Breaking: Hawks trade for a WR

[trharder]

I don't know if the player will turn out or not, but I like what it may mean JS and MM are thinking.
This team's strength on offense is the explosive passing game. The running game will benefit too when teams are forced to deal with that.

Adding to a strength can be even smarter than chasing in vain to plug a weakness with another weak player. If JSN were to go down, we'd
be cooked. Kupp is a totally different type of WR, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

[Donn Beach]

I don't know if the player will turn out or not, but I like what it may mean JS and MM are thinking.
This team's strength on offense is the explosive passing game. The running game will benefit too when teams are forced to deal with that.

Adding to a strength can be even smarter than chasing in vain to plug a weakness with another weak player. If JSN were to go down, we'd
be cooked. Kupp is a totally different type of WR, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

Yeah, I was going to bring that up. You can double down on what you are really good at as opposed to trying to shore up a weakness. It's an intriguing way to go about it. Like I brought up before the season began. The Seahawk approach being to get elite at a few things as opposed to trying to be good at a lot of things. This move seems kinda along those lines

[D-train]

The Hawks have allowed the fewest sacks of any team in the NFL. I am not so sure they think Bradford is as big of a problem as the fans seem to think he is.

The lowlight clips floating around the internet have probably contributed to this. But I agree with Donn, what actual upgrade would have been out there?

Don't get me wrong, I don't like Bradford, and certainly hope he isn't the starter going into next season. But I'm not sure there was a suitable replacement out there for a price tag we would have been OK with.

There is also the continuity and the O line working as one and the new guy having to learn all the plays and schemes. Not worth the draft capital for MAYBE a minimal upgrade for the rest of the season.

[D-train]

I don't know if the player will turn out or not, but I like what it may mean JS and MM are thinking.
This team's strength on offense is the explosive passing game. The running game will benefit too when teams are forced to deal with that.

Adding to a strength can be even smarter than chasing in vain to plug a weakness with another weak player. If JSN were to go down, we'd
be cooked. Kupp is a totally different type of WR, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

Yeah a lot of people on X and the M's forum thought you always have to fix the biggest weakness. You should be shooting for the biggest marginal improvement regardless of how weak the current position is. It isn't always upgrading you weakest link. Better to go from ok to great that going from horrible to bad for example.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

I don't understand the argument that there just weren't any decent guards out there that they could have acquired. Why would there be decent receivers and decent cornerbacks and decent defensive tackles and decent linebackers and decent edge rushers available but not decent OGs? Makes no sense.

To the argument that there could be issues with a new OL getting up to speed with the playbook and developing rapport with fellow linemen i would just say this. After watching video of Bradford any reasonable person would have to conclude that he had no grasp of the playcalls or understanding of what his teammates were doing OR he must be utterly lacking in the physical tools to play the position.

[Michael K.]

I don't understand the argument that there just weren't any decent guards out there that they could have acquired. Why would there be decent receivers and decent cornerbacks and decent defensive tackles and decent linebackers and decent edge rushers available but not decent OGs? Makes no sense.

To the argument that there could be issues with a new OL getting up to speed with the playbook and developing rapport with fellow linemen i would just say this. After watching video of Bradford any reasonable person would have to conclude that he had no grasp of the playcalls or understanding of what his teammates were doing OR he must be utterly lacking in the physical tools to play the position.

Short answer is those guys are harder to come by. Longer answer would be, as we have said, there may have been guys available, but at what cost? Again, they are 6 and 2 and have the fifth ranked Offense and the fifth ranked Defense, from what I heard on the Brock and Salk Show this week. Do you want to completely mortgage the future for a potential short term upgrade at Guard? It's like freaking out at the trade deadline because we didn't add a long reliever and someone to bat 9th. The line has been pretty solid, in all fairness. I'm not sure anyone in the League has a line where they couldn't upgrade at at least one of the positions. But, again, at what cost, and how much of an upgrade?

[seattlefan-daBronx]

I don't understand the argument that there just weren't any decent guards out there that they could have acquired. Why would there be decent receivers and decent cornerbacks and decent defensive tackles and decent linebackers and decent edge rushers available but not decent OGs? Makes no sense.

To the argument that there could be issues with a new OL getting up to speed with the playbook and developing rapport with fellow linemen i would just say this. After watching video of Bradford any reasonable person would have to conclude that he had no grasp of the playcalls or understanding of what his teammates were doing OR he must be utterly lacking in the physical tools to play the position.

Short answer is those guys are harder to come by. Longer answer would be, as we have said, there may have been guys available, but at what cost? Again, they are 6 and 2 and have the fifth ranked Offense and the fifth ranked Defense, from what I heard on the Brock and Salk Show this week. Do you want to completely mortgage the future for a potential short term upgrade at Guard? It's like freaking out at the trade deadline because we didn't add a long reliever and someone to bat 9th. The line has been pretty solid, in all fairness. I'm not sure anyone in the League has a line where they couldn't upgrade at at least one of the positions. But, again, at what cost, and how much of an upgrade?

You Sir are too reasonable.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

They could have pealed away a guy in his final year or an aging vet from one of the teams out of contention for a 6th rounder + fuckface so we wouldn't have to watch him blow up his own RB or get thrown on his face by a 230 lb linebacker any more. Penning went for a 6th...

[maoling]

I was totally focused on a guard upgrade, but now I like this move even better. It's been pointed out that Darnold isn't getting sacked much and while the running game is still mostly pedestrian at around 3.7 yards per carry or so, the passing game has been so deadly that we aren't looking at third and seven as much and then calling a running play for four yards. That used to frustrate the shit out of me, along with the telegraphed screen that gets blown up on third down. We haven't seen much of that this year.

Also, if Schneider thought there was a significant plug-and-play upgrade available at guard in a workable deal, he'd have pulled the trigger. He's not shy about that. Right now we have injured receivers and are relying heavily on JSN who, if he gets hurt, would be a disaster before yesterday's trade. To grab a top-drawer burner and returner to complement him and Horton, along with our strong TE's is going to give teams fits, I think. Plus, two backs with different tools and styles. And Ouzts is back for another freak wrinkle in the offense. Hope they aren't looking past the Cardinals, who have owed us one on the chin for years.

[D-train]

I don't understand the argument that there just weren't any decent guards out there that they could have acquired. Why would there be decent receivers and decent cornerbacks and decent defensive tackles and decent linebackers and decent edge rushers available but not decent OGs? Makes no sense.

To the argument that there could be issues with a new OL getting up to speed with the playbook and developing rapport with fellow linemen i would just say this. After watching video of Bradford any reasonable person would have to conclude that he had no grasp of the playcalls or understanding of what his teammates were doing OR he must be utterly lacking in the physical tools to play the position.

Good points.