Breaking Down the PC/JS Press Conference + Earl Thomas Update
As I am sure you’re aware, John Schneider and Pete Carroll held their annual pre-draft press conference yesterday afternoon. In recent interviews with the pair over the last couple of months, genuine news has been few-and-far between, however they did give us some new info this time, let’s take a look at it.
In case you missed it, you can find it here –
They seem to be against risk taking this year. They’ve been burnt several times in the past, Malik McDowell being a prime example. Although there was no way they could have envisioned his ATV accident, there were clear character and maturity concerns heading into the draft so although it would be unfair to say they could have prevented the accident, they could have prevented the pick altogether considering the character and maturity issues. It seems they have learnt from past mistakes and are focussing on ‘all football’ guys. Guys that won’t be riding ATV’s in the summer but working on their craft, that’s the type of football players they want, and who would be against that?
They also said their draft board is much smaller in terms of volume this year. John said in previous years they simply had ‘too much’ to properly work the board how they want to. They start with around 11,000 names and wind that down as the process draws to a close. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s only 100 names on their board now, given the criteria. It may be slightly higher than that but the reality is we will very likely never know exact numbers.
The Malik McDowell situation was touched on, too. You can see, especially in Pete’s face, that he is pretty pissed off with the whole situation. He kept reiterating that they hadn’t had a good update (good meaning meaningful or significant, not actual ‘good news’). They said they simply don’t know so are unable to make a decision which doesn’t link with the Ian Rapoport tweet citing that the team were going to be releasing him shortly.
There was an update on Kam Chancellor, albeit minor. He said Kam has another scan in late June/early July so they will know more than. I think it would be some kind of miracle for him to step back on the field and all this is just a part of the process. The team know they can’t get out of their financial obligations to Kam and he knows that, too. Please don’t expect to see #31 back on the field as the chances are slim to none.
They also listed that the four ‘core’ players for the team are Russ, Doug, Bobby and K.J. Did he miss anyone? More on that later in the article…
John also listed some of the criteria they consider when evaluating players –
Character
Psychological testing
Orthopaedic testing
Orthopaedic grades
True fits
Now the first 4 are pretty self-explanatory but the last one, ‘true fits’, is an interesting one. It could be a fit to their scheme and how they run things, or, it could go down as a culture fit (or both). As we all know, Seattle is trying (and, at present, seems to have been very successful) at altering the culture, or more accurately, resetting the culture. You may have heard the term ‘STR’ banded about here and there. It stands for “Smart Tough Reliable” and is the buzzword of the offseason in Seattle. Drafting players that possess ‘STR’ traits is a fantastic way to have a successful season. No distractions, no drama, just football guys playing football, 24/7.
Some other interesting draft notes have come up in the last 24 hours, too.
The first being how teams around the league are concerned about Josh Sweat’s knee. It’s come out that he could only practice once a week in college which is going to be a huge red flag for teams, some touted him as early as a late first round selection, now it seems he could go in rounds 4 or 5. If he does fall into day 3, I’d expect him to go very early. Teams may not be willing to take the risk on day 1 or 2, but day 3 is built for this type of situation, ‘chance’ players. I’d imagine at least 30 of the 32 teams would take a chance of him with a 4th round pick.
There are also rumours floating around that Dallas are, in fact, prepared to wait a year and pick up Earl Thomas in free agency. This has so clearly come from the Cowboys front office in an attempt to drive down the price that it’s almost a bit silly. It’s buying 101, don’t show the seller how keen you are on buying. I really wouldn’t read into this news at all, If Jerry Jones wants a player, he will get him, It’s as simple as that. Whether he really does want Earl is yet to be determined but we will know for sure by Friday evening at the very latest. I’m kind of relieved that all the trade rumours will finally be put to bed one way or another, it’s been a long, drawn out debate that is getting somewhat tiresome. If he is moved, Seattle has the chance to add another couple of players onto the roster, if he’s kept, Seattle has an All Pro free safety for, at the very least, 2018.
You can now support Hawk Talk via Patreon below, thank you to any and all contributors, I will be forever grateful.
