Seahawks news and notes and links for Thursday, 2/22/2018
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks are preparing for their most important draft in years. But fret not, 12s, there is other news to discuss. Like, Earl Thomas might be traded? And someone thinking the loss of two receivers doesn’t mean much.
NFL.com says Earl Thomas could easily be traded
According to Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com, the Seahawks could find a way to rebuild their defense by trading Earl Thomas. Rosenthal points out that Seattle may have tried and failed to trade Richard Sherman last year, but Thomas might be more enticing.
And he is right. Thomas still makes a bigger difference on the field than Sherman. After Sherman was lost for the year in week ten of 2017, Seattle felt a difference in pass coverage, but honestly not a huge amount. When Thomas misses time, the world ends.
Like when Thomas missed the latter part of 2016 and Seattle gave up like an average of 50 points more a game. (They didn’t, but it felt like it.) If Thomas is traded, Seattle better make wise choices with what it gets back. Losing Thomas can change the future of the franchise.
Our pals say losing Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson could mean little
John P. Gilbert of Field Gulls writes that if the Seahawks are to lose Graham and Richardson, the world will be ok. According to Gilbert, based on averages of the tight end and wide receiver 2 from 2012-2017, Seattle would only lose – again, on average – 35.2 yards receiving a game and 8.2 touchdowns a season.
Of course, the big problem with this is that it does not incorporate the fact that Richardson was finally fully healthy in 2017. And that he was really a wide receiver 3 and not a 2 (Tyler Lockett was still that, targets be damned). And that Graham has not been with Seattle since 2012, only since 2015.
Last year, Graham and Richardson combined for 16 touchdowns in 2017 and 76 yards a game.
Almost there!
The NFL Scouting Combine starts on March 2nd, so we are close to really catching draft fever. Won’t it be fun to watch young men’s draft stock go up or down based on drills that have very little to do with the game of football?
Related Story: So you're saying Earl Thomas might get traded...
Yes, of course it will.