Sea Hawkers Podcast: The Official Podcast Of The Official Booster Club Of The Seattle Seahawks

Before discussing some better than expected performances, particularly at safety, a few news items jumped out in the news today as the Seahawks reportedly met with Kyler Murray at the combine. Rob Staton from seahawksdraftblog.com is back on the show to remind us why that was a smart move even with Russell Wilson locked in at quarterback. Wilson is going into his final year and Joel Corry said on KJR Monday that Russell's contract will need to start around $35 million per year. The Seahawks also announced that they've placed the franchise tag on Frank Clark ahead of Tuesday's deadline. Jachai Polite reportedly did not interview well, but Rob thinks the reports could be based on Polite reaction following his talks with teams. However, scouts are calling him on bailing on the workouts and that could be what causes his stock to tumble a bit. There were a number of safeties that improved their stock in a class that was not expected to be as athletic as they proved to be on the final day of the NFL Scouting Combin

Some of the biggest names of the 2019 NFL Draft are on the defensive line and players like Rashan Gary, who called himself the best player in the draft, along with Nick Bosa and Quinnen Williams didn't disappoint on Day 3 of the NFL Scouting Combine. Their numbers simply proved they are indeed among the top names in this year's draft, all long gone before the Seahawks pick. Montez Sweat may have put his name up there in the elite with a blazing 4.41 performance at 260 pounds. Rob Staton of seahawksdraftblog.com joins the show to offer some reasons why he still may not go in the top 15 even with his impressive numbers. Trysten Hill, a teammate of the Griffin twins at the University of Central Florida, showed his athleticism in the drills posting a 4.38 short shuttle, 35 inch vertical, 9-foot-7 broad jump and a 1.74 10-yard split as a 308 pound defensive lineman. Renell Wren, of Arizona State, was a player the Seahawks could be likely to consider along with Jerry Tillery of Notre Dame who had a nice performance

Before the workouts were underway in Indianapolis, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweeted out that Frank Clark and the Seahawks may be closing in on a deal in advance of the deadline to use the franchise tag. The Kansas City Chiefs recently announced that they would be tagging Dee Ford and Seattle has been consistent in saying that Clark won't be going to free agency. With the latest news and the press conference from John Schneider where he pointed out that Seattle hasn't used the tag since 2010, it sounds as though the team may be close to a deal. DK Metcalf stole the headlines away from Kyler Murray with his impressive performance at the combine running a 4.33 as a 6-foot-4 receiver. Rob points out that it's not the top time by a wideout as Parris Campbell from Ohio State may have improved his stock even more than Metcalf. The Seahawks are notorious for drafting speed at the position and we learned this class is loaded with speed. Considering some of the players who didn't run or weren't invited or allowed

The 2019 NFL Combine kicked off this week and Rob Staton from Seahawks Draft Blog is back on the show to talk about the first day of action. Earlier in the week, some big news for the team was announced when word came out that the Seahawks would not be up for sale in the near future. Jody Allen, sister of Paul Allen, is the chair of the Paul Allen Trust and that it's in place as the ownership structure. John Schneider and Pete Carroll had their meetings with the press. We didn't get much in terms of draft news, but we did hear that Frank Clark will not be a free agent and that Earl Thomas certainly will. The first position group to get going at the combine was the offensive line. Rob talks about how Andre Dillard, tackle from Washington State, was the stand-out player who likely secured a top 15 spot in the draft based on his performance. He continues to watch for the player who fit into his trench explosion formula (TEF) to look at some of the more athletic players among the lineman and came up with 8-9 po

The 2019 NFL Combine is being held in Indianapolis this week, February 26 – March 4, 2019, with televised drills beginning on Friday. Rob Staton, of Seahawks Draft Blog, joins the show to talk about how the range of options for Seattle could be very diverse this year. Considering Russell Wilson's contract situation and Seattle's need to fill the backup role, he doesn't believe  drafting a quarterback is off the table (12:18). Brandan and Rob talk about how well New England has done at drafting backups and turning many of those players into assets for players or more draft picks. Depending on what happens with D.J. Fluker and J.R. Sweezy, Seattle could be in desperate need for additional offensive lineman. Rob talks about his formula for measuring an offensive lineman's explosiveness and how it used to be a marker for lineman the Seahawks would consider drafting (20:03). The Seahawks appear to be set at running back, but it's also interesting to point out that Seattle definitely has a type when it comes to who

How can the Seahawks improve in 2019? This last week, in one of Jay Glazer's latest articles on the Athletic, he was asked to make a bold prediction for the offseason. His answer was that Odell Beckham Jr. gets traded. It seems unlikely that the Giants would move on after OBJ signed a five-year $90 million contract to stay in New York just last year, but it doesn't stop the speculation of what kind of deal the Seahawks could make and what a trade package could look like. James and Bear from the Rams Podcast join the show as winners of their bets with us this past season and join the show as losers to talk about what went wrong in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. Rams fans sound a lot like Seahawks fans after the season in bemoaning the team's ability to make in-game adjustments. The difference is that Seattle fans wanted to adjust to the pass much sooner while Rams fans were left wondering what if they looked toward the running game for success. After announcing that we would be joining the Field Gulls po

The Super Bowl is just hours away, and we're starting off the show with some important quarterback news. It's important because it may just show how lucky we are that Russell Wilson slipped to the third round and the Seahawks were able to take him. With the Pro Bowl this past weekend, Wilson dominated the NFL skills challenges. One former Seahawks quarterback looks like he may get another chance in the AAF. For those who aren't familiar with that acronym, you're not alone. Maybe the marketing budget isn't quite to the level of the NFL's budget to promote Rams coach Sean McVay. Does that budget also include making sure the refs made the proper calls at the end of the NFC Championship or does that get it's own separate budget? If you want things done fast and done well, it's not going to be cheap. So will the NFL do the right thing and pay the money it will take to get officiating above the level of scrutiny it has been taking since the championship weekend? In discussing the AFC game, at least we can agree tha

Looking back at the season, Rob discusses some of the players who impacted this team the most from the 2018 draft class. Did John Schneider regain some of the magic from his earlier years, or is it just a trend of continued success? One thing for sure we can count on is that Schneider won't be content with four draft picks and will most likely trade back to accumulate extra picks on Day 3 of the draft. The Senior Bowl is this weekend and Rob talks about why this game hold so much significance for draft analysts. Who are some of the players to look for? Rob talks about players like Montez Sweat, a pass rusher from Mississippi State and Terry McLaurin who have impressed so far this week at the Senior Bowl. Two local lineman, one from Washington and another from Washington State, have also performed well and could be potential draft targets for Seattle. Rob and Brandan spend some time talking about a potential candidate in the draft for the big-bodied wide receiver that Coach Carroll has seemingly been looking f

In his final press conference for the season, Pete Carroll characterized the 2018 Seahawks year as a season of growth. We look at many of the strengths of the team this season as well as areas of growth for 2019. With young players filling a lot of key positions, particularly on defense, Carroll sounds like he is counting on many of those players to be better. But as we've pointed out in the past, it's not always a steady progression toward awesome. When the Seahawks lost both Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson on offense in the offseason, we were wondering where those 16 touchdowns would go. As we hoped, a lot of those went to the run game, which improved from one score last season to 15 this year. Add that to a career year in touchdown passes for Russell, and that helped the team become the second highest scoring offense in franchise history. Which players outperformed their contracts this season? Which ones didn't quite live up to the value? Injuries were the primary factor in determining underperformance, a

Russell Wilson was named to the Pro Bowl (finally) after Aaron Rodgers has decided to sit the game out due to injury. Wilson led the NFC in touchdown passes in 2018. Why was Rodgers even in the Pro Bowl after the season he had this year? After the game Pete Carroll called this year a season of growth. Is it better to lose early to emphasize the additional growth the Seahawks need? Going back to the game against the Cowboys, we dial into the second half to see when a change of gameplan could have made a difference in the outcome. Ultimately, there were two plays that nearly always goes the Seahawks way. Had Seattle made just one of those two plays (one on offense, one on defense), they would have been in a much greatest position to get a win in Dallas. Is it time for Seattle to look for another kicker after just one year of Seabass? The guys look down the list of free agent kickers and it includes a Pro Bowl player who started the season on the Seahawks roster in 2018 and a rival kicker for the 49ers. Who else

Seattle made it abundantly clear in this game, they were sticking with the same formula they used in the Week 3 game. Run the ball no matter what and wait for the Cowboys to make a mistake. The problem was the one mistake they made was on their side of the field and the Seahawks couldn't capitalize unless they had a short field. Even when they had a short field in the third quarter, it took four downs and an incredible sideline catch from Doug Baldwin to put them in position for a touchdown. After the Baldwin catch, it looked like they had finally adjusted to what the Cowboys were doing. Dallas was completely selling out to stop Chris Carson, so Russell kept the ball and made some plays. The problem was they didn't adjust. They continued to pound into the brick was that was the Dallas defensive front on first down. Over. And over. And over. Clinton Bonner joins Adam and Brandan for the reaction show this week. As a passionate supporter to give Chris Carson the ball all season, Clinton finds it hard to be too

It's a playoff episode on the first Blue Friday of 2019 and our Seahawks are back in the playoffs after missing the postseason last year. Adam is back in his hosting chair along with Brandan to help kick the New Year off the right way. Chris Carson had a great start to the year by learning that he earned offensive player of the month honors for December. Going into the matchup, one thing that seems to be overlooked is just how prolific the Seahawks offense was this season. Seattle tied the Chiefs with their ability to create explosive plays going into the final stretch of the season and this Seahawks offense put up more points than any other team apart from the one that went to the Super Bowl in the 2005 season. The guys discuss whether that is a product of the league this year or something that's truly exciting heading into the playoffs. Adam has been hearing about how much more talent the Cowboys roster has than the Seahawks, so he wants to take a look at the position groups to see exactly which areas have

With a postseason spot already clinched, the Seahawks took fans on a ride that seemed to be reminiscent of past memories. From a player wearing number 83 getting knocked down as a slant pass was intercepted, to abandoning the run in the way they did early this season, it brought back some bad memories. Ross Bell of the UK Sea Hawkers joins Brandan to talk about why, against the Cardinals, the Seahawks seem to refuse to win pretty. The last time a matchup between these two teams was decided by more than a touchdown was a 36-6 victory in Arizona. But the Seahawks finally get a win at home, 27-24, against an Arizona team that had won three straight times at CenturyLink. With their two starting guards out, Seattle moved Ifedi into guard and put George Fant at right tackle for the second straight game. It didn't go well as Wilson was sacked six times. Protecting the punter was also a problem as one punt was blocked for a touchdown and another was partially blocked. After back-to-back drives to start the half were

With a playoff spot on the line, the Seahawks put up an outstanding effort against the Kansas City Chiefs and earn a 38-31 victory to solidify a spot on the postseason. Rob Staton of Seahawks Draft Blog joins the reaction show this week to talk about the offensive performance on the ground and through the air with 464 total yards. Three touchdowns from Russell Wilson to go with 271 yards, and Chris Carson added two touchdowns on the ground to go with his 27 carries for 116 yards. The Seahawks defense came up big when it needed to by helping to get the Chiefs off the field and go three-and-out on their first drive. Their effort to hold them to field goals instead of touchdowns on drives in the 1st and 4th quarters was also a key difference in this game. Brandan talks about how Ken Norton Jr. changed things up with the scheme to help hold Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce to just five catches on the day. Of course it can't go without mentioning the spectacular effort by Doug Baldwin in this game. His touchdown ca

Facing one of the top offenses in the NFL this week, the Seahawks have a number of players on the injury report. On defense is where the names jump out the most. Particularly seeing both Bradley McDougald and Tedric Thompson along with Shaquill Griffin on the injury report. Griffin was a full participant in practice, but Thompson has already been ruled out this week and McDougald is questionable. How will injuries impact Sunday night's game? The Chiefs are incredible on offense, but what about the defense? What's the magic number the Seahawks will have to put up on the board to be able to outscore the trio of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce? It's a difficult number to come up with when they've score upwards of 40-50 points in two of the three losses. A few of the Seahawks players are looking to hit some big milestones in this game.  Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Chris Carson and Frank Clark all have some important milestones that could be within range in this game. The guys run do

With a playoff berth on the line, the Seahawks fall to the San Francisco 49ers 26-23 in overtime. We could blame Ross in Eureka who made the trip down and was in attendance last time the Seahawks lost to the 49ers, but instead we peg the blame on a few of the players, bad calls in tough moments and inability to adjust early on to the way San Francisco was attacking the defense. It makes sense, based on past history, the Seahawks wouldn't take the easy road to the playoffs by locking it up in week 15. For some reason they have to make it more interesting over the final two weeks of the season. There are also some positives to touch on, as well. Doug Baldwin had a really nice game coming back from injury. Both of his touchdowns offered some nice moments. Chris Carson had a career day and his touchdown on fourth and goal showed a tremendous effort and the defensive line had some big plays in key moments. But no Seahawks player seemed to be admired more by the home 49ers crowd than punter Michael Dickson.

Changing the show up a big this week now that it's been a few days since the Vikings game and the Seahawks are facing a familiar foe in the San Francisco 49ers we covered recently. With so much feedback over this past week, we're reaching into the mailbag and covering some of the biggest topics from the past few weeks. The show kicks off with a discussion that looks ahead to the next home game with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town now that they're fresh off a loss at home to the Chargers. What seems to be the key to beating some of these teams with big offensive firepower? A lot of discussion recently has been surrounding the idea that the Seattle defense needs a new nickname. There's one in particular that came up on Reddit that offered some intrigue. Our Associate Producer points out the narrative's after many of the Seahawks games this year and has predictions for what the excuse could be next week if Seattle hands the Chiefs a second loss in a row. A YouTuber who made a bet and appears not to be foll

The Monday Night Football matchup between the Seahawks and the Vikings was a defensive slugfest for the first 55 minutes of the game. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Minnesota started playing the field position game and were able to line up for a 47-yard field goal, but Bobby Wagner wasn't having it. Wagner leaped over the line and blocked the try to keep the Vikings scoreless. Minnesota couldn't stop the Seahawks on the ground as Russell Wilson escaped outside the pocket and picked up 40 yards down the sideline. From 21 yards out, Chris Carson carried five straight times to put the first touchdown on the board with less than three minutes left. Seattle added a 2-point conversion and just a couple plays later the defense added a score of their own. Within the span of 30 seconds, the game went from tight 6-0 game to a 21-0 blowout.  Adam and Brandan talk about the biggest plays from the game, including a catch by Geroge Fant, and the dominant play from a Seahawks defense that looked like the play we came t

The Seahawks keep their winning streak against the 49ers alive with a 43-16 victory over San Francisco at CenturyLink Field. Russell Wilson doesn't throw for many yards, but he really didn't need to. He only needed four completions in the first half, and three of them were for touchdowns, to put Seattle up 20-3. With a big Tyler Lockett return to start the second half and a Rashaad Penny run to punch it in from 20 yards out, Seattle had more than enough points to coast through the rest of the game. Richard Sherman was unwilling to accept that Wilson had a solid performance and pointed to the fact that Russell threw for less than 200 yards, while also noting that it was the 49ers quarterback had thrown for more than 400. We ask the important questions, like, is Sherman a yardage truther? But this game was more about Bobby Wagner than it was Wilson or Sherman. Wagner had a game that busted off the stat sheet with 12 tackles, 2 for a loss, 1 pick six, a fumble recovery and two pass defenses. His 98-yard intercep

After Sunday's 30-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers, Adam and Brandan continue to enjoy the win. This week, we award those who deserve to be recognized for some of the biggest plays from Sunday's win. Russell Wilson also gets some recognition for his franchise record milestone and a pair of receivers do something that has been done less than a handful of times in the Pete Carroll era. The Carolina Panthers were able to end the Seahawks streak of seven straight games with more than 150 yards rushing. With that coming to an end, Brandan brings up the other teams that have accomplished that feat since Seattle joined the NFL and they all have something in common. As fans, we knew that Richard Sherman coming back to Seattle would be a big story line. Maybe we didn't know it would be the only story line. Adam points to Pete Carroll's Wednesday press conference as evidence who the media really wanted to discuss and it was all Sherman for a majority of the time. The 49ers quarterback, best known for going to the