January 31, 2025 • 18 mins
Brian Nemhauser, known as Hawkblogger, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain after going down to Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl to talk about the week of practices there, offensive line standouts, the quarterback performances, and the 2024 Seahawks.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, right here, he is. This man went to Mobile,
Alabama to cover the Senior Bowl, because why the hell
would you want to go to Mobile, Alabama if not
for the Senior Bowl, to be honest with you, right,
And we thought, you know what, if he's going to
make the trek all the way down there, we can
put him on the air and get his thoughts on
what he saw. Our old friend Brian Nemhauser, aka Hawk Blogger,
how are you, pal?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm doing well. How you guys doing good? Hey?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Give us I've been to Alabama one time. I was
like twenty years ago. But give us a take on
what it was like down there. What's the atmosphere like
in Mobile, Alabama?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know, I gotta tell you it surprised me. If
you like New Orleans Mobile is kind of a little
bit of New Orleans light. It's got like a pretty
nice main drag down in the downtown. That've got some
great restaurants, good bar, like great bar scene. I ate
really well down there. And it wasn't just a comfort food.
(00:54):
There's some there's some fine dining down there at a
great steak. So yeah, I was. I was kind of
blown away. And if you football I mean it's just
football all the time, padded practices and every NFL you know,
personalities there, so a lot of great chances. I caught
up with Rick new Heids of all people, so lots
of people around there.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It seems like the format of the Senior Bowl has changed.
I mean, correct if I'm wrong. It seems like twenty
years ago it was like guys preparing to actually play
a game with some scouts, and now it's almost seemed
like a pre scouting combine. Scouting combine, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, you know, I wish I could tell you the
history of the Senior Bowl and speak on that with
more confidence, but I will tell you I didn't pay
attention to the Senior Bowl twenty years ago, that's for sure.
And if you are a Seahawks fan, you better be
paying attention to the Senior Bowl because you want to
talk about the draft. Last year for the Seahawks, every
single player the Seahawks drafted other than Mike Durrell wasn't
(01:51):
invited to the Senior Bowl. So it is a big
part of how the Seahawks build their draft board. It's
the only place during the draft prep where you can
see guys and padded practices, doing things like one v
one pass rest drills, and quite honestly, that's that's like
the best thing you're going to get outside of game film,
be able to value with these guys well.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And for me, it's always the networking that goes on
down there, Brian, As you know, right, there's so many
deals sometimes that get done, you know, conversations about deals
and just you know, relationships that form down there, and like,
you know, hey, man, I saw John Schneider follow Jackson
Dart to the Santacan and then he went to his
car in a parking lot. What the hell was going on?
So did you notice anything in particular about the Seahawk
(02:31):
contingent that was down there and either what position group
or what players they may have been gravitating towards.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean I was. I was really curious. And
the way it's set up, just in case you guys
aren't familiar, if listeners aren't, you know, you're you're in
a stadium like an NFL stadium and they're doing practice
or not an NFL stadium, South Alabama Stadium, right, and
and on one side is where all the scouts and
personnel people are on the other side is media and
(02:58):
fans that choose to attend, and so you don't necessarily
see all the NFL personnel. People are scouts unless they
decided to come down to the field you from on high.
And the first time I saw John Schneider was he
came all the way down, all the way across the
other side of the field to watch offensive line drills
and it was him, Mike McDonald and Trent Kershner and
(03:23):
the three of them. When the offensive lineman moved to
another drill, they moved along with them, And that basically
was the only time I really got good eyes on them.
And I was a little curious that Clint Kubiak would
be there, obviously New Orleans is only a couple hours away.
He was not, But yeah, it was the first time
Mike McDonald could actually attend this thing as a member
of the Seahawks, since he wasn't even hired at this
(03:44):
time last year.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Do you think John Schnyder's changed his tune on the
importance of interior offensive lineman. He had that famous or
infamous quote that they're overdrafted and sometimes overpaid, but it's
also been his biggest weakness as the general manager.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Of this team. Yeah, I think that my understanding of
how they see that position is that I think that
they do still probably believe that the position is overdrafted
and overpaid, but not that it's not an important position.
I think that the way they would look at it
and say, you know, is Damian lewis really worth that
(04:20):
kind of money? Jonah Jackson, You're sign with the Rams
huge money? Has he been worth that kind of money?
And I think what they're pointing out is it's a
very like bloated position from an evaluation standpoint. So I
think that if they have a player that they think
is great, I think they would pay them and if
they choose to really allocate resources there. So I don't
(04:42):
think they've changed philosophy. I think they realize they have
to realize that this is priority number one and maybe
priority number two this offseason is to addressed the guard position,
maybe the center position, because Clint Kubiak it runs a
very center heavy offense, so that those are the things
I think we'll steer them this this offse.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
All right, well, were there any offensive lineman that that
you saw down there that you you know, part of
this is what you observe. I would think. And part
of this is kind of what you pick up from
people that are in the know and cover this for
a living and coaches and scouts and things like that.
Were there any interior offensive lineman that maybe turned your
head and got other people's attentions down there?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I mean, there was one guy in particular that everybody
agreed on in Unison was kind of the lineman of
the week, maybe the guy that helped himself more than
any other player this week, and that was Great's Abel.
This guy is played all five positions, not only during
you know, his college career, but during the Fener Bowl
practices and so he's six five, three point fifteen. He
(05:44):
never really got beat all week in one of one drills.
He did it from every position on the line, and
also moved people in the run game when they were
doing team drills. So he had an outstanding, outstanding set
of practices and I think, you know, I've seen other
places where he's starting to maybe poke into the first
round in terms of value, and that's just a huge
(06:05):
step forward for him. I think he also is a
good fit for his own scheme, which Clint Kubiak likely
will run. A couple other guys that I'd call out
on the offensive line that maybe people haven't heard of.
Carson Vincent, a guy from a little school six but
six three and fourteen pounds, thirty five inch arms. This
(06:26):
guy played in a very small school and showed up
here against top competition, really held his own. I think,
you know, he played mostly left tackle, but I think
he can slide inside the guard. And so, yeah, those
are at least two guys that stuck out in that regard,
but there was a number of guys that had pretty
pretty impressive weeks on both sides of the line.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
O Brian and know a lot of people were talking
about the defensive line that it's a good class this year.
Would you agree? And you know some guys stepping out there.
I saw that that Mike Green kid out of Marshall
was probably the viral video of the week thus far.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah. Well, you know what's fascinating, guys, is the players
vote as well, and it's just started coming out who
they voted for for the various position group's best players
at different positions, and they voted for Josh Connery Junior
as the best offensive lineman on that particular Senior Bowl team.
The defensive line voted on it. And if you want
to know what most people are going to remember about
(07:21):
Josh Connery from this week, it is Mike Green absolutely
planting him on his back when they gave him a
chance to play the right side and right tackle.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So I enjoyed that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
So you did, I'm sure you did, But you know, no,
Mike Green looked good. I think I noticed that he
was a much better rusher from the left side. He
did not win nearly as much from the right side.
And so if you're wanting a guy that can go
against left tackles, maybe not your guy. And he's still
pretty small, and so I think seeing how he does
in the run game, I think it's pretty important because
(07:53):
generally speaking, Mike McDonald wants his you know, outside linebackers
to be in the two sixty and above range, and
Mike Green is still two fifty sometimes a little bit
below that. Well.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Brian Nemhauser Hawk bloggers with us and Brian, I think
we've come to learn there's two kinds of people in
this town. The kind of people that want to snuggle
up to Gino Smith and just curl up into a
ball right next to him, and the ones that want
to run his ass out of town. There's no one between,
and it's either one or the other. Either love the
guy or you hate the guy. Where do you fall
on line on the Geno Smith debate that's raging on
(08:24):
social media and Seattle, Well.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I mean, there's let's talk about facts and not as
much opinion. I'll share my opinion as well, But the
reality is, you know, Gino Smith is going to be
thirty five years old, and he could be he could
be Brett ParvE, he could be Patrick Mahomes. At thirty five,
you better be thinking about what's next. I mean, that's
just a reality. Now. With that out there, you've also
(08:48):
got to look at what he's what he's costing you
for the production he's getting and he's giving, and quite honestly,
he is still far out playing the contract value that
he's being paid. So the question becomes, you know, how
much do you want to give him to keep him
around if that's what you plan to do, And what's
your opportunity cost if you keep him? Who are you
(09:09):
not giving an opportunity to? Who are you not signing
or bringing in? And there's just not a lot of options.
I mean, you could say Sam Darnold, you could say,
draft guys. I watched the quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl.
I'm telling you, don't do it. Don't do it. This
is this is this is a very rough quarterback class.
I was so hoping that Jalen Milroe would look like
(09:31):
a guy that you could maybe talk yourself into developing
into something special. Because you look at the quarterbacks left
in the last four game, like the last four teams
that played in the playoffs, they're all moving quarterbacks. You know,
even Patrick Mahomes, you know, certainly can can get some
yards with his legs when he chooses to scramble. So
Jalen Milroe he measured with small hands under nine inches,
(09:53):
which is just tiny and it's kind of a cutoff
for NFL teams. And then he was inaccurate throwing the
ball in the dirt against air. Then he during teen
drills he would hold on the ball for six, seven,
eight seconds and then either take what would him in
a sack and then throw an in completion. I think
he looked at best like a fourth round pick, and
that's just because he's got first round talent with his feet.
(10:14):
But you know, Jackson Darts another guy people are excited about.
I just see him as a as an interesting guy,
but I'm not sure you know he's even better than
what you've got Sam Howell, and Sam Howell's not a
guy anybody wants to see out there many times.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Karloski Orlovsky tweeted today that Jackson Dart's going to be
a first rounder.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's so those are two different things though, right like that,
Jayalen Millro Milroe might be a first rounder. Who knows.
But that's because this quarterback class is not good. And
if you had I'll tell you what, if Joe Milton
and Spencer Ratler had come out this year instead of
last year, they would have been first round picks this
year potentially, because it's just a very thing class and
(10:57):
there's a lot of teams really desperate for a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
This If you ask you about Gino, I mean, I'm
in the third category. I don't hate Geno, but I
want Geno out. I think there's that third category that
appreciates and likes Gino but don't want him be the
quarterback anymore. Who was more to blame for the turnovers
in your mind last season, Gino or the play caller
that's already been fired for partially having too many turnovers.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You know, if you want to get into who's more responsible,
I mean, I always want to give the quarterback responsibility
for decisions that he makes when he's got the ball
in his hands. And as much as I think, you know,
when I've asked Gino questions about this stuff this year,
you know, I think he generally feels like his process
was pretty good, and he would say, like his arm
got hit on some of the red zone interceptions or whatever.
(11:47):
He still is trying to make a play and hold
onto the ball too long, and there's too many times
where he's just got to cry uncle and say throw
it away, take the incompletion and reset, And so I
think he is someone that needs to continue to kind
of evaluate that. But ultimately you look at those plays, generally,
there's nobody open. Generally, there's pressure in his face immediately,
(12:08):
and this guy faced more quick pressure than almost any
quarterback in the NFL. This isn't like after three seconds,
this is under two and a half seconds, and he
performed better in those situations and almost any quarterback. So
I am not in the camp they should move on
from Gena Smith I'm in the camp of if they
can do that and make this team better, Yeah, like
even within a couple of years. Great. I don't see
(12:30):
that as a really legitimate option right now with the
options they got in front of them.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, Brian, before you go, and again, Brian Amhauser hawklater
was in Mobile, Alabama for the senior ball back home
obviously after that trip, and I'm just curious, is there
enough in the draft? I mean free agency? Tray Smith
is the number one guy that might be out there.
And by the way, talk to my Kansas City source,
who is a Siren Petro of WHB by the way,
who says he does not think the Chiefs are going
to franchise him. They have too many other options or
(12:55):
guys that they needed to take care of, and he thinks,
so he's going to hit the market. Is there enough?
Do we think there's enough Brian in the free agent
market and in the draft to significantly improve this offensive
line in one off season?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
One hundred percent? This is this is a really good
offseason to have that particular need. And there's I think
really good free agent options. And this is what I
was saying about the overdrafted, overpaid comment I don't think
John Schneider would say that Tray Smith is going to
be overpaid. I think he would acknowledge that he is
a blue chip level guard and he's going to get
(13:30):
top of the market for guards. Now, does that mean
that he's going to go pay him twenty three million
dollars a year or whatever it ends up being. I
don't know. I mean, that would be a big departure,
but I think it would be the right move. I
think they should move heaven and earth to make that happen.
And I think the biggest mistake they could make is saying, Okay,
we've got one of the youngest offensive lines in the league.
It's showing some promise of growing, but it's super young.
(13:52):
Let's go draft a rookie to go in there and
fix that problem, or two rookies. Like they can't do it.
They've got to absolutely sign someone in free agency, whether
it's Tray Smith or Mikai Becton or you know, it
can even be you know, Will Hernandez. There's guys lower
on that list, but it's got to be someone who's
better than you know, Laken Tomlinson, who they brought in
for bargain basement, you know, one and a half million
(14:14):
dollars last year. So there's options there, and there's great
options in the draft. So why not both, you know,
if you really want to come out of this fixing
that problem, why not both.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Whatever your level of expectation of what a Mike McDonald
football team was going to look like in August, was
it better than your expectation, worse or the same.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You know, you guys watched the same season I did.
It was a roller coaster, right, so I'd probably give
you different answers at different times. You know, I thought
this defense had the talent and was playing to a
level that it could be one of the top defenses
in the NFL. It came out strong against obviously some
weak competition, and then it was it plummeted and and
so I think by the end of the season, after
(14:59):
they like really after the buye, I thought they really
met my expectations of what a coach like Mike McDonald
would do with the defensive talent. And I think they
proved their thesis in that regard that there was talent
on this defense, and they simply, you know, they needed
a different coach. You know, no disrespect to Pete Carroll.
(15:19):
It's hard to be any place for fifteen years and
still be successful. But I think m McDonald got the
most out of that crew. And also you got to
give him and John Schneider credit. They were a part
of the reason they did that or able to do that,
is they identified where the problems were. They made decisive moves.
And while everyone you know hates the free agency that
they did last offseason, you talk about the n season
(15:40):
moves they did on defense, almost every single one of
those was a big step forward. So I think the
defense really met expectations. The offense. I was so disappointed.
You know, I was a huge fan of Ryan grub
I still am. I think he's going to be a
great coordinator. I think it just became really clear that
he and Mike McDonald when it came to high leverage
decisions about what to do, I just think they saw
(16:01):
it differently. And I think it's okay. You know, they
parted ways, and I wish Ryan Grebb all the success,
and I think he's going to be I have tons
of respect for him. I think he's gonna be great,
but I think he'd just be great somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, all those in season moves they made on defense
would have been great. If they could have made those
moves preseason, that would have been awesome. So let's try
and do that this offseason. Hey, Brian, great stuff Man.
Follow Brian on Twitter at Hawk Blogger hawk Blogger dot com.
Good stuff, buddy, We'll talk soon.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Man. All right, good talking to you guys.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You bet I'm looking at Daniel Jeremiah's latest mock draft.
You want Tyler Allen from Penn State, the tight end,
Tyler Warren, Tyler Warren. Sorry what I say, Alan, you
want Tyler Warren from Penn State. I do want Tyler.
He's got him going number seven overall in this draft.
He'd be a guy trade up. You want to move
up for him? You got to go up eleven spots
toget him.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I don't know if I would go up eleven spots
at the tight end, but I would move up to
get him.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
There's no question. He kind of reminds me of a
guy that is going to be a tight end for
you for a decade. That's right, you know that, dude.
And people said the same thing about Kyle Pitts, and
I still think Kyle Pitts may end up being a
decent player in the NFL, maybe with a different coach.
But I don't know, man. I just feel like the
question we asked Brian about how much better the offensive
line can get over one offseason. I agree with him
(17:11):
that it feels like the potential is there to do it.
I just don't know if Schneider's they got to do
it to get it done, that's my problem.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
He's got to evaluate a veteran and whether it's Trey
Smith or a couple of other guys that have been
been there and done that. Like I totally agree with
Houck blogger. I mean, they have they can't just rely
on drafting, even if they drafted a guard in the
first round. They can't just draft the guard in the
first round, PLoP them in and say, Okay, you're our
savior of our offensive line. Now you want to bring
in a guard and draft the guard in the first round.
(17:43):
Then then you're talking yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Well, and then you know, what do we think of
Big Olu? I mean, do we honestly believe that he
is the future at center? Maybe it's a definite yes
on him at all.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
If you had a all pro caliber guard next to him,
how much better.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Would he be a lot better? But I think a
lot of guys are better, right, you know, I mean,
why just look at guard? Why not look at everything?
If you're John Schneider, right, I mean, look, we all
love Abe Lucas, but is he going to be able
to stay healthy? Is lemeya as a second in your
guy really going to be the guy that you want
to be playing right guard. I don't think this is
a situation where the Hawks only have one hole to
(18:24):
fill on their offensive line. They should be looking at
upgrades everywhere. Everyone might have three holes to fill, if
not four. If Lucas can't stay healthy, we're going to break.
Mariners made a big move yesterday, kind of. We'll chat
about it next on ninety three three KJARFM
Right now, right here, he is. This man went to Mobile,
Alabama to cover the Senior Bowl, because why the hell
would you want to go to Mobile, Alabama if not
for the Senior Bowl, to be honest with you, right,
And we thought, you know what, if he's going to
make the trek all the way down there, we can
put him on the air and get his thoughts on
what he saw. Our old friend Brian Nemhauser, aka Hawk Blogger,
how are you, pal?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm doing well. How you guys doing good? Hey?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Give us I've been to Alabama one time. I was
like twenty years ago. But give us a take on
what it was like down there. What's the atmosphere like
in Mobile, Alabama?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know, I gotta tell you it surprised me. If
you like New Orleans Mobile is kind of a little
bit of New Orleans light. It's got like a pretty
nice main drag down in the downtown. That've got some
great restaurants, good bar, like great bar scene. I ate
really well down there. And it wasn't just a comfort food.
(00:54):
There's some there's some fine dining down there at a
great steak. So yeah, I was. I was kind of
blown away. And if you football I mean it's just
football all the time, padded practices and every NFL you know,
personalities there, so a lot of great chances. I caught
up with Rick new Heids of all people, so lots
of people around there.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It seems like the format of the Senior Bowl has changed.
I mean, correct if I'm wrong. It seems like twenty
years ago it was like guys preparing to actually play
a game with some scouts, and now it's almost seemed
like a pre scouting combine. Scouting combine, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, you know, I wish I could tell you the
history of the Senior Bowl and speak on that with
more confidence, but I will tell you I didn't pay
attention to the Senior Bowl twenty years ago, that's for sure.
And if you are a Seahawks fan, you better be
paying attention to the Senior Bowl because you want to
talk about the draft. Last year for the Seahawks, every
single player the Seahawks drafted other than Mike Durrell wasn't
(01:51):
invited to the Senior Bowl. So it is a big
part of how the Seahawks build their draft board. It's
the only place during the draft prep where you can
see guys and padded practices, doing things like one v
one pass rest drills, and quite honestly, that's that's like
the best thing you're going to get outside of game film,
be able to value with these guys well.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And for me, it's always the networking that goes on
down there, Brian, As you know, right, there's so many
deals sometimes that get done, you know, conversations about deals
and just you know, relationships that form down there, and like,
you know, hey, man, I saw John Schneider follow Jackson
Dart to the Santacan and then he went to his
car in a parking lot. What the hell was going on?
So did you notice anything in particular about the Seahawk
(02:31):
contingent that was down there and either what position group
or what players they may have been gravitating towards.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean I was. I was really curious. And
the way it's set up, just in case you guys
aren't familiar, if listeners aren't, you know, you're you're in
a stadium like an NFL stadium and they're doing practice
or not an NFL stadium, South Alabama Stadium, right, and
and on one side is where all the scouts and
personnel people are on the other side is media and
(02:58):
fans that choose to attend, and so you don't necessarily
see all the NFL personnel. People are scouts unless they
decided to come down to the field you from on high.
And the first time I saw John Schneider was he
came all the way down, all the way across the
other side of the field to watch offensive line drills
and it was him, Mike McDonald and Trent Kershner and
(03:23):
the three of them. When the offensive lineman moved to
another drill, they moved along with them, And that basically
was the only time I really got good eyes on them.
And I was a little curious that Clint Kubiak would
be there, obviously New Orleans is only a couple hours away.
He was not, But yeah, it was the first time
Mike McDonald could actually attend this thing as a member
of the Seahawks, since he wasn't even hired at this
(03:44):
time last year.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Do you think John Schnyder's changed his tune on the
importance of interior offensive lineman. He had that famous or
infamous quote that they're overdrafted and sometimes overpaid, but it's
also been his biggest weakness as the general manager.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Of this team. Yeah, I think that my understanding of
how they see that position is that I think that
they do still probably believe that the position is overdrafted
and overpaid, but not that it's not an important position.
I think that the way they would look at it
and say, you know, is Damian lewis really worth that
(04:20):
kind of money? Jonah Jackson, You're sign with the Rams
huge money? Has he been worth that kind of money?
And I think what they're pointing out is it's a
very like bloated position from an evaluation standpoint. So I
think that if they have a player that they think
is great, I think they would pay them and if
they choose to really allocate resources there. So I don't
(04:42):
think they've changed philosophy. I think they realize they have
to realize that this is priority number one and maybe
priority number two this offseason is to addressed the guard position,
maybe the center position, because Clint Kubiak it runs a
very center heavy offense, so that those are the things
I think we'll steer them this this offse.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
All right, well, were there any offensive lineman that that
you saw down there that you you know, part of
this is what you observe. I would think. And part
of this is kind of what you pick up from
people that are in the know and cover this for
a living and coaches and scouts and things like that.
Were there any interior offensive lineman that maybe turned your
head and got other people's attentions down there?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I mean, there was one guy in particular that everybody
agreed on in Unison was kind of the lineman of
the week, maybe the guy that helped himself more than
any other player this week, and that was Great's Abel.
This guy is played all five positions, not only during
you know, his college career, but during the Fener Bowl
practices and so he's six five, three point fifteen. He
(05:44):
never really got beat all week in one of one drills.
He did it from every position on the line, and
also moved people in the run game when they were
doing team drills. So he had an outstanding, outstanding set
of practices and I think, you know, I've seen other
places where he's starting to maybe poke into the first
round in terms of value, and that's just a huge
(06:05):
step forward for him. I think he also is a
good fit for his own scheme, which Clint Kubiak likely
will run. A couple other guys that I'd call out
on the offensive line that maybe people haven't heard of.
Carson Vincent, a guy from a little school six but
six three and fourteen pounds, thirty five inch arms. This
(06:26):
guy played in a very small school and showed up
here against top competition, really held his own. I think,
you know, he played mostly left tackle, but I think
he can slide inside the guard. And so, yeah, those
are at least two guys that stuck out in that regard,
but there was a number of guys that had pretty
pretty impressive weeks on both sides of the line.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
O Brian and know a lot of people were talking
about the defensive line that it's a good class this year.
Would you agree? And you know some guys stepping out there.
I saw that that Mike Green kid out of Marshall
was probably the viral video of the week thus far.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah. Well, you know what's fascinating, guys, is the players
vote as well, and it's just started coming out who
they voted for for the various position group's best players
at different positions, and they voted for Josh Connery Junior
as the best offensive lineman on that particular Senior Bowl team.
The defensive line voted on it. And if you want
to know what most people are going to remember about
(07:21):
Josh Connery from this week, it is Mike Green absolutely
planting him on his back when they gave him a
chance to play the right side and right tackle.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So I enjoyed that.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
So you did, I'm sure you did, But you know, no,
Mike Green looked good. I think I noticed that he
was a much better rusher from the left side. He
did not win nearly as much from the right side.
And so if you're wanting a guy that can go
against left tackles, maybe not your guy. And he's still
pretty small, and so I think seeing how he does
in the run game, I think it's pretty important because
(07:53):
generally speaking, Mike McDonald wants his you know, outside linebackers
to be in the two sixty and above range, and
Mike Green is still two fifty sometimes a little bit
below that. Well.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Brian Nemhauser Hawk bloggers with us and Brian, I think
we've come to learn there's two kinds of people in
this town. The kind of people that want to snuggle
up to Gino Smith and just curl up into a
ball right next to him, and the ones that want
to run his ass out of town. There's no one between,
and it's either one or the other. Either love the
guy or you hate the guy. Where do you fall
on line on the Geno Smith debate that's raging on
(08:24):
social media and Seattle, Well.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I mean, there's let's talk about facts and not as
much opinion. I'll share my opinion as well, But the
reality is, you know, Gino Smith is going to be
thirty five years old, and he could be he could
be Brett ParvE, he could be Patrick Mahomes. At thirty five,
you better be thinking about what's next. I mean, that's
just a reality. Now. With that out there, you've also
(08:48):
got to look at what he's what he's costing you
for the production he's getting and he's giving, and quite honestly,
he is still far out playing the contract value that
he's being paid. So the question becomes, you know, how
much do you want to give him to keep him
around if that's what you plan to do, And what's
your opportunity cost if you keep him? Who are you
(09:09):
not giving an opportunity to? Who are you not signing
or bringing in? And there's just not a lot of options.
I mean, you could say Sam Darnold, you could say,
draft guys. I watched the quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl.
I'm telling you, don't do it. Don't do it. This
is this is this is a very rough quarterback class.
I was so hoping that Jalen Milroe would look like
(09:31):
a guy that you could maybe talk yourself into developing
into something special. Because you look at the quarterbacks left
in the last four game, like the last four teams
that played in the playoffs, they're all moving quarterbacks. You know,
even Patrick Mahomes, you know, certainly can can get some
yards with his legs when he chooses to scramble. So
Jalen Milroe he measured with small hands under nine inches,
(09:53):
which is just tiny and it's kind of a cutoff
for NFL teams. And then he was inaccurate throwing the
ball in the dirt against air. Then he during teen
drills he would hold on the ball for six, seven,
eight seconds and then either take what would him in
a sack and then throw an in completion. I think
he looked at best like a fourth round pick, and
that's just because he's got first round talent with his feet.
(10:14):
But you know, Jackson Darts another guy people are excited about.
I just see him as a as an interesting guy,
but I'm not sure you know he's even better than
what you've got Sam Howell, and Sam Howell's not a
guy anybody wants to see out there many times.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Karloski Orlovsky tweeted today that Jackson Dart's going to be
a first rounder.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's so those are two different things though, right like that,
Jayalen Millro Milroe might be a first rounder. Who knows.
But that's because this quarterback class is not good. And
if you had I'll tell you what, if Joe Milton
and Spencer Ratler had come out this year instead of
last year, they would have been first round picks this
year potentially, because it's just a very thing class and
(10:57):
there's a lot of teams really desperate for a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
This If you ask you about Gino, I mean, I'm
in the third category. I don't hate Geno, but I
want Geno out. I think there's that third category that
appreciates and likes Gino but don't want him be the
quarterback anymore. Who was more to blame for the turnovers
in your mind last season, Gino or the play caller
that's already been fired for partially having too many turnovers.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You know, if you want to get into who's more responsible,
I mean, I always want to give the quarterback responsibility
for decisions that he makes when he's got the ball
in his hands. And as much as I think, you know,
when I've asked Gino questions about this stuff this year,
you know, I think he generally feels like his process
was pretty good, and he would say, like his arm
got hit on some of the red zone interceptions or whatever.
(11:47):
He still is trying to make a play and hold
onto the ball too long, and there's too many times
where he's just got to cry uncle and say throw
it away, take the incompletion and reset, And so I
think he is someone that needs to continue to kind
of evaluate that. But ultimately you look at those plays, generally,
there's nobody open. Generally, there's pressure in his face immediately,
(12:08):
and this guy faced more quick pressure than almost any
quarterback in the NFL. This isn't like after three seconds,
this is under two and a half seconds, and he
performed better in those situations and almost any quarterback. So
I am not in the camp they should move on
from Gena Smith I'm in the camp of if they
can do that and make this team better, Yeah, like
even within a couple of years. Great. I don't see
(12:30):
that as a really legitimate option right now with the
options they got in front of them.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, Brian, before you go, and again, Brian Amhauser hawklater
was in Mobile, Alabama for the senior ball back home
obviously after that trip, and I'm just curious, is there
enough in the draft? I mean free agency? Tray Smith
is the number one guy that might be out there.
And by the way, talk to my Kansas City source,
who is a Siren Petro of WHB by the way,
who says he does not think the Chiefs are going
to franchise him. They have too many other options or
(12:55):
guys that they needed to take care of, and he thinks,
so he's going to hit the market. Is there enough?
Do we think there's enough Brian in the free agent
market and in the draft to significantly improve this offensive
line in one off season?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
One hundred percent? This is this is a really good
offseason to have that particular need. And there's I think
really good free agent options. And this is what I
was saying about the overdrafted, overpaid comment I don't think
John Schneider would say that Tray Smith is going to
be overpaid. I think he would acknowledge that he is
a blue chip level guard and he's going to get
(13:30):
top of the market for guards. Now, does that mean
that he's going to go pay him twenty three million
dollars a year or whatever it ends up being. I
don't know. I mean, that would be a big departure,
but I think it would be the right move. I
think they should move heaven and earth to make that happen.
And I think the biggest mistake they could make is saying, Okay,
we've got one of the youngest offensive lines in the league.
It's showing some promise of growing, but it's super young.
(13:52):
Let's go draft a rookie to go in there and
fix that problem, or two rookies. Like they can't do it.
They've got to absolutely sign someone in free agency, whether
it's Tray Smith or Mikai Becton or you know, it
can even be you know, Will Hernandez. There's guys lower
on that list, but it's got to be someone who's
better than you know, Laken Tomlinson, who they brought in
for bargain basement, you know, one and a half million
(14:14):
dollars last year. So there's options there, and there's great
options in the draft. So why not both, you know,
if you really want to come out of this fixing
that problem, why not both.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Whatever your level of expectation of what a Mike McDonald
football team was going to look like in August, was
it better than your expectation, worse or the same.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You know, you guys watched the same season I did.
It was a roller coaster, right, so I'd probably give
you different answers at different times. You know, I thought
this defense had the talent and was playing to a
level that it could be one of the top defenses
in the NFL. It came out strong against obviously some
weak competition, and then it was it plummeted and and
so I think by the end of the season, after
(14:59):
they like really after the buye, I thought they really
met my expectations of what a coach like Mike McDonald
would do with the defensive talent. And I think they
proved their thesis in that regard that there was talent
on this defense, and they simply, you know, they needed
a different coach. You know, no disrespect to Pete Carroll.
(15:19):
It's hard to be any place for fifteen years and
still be successful. But I think m McDonald got the
most out of that crew. And also you got to
give him and John Schneider credit. They were a part
of the reason they did that or able to do that,
is they identified where the problems were. They made decisive moves.
And while everyone you know hates the free agency that
they did last offseason, you talk about the n season
(15:40):
moves they did on defense, almost every single one of
those was a big step forward. So I think the
defense really met expectations. The offense. I was so disappointed.
You know, I was a huge fan of Ryan grub
I still am. I think he's going to be a
great coordinator. I think it just became really clear that
he and Mike McDonald when it came to high leverage
decisions about what to do, I just think they saw
(16:01):
it differently. And I think it's okay. You know, they
parted ways, and I wish Ryan Grebb all the success,
and I think he's going to be I have tons
of respect for him. I think he's gonna be great,
but I think he'd just be great somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, all those in season moves they made on defense
would have been great. If they could have made those
moves preseason, that would have been awesome. So let's try
and do that this offseason. Hey, Brian, great stuff Man.
Follow Brian on Twitter at Hawk Blogger hawk Blogger dot com.
Good stuff, buddy, We'll talk soon.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Man. All right, good talking to you guys.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You bet I'm looking at Daniel Jeremiah's latest mock draft.
You want Tyler Allen from Penn State, the tight end,
Tyler Warren, Tyler Warren. Sorry what I say, Alan, you
want Tyler Warren from Penn State. I do want Tyler.
He's got him going number seven overall in this draft.
He'd be a guy trade up. You want to move
up for him? You got to go up eleven spots
toget him.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
I don't know if I would go up eleven spots
at the tight end, but I would move up to
get him.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
There's no question. He kind of reminds me of a
guy that is going to be a tight end for
you for a decade. That's right, you know that, dude.
And people said the same thing about Kyle Pitts, and
I still think Kyle Pitts may end up being a
decent player in the NFL, maybe with a different coach.
But I don't know, man. I just feel like the
question we asked Brian about how much better the offensive
line can get over one offseason. I agree with him
(17:11):
that it feels like the potential is there to do it.
I just don't know if Schneider's they got to do
it to get it done, that's my problem.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
He's got to evaluate a veteran and whether it's Trey
Smith or a couple of other guys that have been
been there and done that. Like I totally agree with
Houck blogger. I mean, they have they can't just rely
on drafting, even if they drafted a guard in the
first round. They can't just draft the guard in the
first round, PLoP them in and say, Okay, you're our
savior of our offensive line. Now you want to bring
in a guard and draft the guard in the first round.
(17:43):
Then then you're talking yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Well, and then you know, what do we think of
Big Olu? I mean, do we honestly believe that he
is the future at center? Maybe it's a definite yes
on him at all.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
If you had a all pro caliber guard next to him,
how much better.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Would he be a lot better? But I think a
lot of guys are better, right, you know, I mean,
why just look at guard? Why not look at everything?
If you're John Schneider, right, I mean, look, we all
love Abe Lucas, but is he going to be able
to stay healthy? Is lemeya as a second in your
guy really going to be the guy that you want
to be playing right guard. I don't think this is
a situation where the Hawks only have one hole to
(18:24):
fill on their offensive line. They should be looking at
upgrades everywhere. Everyone might have three holes to fill, if
not four. If Lucas can't stay healthy, we're going to break.
Mariners made a big move yesterday, kind of. We'll chat
about it next on ninety three three KJARFM
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