Wilson always seemed to be fighting for a starting job during his time spent in Seattle. Pitted against Kelly Jennings, Ken Lucas, and other defensive backs, he always managed to earn playing time and overcome any competition.

While he certainly isn’t an elite defensive back, Wilson is a very good football player. Not many Seahawks are untouchable, but to dump Wilson for a late-round draft pick seems absurd. No doubt the Baltimore Ravens are happy to acquire him for such a bargain price.

Maybe the team is looking to build a group of larger defensive backs. But Josh Wilson played more physical than most of Seattle’s defenders and overcame his physical limitations on the field. Wilson frequently showed off sub-4.4 speed and playmaking ability to make up for his lack of size.

The emergence of young prospects played a role in Wilson’s departure, but I still don’t like letting him walk for a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick.

Roy Lewis and Walter Thurmond have both looked impressive in training camp and exhibition games, and the team probably won’t carry more than four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster. Marcus Trufant is healthy again, and Kelly Jennings is playing good enough to start on the opposite side.

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Polumbus started eight games at right tackle for the Denver Broncos last season and was a hot commodity on the waiver wire last week. The Broncos waived him following Ryan Clady’s return from injury.

The Seahawks, Lions, and Texans all put in waiver claims for Polumbus last week. The Detroit Lions, who had the worst record of the bunch in 2009, were awarded the rights.

Polumbus does have starting experience, but he was noticeably worse than Ryan Harris, who started the first eight games of 2009 for Denver. Polumbus stepped in for Harris following an injury that kept him out for the second half of the season.

The Broncos obviously considered Polumbus expendable, so I wouldn’t get too excited about the acquisition. He does, however, offer Seattle something they don’t currently have: depth on the offensive line.

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Wilson has … [visit site to read more]

The new contract will reportedly lower Hill’s 2010 salary from $6 million to $2.125 million and remove the remaining four years. With the new deal, Leroy Hill will be a free agent after the season.

For those of you hoping the Seahawks would dump Hill during the offseason, this could be the next best thing.

The restructured deal will give Hill an opportunity to prove his worth both on and off the field. The Seahawks no longer have a long-term commitment with the troubled linebacker.

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Following injuries to Russell Okung and Ray Willis, Seattle has obviously been desperate for tackle depth. Mansfield Wrotto … [visit site to read more]

The most notable of the group is defensive end Rickey Foley, whose hopes of sticking on an NFL roster have come to an end – for now, at least. Foley … [visit site to read more]

Thomas is very instinctive and make a great jump on a ball that could have easily fallen incomplete. More than anything, however, Thomas demonstrated just how fast he really is.

If you haven’t watched the replay, it is a must. The amount of field Thomas covers without running in a straight line is almost unbelievable – especially for a defensive back.

Brett Favre took a three-step drop and fired a pass to Bernard Berrian, who was running a quick slant. To be fair – despite good defense by Josh Willson – the ball probably should have been caught. But Berrian, under heavy duress from Wilson, was unable to secure the football and it bounced into the hands of Thomas. Thomas proceeded to return the ball 86 yards in about nine seconds for the score.

Nine seconds.

Thomas wasn’t running a straight line, he was slightly weaving to avoid offensive players attempting to tackle him. Near the end of his sprint, with the closest opponent over five yards back, he slowed his pace and jogged past the goal line.

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Looked a lot better at left tackle than anyone expected.  Although Wrotto had help, he did an effective job of neutralizing arguably the best pass rusher in the NFL.  I barely remember hearing Jared Allen’s … [visit site to read more]

How do you think the Seahawks look in their third preseason game?

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 The words, “Super Bowl MVP” just floated out of fans’ mouths, Tim Ruskell couldn’t wait to get his hands on, what seemed to be, a key component of the unstoppable New England Patriots’ offense, and Branch was equally excited to get paid after posting career numbers in receptions (78) yards (998) and touchdowns (5) in 2005. Fans collectively held their breathe and watched… knowing what was about to come… waiting for him to explode… any minute now…

Four seasons later, fans are no longer waiting. The only thing they have demanded as of late concerning Deion Branch is that he be traded or released. The Seahawks and their fans made a time honored mistake by giving too much credit where it had never been earned. They organization took a gamble on what looked to be the MAKINGS of an elite wide receiver only to wake up to the reality of the last four seasons.

Deion Branch has  never been an elite wide receiver in the NFL.  Not with New England and certainly not with Seattle.

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Hamilton, who signed with Seattle this offseason after spending nine seasons in Denver, was touted by coaches for his knowledge of the zone-blocking scheme. Especially with a rookie at left tackle, part of Hamilton’s duties would be to act as a mentor for the players around him. If he could still play, it seemed like a perfect fit.

Hamilton’s ability to play, however, may be in question.

After Josh McDaniels took over in Denver, the Broncos switched from their traditional zone-blocking scheme to more of a power-blocking scheme. Hamilton, as a smaller, more agile player, is much better suited in a zone-blocking scheme.

In fact, Hamilton was actually bumped from Denver’s starting lineup last season.

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Earlier this week, John Clayton reported that Vincent Jackson is asking for a similar five-year deal worth $50 million with $30 million guaranteed. According to Clayton, the Seahawks basically told Jackson thanks, but no thanks.

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported a similar number, saying that Jackson’s agents want compensation comparable to Marshall, Lee Evans, Roy Williams, and Roddy White.

From Cole’s article:

All four of those other wide receivers, whose stats are comparable to Jackson’s at the point where they got a new contract, received deals that included at least $27 million in the first three years. Marshall, who was traded to the Miami Dolphins this past offseason, received the most recent and most lucrative deal among that quartet with $28.5 million.

The comparison to Marshall also is important because Marshall has a long history of off-field problems. Jackson has been suspended for the first three games of this season after pleading guilty to a second charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Prior to getting a new contract, Marshall was suspended earlier in his career, and has had at least four run-ins with the law. Among those are a domestic violence charge and a DUI charge.

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Russell Okung, Seattle’s huge investment and first-round pick, was carted off the field and into the locker room last Saturday against the Green Bay Packers.

Some people assumed it was serious – possibly even a season-threatening fracture. Awaiting news, most of Seattle’s fans cringed thinking about Mansfield Wrotto as the team’s new starting left tackle.

Following negative x-ray results and a subsequent MRI, the team announced they expected Okung to miss 2-4 weeks. He would definitely miss the rest of the exhibition season, but could be ready to go for the season opener.

Injuries are never good, but it appeared as if Seattle had dodged a bullet. Nothing serious, and Okung would apparently be ready to go when the games started to matter.

Today, however, the news became slightly worse.

Head coach Pete Carroll revealed that Russell Okung does, in fact, have a high ankle sprain – the same injury that plagued tackle Sean Locklear for more than two months last season.

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Vincent Jackson is already facing a three-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, but could miss up to three more games from being placed on the roster-exempt list. According to La Canfora, Jackson could miss as few as three weeks or as many as six, depending on any potential trade.

From La Canfora at NFL.com:

According to an NFL spokesperson, if Jackson was traded and reported to his new club before the Sept. 4 deadline for final roster reduction, then his roster-exempt suspension would be served concurrently with the league-mandated suspension, and therefore Jackson could return to the active roster for Week 4.

If Vincent Jackson isn’t traded before the 6 p.m. (ET) roster deadline on Sept. 4, he faces missing six games this season even if he’s dealt after that.

In other words, if the Seahawks were to acquire Jackson before September 4th, he could return to the active roster for Week 4. If the Seahawks trade for Jackson after the deadline, he won’t return to the active roster until Week 7.

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This year’s draft class was supposed to be one of the best in club history, however, Saturday’s game was evidence of just how hard the jump from college to the NFL can be. During the first play of the game, Russell Okung simply fell down missing his block. On the second play of the game he did the same thing again. And on the third play he twisted his multi-million dollar ankle which will result in him missing the next 2-4 weeks.   On the fourth play the Seahawks punted: Three and out.

On Greenbay’s first offensive play of the game, Earl Thomas got burned so bad by Greg Jennings, he looked like a hot dog somebody left on the barbecue. Not quite sure if he was supposed to get help from the corner, however, the next closest man was Kelly Jennings who got the start over Josh Wilson. Did I miss that meeting? I thought Jennings was the nickel corner. Kelly Jennings later found himself matched up against J. Finley which is an obvious mismatch. Jennings is a mere 5‘10“ while Finley measures 6‘5“. Jennings looked lucky just to make the tackle against the larger and far more powerful wide receiver. This game could not have looked any worse during the first two possessions.

Did anybody see Golden Tate? He had a measly reception for 8 yards as he was delegated to second half duties. Isn’t that where the backups are supposed to play?

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