As God as my witness I will never understand these Hamstring Injuries

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Range of motion (or flexibility) just isn't that important in a lot of sports, including football. But if you're a gymnast or martial artist it probably matters quite a bit to how well you perform.

If there weren't benefits people wouldn't do it.

[AZOldDawg]

At 77 I suffered a grade II hamstring injury simply settling in to make a sand shot on the golf course last fall. I went immediately into physical therapy. While they certainly did some stretching they had me doing an exercise similar to reaching down to taking a golf ball out of the cup. Kind of a controlled half lunge. I could easily do the 15 reps on the non injured leg but started with only being able to do 3 on the hammy leg. Upright I could not tell much of a difference in the legs. What an eye opener although age played a part. Bottom line other than I'm old: Strength is the key to recovery as I have been at 100% for a minimum of 6 months. Although I work out regularly I realize I would be in big trouble arm wrestling Darren due to the two major "hefting" exercises he partakes in on a daily basis

[D-train]

Witherspoon still out. Meanwhile:

[Gametime]

He couldn’t beat out MJ at corner. So they have to move him down to corner. Move a solid Bryant to save face with a so so pick in Withersooon?? Now he held out selfishly. Then got hurt again. Missed minu camp because of hamstring too. Had issues before draft with hamstring too.

Nice pick.

JSN will be so good he may ease the pain of missing an excellent DT at 5.

[SeattleAddict]

Witherspoon still out. Meanwhile:

I mean, we knew Carter was a beast (nobody wanted him to be a Hawk more than me)... but check back in two years. Does he implode? Odds were too high for JS/PC so let's not get too excited about it.

Besides, we got ROY Jake Bobo to salvage the class.

[Gametime]

At least he showed up. And is playing. Devon has really done neither of them.

[D-train]

Condotta answers a Carter vs. Witherspoon question:

@TheRoller59 asked: Why would the Hawks pass on a DL monster they would control 5 years and instead pay a FA to play that spot and then draft a CB at (No.) 5 they plan to play at nickel?

I’m assuming this is a reference to Jalen Carter, who went ninth overall to the Eagles, with Seattle among the teams that passed on him. The Seahawks instead selected cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 after earlier signing Jones to a three-year deal worth up to $51 million in their attempt to reshape the defensive line.

Carter had one good play in his debut that is making the social media rounds, a quarterback hit on his first snap against the Ravens on what was one of only two snaps he played. Reports from Philadelphia state he has had some good practices but remains working usually with the second team (he is listed as a backup on Philly’s public depth chart).

But two snaps in a preseason game and a few reports of playing well in camp may not be enough yet to declare that he is doing to be a DL monster for five years.

The Seahawks did their due diligence on Carter, including bringing him in for a pre-draft visit. It’s not as if they didn’t consider him.

But Carter had some well-publicized legal issues before the draft (pleading no contest to charges of racing and reckless driving in connection with an incident in which two people were killed) that undoubtedly contributed to Seattle going in a different direction (and seven other teams, as well).

It also may be worth remembering the glowing reports of Ryan Leaf’s preseason games as a rookie in 1998 and the famous “Leaf outduels Manning” headline when the Chargers beat Peyton Manning and the Colts 33-3 that preseason.

In other words, there’s a lotta ballgame left and it may be risky to read much into a few preseason snaps or games.

The Seahawks and general manager John Schneider will fairly be judged on the decision to take Witherspoon and not Carter — or several others who went after — as the years progress and we see how their careers unfold.

As for Witherspoon, my sense is playing him at nickel now isn’t what the team envisions for him for the long term. I think instead it’s where they feel he can help out the most immediately this season given what the team has at its corner spot overall, while also making use of his tackling and overall physicality while putting him in the middle of the field.

It’s worth remembering that nickel is the base scheme for most teams, and Witherspoon could easily get 70% or more of the snaps this year if he played only nickel.

To be sure, Witherspoon’s NFL career has gotten off to a halting start with what are now two hamstring injuries that have held him out of some of the offseason program and the last week of practices as well as the first preseason game (which as a rookie, you figure he would have played in for at least a few snaps, like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who played 12).

But while I know this isn’t the fun attention-getting answer, the only fair one at this point is “let’s check back on this in a few years.”

[Donn Beach]

Really not concerned about playing Witherspoon at nickel. If he can handle it only makes him more valuable

[D-train]

Really not concerned about playing Witherspoon at nickel. If he can handle it only makes him more valuable

Yeah I am more worried about the title of this thread aspect to him.

[Donn Beach]

It's interesting as Condotta points out, it puts him in the middle of the field, be more like a safety