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www.theseahawksfanshop.com - liny195 - 07-31-2019
RENTON Duane Brown Color Rush Jersey , Wash. (AP)Pete Carroll knows after eight seasons in charge of the Seattle Seahawks that his message always needs to evolve. Much like Carroll’s messaging, the Seahawks’ roster could see some major changes going into next season after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2011. ”We all have to keep changing and growing together. That’s why I always come back to compete, you know,” Carroll said. ”Keep competing to find a way to make sense and help a guy and pushing him to have success. Then we will do what we can do. Sometimes we do it better than others. Sometimes we shock the heck out of this, with all kinds of things that happen.” There’s no denying Seattle’s core group is getting older, which coupled with salary cap concerns could lead to major overhauls at some positions. Here are some positions to watch in the offseason: JIMMY EFFECT: Despite catching 10 touchdown passes and finally becoming the red-zone threat Seattle hoped for, don’t expect Jimmy Graham to be back. It’s likely Graham’s last chance at a big contract and Seattle appears to have more pressing needs. The tight end position remains an important piece of Seattle’s offense, but both Graham and Luke Willson are free agents. Willson spoke hopefully of returning to the only team he’s played for. Seattle would be smart to get a tight end who is a premier blocker with pass-catching skills, similar to Zach Miller. But that’s easier said than found. ON THE LINE: Michael Bennett was bluntly honest at the conclusion of the season that the NFL is a ”young man’s game,” and at age 32 he may be cycled out. Even if Bennett does return, Seattle’s likely to see an overhaul along the defensive line. Cliff Avril appears to be leaning toward retirement. Sheldon Richardson played well in his one year with the Seahawks but is now a free agent. The Seahawks have a decent foundation to build around with Frank Clark, Quinton Jefferson, Nazair Jones and Jarran Reed. They should bring back Dion Jordan after the former first-round pick’s performance once he became healthy. Bennett could return K.J. Wright Color Rush Jersey , but if so should take on less of a load. Despite playing with a foot injury the second half of the year, Bennett still played 84.7 percent of the snaps this season. OFFENSIVE SKILL: Seattle has high hopes next season for the running back duo of Chris Carson and Mike Davis. Still, expect the Seahawks to add another ball carrier to the mix and move on from Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls. At wide receiver, there is a big decision to be made with Paul Richardson, who will be an unrestricted free agent. Richardson finished with 44 receptions and flourished early in the season, but faded late with just nine receptions in the final five games. WITNESS PROTECTION: Seattle’s offensive line woes have been an issue for three straight seasons. Youth, injuries, inconsistency have combined to make the Seahawks line a constant problem and brought plenty of criticism for offensive line coach Tom Cable. But don’t expect massive changes. Part of the beauty of the deal for Duane Brown was having him under contract through 2018. Seattle immediately started playing better once Brown arrived. Justin Britt has proven a capable center and Seattle has high hopes for Ethan Pocic. The big question will be what Seattle does with George Fant. He was the presumptive starting left tackle before suffering an ACL injury during the preseason. Seattle could opt to put Fant at right tackle and move Germain Ifedi to guard after he struggled at tackle. UNSPECIAL TEAMS: No, Blair Walsh will not be back. At least that’s an obvious early indication with Seattle already signing former Jacksonville kicker Jason Myers to a futures contract. Walsh became a convenient person to blame after missing kicks in three games, leading to Seattle losses. While Seattle is likely to make a change at kicker, it’s likely to be a low-cost move. This is why punter Jon Ryan may be in trouble. The veteran had an up-and-down season, will turn 37 next season and the Seahawks can save $2 million against the salary cap by releasing Ryan. Ryan is the only player remaining on Seattle’s roster from before Carroll’s arrival. — Regular readers are well aware that we are slowly working our way through grading each of the nine draft picks the Seattle Seahawks made in 2018 using the benefit of a season of hindsight. We have already made it two thirds of the way through the grading process, having already finished looking at the selections of First round running back Rashaad Penny Bobby Wagner Color Rush Jersey ,Third round defensive end Rasheem Green,Seventh round quarterback Alex McGough, Sixth round defensive end Jacob Martin,Fifth round tackle Jamarco Jones andFifth round Pro Bowl punter Michael Dickson.Now we move to the third of four fifth round selections the Seahawks held in 2018, and take a look at linebacker Shaquem Griffin. Hopefully I don’t have to go into great detail about the fact that teammate Shaquill Griffin is his twin brother, and the two are back playing together once again after the 2017 season represented the first season they did not play on the same team. Having been teammates first at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, FL and then together at the University of Central Florida for four years, where Shaquem redshirted for the 2013 season while Shaquill did not. (Author’s note: Just in case you were wondering how competitive high school football in Florida is, as Juniors in 2011 at Lakewood the Griffin twins were teammates with Dante Fowler of the Los Angeles Rams on a team that went 7-4 according to MaxPreps.)Getting back to Shaquem’s 2018 performance for the Seahawks, however, he did not get nearly the playing time on defense as some might have expected, but did play a significant role on special teams. The Hawks used Shaquem extensively on special teams, and by the end of the season only six other Hawks had accumulated more special teams snaps. On those special teams snaps he recorded five tackles Justin Coleman Color Rush Jersey , while adding another four tackles on defense, three of which were solo tackles with the last one a small assist coming from Rasheem Green. And that brings us to the discussion of Griffin’s play on defense. Shaquem was a tackling machine for the Hawks defense during the preseason, wracking up 26 tackles, including a total of 17 in the two games against the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts, however, it wasn’t all good. That tweet from Field Gulls’ own Matty F. Brown came on the day the Seahawks played against the Denver Broncos in a disappointing season opening loss, which was the only game of the season in which Shaquem started. In fact, it wasn’t just the only game he started, it ended up as the game in which he saw the majority of the defensive snaps he played all season. Here’s a table showing his defensive snap count by game over the course of the 2018 season. Shaquem Griffin 2018 defensive snap count log by gameWeekOpponentDefensive SnapsWeekOpponentDefensive SnapsNow, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to be able to analyze that data. Most anyone should be able to figure out that a player who was healthy and active for all 16 games and recorded 41 defensive snaps while starting Week 1 and subsequently went on to finish the season with a total of 50 defensive snaps likely didn’t play very well in that Week 1 start. Obviously the data does not shed any light on the why, and that’s what the tape is for, which is why it’s fantastic to have someone like Matty around so that he can watch the tape and I can simply piggyback off his phenomenal work. In any case, as a fifth round pick Shaquem’s ability to come in and be a special teams contributor is significant. Maybe through experience and development he can address the pursuit angle issues that showed up Russell Wilson Color Rush Jersey , and perhaps he can one day develop into a starting linebacker at the NFL level. Even if he does not however, he has already proven that he can certainly fill a role as a core member of special teams units, while serving as depth at the linebacker position. Thus, even if he never develops into a starting caliber linebacker, there’s nothing wrong with a fifth round pick developing into the next Mike Morgan, D.J. Alexander, Heath Farwell or any other depth linebacker across the NFL who is also a special teams standout. Griffin has shown he can be a contributor in the NFL, and going forward he should have plenty of opportunity to develop more of his game. Where does that leave the Seahawks grade for the pick?