Grading Seattle's Free Agency: Defense and Special Teams

Brandon Mebane (#92): A

In an stunning turn of events, I actually managed to be right about something. Not only did Seattle re-sign DT Brandon Mebane, they announced today that he'd be moving back to his natural 1-tech position, something I'd guessed at yesterday. A stud run-stuffer from any position, Mebane has a record of success at collapsing the pocket, that greatest single unsung component of all strong D-lines. The entire line could reap good results from this.

Alan Branch (#99): C+

So I have these voices in my head (which shouldn't surprise anyone) and decided to just mic them today to show you my internal debate on DT Alan Branch, recently released by the Cardinals and signed by the Seahawks.

Lockout Hangover: Seattle's Defensive Free Agents

Continuing a look at Seattle's own free agents waiting to be re-signed, starting with the most important.


Brandon Mebane, DT

Mebane, now a full free agent with the new CBA voiding his earlier third-round tender, is an above-average defensive tackle who exceeds the usual definition of "jack of all trades": he can do everything, but can also do most of them well. He's also the only player that qualifies as anything like a starter at 3-tech defensive tackle; the next best still on the roster is Barrett Moen. Coupled with Mebane's experience with Seattle's schemes, this should theoretically tie Seattle's hands and make him a shoo-in to be resigned.

Alas, that may not be. Inexplicably, the Seahawks have refused for two years now to play Mebane at over tackle, where he has an established record of success in both pass-rushing and run-stuffing. Both were diminished when Seattle moved him over to under tackle and replaced him with Colin Cole, an exclusive run stuffer whose inability to rush the passer continues to hold the defense back. Pete Carroll's gap tweaking did little to alleviate this. With his mis-use clouding his performance, Mebane is made to look less valuable than he is.

The league isn't fooled. You shouldn't be either.

Lockout Hangover: Seattle's Offensive Free Agents

The long, dark lockout is extinguished at last.

To those of you who were enjoying the blog's initial run earlier this spring, I do apologize for my unannounced absence. I got discouraged from writing by a lot of factors, such as the pall cast by the lockout over any kind of real news or analysis for the offseason. When I started 17 Power, I'd regarded the offseason as an opportunity instead of an obstacle, a chance to fill the void with off-the-beaten-path opinion, but I hadn't envisioned trying to do so without the help of any actual football developments.

Plus, some genius back in April decided to over-click my Google Adsense advertisements (you might have noticed their disappearance back in April), prompting Google to assume that I was abusing them for the revenue and pull them. That sucked.

But...I'm back. Nothing keeping me down now. Our beloved Seahawks are going to get talked about again, and I'm gonna be part of it. I hope you'll be around to enjoy my bizarre blather and participate in the discussion, as we charge headfirst into the craziest NFL free agency likely to be witnessed in our lifetimes.

Adam Schefter is reporting that free agency will return Friday. Contrary to earlier reports, Seattle's free agents will hit the market at the same time as everyone else. Still, they're as good a re-entry point as any.


Matt Hasselbeck, QB

Let's just...save this one for later.


Chris Spencer, C

After years of dismissal from media and fans alike, Spencer steadied himself out in 2010 and became the team's most consistent lineman. That's not damning with faint praise, either. "Consistent" may not have made Rob Sims popular with fans after 2009, but I daresay a lot of people wish he'd stuck around after 2010. He's now doing well in Detroit.

I Guess I'll Talk About the Safety Position Too

Right on the football.

The usual offseason flurry of "personnel review" articles is underway on various blogs, and this week a few of them seem to have converged on Seattle's needs at strong safety.

This article from Dan Kelly of the Seehock Blog ought to make you a fan of sophomore strong safety Kam Chancellor. It goes over some of Kam's early scouting reports and breaks down a few highlight plays, noting his developing instincts and the power and intensity of his tackles. I'd like to see some lowlights to balance this out, but it's good stuff nonetheless.

Fieldgulls chimes in with concerns about the durability of Lawyer Milloy. The veteran safety really seemed to hit his "age wall" in the midst of 2010, losing a huge chunk of his speed and thus his impact. His most notorious failing was the Greg Olsen TD in the playoffs, which I still maintain is less Milloy's fault that the overall defense's, but still Milloy's lost burst remains a problem waiting to be exploited.

A thread at Seahawks.net tosses around some worthwhile bits, including the comparison of Chancellor's size (6'4" and 240 pounds) to that of a linebacker. It's a fair comparison, considering Pete Carroll appears to favor linebacker hybrids (see: Chris Clemons, Dexter Davis) for his "Bandit" defense that relies on masked intentions.


The general impression is that Kam Chancellor improved as the season went on. There's a wrinkle in that impression, revealed by the snaps breakdowns in Brian McIntyre's personnel review (amazing the mileage one can get out of that simple tool): not only did Kam Chancellor play only 12% of the Seahawks' defensive snaps in 2010, but almost all of them were in the "Bandit" defense. He got virtually no time in base defense prior to Week 14 except in relief of Earl Thomas against the Giants. This means that Chancellor has hardly been tested as a starting strong safety at all.

Projected to go in the third round (and as high as the second by some) in the 2010 draft, and selected by a GM who has voiced an intention to start his mid-round picks, Kam Chancellor should be viewed as the future starter at the strong safety position. His limited starting experience seems a factor of an overall policy of easing new picks into the lineup (CB Walter Thurmond was deployed in similar fashion), not necessarily concern about his abilities. Playoff contention is no time to test your rookies; you put your best guys on the field, especially when your defense is already struggling.

Make no mistake, Chancellor isn't a burner or a perfect cover safety. He'll struggle at times with the deep play, though his instincts may develop enough to offset this. Fortunately, neither Carroll's defensive history nor Seattle's current Tampa 2 configuration require Kam to be anything but exactly what he is: an in-the-box run stopper and strong tackler, with decent zone ability, potential as a blitzer, and special-teams prowess tossed in. We can argue about the value of this role until the cows come home (and continue while they chew their cud), but Chancellor does fit Seattle's scheme like a glove.

I'm happy to start Chancellor in 2010 and see what he's made of. He's gotten almost no chance to strut his stuff as it is. It would be nice to see Chancellor evolve into a solid value pick who actually grows into the game and peaks in the midst of a long career, rather than in his rookie season like many of Ruskell's greatest hits. We need football players whose best games are ahead of them, not behind, and although Kam is untested, he has enticing potential. Start him; Lawyer Milloy's tired tendons will be grateful, and they've earned their retirement.

Risk vs. Reward: Breaking Down the Olsen TD

Remember that regular season game where Seattle went for it on 4th-and-1 with a fade pass to WR Golden Tate? The pass failed, and fans criticized the coaches for calling a low-percentage play - i.e. less likely to succeed than many other plays Seattle could have tried.

Keep that sort of risk-mentality in mind as we examine the 58-yard TD pass to Chicago TE Greg Olsen from the playoff game against Seattle.

Olsen beat SS Lawyer Milloy downfield and caught the pass behind him, so most people blame Milloy. But in trying to dig deeper into the logic of the play, I exchanged emails with Doug Farrar of Sportspress Northwest and came away with a different impression.

The Brandon Mebane Conundrum

Hey, Kip here. You might remember me from Seahawks Draft Blog. I'm really tight on time this year, so I can't contribute terribly often either here or at SDB, but this is a topic I've had on my chest for a few weeks and since Brandon (Adams) asked me to contribute, I figured this would be a good place to start this topic.

When Pete Carroll brought his "Leo" defense to Seattle in 2010, it didn't officially change Seattle from a 4-3 to a 3-4 team, but in some ways, it was a step in that direction. Seattle's previous 4-3 defenses featured two pass rushing defensive ends who could perform reasonably well against the run, a pass rushing defensive tackle (known as the 3 tech), and a single gap run stuffing defensive tackle (known as the 1 tech).

Though technically still a 4-3, the "Leo" concept is a bit more unbalanced. The strong side (usually left) defensive end needs to be death to the run while also collapsing the pocket, but isn't expected to be a consistent pass rusher who generates sacks. The strong side defensive tackle, who manned the 3 tech in the previous defense, becomes a two gap player, something that is generally only found in 3-4 defenses. A two gap player does not shoot a gap, but instead directly engages a lineman and protects the gaps on both sides of him. The 3 tech role still exists, but was moved from the strong side to the weakside. Finally, you have the Leo position off the weak side end, and this is where almost all of the pass rush is generated from.

As with any scheme change, you will have players who benefit and others who suffer.