The Saints signed running back Joique Bell from Philadelphia’s practice squad and already signed running back DeShawn Wynn earlier this week, who is familiar with the Saints’ offense. And the Saints’ already have placed Chris Ivory on the injured reserve with an ankle issue.
So right now Reggie Bush and Julius Jones will be …
I wanted to let you know what we have planned in terms of draft coverage in the coming weeks.
We have moved forward with the plan to host a mock draft live chat on Saturday, April 17 beginning at 11 a.m. Ryan Divish and I will host the chat, and we’re hoping to get some volunteers to draft for the teams in the first round. So if you’re interested in participating hit me up via email at eric.williams@thenewstribune.com and we’ll make sure to reserve a spot for you.
Like last year, we also will host a seven-round mock draft …
Hello from freezing cold Indianapolis. There’s not much going on right now, just reporters milling around looking for coffee to get warm after the walk over from the hotel.
I want to preface this by saying that I believe Deion Branch is generally a good guy who has worked hard to get on the field during his four years in Seattle.
At 30 years old, I still think he has enough ability to help a team and be effective if placed in the right situation.
However, I do not believe the Seahawks will keep Branch around next season at his current salary of $5.47 million due next season, despite a report that Seahawks general manager John Schneider believes that Branch fits into the Seahawks offensive system that will be installed by offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates.
A more likely scenario for Seattle would be asking Branch to restructure his contract to stay around, or releasing him when the free agency period begins in March if they cannot coax a team to give up a draft pick for Branch in a trade.
This post is a continuing feature on some things the Seahawks did well last season which the new coaching staff can take into consideration as they implement changes on both sides of the ball.
Handling blitz pressure situations was one of Seattle’s main struggles offensively. And once teams figured that out, the Seahawks saw a steady diet of blitz packages during the second half of 2009, even against teams like Green Bay who normally do not blitz very much.
The result was a dinged up Matt Hasselbeck who missed two games because of a rib injury and played most of the season with an injured shoulder. Seattle quarterbacks were sacked 41 times in 2009, the 10th most in the league.
Seattle’s inability to protect Hasselbeck in blitz situations also resulted in the offense not sustaining drives. The Seahawks finished last in the NFL in time of possession, and 23rd overall in third down percentages because of the amount of third and long situations they faced. And Seattle finished 30th in red zone percentage, showing the team’s struggles in putting points on the board near the goal line.
However, one way Seattle successfully thwarted the blitz was the screen game. The Seahawks were one of the better screen teams in 2009, with nine of Seattle’s 38 plays of 20-plus yards or more through the air on screen passes to a running back or receiver.
Of the two teams that are playing in Super Bowl 44, I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing one of them in person this season, the Indianapolis Colts.
In that game, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning dissected Seattle’s defense with surgeon-like precision in a 34-17 win that was not as close as the score indicated.
As potent as the Colts and the New Orleans Saints offenses are, I’m going with the Colts in this one for one reason – their defense.
Seahawks defensive end Patrick Kerney remains on the team’s roster and has not filed retirement paperwork with the league. And according to this report from KING 5 Sports, Kerney did not have a retirement party last week and does not plan on retiring, contrary to this report from ProFootballTalk.com.
Maybe Pete Carroll came back to the NFL at the right time. According to Jason La ConFora of the NFL Network, Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner is expected to announce his retirement on Friday, bringing to a close what I believe should be a career that is good enough to get into a Hall of Fame.
