The View from Section 333- Seahawks Offensive Decisions

Although I couldn’t get a decent feed for the game last week since my husband and I were on the road, I still kept an eye out for NFL and Hawks news. When we heard that Chad Johnson was released by the dolphins, my husband suggested that the Seahawks might be looking at him to fill wide receiver needs.

That comment and other media blurbs made me take a closer look at our wide receiver situation. With Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Ben Obamanu and Doug Baldwin being assumed automatics for the team this year, it really leaves some question marks for the remaining two slots, assuming the Seahawks go with 6 spots for that position. The sticky part of the equation is whether Pete decides to continue developing players with potential (Butler, Durham, Lockette) or keep veteran players with 1 year contracts (Owens, Edwards).

My preference would be a combination. Keep Lockette. He did considerable off season work with TJack, learning to run routes and working on his hands. He has so much potential given his speed and size. I haven’t seen much from Butler since his broken leg, but he does lack the size of Lockette, and Durham is a total question mark for me, given his lack of playing time. I’d also keep Edwards as a one year contract. Based on what I saw in training camp, he’s got a ton of talent and great work ethic. Even though TO showed up at camp in great condition and with a pleasant attitude, in my opinion, TO is too great a risk to carry through the season. Even though he’s capable of being a great receiver, TO has a history of being concerned with TO, not the team he’s playing for. A developing offence like the hawks can’t afford a public mid-season melt down when he doesn’t get the ball as much as he’d like.

Similarly, I’m coming to grips with our QB competition. If we’re committed to keeping Josh Portis because of his potential, then we need to release or trade one of our QBs. The three way QB competition has left Portis with no reps in camp, just the role of throwing to Rice on the sidelines. If we’re going to keep Tjack, Wilson and Flynn, then we need to let Portis go. If we’re going to develop Portis, then we need to let Tjack go. It seems as though the media has already determined Tjack will be on the block next week and I for one, will be sorry to see it. Evaluating him as ‘lacking’ last year, based on the significant injury he played though seems illogical. Playing through that injury with an offense that was under construction, well, I thought he did a pretty good job. Not great, but good. If I were another team lacking a starting quarterback, I’d give him a good look given his dedication and courage. The only drawback would be his 4 mill+ salary which means we’ll likely get nothing for him in a trade and just end up releasing him.

I think the game this week is going to answer a lot of questions on receivers as we face off against Denver and Peyton Manning. Stay tuned!