Seahawks Daily News

USA Today Wed, 10/06/2010 9:18 AM

Bills trade Marshawn Lynch to Seahawks, who cut Julius Jones

Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch was traded to Seattle on Tuesday, and the Seahawks made room for him by releasing Julius Jones . Read more...

Seattle Seahawks Daily News

Bleacher Report Sat, 11/28/2009 7:07 AM

Week 12 Fantasy Football Sleeper: Justin Forsett

While there was talk of Julius Jones making his return this week, there now are some pretty big questions considering that, as he’s been limited in practice the past two days. That opens the door for Justin Forsett, who had likely fallen out of favor Read more...

Seattle Seahawks Daily News

Bleacher Report Sat, 11/21/2009 8:06 AM

Seattle Limps into Week 11: Seahawks Run the Ball and Look Toward 2010

Nine games into the season and the Seahawks figured out how to run the ball. Losing their top rusher in Julius Jones early in the game led to a break out game for a player that had previously been on the waiver wire; Justin Forsett. Forsett rushed for Read more...

Bleacher Report Fri, 07/17/2009 2:47 AM

Seattle Seahawks Position Breakdown: Running Back

Current RB’s: Starter- Julius Jones, TJ Duckett, Justin Forsett, Devin Moore   In the 2007 offseason, the Seahawks completely reshaped their RB situation. They signed Dallas castoff Julius Jones to a four-year/$14 million deal to be the Read more...

Bleacher Report Fri, 05/22/2009 12:20 PM

A Shift In Offensive Schemes Could Mean More Success For Seattle Seahawks

On January 4th, 2009 a regime ended for the Seattle Seahawks. After 10 years of rebuilding the Seahawks franchise into a consistent winner and major player around the league, Mike Holmgren stepped down as Head Coach to take a year off. Stepping into the massive shoes left behind is a hand-picked predecessor in Jim Mora who worked as Secondary Coach and Assistant Head Coach to Holmgren over the past two seasons. With Mora's ascension and changes in the coaching staff, inevitably come changes on the field. Holmgren, a disciple of the legendary Bill Walsh, was known for his West Coast offense. He operated under a philosophy of utilizing the passing game to set up the running game —operating at an almost 60-40 clip of passes to runs per game. While Mora will certainly incorporate some West Coast schemes, the 60-40 percentage will undoubtedly disappear. The most noticeable difference for fans watching the 2009 Seahawks versus that of the version on the field for 10 years prior will be a more prevalent running game. Under Offensive Coordinator Greg Knapp and Offensive Line Coach Mike Solari, the Seahawks will be turning to a zone blocking scheme with a much higher emphasis placed on running the football down the throats of its opposition. Last year the Seahawks ranked 25th in total offense and 19th in rushing. Not terrible for a team that finished 4-12, but certainly not where it wanted to be. In 2009, a 19th ranking and an average of 110 yards a game on the ground just isn't going to cut it for Knapp and company. The biggest beneficiaries from this change in philosophy—besides the entire offense in general—will be running backs Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett. The two should see the biggest share of carries in Seattle's backfield and be called upon to revive a running game that has been stagnant for Seattle the past couple of seasons. In fact, the change should revitalize Jones who left Dallas as a free agent in 2008 to join the Seahawks as the featured runner. Now he will have that chance under a new coach whose zone blocking scheme is very well suited to the fast and elusive Jones. In a zone blocking scheme, a runner wants to make "one cut and go" as Jones told reporters during Seattle's first minicamp two weeks ago. As Jones continued, he explained how his game is best suited for that same approach. And it is. Anytime you have an elusive runner with good speed, a zone blocking system usually suits them the best. It allows them to dictate where they attack and hit a hole harder than in a normal blocking scheme where often times a runner has to patiently wait while his blocks develop. The new scheme will create a more consistent running game for the Seahawks in '09. And with a more consistent running game will come more success. Read more...

Bleacher Report Wed, 05/20/2009 11:10 AM

An Edge In Seattle?

I was intrigued by an ESPN blog report that has the Seattle Seahawks possibly being interested in the league's current leading rusher. That man would be former Arizona RB Edgerrin James.  The man replacing James in the desert is former Ohio State star RB Chris "Beanie" Wells. They got a steal at the 31st pick by nabbing Wells, he was talked about plausibly being drafted as high as Denver at No. 12. With Wells and 2nd year RB Tim Hightower, the Cardinals believe they have a good one-two punch, even though both are the same type of back. They granted James his release request after benching him for a good portion of 2008. Although it was James' legs that helped run them into Superbowl XLlll with a 3.95 YPC average in the postseason. I would doubt the Edge would be the Seahawks' feature back. Julius Jones carries that title now. It would be interesting how Seattle would use a back like James.  He is not a short yardage guy, and the Seahawks already are paying $3 million a year to TJ Duckett to do that job (and he is very good at it). Duckett converted 15/18 short yardage attempts of 2 yards or less and also punched in 8 TD's in 2008. James does offer a psychical presence, experience, and is a very similar back to former Seahawks great RB Shaun Alexander. By that, I mean he is a shifty guy who runs well between the tackles and can make people miss, at least in this part of his career. He would be a cost-effective option if the team is looking to add some depth at the RB position, which the Seahawks should at least be amenable too. He will not command anything near the $7.5 million per year he got in Arizona.  A move seems somewhat unlikely, not even on an interest basis, but a financial basis. The Seahawks recently rescinded the franchise tag on LB Leroy Hill, and then allocated $3 million to sign new starting CB and former Seahawk Ken Lucas, and FB Justin Griffith. To a lesser degree they also locked up LS Bryan Pittman, but that will not create any financial hardship. They then turned around and got a six-year, $38 million deal done with Hill. The deal's average salary is $6.3 million per year. One would am assume they probably that the first years cap hit is not the former number so they could have a little flexibility to make some other signings.  The point is, there's not a lot of money left, maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of $1-3 million, if that. There is a rookie pool available, and I believe the Seahawks' is around $5-6 million dollars. Most of that is going to go to signing No. 4 pick LB Aaron Curry, who is going to command at least $25 million dollars in guarantees. The recent news about the cap spike should not fool anyone, it is just re-hash. The $127 million dollar cap figure was allocated to teams starting at the beginning of free agency. The only news is the 947,000 being added on currently, which effectively bumps the total too $128 million. The new cap is a $12 million dollar rise from 2008's number.  With this $1 million dollar raise, the Seahawks now probably have around $3-5 million dollars to spend on FA's. James shouldn't cost more then $2-3 million. For a team with problems at S and some concern across the OL, they may choose to allocate the money at those respective positions. It will be interesting to see if the Seahawks will land an all-time great, potential future HOFer. However implausible it may seem, the intriguing possibility still remains.     Read more...