Dear Emotionally Battered Seattle Seahawk Fan,

You’ve seen Russell Wilson traded to the Denver Broncos for five draft picks, and three players. For many of you, that probably blew.

You’ve seen Bobby Wagner cut from the team in a publicity nightmarish scenario, and then sign up with the younger prettier looking Los Angeles Rams a few week later. Ouch!

You’ve seen the team overpay for Will Dissly (although the true cap dollars aren’t nearly what the contract suggests), and you thought to yourself “what exactly is the plan, here?”

Outside of a few nice signings (edge rusher Uchenna Nwosa looks like a good one), it’s probably not a stretch to say that this off-season has been putting you through the ringer a bit.

Well, I’m here to tell you that all is not done yet with this off-season, and I’m going to lend some optimism. The NFL Draft is a few weeks away, and this draft class looks loaded at positions that our Seattle Seahawks desperately need to get younger, stronger, and better at.

I’m hopeful that after a little bit more dipping in the toes in free agency, I think these Seahawks can be a surprisingly fun team for us still in 2022. I’m hopeful, anyways.

This is my first mock draft to help get your juices flowing a bit. Seahawks have some nice receivers, safeties, tight ends, and interior defensive linemen, but they are currently scary thin at offensive tackle, and quarterback. They also need more edge rush, linebacker, and corner help.

Basically, they need a lot, but enough of that. Let’s get mocking.

With the 9th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks Trade with the Minnesota Vikings

Massive freak of nature defensive tackle Jordan Davis falls to pick 9 for the Seahawks, and Minnesota wants him. They trade picks 12 and 46 to the Seahawks for 9. Seattle now has four top fifty picks to fill roster needs. Wowza. This will help.

With the 12th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Trevor Penning, Offensive Tackle, Northern Iowa

Penning fills an obvious need, getting a long term solution at left tackle. He is 6-7 and 325 pounds of freakish strength and athletic ability who plays with an edge, loves the game, and is a tireless worker. He’s a bit rough round the edges as a pass blocker, though, but Pete Carroll will love the intensity he plays with. It’s worthwhile to note that the Rams system that Seattle is now embracing tends to prefer offensive tackle to be 6-7 or taller. Last year, Seattle to a late round flyer on Florida tackle Stone Forsythe who is 6-8. For these reasons, I think Penning is a player to watch for the Seahawks, and if they want him, they will have to take him early. I actually have him taken over Ole Miss tackle Charlie Cross because Seattle wants to go with upside.

With the 40th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Abraham Lucas, Offensive Tackle, Washington State

Like Trevor Penning, Lucas is another tall athletic tackle who plays the game with an edge. Lucas might even be the better pass protector out of the two thus far, however, but since he plays on the right side, he might not be as heavily in demand. He’s reportedly a big Seahawks fan, and has met with the team at the NFL combine. Taking him here gives Seattle the chance to have bookend offensive tackles for the next decade. This is a no brainer pick, IMO.

With the 41st pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Sam Williams, Edge Rusher, Mississippi

Just like Darrell Taylor a couple years ago, the Seahawks take an explosive 6-4 260 pound edge rusher who they think they can mold into a great one. Williams comes in with freakish speed, but a rawness to his game, especially against the run. His testing numbers are insane, and Seattle hit gold a few years back when they took a very raw Frank Clark in the bottom of the second round. He comes in to start off as a pure pass rush specialist with a chance to evolve as top end every down edge player.

With the 46th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Perrion Winfrey, Defensive Tackle, Oklahoma

Pete Carroll’s stated big mission at the end of the season was to fix Seattle pass rush, they changed scheme to more of a 3-4 pressure front and promoted DL coach Clint Hurtt to coordinator. He’s going to want to put more emphasis on big men rushing forward in this scheme. This is a luxury pick because Seattle has depth at DT, but Winfrey might be one of the better pure interior pass rushers in this class, and that’s too much to pass up. I love the idea of him working inside with newly acquired DT from Denver Shelby Harris, and returning Seahawk interior rusher from years past, Quinton Jefferson. Winfrey can afford to learn from Harris and Q Jeff to become the 3 technique of the future while being a part of the interior pass rush rotation now.

With the 72nd pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Martin Emerson, Cornerback, Mississippi State

Here’s where the Seahawks take a shot at a starting outside corner. Emerson is long and agressive in his physicality. Adding him to a CB room that includes Sidney Jones, Artie Burns, Justin Coleman, and Tre Brown suddenly gives Seattle a sense of security at this position that they maybe haven’t had in a while. This is a good pick here.

With the 109th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Troy Andersen, Linebacker, Montana State

Seahawks hit gold in the early portion of the fourth round getting a big, physical fast inside backer to work in with Jordyn Brooks, Cody Barton, and Ben Burr-Kirven. Linebacker is especially looking deep with this draft class, and that’s probably a big reason why Seattle felt that they could comfortably move on from Bobby Wanger. This is a great value pick.

With the 152nd pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Zamir White, Running back, Georgia

Three things are certain. Death, taxes, and so long as Pete Carroll is coaching in the NFL, he is always going to be looking at adding another explosive running back to his roster. Like linebacker, running back is deep in this class, and I think Seattle can be patient finding another one. I think Zamir White looks like an NFL starting running back and he’s worth a shot here.

With the 153rd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Tariq Castro-Fields, Cornerback, Penn State

This is a depth pick here. Seattle only has Sidney Jones and Artie Burns on one year deals. Getting two young cornerbacks that they feel good about out of this draft might be a big goal. Castro-Fields has good length and ability to play man coverage, which Seattle is shifting more towards in its aggressive scheme. if they can land him mid rounds, this feels like a smart get.

With the 229th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Jack Sanborn, Linebacker, Wisconsin

This is another pick for depth at linebacker. Sanborn isn’t a freak athlete but he played college ball with good intelligence and had a knack for making some plays on the ball. At this range in the draft, you’re probably looking for someone who shows some potential but also someone who might be really willing to show out on special teams. Sanborn feels like that sort of guy.

Thoughts On This Mock Draft

Seattle has many needs right now and I feel like was one small trade back from pick 9 to get an additional second round pick allowed Seattle to attack many of the more vital ones, outside of quarterback. This mock draft feels like a big hit to me in that way.

Seahawks landed two enormous and athletically gifted players to be bookend starting tackles on their offensive line for the next franchise quarterback to benefit from. This is a huge coupe, if it were to happen.

Penning has enormous physical talents but is raw as a pass blocker and played at a small school program. There will likely be growing pains for him, but getting him run blocking often will help. Lucas might look like the better player out of the two of them initially, but Penning probably has the much greater upside.

Seattle also added to two pass rushers who could evolve, in time, into impact starters. Again, this is awesome. This is how to start to build a nucleus for your new attack style defense.

Seattle takes advantage of the quality depth of this draft at corner, linebacker, and running back, and what strikes me about this draft is how they double dip at many of these positions, including offensive tackle. I have a sneaking suspicion that Seattle wants to trade back from 9 to fill out their roster with player from this class which looks especially rich with depth in later rounds.

Last year’s draft was beyond weird with only three picks. I think they want quite the opposite this time around. In this mock, Seattle came away with nine players, but in reality, they might want ten or eleven.

if I were to criticize this mock draft, however, it would be that maybe Seattle doesn’t land a true blue chip player (even with Penning), but they get a handful of players that can be good starters in this league for a long time. This might be their goal, given the amount of holes that they are facing with their roster. This looks like a draft where getting as many picks in the top 100 as you can might the preference for roster building.

Why No Quarterback Is Drafted And Other Matters

Pete Carroll stated recently that they want to bring back Geno Smith and they want to add a fourth quarterback who might be an important piece for the long term future of the club. This could easily imply that they have a quarterback (or two) in mind that they would like to take out of this draft class.

But in reality, it could also mean that they have an eye out for a younger quarterback that they would still like to trade for.

Therefore, in this first mock scenario, I’m working with the idea that there’s someone very specific that they want to trade for, and I’m going to run the Baker Mayfield speculation in this instance.

In this scenario, Seattle plans to trade for Mayfield after this draft concludes. Here, I have them wanting to use any many picks as they can in this particular draft to plug holes, and afterwards, they have a plan in place to bring in Baker Mayfield for a 2023 third round pick, and they extend his deal for an extra year to drop the costs against the 2022 salary cap.

This gives Baker and Seattle an opportunity for two years together to see if he can be the next long term quarterback in town. If he plays well within the Waldron system, it’s a low cost home run hit. If he doesn’t play well enough, well then it didn’t cost any more than the third round pick they sent to the Chargers in 2010 for Charlie Whitehurst to see if he could be their next answer.

This, frankly, feels like a no brainer decision on many levels, and while there is a distinct anti Baker vibe out there right now, I’d be willing to wager more towards the idea that, with a healthy shoulder again, he can quickly regain his 2020 form, where he was a top ten quarterback in the league that season in terms of passing efficiency, and was the sixth best deep ball passing quarterback according to the league’s Next Gen Stats. Passing efficiency and deep ball accuracy are probably the two most important things that Pete Carroll wants in his starting quarterback. Therefore, I would watch for this to happen. I think it’s likely.

With an added year to Mayfield’s current contract that drops his 2022 numbers down, Seattle could probably look to add his former center in JC Trotter, and they could look to add his current workout partner Cole Beasley, as well. Austin Blythe could move to guard to compete with Gabe Jackson.

Suddenly, at least on paper, the 2022 Seattle Seahawks look like a team that can compete in their division with the addition of Mayfield and these other two proposed moves. The offensive line looks younger and more physical, and the defensive front seven looks more filled out and deeper. Cornerback seems more fortified.

People can criticize that adding a Baker Mayfield will lessen the high end draft capital in 2023, but let’s think about that for a minute. If Baker Mayfield comes in and fits this offense well enough in 2022 where they (and he) exceed expectations, doesn’t he potentially then solve the quarterback dilemma, and if so, isn’t that a good thing?

Maybe he never becomes the dynamic player Russell Wilson was but what if he’s essentially Dave Krieg?

I get if that doesn’t register with Millennial Twelves, but for those not in the know, back before cell phones, Krieg wasn’t too shabby as a passer in the 206 leading this team regularly into the playoffs and earning multiple pro bowl honors. My Gen X’er self can live with that, anyways.

In my opinion, there is no setback for this club if they win more games than expected in 2022, and if Mayfield looks good, then maybe the QB problem is solved, and the two first round picks in 2023 could continue to go towards the offensive and defensive lines again. Continually adding to the trenches with high round capital will not be a bad thing, if that happens.

That’s really what this first mock of mine is about, just throwing down into the trenches. First four picks, all in the top fifty, all go to the offensive and defensive lines. That feels very Baltimore Ravens to me. I dig that approach.

Go Hawks.

Dear Seattle Seahawk Fan,

I know that the news of Bobby Wagner signing a 5 year 50 million dollar deal with the salary cap abusing Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams is likely hitting you hard this morning. Just know that I’m here for you. I think I can help.

Let me tell you a story.

Back many, many years ago, when I was a younger Seattle theater actor, I had a girlfriend/fiancee who was smokin’ hot. She looked like a swim suit model. She was tall, elegant, and charming, with piercing blue eyes that looked through your soul.

She had a laugh that put you at ease and it made you feel disarmed in her presence. I remembered that my attraction to her was immediate when I met her (as would be anybody’s), but given that I found her so far out of my league, I never would have considered her and I to be anywhere near a match.

So, the moment when it was eventually brought to my attention by a mutual friend that the attraction was, in fact, reciprocal, as you can imagine, I was quite surprised. Obviously, this gal had a weird kink, I thought to myself, but I was glad that it appeared to be me.

I wasted no time asking her out on a date. It was a magical night, and within a month or so later, she and I were living together. A few months after that, we got engaged.

Then life stuff happens. Lots of life stuff happens. Lots of shit stuff happened.

I will spare you the details, nobody’s ever solely at fault, but I will just say that her needs and wants became very different than my needs and wants, but because of our emotional connection to each other, we kept drudging the relationship out to the point where it, well, became very pointless in my view. Something needed to change, and I felt I needed to be the one to act.

So, I did the thing that I never imagined I would do. I broke it off. I dumped the supermodel with a heart of gold and engaging laugh.

I thought I needed to be with someone more on my level, and she needed someone at hers.

I will admit that I didn’t do the break up very well. In fact, I thought it was very botched, and embarrassing. After five years together, she deserved much better than what I dished her way. To this day, I still hold regrets on that.

But I had convictions behind my decision, and I stayed true to the course.

I rebounded, got engaged immediately to someone else I barely new but projected a ton on, and when I gained consciousness to the fact that was also a gigantic mistake, I broke that off, too. I decided that I just needed to be by myself, and I was.

Many months later, I bumped into my ex in public. She was with a younger man who looked like he could be the stand in for Lenny Kravitz. When she locked eyes on me, she immediately looked away, and snuggled up to him tighter. She signal to me was clear.

“Go fuck yourself, Curtis Eastwood”

I will never forget the feeling of my ego in free fall at that moment. She found happiness with a younger and much better looking man who looked like he had his shit together way more than I did. This was the ultimate slap across my face.

When news broke yesterday that Bobby Wagner signed this deal with the Los Angeles Rams, the same feeling I felt back then crept up. I felt that we dumped him, and he found someone much better than us, and it stings like a motherfucking wasp bite.

Ya see, I got why the Seattle Seahawks cut him. His play over the last few years, didn’t justify an $18 million salary for 2022, in my view. Yeah, he made a ton of tackles still, but he wasn’t the same sideline to sideline player who made impact near or behind the line of scrimmage. Most of his tackles were beyond four yards down field, and rarely would you see him take on blockers like he used to do.

Honestly, I wanted the team to move on. I wanted them to go younger at linebacker and spend money in the trenches. As much as I loved and appreciated the person Bobby Wagner was as a Seattle Seahawk, I saw that change was needed.

It just sucks hard to see him go to the Rams, and if you are having a hard time with this, here’s my overriding advice.

If you are not an alcoholic in recovery as a Seahawk fan, prepare to drink heavily. That’s what I did when I witnessed my ex with Lenny Kravitz dude.

Sure, it was destructive to my liver, and it led me on a path of more bad decision making, but it helped me to move on. I did all kinds of whack stuff to drown the pain before I came to terms where I could make peace with the fact that she and Lenny Kravitz guy were probably a better match than she and I were.

The Seattle Seahawks need a rebuild. Their foundation is shaky because they aren’t a strong team in the trenches. Resources need to go there and $10 plus million dollars for an aging middle linebacker probably isn’t the best way to use those resources right now.

Go on a bender, if you need to, but trust that this is the right path. My breakup with my ex eventually proved to be the right thing, for both of us.

Years later, I found out that this Lenny Kravitz cat was apparently a bigger douche than even I was, but eventually, she would her true mate that she was meant to be with, and I found someone special who is perfect for me. This all made me feel like my instincts were right about the split all along, even though my handling of it was very wrong.

I have a strong feeling that the Seattle Seahawks will be fine, maybe even sooner than later, and so will Bobby Wagner.

So, let him go.

Go Hawks.

Dear Pete Carroll and John Schneider,

Well, you stray cats did it, didn’t ya?

Okay, fine. What’s done is done.

I can hang with trading Russ, even though I didn’t totally want you to do that, and I’m fine with cutting Bobby. I’m good with it because I’ve been sensing the need for a rebuild for well over a year, and the only reason why I didn’t want this guys to leave was my own emotional attachments, plain and simple. But I am able and willing to rip those band-aids off.

However, I just need to say these few quick other things about it all.

I didn’t super love how Bobby tweeted out that y’all didn’t bother to talk to him before he found out that he was being cut. At some point, I’d like to hear your angle on that because that, my friends, is an awful look.

And I’m not super duper thrilled about the idea that maybe you two are into trading for Deshaun Watson, even though now he won’t face criminal charges in whatever went down between him and a bunch of massage therapists. I hope that is this is just a massive smoke screen on your ends.

Even if Watson is somehow found not guilty in his pending civil suits, do not trade for this guy. Don’t surrender that draft capital haul from Denver to Houston to grab this guy, and I don’t care how gifted and special he is at quarterback.

Even if, from this day forth, he becomes a pillar of his community again, and plays the most important position in all of sports at the highest levels, and leads his new team to multiple Super Bowls victories, let that happen in another market for another fan base. Let it be Minnesota’s story, or Carolina’s.

In fact, let’s take a healthy break from the whole franchise quarterback unicorn thing altogether. I think your team can use it, and I think, whether they know it of not, so could the Twelves.

Look, let’s be very real about this whole situation that we are in as fans of a team that just traded away the most iconic quarterback that has ever played for it. Whoever you trade for, or draft with a high pick is going to come into this situation, and instantly be compared to Russ.

I don’t care if it is Watson, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Malik Willis, or Matt Corral, that quarterback is walking into a situation with fans who will be pissed beyond belief if this team isn’t improved enough to take this thing farther than what Russ has been doing for the last seven years after the Super Bowls. They will forever be compared to the one you let get away, and still continued to dog paddle swim towards championship contention.

Therefore, I think it is smarter to just take a very methodical systematic approach to building this whole thing up again right. If you build back a top five defense, and a strong offensive line, the quarterback will eventually come to you because that is what the trends are in this modern game now.

Quarterbacks are willing to jump ship to other teams, and teams seem more willing to deal. This feels like the new NFL. Just embrace it.

So, here’s what I say. Use every single one of those high picks you’ve acquired to properly rebuild this roster over the next two years. Build this thing up with young core talent in the trenches, and in a few other spots, and worry about the quarterback later.

This is my guide to help you get that done.

Get The Hulk

Don’t get cute in this 2022 NFL Draft. Get one of these two guys; Defensive Tackle Jordan Davis of Georgia, or Defensive Tackle Travis Jones of Connecticut.

Bring The Hulk to Seattle.

Jordan Davis is an absolute FREAK OF NATURE, standing at 6-6, and weighing 341 lbs, while being able to run a forty yard dash at linebacker speed, and showing crazy explosive power. If he is there at 9, you take him. I don’t care who else is there. A human being that big should not be able to move like he does, and if you put him between a guard and center, that is going to be a nightmare scenario for quarterbacks throughout the league for years to come. He might not become the annual double digit sack guy Aaron Donald is, but he would make the other guys on the defensive line job’s a heck of a lot easier. Offenses might have to throw three blockers at him ever play. Get him, if you can.

If he is not there at pick 9, get Travis Jones. Take him either there, or with a slight trade back. Jones is Hulk 1B to Davis’s 1A. Standing at 6-4 and weighing 325 lbs, if it wasn’t for Davis’s INSANE combine performance, Jones probably would have grabbed a much of headlines running the forty in the low 4.9s, and showing decent explosion himself for a man that size. What makes him an even more interesting prospect is how he routinely freight trained guards and centers at the Senior Bowl. While he isn’t the total size and athletic profile freak Davis is, he might actually be a more advanced interior rusher. He should be your solid Plan B to Davis.

I don’t care how you go about getting one of these guys, but get one of them. If Davis isn’t there at 9, and you want to go edge rusher, great; figure a way to trade back into round one later to grab Jones, if he slides.

Getting The Hulk is going to make your defense’s job easier in games. Captain America and Thor look great because they have The Hulk. Every comic book fan and MCU nut knows this.

Having Red Bryant on the left side of your defensive line in 2011-2013 literally took half of the field away for offenses to run the ball. He was your Hulk back then, and while he never individually manufactured big sack numbers for himself, he opened up opportunities for others to make the splash play after splash play.

Tattoo this on your foreheads and stare into the mirror every day with this right up to the draft. Your defense was never as good as it was when it featured Red Bryant up front.

Go get The Hulk.

Bring Home Gardner Minshew

Repeat after me:

We will not trade for Deshaun Watson.

We will not trade high draft capital for Derek Carr or Kirk Cousins.

We will not draft a quarterback in the first round.

As to that last part, let’s just avoid drafting for the position at all this Spring, if we can. I want to see you turn picks 9, 40, and 41 into quality starters on your offensive and defensive lines. At pick 72, I’d like to see some playmaker at whatever other position.

Send whatever mid round pick (and maybe LJ Collier as well) to Philadelphia for PNW fan favorite and cultural icon Gardner Minshew, and let him compete with Drew Lock to become the starter. If he wins the job, the fans will get behind him, and this will be an instant PR hit, which you desperately need right now, if you aren’t totally aware yet.

If he pushes Lock into finally uncorking his potential as a passer, great. Then you look like geniuses for getting Lock here, and doing with him what Denver couldn’t do.

If he wins the job, and plays reasonably well (as I suspect he probably would), fans will be behind this guy, and therefore, behind you and this rebuild. Again, you will look like geniuses.

If he struggles, and Lock struggles, fans will accept that this is a full rebuild, and they will see the high draft pick you get next year as another foundational piece to the ultimate pie of eventual success down the road.

There is no way that you two come out of this looking bad by bringing in Minshew, and giving him a shot at this thing. So, do it.

Plus, there are some NFL film studying dorks who think he fits the scheme that Shane Waldron is trying to run as a rhythm throwing quarterback who understands routes, possesses good mobility, and throws an accurate ball in the short to intermediate areas of the field, and has just enough arm strong to threaten down field.

Yes, he’s not the dynamic athlete others are trending towards in this league. He’s not super twitched up, and he doesn’t have a canon arm, he doesn’t have great size, but neither did Drew Brees, or even Joe Montana, for that matter. What both of those quarterbacks had was natural leadership and a good understanding of the pass game, and just enough tools to just get it done.

It seems to me that Gardner Minshew ticks those boxes enough that it’s worth it to find out what he can be with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and now Noah Fant at tight end.

And he has personality shining out of his butt-hole like something invented out of a Hollywood studio.

So, my God, just go out and bring him here.

There is nothing but wins by doing this. Trading for Deshaun Watson is a toxic level risk that just isn’t worth taking, no matter how talented he is. Let him be another franchise’s success story, if he is to be one.

Give us Gardner. It’s what the vast majority of us probably want at this point.

Do this.

Use free agency to bring back the few younger core players you covet to keep and then look for others on the market.

If you feel free safety Quandre Diggs is the vital leader of your new look defense moving forward, pay him as such, and have him be that guy for the next four years. Just bring him back.

If you feel DJ Reed is your ideal corner now in a more Vic Fangio style scheme, pay him the top dollars to return. He’s really good, and don’t let him get away.

If you think Rashaad Penny is finally ready to break out as a superstar running back, and has now clicked with this new scheme like Marshawn did with your old one back in the day, bring him back. Just do it.

If Duane Brown wants to stick around and see a rebuild through at age 37, God bless him for wanting that, and bring him back to be the new veteran leader of the offensive. He’s a good guy to have around, and probably won’t break the piggy bank at is age.

If you see good young players in free agency looking for their big pay days with second contracts who are attracted to Carroll’s culture, and want to be a part of this thing, don’t skimp and miss an opportunity to bring some of these guys in. Be willing to pay for them to be foundational members of this thing.

You need more edge rush, interior rush, a quality center (finally), and you big time need corner help. You can also use more at receiver, linebacker now that Bobby isn’t here, and obvious if Brown isn’t coming back, you got at big gigantic hole at left tackle.

Try to fill some of these needs with talented younger free agents who will be a part of this thing for the next four to five years. Make this the third big time goal of this off-season, and NAIL IT.

Closing Thoughts

Commit to a full rebuild. Don’t spend high capital on another expensive starting quarterback in this league and trick yourselves into thinking this is just a quick reset and reload.

Finally get bigger, younger, stronger, faster, and more talented in your trenches, and build off of that.

Go get Gardner Minshew, and if he (or Drew Lock) pops, and we win more games than expected, and it’s looking like the new franchise quarterback is here, then that’s a big time bonus. You hit the Lotto, and congrats to looking like geniuses again.

If is this fails to deliver, all is forgiven. Most fans will probably have accepted that this is a rebuild.

Trading Russell Wilson away for what would be Deshaun Watson, even if found not guilty, would be a GIGANTIC slap in the face of any sexual assault victim that roots for your team. Judging by the percentages of people that this has happened to, that number is probably a high percentage of fans. Do not do this to these people.

Are we clear on all this?

I really hope so.

Go Hawks!

Dear Seattle Seahawks Fan,

I’m here for you, if these two gigantic breaking bits of news are still hitting you hard.

I’m also here for you if you’re glad that these sweeping changes are happening, and are excited about this team now conducting what you believe is a much needed reboot.

I’m even here for you if you are somewhere weirdly in between. In truth, I’m kind of in that weird in between state. I suspect I will stay well within this weird state for sometime.

I didn’t want Russell Wilson to not be a Seattle Seahawk, but at the same time, I feel like I have spent a year bracing for this reality. For me, I wasn’t dismissive of last year’s drama about Russ complaining about the offensive line, and then saying he didn’t want to be traded, but then putting out a short list of four teams he would be willing to be dealt to. I didn’t consider that media inspired fake news, as some Seahawk beat writers, and Pete Carroll, and even Russ himself tried to spin it as such.

My alarm bells shot off. I believed the reports that Russ wasn’t happy being Pete’s game manager, and Pete remained unwilling to bend his offense towards the high tempo Andy Reid style attack Russ craved. I saw writings on the wall that others would gladly shoot down.

I thought Russ wanted out if Pete Carroll was to be left in charge as head coach and team vice president. It was that simple of a fact for me.

I felt that this was going to be a year in which team owner Jody Allen would have to choose either the quarterback or the coach, but both would likely not be coming back. That’s the vibe that stayed with me all this past year. That’s what I predicted on a podcast that I am a regular part of.

I had actually reached a point mid season, even with Russ’s struggles, where I had hoped that Jody would chose Russ over Carroll, and had written those thoughts on this blog. It felt very logical, in my mind, to choose the thirty something franchise quarterback over the aging coach, even though I still really liked and believed in the geezer coach.

But when it became clear the week after the season had ended that Jody Allen was going to stand by Pete Carroll and John Schneider, in all honesty, my thoughts slowly started to drift the other way with it all. I began making peace with the thought that Russell Wilson was likely no longer going to be the quarterback of my favorite team.

For several weeks now, it felt with each passing day, I have been waiting for this sort of news to break. I’ve ran through the scenarios many of times. I thought about Vegas and whether Seattle would swing a deal to send Russ there for Derek Carr. I’ve thought long and hard about the New York Giants as a destination. Lately, I started warming to Philadelphia and getting two of their first round picks this year along with Jalen Hurts.

I have talked myself into liking Hurts and Carr, and Gardner Minshew, too. I even talked myself up into liking Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield, as well.

Because the simple fact is that I just wanted this drama between Russ and the team to end, and I gotta say it; now that it officially has ended, I’m glad. I’m personally ready to move on.

I just didn’t see this division between Pete and Russ being anything sustainable. Nor did I think it would be healthy to carry it into another season only to watch it fester more through the Mark Rodgers fed media, creating even further division between fans.

Even as I type this out, I refuse to look at the current Seattle Seahawk situation in a glass half empty sort of way. Maybe that is my way of dealing with being a fan of this team, and I just have to remain optimistic.

Maybe it’s also that I feel like now is a true opportunity for this Pete Carroll coached team to get back to it’s previous identity of being a physical running team with a built up defense, and explosive perimeter players for a functional game manager quarterback to step in and.. manage.

Who and what that quarterback is, I believe is very much yet to be determined, but I don’t think it is going to be Drew Lock. I think he’s a hedge for another quarterback that they have in mind.

Word had it over the scouting combine weekend that Seattle was showing strong interest in Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral. If it is true that they like him, then it proves Seattle still values a scrambling playmaking style of passer.

They could have interest in Jalen Hurts, or Gardner Minshew, if either are made available through trade. They might fancy Marcus Mariota as a free agent signing.

Aside from Corral, Malik Willis and Desmond Ridder also possess the physical traits of being playmaking quarterbacks in this coming draft. It is possible that Seattle likes them, as well.

If Deshaun Watson is cleared of all his legal troubles, Seattle might have their sights set on him. Duane Brown (presuming he’s back) would have intel on Watson, and could sell Watson on Pete Carroll’s culture like he did Jadeveon Clowney. I believe Brown and Watson are also fairly tight friends.

If Watson is cleared (like some think he’s going to be), I wouldn’t be all together opposed to the idea. He’s young, and clearly capable of being a top five quarterback. If he wants to be up here, and is sold on Pete, I think it’s something to strongly consider, but at the same time, that feels like a lot of ifs.

My bigger point is that while, initial reactions to this blockbuster trade make it seem like Seattle is surrendering to a rebuild, I’m not so sure that they are.

In exchange for Russ, along with the five draft picks Seattle gets over the next two years (Denver’s 2022 first and second rounds picks, 2023 first and second round picks, and a fifth rounder), they receive athletic starting tight end Noah Fant, and pass rushing defensive tackle Shelby Harris along with journeymen quarterback Drew Lock. Again, I think Lock was a throw in hedge for their targeted next starter, but Harris and Fant are two quality veterans at positions of need for Seattle. Those aren’t rebuilding pieces. Those are guys you look to reload with.

As I look at this move, I suspect more splash moves to come, and with news breaking of Bobby Wagner being released, I suspect Seattle to be an aggressive shopper in free agency and possibly trades. Between Russ and Bobby, Seattle as now freed up $28 million to go along with it’s projected $38 million of 2022 cap space. They are going to be major buyers, and that is exciting to me.

Carroll wants to fix his pass rush, but he wants to bring back star safety Quandre Diggs, and DJ Reed at corner, as well. Those moves won’t be cheap. They now have more than enough money to do that, and still spend on the offensive line.

This Bobby Wagner move doesn’t hit as hard for me, but I understand if it does you. He’s a well loved player and a great leader. I’ve always enjoyed him as a player to watch and root for, but at the same time, I’ve never viewed linebacker as an area where large amounts of money should be spent. I would have rather seen that kinda money reserved for premier defensive linemen.

I have also noticed a bit of a decline in his game recent years, and I felt this day was coming. Yes, he continued to make a boat load of tackles, but they always seemed more downfield and less towards the line of scrimmage where you want those tackles to occur. That has been troubling to me.

What I really need now to get through these dramatic moves is for Seattle to be aggressive shoppers through free agency to strengthen their trenches on both sides of the ball. If in a week’s time, Chandler Jones is a Seahawk, Rams center Brian Allen is a Seahawk, Trent Brown is a Seahawk, and Sebastian Joseph-Day is a Seahawk, I’m feeling a heck of a lot better, especially if they get Duane Brown back.

Because, for me, at the end of the day, football is still a game that is won and lost in the trenches, and Seattle has gotten further and further away from that with each passing year, and because of that, they’ve been harder for me to watch. All three of their division opponents are better than they are at the line of scrimmage, and that desperately needs to be reversed, in my view.

When Seattle won the Super Bowl several years back, they had one of the most expensive offensive lines in football and while they were so-so as pass protectors, they were monster run blockers, and as games wore on, they exhausted good defensive lines. Their defensive line was loaded with pass rushers and run stuffers. They also had a cheap game managing playmaker quarterback on a rookie contract interestingly enough, as well.

I think it’s entirely possible that Pete and John want to get back to that exact formula.

In the meantime, would I take Marcus Mariota over Russell Wilson? No way, but if I had built up lines, I could roll way more easily with it.

So I really hope this is the direction Pete and John take. Fix the lines first. Then deal with getting your next quarterback.

But get that next quarterback right, too!

As for Russ and Bobby, I’m going to miss them.

I loved Russ’s dynamic play, and I was able to roll with some of the more frustrating elements of his game because of those unique dynamics. I even loved the dorky stuff he would say in press conferences that kinda drove others a bit bonkers.

Honestly, Russ has been my favorite Seahawk player since Cortez Kennedy, and it’s weird for me to also kinda be glad that he’s been dealt. I will store his jersey away and gift it down to my son when he’s old enough to fit into it, and appreciate it.

With Bobby, I just really liked the dude. He felt genuine and real. In some ways, I think I might miss him more.

With all the volatility that has festered this team at various times between Percy Harvin, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas, and then this recent Russ stuff, Bobby has always remained a Steady Eddy leader for this team. Despite what I believe is some declining play, that’s a very tough thing to say goodbye to. He’s a first ballot hall of famer to me, and he’s a guy that I will tell my own son to be like.

“Be like Bobby.”

Yeah, I will root for both these guys as they move on. It will be a very easy thing to do.

But just not against my Seahawks. Because my blue and green colors don’t run. They stay true to form. They always have.

When the Seahawks meet the Broncos this Fall, I hope Shelby Harris sacks Russ five times and Quandre picks him off twice, and the Seahawks win. Then I will root for Russ to have a signature game the following week.

And I’m very much ready for this next chapter of Seahawk football to begin. I’m looking forward to this off-season. I’m really ready for it now.

Go get it done.

Go Hawks

Dear Los Angeles Sports Fan,

Congratulations on your seventh favorite team in town (behind the Lakers, Dodgers, Trojans, Bruins, Kings, and the Sparks) for winning the Super Bowl that your town just hosted. I’m sure that was a big deal for you!

I know that it was probably, most certainly, highly important for the National Football League to have your seventh favorite team in town win this big show. After all, the league needs the Rams to jump ahead of the Sparks and Kings to at least be the fifth most popular LA team among fans. After all, there is millions if not billions of dollars at stake for the revenue to be generated down there, and spread among all these billionaire owners that need more money.

In fact, I would venture to say that having professional football not become successful in a second attempt inside your market would be an incredibly embarrassing look for a league that loves to think of itself as King Of All Sports In America. So, I guess I should be really happy for the league, as well.

Good job, NFL!

And look, I get your eye rolls that might be rolling right now, if you think I am suggesting that there was shenanigans happening with the refs and the flags in the final minutes of the game that may or may not have involved a call from the league offices. Don’t worry. I am nowhere going to suggest that there was any sort of NFL Deep State involvement at that final juncture of an ever so close ball game for, you know.. the title.

I’m just going to suggest that, in a way where it seemed like the refs were good to let players play through contact that looked like maybe holds on defense (and even facemasks on offense), it was more than a bit interesting that flags started to fly when your team got into the red zone for a go ahead score. Yeah, that was quite interesting.

I mean, I have looked at the replay of that supposed Logan Wilson interference inside the ten over and over again, and I just don’t see it. What I do see on that play is the right side of your line false starting in front of the line judge and no penalty being called for that offensive infraction.

So, I guess that whole thing is all sorta curious for me, but you know.. no harm no foul, right?

Good thing that I’m not a Bengals fan. Otherwise, I think I would be mightily pissed right now and I would have to shopping online for a new television set.

But that is neither here nor there. Congratulations, again, on winning that Super Bowl.

As a life long Washingtonian, I’m really happy for Cooper Kupp. Dude’s a legit baller and I’m annoyed my Seahawks didn’t think to draft him when they could have.

Now, you have to blow the whole thing up down there. I’m not saying that to be mischievous either. I’m saying it in very pragmatic terms.

Your team is projected to be nearly $11 million dollars over the salary cap in 2022, and you have a boat load of starters poised to hit free agency. Even if your superstar defensive tackle Aaron Donald retires, his expensive contract off the books isn’t going to get your team under the salary cap in order to retain any of your free agents. Therefor, your team’s general manager is going to have to cut some other talents to make that happen, and the likelihood of being able to retain Von Miller, Darious Willliams, OBJ, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Brian Allen, Austin Corbett, Sony Michel, and others is going to prove quite difficult.

And with my man Cooper Kupp’s contract coming up around the corner, as well, that’s going to cost your team a fortune, as well.

This is not going to be easy waters to get through by any stretch, and I would say that you would be able to find some relief through the NFL draft this Spring to replace some of this talent, but your team traded most of their picks away to acquire Matthew Stafford and Von Miller.

Because of these bold moves to go all in on winning the whole enchilada this year, your team won’t be picking until the very end of round three where immediate impact cheap rookie talent will be long gone, and probably drafted by like, say, Seattle.

Your team might have to trade expensive prime talent just to get further under the cap and to get higher picks in order to fill out your roster. That’s a pickle.

When I look at all of this, I can see why Sean McVay, at a young age, might want to walk away and start a family with a much easier job of doing broadcasting for some major network. I mean, he certainly has the look for it, and he’s in the right market. It would be a super easy transition, and he will avoid the shame of maybe being beaten by Pete Carroll twice in a season for the first time in his coaching career while working with a gutted roster.

Never fear on your next head coaching search, though. I hear Brian Flores is looking for a gig, and so is Eric Bieniemy. As far as I can tell, those are two outstanding coaching men of color that would satisfy the Rooney rule. Go get one of those dudes, if McVay decides to bolt like a frat kid leaving a crime scene.

But you got to blow that thing up now, right?

Yeah, you gotta.

You can trade Leonard Floyd, and save about $7 million. You might get a high third round pick for him, or a late second rounder.

If you want to go bolder, you can bite the bullet and trade Stafford to a quarterback hungry team like Denver. That would save you $23 million and give you the ability to sign some of your players back, and a first round pick to draft and develop an inexpensive quarterback. That actually might be the way to go about it all.

But you got to blow it up, and since this team is only your seventh favorite team in town, I’m sure that there won’t be that much heartache involved.

Either way, I’m here for you. I gotcha.

But big congrats!

Go Hawks.

Dear Seattle Sports Fan,

Anyone who knows me well knows that my first and foremost sports love is the Seattle Seahawks. It has been that way since 1983 when the Seahawks came out of nowhere in Chuck Knox’s first year as head coach, and they made the playoffs for the first time in their young history, making it all the way to the AFC Championship Game before losing to the LA Raiders.

When that happened, I fell in love, and haven’t looked back. I’m as devoted of a Twelve as you will ever find, and I ride with them through thick and thin.

But that said, sports offers a wonderful opportunity to have many loves. In fact, it’s the one scenario where I see polyamory as something that works out quite well for me.

You see, the Seattle Seahawks weren’t my first sports love. That title belongs to the Seattle SuperSonics. They were the team that first won me over in early elementary when they won the NBA Championship in 1979, when I was playing basketball in the little leagues.

They have always been a team near and dear to me, and to this date, rarely will I sit down to enjoy an NBA game with them no longer a part of that league. I just can’t do it.

The only NBA series I watched since the Sonics were robbed from me was Toronto vs Golden State in the Finals a couple years back. The only reason why I watched that series will make more sense in this piece later on.

Other than that, the NBA, as a league can collectively fudge off inside their pants for all I care until Seattle gets the Sonics back. Until then, I won’t follow.

The Sonics were to Seattle what Nirvana and Pearl Jam were, and anyone who was in Seattle in the 1990’s knows exactly what I am talking about. There was a distinct symbiotic relationship between the iconic Seattle music scene and the iconic basketball team. And you can blame Starbucks all you want, but the Seattle city counsel and the NBA commissioner at the time, equally, if not more, screwed us out of our regional professional men’s basketball team.

To this day, I remain largely bitter about Seattle politics and the NBA as I do about the bitterness I feel towards Howard F’ing Schultz. Those are constants in my life, actually.

In fact, my blood still boils as I type that out, and my Apple watch is telling my to “take a moment of mindfulness.” So, I guess that this is a great place to segue into the newer sports love I’ve found in the WNBA and the Seattle Storm.

I love the WNBA and specifically the Seattle Storm. I love them deeply.

I fell in love with Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm shortly after I met and I fell in love with my wife over a decade ago. She was about as big of a Storm fan as I was a Seahawks fan.

I had never gone to the Storm game before I met her, and truthfully, I had little interest. But meeting my wife, and falling in love with her opened my eyes to the joy of women’s professional basketball, and it didn’t take me long to get hooked and invested.

Truthfully, with no NBA team any longer in Seattle, Sue and the girls filled the big basketball void in my heart. They were fun to watch, and I genuinely marveled at them.

So a few years back, in the fateful Spring of 2018, when my wife and myself sat in on a Seattle Storm draft party that was hosted by Storm broadcast analyst Elise Woodward, and she announced and then talked about the Storm’s first pick in that draft, UCLA point guard Jordin Canada, after the dust settled a bit, I felt a new tug at my heart, and excitement about my WNBA team in an unexpected sorta way. This is when I knew that the Seattle Storm were big time gonna be My Team, and not just my wife’s team that I was pulling for.

Sitting in that draft party, I was a basketball fan that was hoping Seattle would draft another “Big.” Myself having played power forward as a kid, I’ve always held the belief that basketball was a game to be won with big players, even with the modern trends. I wanted Seattle to draft a mate to pair up with superstar forward Breanna Stewart.

But when Seattle made their selection, it wasn’t that sort of player. I felt a bit dejected, initially (kinda like whenever the Seahawks don’t draft a defensive linemen with their first pick). It didn’t take me long, however, once hearing Elise Woodward describe this little gal from Southern California, that I got super pumped for the season.

In fact, I turned to my wife and promptly said that I thought the Seattle Storm were gonna win the WNBA championship later that year. The Seattle Storm did, in fact, do just that.

I’m not going to pretend that Jordin Canada was the main reason why the Storm took over the league that year, and got Sue another title. There was impact talent across that roster.

Breanna Stewart was clearly the best player on their roster, and was league MVP that year. Sue Bird had perhaps the single most impressive basketball playoff performance I have ever seen in my life playing in that series against the Phoenix Mercury, and Seattle made a trade for the highly athletic forward/center Natasha Howard who seemed like the missing piece to go along with shooting guard Jewell Lloyd, and swing player Alysha Clark.

But my girl Canada just had a special something-something whenever her sneakers hit the floor. As described by Woodward at the draft party, Jordin just seemed quicker than everyone else on the floor, and considerably more agile. She was a world class athlete playing basketball. Her outside shot might’ve been not be nearly the same as Bird’s, but her quickness driving through much larger players to the basket was dynamic to watch. There’s few in the league like her, in that particular way.

This smallish girl with the quicks quickly became a bit of a sports crush, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I root hard for her. I’m dug in.

As she has now left Seattle via free agency for the LA Sparks, I’m pulling for her to do well, and continue to blossom as a player who might now have an expanded role on a roster without Bird and Lloyd in front of her.

There’s many things to like about Jordin Canada. Some of it is skill, and a lot of it is also personality.

She’s not demonstrative, she’s not a superstar in her league, and she isn’t at a stage in her career where you would expect her to take over games (although it’s been a joy watching her whenever she’s been the hot hand). What she is, though, is a player who can create a spark on the floor with her athleticism, and she has an air about her that is just down right likable, kinda like Tyler Lockett. You naturally dig who she is.

If Tyler Lockett were to ever leave the Seattle Seahawks for another organization, I think the vast majority of Seahawk fans would continue rooting for the dude, even if it were for a team in the same division. That speaks to his character. That’s how I feel about Jordin.

On a whole other level, I’m deeply a sentimentalist, too. I was there at the Storm draft party when she was taken 6th overall in the league that year. I heard her player evaluation breakdown and the logic behind drafting her. I anticipated her impact on the Seattle roster, and felt invested when it unfolded as planned.

Maybe more deeply, her last name being Canada was instantly symbolic for me. My mother was Canadian, and I a large portion of my childhood years with my mother visiting relatives in the western provinces any chance we got.

Even though I am proudly American, I feel a deep connection to Canada, and my mother’s nationalistic pride of that country rubbed off on me. I root for that country’s success during the Olympics and in other international sporting events.

In the states, when I discover that someone down here is from the Great White North, I will feel compelled to latch onto them. In my time as a working actor in the Seattle theater scene, I’ve come across many, and my bonds with them almost always became immediate. They were gonna be my friends whether they wanted to or not.

Canadians are very much my kinda people.

My dear, sweet, goofy Canadian mother passed away a few years prior to Jordin becoming a Storm. Therefore, emotionally, I was still in a place of missing her greatly in my life on that fateful day of that WNBA draft in 2018.

So when this pretty little gal from Southern Cal was drafted, and I heard that name called, and I saw her short and plucky stature racing up and down the court in the highlights shown, as saw an immediate connection to my mom. I heard the name, and saw a resemblance from a physical perspective.

Simply put, in an unexpected way, I immediately projected a lot onto this player. I’m glad I never met here because I probably would have gawked, and then geeked her out.

In truth, if I were to ever purchase and wear any jersey of a Storm player, it would be hers, even though she is now an LA Spark. That would make sense to me.

It’s funny how we project things onto our favorite athletes, and even the ones we despise, for that matter.

I love Marshawn Lynch largely because of what I project him to be and think of him as. My sense of him is strengthened by what I so often hear others say of him that know him. I think I’d love to hang with that dude. By every account, he genuinely seems a truly remarkable and enlightened human being. Therefore, I’m one of his biggest fans.

Conversely, I strongly dislike Aaron Rodgers because of what I perceive is his hyper arrogance and ego to be, but the reality of it is that I don’t know if that would change if we spent the day digging a french drain pit together in heavy clay soil, and we chew the shit on topic after topic trying to get a lot of grueling work done. In my experience, that is how I better get to know someone. I might hate his position on the vaccine, but I might dig his takes on classic rock and comedies from the 1980s.

I might also want to take a shovel to his head by late morning. I don’t know.

All I know is that it is a blessing to get to follow these rare athletes, and attach ourselves to them however we feel compelled, however long standing or shortly lived, depending on how fluid things evolve (“cough, cough.. please stop talking about your legacy Russ” ).

At the end of the day, Jordin Canada is a fun basketball player to watch, and I will miss her not being up here. I wish Seattle would have given her another shot, but I get that in pro sports, you can’t keep every player, and there are others ahead of her on this roster that are more impactful and had to be prioritized.

I also get it that she had a bit of a down year in 2021 filling in for Bird more expansively when the superstar living legend was injured. Still, a large part of me wonders if my Seattle WNBA franchise gave up on her too soon.

There’s big roles in basketball for high energy players coming in off the bench. It’s like a player in football who is solely a pass rush specialist who comes in only on obvious passing downs. You stack those players on your roster and value them even if they on not three down players.

The two WNBA championships that Seattle won in Jordin’s four seasons here were dominating stretches of basketball by any measure, and I believe the strategy of using Jordin’s speed and kinetic energy off the bench for long stretches of time, more than effectively gassed opponents of their energy by the mid point of many third periods. That was a huge advantage for Seattle in those seasons, and that’s when you often saw them take over ball games.

I know that this show is still all about Sue, and Breanna, and Jewell, but I genuinely dug me some Canada, and I will root for her success. I will also somewhat question not bringing her back for a fifth year, and wonder who the Storm will have in 2022 to provide that similar sorta high energy spark off the bench that proved so vital.

I have a sense that I will miss her here greatly. I just hope the Storm has a very good plan moving forward without her.

Go Storm.

Dear Seattle Seahawks Fan,

I’m not going to pretend that I have any great knowledge or insight into how good of a defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt is going to be for the Seahawks. I’m not going to promise you a rose garden resurrection of the Legion Of Boom defense, but I’m not going to slam this move either, and label Hurtt as another Pete Carroll “yes man.”

Truthfully, as I routinely listen to Dave Wyman on ESPN 710 on many of my afternoon commutes (and others that closely cover the team), everything that I sense about Hurtt is that he is a strong voice who Carroll has likely been grooming as an eventual head coach, he’s on the extreme end of being detail oriented, and players respect this dude; he has their attention. That’s a lot to like here, especially if the goal is for this defense to stop the slop play and get back to getting after quarterbacks.

Given how he molded a pure run stuffing defensive tackle in Jarran Reed into a productive interior pass rusher, developed un-drafted Poona Ford into an impactful player, turned geriatric Al Woods into a run stuffing force of nature last year, and the fact that Frank Clark enjoyed his best seasons under his tutelage, I’m buying that Hurtt’s detailed orientations. I think he’s gotten the most of what he’s been dealt in Seattle, and even the most pessimistic Seahawk fans will have a hard time arguing against that.

And if you are doubting this move, I get it. There’s a growing amount of Seahawk fans who are absolutely done with Pete Carroll, and there’s voices on Seahawk blogs much more established than mine who have been begging Jody Allen to fire him. They’re dug into their positions, and I suspect anything being written about from these sorts will be that Hurtt is simply another Pete Carroll yes man.

I’m just not so sure about that.

Wyman opined on his radio show last Friday that he felt Carroll stepped away from his usual involvement over his defense over the last few years, and the narrative that he’s been the “real defensive coordinator” during that time is inaccurate. I’m sure anti Carroll folk will state that since Wyman works for 710, he’s essentially a Seahawk employee and is covering for Carroll, but I don’t think Wyman is likely that type of guy, personally.

I suspect Wyman is more in the tell it like it is camp, and it’s been interesting to hear him say things about the defense this last year like “I watch them in coverage and I don’t get what the plan is” and “I know Bobby is a really good linebacker but I wish they would have him do _____ more.”

If Wyman’s a Carroll stan, I don’t think he volunteers stuff on air like this. In fact, I’ve always gotten the sense from him over the past couple years that he’s been growing as done with the Ken Norton Junior defense as I’ve been, and for those who will insist that it has really been Carroll’s defense and not Norton’s, Wyman has made the point that all the weirdly negative characteristics of this defense also showed up in Oakland when Norton was the coordinator there.

Given that, it’s tough to definitively state that Norton was Carroll’s yes man in charge. If anything, I suspect the truth of the whole dynamic between these two men lays somewhere in the weeds of Norton being a person that Carroll had tremendous respect for and valued highly as a friend, and wanted to give him the opportunity to succeed out of that place. As a small business owner, I can attest that might not be the best reasons to elevate someone, if optimum output is the goal.

So, when Wyman, an ex starting NFL middle linebacker, who’s there at every practice during training camp, watching, says Clint Hurtt has a special commanding air about him, and he’s a hyper detailed oriented guy, I’m on board with that. I’m good.

Because the truth of the matter is that, under Norton’s eyes, the Seahawk defense had become sloppy in coverage, and in tackling, and worst of all, there’s been a growing theme of lack of communication between the defenders as to what to do in coverage. For four straight years, they have increasingly become as far away from the legendary LOB as you could get.

Clint Hurtt probably knows all this, and if he is the detail oriented task master with a commanding voice that many think he is, I suspect tackling gets better, communication gets better, pass rush becomes more of a focus because his former trade is that of a DL coach, and I bet coverage gets better, too.

Enter Ed Donatell and possibly even Sean Desai.

The fact that Carroll is bringing in long time NFL defensive coordinator and defensive back guru Ed Donatell in a senior advisory role, that actually tells me that Pete Carroll isn’t going to let Hurtt hang out to dry figuring out how to be a coordinator for the first time in his career. Carroll’s going to surround Hurtt with the best voices he can. I don’t think he did this for Norton, and it feels like Carroll’s not going to make that mistake again.

The fact that Seattle is still pursuing former Bears DC Sean Desai, presumably to become the new passing game coordinator, tells me that Carroll is hyper determined to make his defense the strength of this team again, as well as he should. In my opinion, I feel Carroll has drifted too far away from his DNA as a coach in order to appease a quarterback determined to cook more.

The result of this has been a team caught in a weird in-between. They aren’t the LOB, but they aren’t exactly anything the resembles something out of the Andy Reid coaching tree either.

Therefore, I say, as long as Pete Carroll is sticking as head coach, the Seahawks might as well embrace everything that Pete Carroll represents, and the first and foremost thing that he represents is a great defense.

I trust elevating Clint Hurtt is the first step towards that. I might not be the quickest whip when it comes to blogging about my Seahawks, but one thing I feel very certain about is that, with this dude coordinating, pass rushers on the defensive line are going to pass rush, and not be dropping off into coverage with the weird frequency that they did under Norton. Under Hurtt, Carolos Dunlap is going at the quarterback and not dropping into the flats. I feel comfy cashing that check.

Bringing in the Donatell (and possibly Desai) suggests to me more about figuring out what to do with Jamal Adams and how to mix up coverages more than anything else. I suspect the defense built around a cover three concept will be further phased out. I think we see more quarter coverages, two deep looks, and I suspect a special role in this defense will be finally carved out for Adams. I’m here for all of that.

I have no way of knowing this, but it wouldn’t surprise me if these potential shifts in philosophy are actually Hurtt’s suggestion to Carroll, and he’s been the one lobbying for Donatell and Desai, given all their histories together under Vic Fangio in Chicago. It makes sense if the rumors are true that this opening was really Hurtt’s gig the whole time.

It’s very possible, at least in my mind, that Clint Hurtt is the one who wants to embrace more of the Fangio style of defense, and has convinced Carroll to climb on board. This could be his vision, and if that’s the case, I think that’s a further reason to celebrate the promotion of Hurtt,

At any rate, I’m on board. I’m in.

I want to see this defense a strength of the this team again. I want to see Seattle being able to consistently rush, and disrupt with four, and be able to competently cover with seven.

I hope they are hyper aggressive in free agency and the draft landing more pass rush talent from the interior and the perimeters. Go get some of those former Bronco and Bear defenders who played under Fangio. Draft a big beastly interior pass rushing nightmare of a player.

Give Russell Wilson a quality center, for once, post Max Unger, and walk it all back.

With a fifth place schedule in their favor, Seattle has every reason to go from worst to first in their division in 2022, if they can just get further back to Pete ball, and get the right players on this roster doing it, and have coaches putting them in better positions to be successful on the fields. None of this feels like rocket science to make it all work, either.

Russ might not love cooking the way he wants, but I think he would love having a much improved defense, a better solution at center, and the ability to win back his division, and get back to the playoffs after a down year. If they go further in the playoffs than in the last several attempts, he might like it even more.

The dude loves winning, and if the design is to win with Pete Carroll as the head coach, then fix that flipping defense, finally. Let Russ cook by the league’s leader in quarterback efficiency again.

It certainly can’t be any worse that staying put in that weird in-between.

I like this move. I’m ready for the Hurtt.

Go Hawks!

Dear Seattle Seahawks,

Thank you for this joyous closing act effort in what has been a frustrating 2021 season in football.

Beating a division rival is always a fun treat for your fans, especially when that division rival had everything on the line in terms of winning the division and hosting a playoff game.

Thank you for making Kyler Murray’s day a nightmare, and sucking the soul out of his eyeballs. I’m sure the images of Carlos Dunlap bull rushing his left tackle into his tiny frame stayed with him all night (and also gave Sean McVay some pretty tape to watch as to how the Rams deal with him in their wildcard game).

Thank you ever so much for undrafted, rookie right tackle sensation, Jake Curhan opening up holes a country mile for Rashaad Penny to run through. What an incredible find he was for general manager John Schneider.

Thank you for Rashaad Penny!

Thank you for a vintage, determined, performance by Russell Wilson. Despite coughing up two turnovers that led to 14 points for the Cardinals, it was fun seeing Russ make beautiful throws all over the field, including three TDs, and that rambling ten yard run for a score. Hopefully, this wasn’t his last game for our team, but if it was, he gave us a show. It was fun to see it!

Thank you for Cody Barton filling in admirably for Bobby Wagner at middle linebacker. He looked like he belonged there, collecting 12 tackles overall. At one point, I thought I saw shades of Dave Wyman playing the spot from the early 1990’s. Wyman should be proud.

THANK YOU FOR JORDYN BROOKS!!!!!!

Thank you for Sidney Jones and DJ Reed playing solid coverage and not giving easy throws for Murray.

Thank you for giving us vintage Pete Carroll football, and reminding us that this formula, establishing the run, staying with it, working play action passes off of it, playing strong defense and special teams, is still a solid way to go about business in the NFL. For as much as the rules of the game encourage teams to pepper the ball around with the pass, this core philosophy of Pete Carroll’s, despite the continual criticisms of some ageist fans, is and always will be a winning brand of football. Plenty of teams play with style with success and are going to enjoy playoff football because of it.

What I feel you must do in 2022, assuming you are going to run it back with Pete and Russ, is commit further to this core philosophy of his. Do not be something that you are not with this coach and quarterback. Be what you are.

With all your free agent money, keep the players on your defense that have earned their paydays in Sidney Jones, DJ Reed, and especially Quandre Diggs, but then go get some monsters on the offensive and defensive lines.

We need more Jake Curhans on this team. Go get Russell Wilson the best center that money can buy so that inside pressure, which is his bugaboo, is no longer a lingering issue. If Duane Brown retires, do not go cheap finding his replacement. Spend on a quality LT.

Go get another edge rushing force to go along with Darrell Taylor and Carlos Dunlap, and by all means necessary and convenient, go get an interior pass rushing beast to make your pass rush a force of nature that it hasn’t been since 2015-ish.

Go get dogs on that defensive line and invest in quality not quantity. Kerry Hyder’s lone sack of the season came in this finale, and you paid him $5 million for that lone sack. That’s not a good return on the dollar. In fact, it stinks. Stop doing things like that!

Really, in my humblest opinion, you need to get Pete Carroll out of the front office dealings, and just allow John Schneider to cook by himself. Pete’s eternal optimism leads him (and the team) to a natural state of hubris. That’s a bad thing when it comes to throwing free agent dollars around, and making splash trades. This eternal beacon of optimism that shines out of him is much better served for coaching players up whenever their backs on in a bind.

Don’t trade Russ just to trade him and go cheaper at quarterback, unless that cheaper quarterback is just as good, and if he is, it begs the question as to why that other team would actually give him up.

Hang onto Russ and make it work. Guarantee him a strong offensive line with a center better equipped to handle Aaron Donald. Allow him the ability to go up tempo in the times that he feels like he needs to, if he feels that gives the offense an advantage against a particular defense that day. Just make it work.

If he demands a trade, and forces your hands, get the max value for him, and consider whether or not a 70 year old head coach is the right person to lead a rebuilding team. Ask yourselves that very question, and then answer it with all honestly.

Because there is A LOT on the line for the future of this club if you choose to enter into that rebuild. So be smart about that. Paul Allen would want you to do that.

These are my big asks for you in 2022.

And bring back Rashaad Penny.

Thank you, and go Hawks!

Dear Seattle Seahawk Fan,

This is the fourth and final installment in my series that has made different cases for what the Seahawks organization should do in this off-season that many view as one that could see dramatic changes to this team we love. I’ve made my case for Pete Carroll, I made a strong case for Russell Wilson, and I think I made a very nuanced case in favor of GM John Schneider.

Here is my argument for bringing them all back in 2022.

Let’s bring them all back.

Pete is a good football coach, one of the best culture builders in professional sports, and despite the down year, these Seahawk players have continued to play hard for him. Many of his former players such as Marshawn Lynch, Cliff Avril, and Matt Hasselbeck have all voiced their support of him returning. My hunch is that they know more about football and the dealings of Pete Carroll than any hardcore keyboard jockey fan does, and for all he has done for this club, one would think he deserves at least one mulligan season.

Russell Wilson, despite a down year, is still regarded as a top quarterback in this league by those who make a lot of money running NFL front offices. If he is placed on the trade market this off-season, it is expected that there will be a pretty significant bidding war for his services. I ask you to pump your breaks on salivating about the first round picks Seattle could get for him, and the unproven talent they could draft to fill the roster. If there is a bidding war for Russ, it means he’s still really, really good, and teams believe that he will stay good for a very long time. Let’s bring him back, and just draft better with the picks we have.

John Schneider is viewed as a top general manager in this league. Both Michael Silver and Peter King have said so much in recent days and weeks. Both writers aren’t hack jobs looking to generate click bait material, either. They have long standing connections through out the league, and they hear that Schneider is highly regarded. If anything, Schneider should stay and be granted full autonomy from what is likely an overbearing input from Pete Carroll with is VP status. Jody Allen should take the VP duties away from Pete and give them to John. That, in my opinion, would solve a lot of issues with this club.

At the end of the day, for all this civil war on Seahawks Twitter as to who should go and how should stay with this power trio in Seattle, as far as I can tell, all three of these dudes are pretty good at their jobs, so why not just run it all back with them in 2022?

In my very humble opinion, Jody Allen should hold a lengthy sit down meeting with Pete, Russ, and John in short order after this Arizona game. Don’t even waste a minute waiting. Just get all three figureheads in the same room and lay it out for each of them in front of the other, just like my hard nosed Korean War veteran dad would have done.

Jody should point to Pete first and say “I’ve been watching this bull hockey for a few years now after my brother has passed, and you have no idea how to build an offensive line, and your front office impulses aren’t much better than a preschoolers.. I could make a preschooler vice president of this club and pay ’em in apple slices to do the same job you’ve done, and I would likely get the same results.. I pay you a fortune in to be the coach and vice president, but I am taking the VP title away and giving it to John.. I just want you to coach and I am going to pay you handsomely to do it.. don’t do anything else.. just coach, coach.”

She should then turn to Russ and say “If you want your legacy goals to happen, we are going to build up that offensive line and commit to a run game that your can play action off of all day long and you are going lead the NFL in efficiency again, and lead us back into the playoffs.. what you are going to do is tell your agent to stop leaking all the bull crap to Colin Cowherd about how we don’t do enough for you.. we gave you Jimmy Graham, Duane Brown, Percy Harvin, and DK Metcalf.. now that Pete’s staying out of the front office, John’s going to go get you a smashingly good offensive line, finally.. trust that process.”

Final, she must turn to John and say “with my beloved brother’s fortune, you go get the best offensive linemen available on the market and bring them in here.. do not go cheap.. do not give us quantity, I want quality.. and while your at it, go get an interior pass rusher and one more rusher on the edge.. do not go cheap.. and bring Quandre Diggs back and DJ Reed.. and please shave.”

Jody Allen needs to square this situation up. It’s that simple.

Don’t let Pete and John mess around with trading Russ and bringing in Baker Mayfield and thinking somehow the team will be better, because it likely won’t be.

Don’t replace Pete with some thirty three year old analytic dork who’s going to go for it more on fourth downs because that’s what Russ wants. Russ’s impulses should not rule anything. This is the dude who wanted to team to bring in Antonio Brown, and thinks sleeping for only four hours a night is a great idea to give him a competitive edge. All of Russ’s needs and wants aren’t likely what’s best for this team, and I think even his most ardent supporters should agree with that.

What this team needs more than anything else is a reasoned mind to steer the ship in the right way, and I think part of that is managing both Pete and Russ.

Pete needs to be managed because his eternal optimism on players leads to a very natural hubris, and that’s a huge problem when it comes to front office decisions. I know there’s people that want to blame John there, but because of Pete’s veto power over John, we can’t be certain much if any of it actually lands on John. We know Pete has final say though. Just take that final say away from him, and pay him the same. Simple solution.

I love Russ. He’s been my favorite Seahawk since Cortez Kennedy, and I strongly support not trading him. But Russ needs to check his ego at the door some, and come to terms that the best offensive strategy for him is one that features a strong enough run game that defenses have to account for, and he throws off of in play action. This is how is led the nation in efficiency play in college at Wisconsin, and this is how he’s put up all the pretty efficiency stats in the pros that everyone loves to point to and say he’s an eventual Hall Of Famer. Give him a strong ground game with a physical offensive line and this dude is going to quarterback for a high level in this league for a long time. Give him a little up tempo here and there, give him more motion stuff, but build it all off of the run. That’s the only offense he should be clamoring for.

Finally, let’s let John cook without Pete’s influence in the front office side of the organization first before judging if he’s the guy at fault. He’s never been offered that opportunity. We know he has a sharp eye for picking quarterbacks, and legend has it that in 2011, he went on a hard campaign to bring in Doug Baldwin as an un-drafted free agent, and wrote letters to Doug to convince him to sign, even though the team was fairly stacked at receiver and Doug was reluctant. This is what I think a good GM does, they keep going after hidden gems. People want to knock John for the first round misses like LJ Collier and Germaine Ifedi, and that’s fine, but then they should give him mad props for unearthing Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Poona Ford, and Jake Curhan as un-drafted starter talents. Letting John finally cook by himself makes sense. This should happen.

This is the reasonable path for running all three back. This is what should be considered before blowing it all up.

If Pete won’t relinquish his front office power to John, and/or Russ won’t see that light that his unique talents require him to be in a very specific style of offense that doesn’t involve peppering the ball all over the place instead of establishing the run, then decide to act differently, if need be.

But have this meeting first. Try to make this scenario happen first.

If they can’t all agree to come to these places, that’s fine. Then move on and make the necessary changes

It would be weirdly ironic that Seattle’s offensive line is finally good with Derek Carr under center, and/or they hit more with their higher draft picks suddenly with Dan Quinn as their head coach, but weird ironic shit happens in life.

But let’s try it first with Pete, and Russ, and John, if we can.. even if that’s a lot of ifs.

Also, Book of Bobo Fett is a cool watch. Don’t let anyone else tell you, otherwise.

Go Hawks!

Dear Seattle Seahawk Fan,

Enjoy watching this last game of the 2021 Seattle Seahawks, however it unfolds. With big changes anticipated by some in a murky 2022 off-season forecast, let’s soak in these players one last time.

They are playing this game for us, to give us the joy of watching them upset the playoff bound Cardinals and spoil their seeding, and to give us some positive thoughts heading into next season. I’m there for their efforts, however slim their chances are.

With Al Woods, Ryan Neal, and Alton Robinson all out on the Covid list, I’m personally not super hopeful Seattle will slow down a Kyler Murray led offense (determined to win their division and host a playoff game). I think it’s most likely that Russell Wilson will be forced into a shootout and I don’t love his chances of winning that with the way the Cardinals send pressure and Chandler Jones liked matched up against rookie right tackle Jake Curhan (who I actually like a lot for the Seahawks right now).

As much as I want to have these Seahawks win, I think it would be a cardinal sin for me to predict that they will. As much as I want to, I just don’t see it in the cards for them.

What I do see is me sitting on the couch rooting these fellas on for one last game. For as hard as it has been for me to stomach a lot of the losses this year (those recent ones against the Bears and Rams were especially tough), I’m ready to watch what I see likely as a losing effort this Sunday.

For me, I want to see who has the fight for 2022.

I expect Quandre Diggs and DJ Reed to give it good fights. Both are scrappy dudes, anyways, and both are looking for be free agent paydays.

I want to see Jake Curhan not back down from a fight against Chandler Jones and company. I want to see him continue to open up huge holes for Rashaad Penny to run through and to show GM John Schneider that maybe they got a solid starter type there at right tackle for the future.

If Bobby Wagner isn’t a healthy go, I want Cody Barton to play a great game and give me hope that he is able to finally look like a starter going into his final year of his rookie contract next year (especially if Seattle moves off of Wagner’s contract).

I want Dee Eskridge to have an explosive play-making game and look like the player worthy of being their high pick last year in the draft.

I want to see DJ Metcalf give a beastly effort against the Cardinal DBs.

I want to see Rashaad Penny continue to play great and play up to his lofty draft status to close out the year.

I want Darrell Taylor to make Kyler Murray’s game a difficult one by constantly getting pressure on him, and making it look more and more like he’s a building block piece for Seattle’s pass rush next season.

Finally, I want to see Russell Wilson come out of gates fiery, and playing with passion to close out this difficult season for him. Who knows how things will shake out between him and the team this off-season. I’ve let my thoughts be known on multiple occasions on this blog that I want him back, but I can’t write with any certainty that will happen.

What I can write with certainty is that I’ve noticed over the past month, that he has started out these games with a very un-energized vibe more times than not. I noticed it against the Rams, the Bears, and at the start of this last one against the Lions. No energy in and out of the huddle. No enthusiastic hand clapping to get his troops fired up. No usual “let’s go take on the world” juice from this plucky passer. Just a somber air about him, sans any usual Russ-like enthuiasm.

We can all speculate why that might be. I won’t. I will just say that it will be a huge cardinal sin for him to start out that way in this finale in Arizona.

He owes it to the fans to put forth a signature effort. He’s owes it to his teammates to have them fired up to play spoilers. Mostly, he owes it to himself.

If this is to be his last game in Seattle, he owes himself the legacy of outplaying the upstart quarterback in the division looking to take over the mantle as the best passer in the NFC West. He owes himself the history of this ending this season that sort of way, and to prove to those on Seahawks Twitter who believe he is on the downward side of his career that he’s still very much the man.

If he is to remain the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, then he owes it to himself to end this season on a high note, and he especially owes it to the team and fans to put positive vibes into the off-season that will some decent free agent spending on the offensive and defensive lines, he and the team will be back with a vengeance next year to take back the division on a softer fourth place schedule.

This is what I most want to see in this last game. I want to see Russ coming out of the gates playing with his hair on fire, determined to beat Murray and stick it to AZ.

If this happens, maybe the Seahawks do sneak this one out.

And won’t that be a fun one to watch.

Go Hawks!