game; for example, here’s what Greg Cosell wrote earlier this week:

Thoughts on Discount Rates When Trading NFL Draft Picks
I’ve received a couple of questions asking about what the discount rate should be when trading future draft picks. For example, two years ago, Atlanta traded the 27th, 59th, and 124th picks in the 2011 draft, along with their first and fourth round picks in the 2012 draft, to the Browns to acquire the 6th pick and select Julio Jones. In making that trade, the Falcons were implying that the future picks were worth less than current selections. Can we quantify exactly what discount rate they used?

Are certain teams better at drafting than others?
On the surface, this seems like an obvious question. Yes, certain teams are good at drafting and certain teams are bad at drafting. It’s easy to think of the Matt Millen Lions or the Raiders at the end of the Al Davis era as terrible drafting teams. With the benefit of hindsight, they were terrible at making draft selections. But is it easy to identify going forward which teams will be good or bad in the draft?

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Futures: Scouting's Bum Rap
Scouting gets a bum rap. "Of course Waldman would say this," you proclaim. "He’s a scout!"

Boiler Room: Michigan State RB Le’Veon Bell | The Rookie Scouting Portfolio
A polarizing player in the draft community engenders endless debate – even after we see that player on an NFL field. If he succeeds his backers believe that the detractors over analyzed the situation. If the prospect struggles the naysayers will claim the backers didn’t see enough. In this sense Le’Veon Bell is a polarizing player in this draft.

2013 NFL Mock Drafts - CBSSports.com NFLDraftScout.com
The NFL invited 23 players to watch the draft from the green room this year. None of them will be more in the spotlight than West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, which could make for an uncomfortable first round if he suffers the same draft-day free fall as Aaron Rodgers, Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen in recent years.

Our top ten must-see games in 2013 | National Football Post
Divisional clashes, renewed rivalries and some all-time classics. Let’s take a look at some of the best games on this year’s schedule.

Friday Buzz | National Football Post
*Agents of veteran free agents like Tyson Clabo, Eric Winston, Israel Idonije, Karlos Dansby, Brian Urlacher and Andre Smith are looking forward to the week after the draft. They believe the market should pick up and the logjam will be broken after teams go through the draft process. There definitely should be more interest in some of those players at that time. The question is if there will be more money.

NFP Sunday Blitz | National Football Post
Examining character risk; all the latest draft talk and a spin around the league.

Is the 2013 quarterback class historically bad? | National Football Post
The NFP grades the last ten drafts in comparison.

10 late round sleepers who could surprise: Part I | National Football Post
1. Josh Boyd, DT, Mississippi State, Senior (6025, 310 and 5.13): A well-built defensive tackle who looks bigger "on the hoof" than his measured size, Boyd’s combination of size, strength and athleticism is starting caliber. Consistently quick moving at the snap, when Boyd maintains leverage he can lock-out and press offensive lineman with ease.

The Shutdown 50: Houston CB D.J. Hayden | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
We continue this year's series with Houston cornerback D.J. Hayden -- who, quite frankly, is lucky to be alive right now, much less trying to cement his status as one of the best overall players in this draft class. Last November, Hayden suffered a tear of the internal vena cava, the primary vein to his heart, during practice, and he came very close to dying.

Greg Cosell’s mock draft: Picks 17-32 | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Here’s Part One of my mock draft: picks 17-32. A little explanation is in order before I begin. Here’s how I did it: I chose players based on my film study and my evaluations, and then factored in my sense of team needs. I have no idea what different teams' draft boards look like, nor will I try to speculate what they might be. I didn’t do a study of each organization, and how they have drafted in previous years. I didn’t analyze general managers, personnel directors and coaches to ascertain a profile or template that speaks to their draft patterns.

Greg Cosell’s mock draft: Picks 1-16 | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Here’s picks 1-16 in my mock draft, you can see picks 17-32 here. The parameters I presented for those selections still apply. One other point: I don’t place grades on players based on the round in which I believe they should be selected. I project players to the NFL, and then look at team needs. If a player I feel transitions well to the NFL fits a given team, then, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good pick.

San Francisco 49ers looking to trade up in NFL draft? - NFL.com
The San Francisco 49ers have plenty of picks in the 2013 NFL Draft at their disposal. Will they trade a couple in order to target a top playmaker such as West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin?

Spencer Ware catches on at workout - NFL.com
LSU running back Spencer Ware worked out on campus on Friday, April 29. Ware ran indoors and on FieldTurf, and wasn’t measured at the workout. He did weigh in at 229 pounds, though. As for his numbers, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.62 and 4.63 seconds. He posted a 34 inch vertical leap and a 10-foot-1/2 inch broad jump. In the short shuttle drill, he clocked in at 4.35 seconds, and completed the three-cone drill in 7.07 seconds. He opted not to lift, as he already had at LSU’s pro day. Ware had a good workout on the day, and caught the ball exceptionally well.

2013 NFL Draft: The perfect strategy for each team to follow - NFL.com
Bucky Brooks breaks down the optimal draft strategy for each team -- which, in the Cleveland Browns' case, might include a highly-touted quarterback named Geno Smith.

Seahawks Draft Targets: Defensive Tackle - 12th Man Rising - A Seattle Seahawks Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.
The Seahawks don't have many needs left on their roster, but they do still need a defensive tackle. Starter Alan Branch left in free agency and hasn't yet

Seattle's surprise 2013 NFL Draft - Kenjon Baner, Kyle Long, Pete Carroll, Tyrann Mathieu
NWSB Editor and Insider Chris Anderson gives you 5 surprising picks the Seahawks may make in the 2013 NFL Draft. While there are some names that keep coming up as good fits for the Hawks, Carroll and Schneider are notorious for going against the grain and still finding success. A few players that may fit the bill for the Seahawks this year are Kenjon Barner of Oregon, Kyle Long of Oregon, Tyrann Mathieu of LSU, Dallas Thomas of Tennessee, and Ryan Swope of Texas A&M.

Seattle Seahawks' 2013 NFL Schedule: Game-by-Game Predictions, Info and Analysis | Bleacher Report
The much anticipated 2013 regular-season schedule was just released a few hours ago for the Seattle Seahawks and the 31 other NFL organizations...

NFL mailbag - Schedule-makers have fairness in mind - ESPN
No schedule can be perfect, but I give the NFL credit for trying.

NFL Draft preview: Who will be the next Russell Wilson? | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
Just call it the Russell Wilson effect. NFL general managers and personnel executives are covering their backsides this draft season after other teams passed over a potential franchise quarterback in the University of Wisconsin’s Wilson last season because he did not meet the eyeball test at 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

Chancellor signing was Hawks’ No. 1 off-season priority | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
"I just feel great right now," Chancellor said. "The Seahawks organization has blessed me. It just feels good. I’m a happy person right now."

Another run through 2013 West schedule - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A few more notes on the recently released 2013 NFL schedule after offering initial thoughts and encouraging discussion late last week:

What numbers say about 2013 draft needs - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The term "draft needs" usually carries a qualitative component. Teams with weak offensive lines obviously have needs at the position, for example. Sometimes it's helpful to consider quantitative elements as well.

Rising to challenge? Seahawks in morning - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
It could've been worse. That's about the only bright side that can be drawn from the announcement of Seattle's schedule in which the Seahawks were scheduled for five games that will start at 1 p.m. Eastern.

What past drafts tell us about the Seahawks' approach - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
The Seahawks won't shock anyone with their first-round pick this year. That's only because they don't have one, though.

Seahawks chat highlights: Avril's role, Bryant's future - Blog - MyNorthwest.com
Danny O'Neil is off and running as 710Sports.com's new Seahawks beat writer. On Friday he hosted a live chat, something that will be a staple of our Seahawks coverage. The full transcript can be found here. Below are some highlights.

John Schneider speaks with a week to go " Seahawks Draft Blog
John Schneider held a press conference yesterday to discuss the Antoine Winfield signing and look ahead to next week. Understandably he gave little away regarding this years draft. He did say it was unlikely the team would trade back into the first round and he didn’t give off a vibe that suggested he’d move up at all. He also played down talk of the team having fewer needs this year and how that would impact the way the team is approaching the draft.

A look at the Seahawks’ 2013 draft visit list (part I) " Seahawks Draft Blog
According to Davis Hsu, Seattle met with 7 of their 10 eventual 2012 draft picks before the draft took place. Here is an unofficial list of players Seattle has brought in for visits or met with so far in 2013 (special thanks to Scott Allen and Chris F):

A look at the Seahawks’ 2013 draft visit list (part II) " Seahawks Draft Blog
Continued from part I.

Mock draft with trades & Mayock’s options at #56 " Seahawks Draft Blog
We’ve done a few of these this year already. I’ve tried to base it on some of the information that’s emerged in the last 24-48 hours. My final mock draft will be published on Wednesday, without trades.

Are the Seahawks looking for a linebacker? | HeraldNet.com - Sports
Seattle could look to replace weakside linebacker Hill in draft.

2013 NFL Schedule: Seahawks and 49ers set for two big games - SBNation.com
San Francisco and Seattle will engage in a fierce battle for the top of the NFC West in 2013.

Kam Chancellor's deal sends message - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The Seattle Seahawks' contract extension for safety Kam Chancellor goes against the grain in the NFC West. The rest of the division has been slashing

LaCanfora: 49ers to sign TE Cam Morrah - Niners Nation
The 49ers are reportedly signing tight end Cam Morrah. We take a look at some of the implications.

Leonard Weaver to retire as an Eagle - Bleeding Green Nation
The Eagles announced today that former Pro Bowl FB Leonard Weaver will sign a one day contract to officially retire as a member of the team.

Transcript: ESPN Media Conference Call with NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. " ESPN MediaZone
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. answered questions about the 2013 NFL Draft on a media conference call Wednesday. The audio replay and transcript:

Seahawks 2013 pre-draft visit tracker | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
The Seattle Seahawks use their pre-draft visits to focus on potential undrafted free agents they’d like to bring into camp. The visits also provide a blueprint for the type of players Seattle may be looking for in the upcoming draft or in free agency.

No-Huddle Series: TE Justice Cunningham | The Rookie Scouting Portfolio
All qualifiers about injury, fit, and professionalism aside, the 2013 class of tight end prospects could be the deepest I have ever seen. It would only be a mild surprise if three years from now there is a tight end from this group who becomes a valued contributor for an NFL team and began his career as a rookie free agent. A player who folks might be sleeping on is South Carolina’s Justice Cunningham.

Tavon Austin and 2012′s best red zone receivers | RotoViz
When it comes to receivers, you often hear things like "he’s a deep ball threat," or "he’s more of a possession guy," or, my favorite, "he’s a redzone threat." But what does it mean to be a redzone threat? Does a guy just have to be tall? Should he have great leaping ability? Is it strictly a matter of winning the ball?

Is there another Russell Wilson out there? - latimes.com
Seahawks' third-round pick from last year is Exhibit A of what can be found deep in the NFL draft.