Street Cred and Golden Tate Loves my Dad

“I wasn’t too impressed with Tarvaris”. “They didn’t throw down field much”. “I have a Seahawks tattoo”. “This burger is pretty average tasting”. On the shores of Lake Washington, basking in the sun, my father and I decided to venture to the VMAC yesterday for a good look at the Hawks. In the process, I tasted a $7.00 average cheeseburger and made some early assessments on this year’s team. Unlike the four or five people not impressed with Tarvaris Jackson, I came away more confident than I was before the day’s trip. And no, I didn’t get a Seahawks tattoo. (Apparently my sister could have one as she is adding tattoos faster than Amy Whinehouse – too soon?)

The Hawks started practice by having the entire team come over to the grassy hill area where the fans watch and say thanks for coming and give out some high fives. This is where my dad was slapped on the back by Top Pot lover Golden Tate. He was walking around and thanking people for attending while the rest of the team stayed behind the barrier people know as a “fence”. Soon enough the Seahawks got busy – and by busy I mean standing around. They were waiting for the CBA to get ratified back east, thus the players had to wait while on the field. Once the word got to Pete Carroll, the team got to work. When they got to work, I looked at some specific areas to assess.

1. Defensive backs

In large part because their drills were on the field right in front of us, my dad and I watched the DBs go through some 1-on-1 reactionary, back peddling drills, as well as live situations versus receivers. Earl Thomas is still fun to watch and Kam Chancellor looked good to me. The big surprise was Brandon Browner. As Eric Williams of the News Tribune detailed today (http://blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/2011/08/04/a-few-minutes-with-brandon-browner/), Browner is 6-4 and was an All-Pro in the CFL while battling to get back in the league. More surprising to me was that Browner was running with the first string defense while Walter Thurmond sat out and Kelly Jennings went through his first practice. Additionally, the defense was running a lot of nickel package with rookie Mark LeGree playing deep alongside Chancellor while Thomas played the nickel back.

2. Quarterbacks

The position of the most conversation is also the position where the Seahawks may be the weakest overall. With that said, Tarvaris Jackson looked much better than the other two quarterbacks. While he threw an interception in a two-minute drill as was off on some other throws, Jackson commanded the team much better than Whitehurst. He was so loud on his cadence that he not only drew the defense offside multiple times, we could hear him from the hill over 150 yards away. Whitehurst had a couple good throws, but continually looked like check down Charlie again this season. He appeared nervous, jumpy and too willing to throw two yard passes. I was impressed by Jackson’s deep ball in drills and how hard he throws it.

3. Receivers

Everyone wants to see the new guys in WR Sidney Rice and TE Zach Miller. While I only say Miller in a couple drills, he does look huge. They ran a lot of two TE sets with John Carlson and Zach Miller. My guess is that Dominique Byrd and Anthony McCoy shouldn’t feel too comfortable. Rice caught a great ball over the middle, showing his length and athleticism. He paired with WR Mike Williams on the first string offense. Kris Durham and Golden Tate mostly took reps with the number two offense as the Hawks didn’t run any three or four WR sets that I could see. Apparently Ben Obamanu wasn’t there so I wouldassume that puts pressure on Tate, not to mention Deon Butler when he gets back from injury.

4. The DJ

I had heard a lot about the DJ who plays at practice. No other NFL team has one. Apparently the Seahawks don’t either now. About an hour into practice, the speakers blew out and the DJ went home. Before he left, the DJ wowed Mike Williams with a Ludacris song and I tried to look cool bobbing my head to 6 foot 7 by Lil Wayne. I thought maybe I could gain some street cred. None gained yesterday. Try again today.

5. The crowd

I was impressed by the fan base at the practice. Most of the fans around me were very knowledgeable about the team down to the potential dime backs and back up WRs. Additionally, there were some good arguments over Jackson’s ability and whether the Hawks should sign Randy Moss. I then recalled that it was a Thursday at 1:45 p.m. The only people there had plenty of time to know all this stuff considering they don’t have jobs.