OTA thread 5 things to watch

[maoling]

Did not know until today that Jalen Sundell and Grey Zabel are best buds. I didn't know Sundell was his teammate at NDSU. I've been rooting for Olu to break through, but now it appears Sundell is getting a lot of reps and might be the one at center.

[Donn Beach]

They are giving Haynes snaps at center too

Thought that was interesting, Oline friendly, I guess that's what I'm getting at when I'm hopeful kubiak can improve the Oline play

Coming out of the University of Connecticut in 2024, Haynes was viewed as one of the best guards in the draft and a steal for the Seahawks, who got him in the third round of the draft.

Haynes posted a respectable PFF grade of 48.5 his rookie year on only 167 snaps.

With new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak being a very O-line-friendly coach, the sky's the limit for Haynes, no matter where he ends up.

https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nfl/sea ... 94905c80ed

[Gametime]

If you think Sam and Geno are much different than I hope you are right. Go watch Darnold against Detroit and then watch Geno against Detroit. Don't take this as me advocating for Geno, my point was it has come to this....we are happy with a guy because he isn't Geno. There is ZERO evidence to suggest that Sam is going to be better, without T Lock and DK to boot.

We could be a better football team, but I believe that will come from a vast improvement in the run game and continued improvement from the momentum the defense had to finish last year. There are many things that I believe could make this team better....Sam Darnold isn't one that I am counting on.

Yet, where did Geno lead us? Geno regressed last year. Geno pouted. Again we were 0-1 in the playoffs with Geno and no playoffs in the other two years. Go listen to Milllens breakdown of air yards, check downs of Geno. We were going nowhere with him. Do, do the same thing for a 4th year??! Sam had just as bad or worse oline than Geno did. Enough of Geno, lead us nowhere.

[Donn Beach]

Minnesota has had a pretty highly ranked Oline, here it was ranked 9th at week 14 last season
https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/sto ... 837511007/
Here ranked 3rd at the end of the season
https://nfllines.com/nfl-2024-final-com ... -rankings/

[douche]

I think the key could be replacing Grubb with kubiak rather than replacing Geno with Darnold.

Well, they replaced both so we'll see how the offense performs this season under Kubiak. Will it be better? Worse? Either way, it will be very interesting.

[Michael K.]

If you think Sam and Geno are much different than I hope you are right. Go watch Darnold against Detroit and then watch Geno against Detroit. Don't take this as me advocating for Geno, my point was it has come to this....we are happy with a guy because he isn't Geno. There is ZERO evidence to suggest that Sam is going to be better, without T Lock and DK to boot.

We could be a better football team, but I believe that will come from a vast improvement in the run game and continued improvement from the momentum the defense had to finish last year. There are many things that I believe could make this team better....Sam Darnold isn't one that I am counting on.

Yet, where did Geno lead us? Geno regressed last year. Geno pouted. Again we were 0-1 in the playoffs with Geno and no playoffs in the other two years. Go listen to Milllens breakdown of air yards, check downs of Geno. We were going nowhere with him. Do, do the same thing for a 4th year??! Sam had just as bad or worse oline than Geno did. Enough of Geno, lead us nowhere.

I don't even understand your argument here. I never said I was a Geno fan, I am actually annoyed that we now have a guy and the best thing we can say about him is "at least he isn't Geno". Not sure if you have watched much of Sam, but you might long for Geno after the first four turnover game by Sam. They are both below average NFL QBs that are prone to mistakes and turnovers. Let's hope the run game and defense improve, but I am not sure the QB play will. Being happy with Sam because he isn't Geno is a Mariner thing to do. We brought in a shitty hitter, but at least he doesn't strike out as much as the other guy! The Seahawks brought in a crappy QB who had one good year playing with one of the best receiving cores in football and one of the best play callers in football. I'll gladly be wrong, but he has neither of those things now.

[Donn Beach]

Yeah, and one of the best offensive lines in football. I think if the Seahawks offense improves it's going to be because of better play calling and an improved Oline as opposed to improved QB play

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Minnesota has had a pretty highly ranked Oline, here it was ranked 9th at week 14 last season
https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/sto ... 837511007/
Here ranked 3rd at the end of the season
https://nfllines.com/nfl-2024-final-com ... -rankings/

It's hard to make sense of the data from that 2nd link (nfllines .com). They say MIN was 3rd in overall block win rate but 15th in final OL ranking. And the two following tables: Opening Holes for the Run Game they are ranked 20th, and Identify, Adjust To, And Negate Blitzes they are ranked 25th.

So they were great at blocking 1-on-1 but they didn't function well as a unit (i.e. make line adjustments)?

[Michael K.]

Minnesota has had a pretty highly ranked Oline, here it was ranked 9th at week 14 last season
https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/sto ... 837511007/
Here ranked 3rd at the end of the season
https://nfllines.com/nfl-2024-final-com ... -rankings/

It's hard to make sense of the data from that 2nd link (nfllines .com). They say MIN was 3rd in overall block win rate but 15th in final OL ranking. And the two following tables: Opening Holes for the Run Game they are ranked 20th, and Identify, Adjust To, And Negate Blitzes they are ranked 25th.

So they were great at blocking 1-on-1 but they didn't function well as a unit (i.e. make line adjustments)?

The words 3rd and 15th......I can't recall very many times those words were uttered about a Seahawk O Like in a very long damn time. They had a darn good run blocking unit when Fluker and Iaupati were here...and Davis and Carson were running wild. But that feels like eons ago.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

That site had the Seahawks ranked 25th in overall block win rate, 28th in Opening Holes for the Run Game, and 31st in Identify, Adjust To, And Negate Blitzes.
And ranked 31st overall...

Yeah, we're pretty close to being the Ravens of the West Coast. If we actually try running it like the Ravens it's going to be a long season full of 3 and outs and injured RBs.