The Seahawks felt like they didn’t have enough insanity on their team. They remedied the situation by drafting West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt in the fifth round.
To be fair, I have no idea if Schmitt is actually certifiably insane. But, I can make certain assumptions based on this famous video of him beating himself in the head with his helmet after a bad pooch punt.
You have to like that guy’s fire and dedication. Not so much his brains and pooch punting ability. The Seahawks have drafted a decent receiver and runner at fullback but only an average blocker. And if they have an ugly contest there, this dude will win every year.
Shaun Alexander had a season for the ages in 2005, rushing for 1880 yards and scoring a then-record 27 total touchdowns.
But two injury-marred seasons have downgraded Alexander from MVP to also-ran, and the Seahawks have been forced to sign more running backs. In the last few days, Seattle has picked up former Lions RB T.J. Duckett, and former Cowboys RB Julius Jones.
Those moves would appear to spell the end of Alexander’s career as a member of the Seahawks. And indeed, speculation in Seattle is that the former franchise back will be cut after June 1 to save the team $4 million in cap-space.
For the record, Seahawks G.M. Tim Ruskell has said he will not cut Alexander. But of course the promises of front-office executives aren’t worth the paper they’re not printed on.
If Alexander is cut, he would immediately become an attractive option for teams looking to add a potentially first-rate running back. The Green Bay packers and Detroit Lions both leap to mind as possible destinations.
The New York giants have reportedly added CB Marcus Trufant to their off-season wish-list, which already includes current Falcons defensive back DeAngelo Hall.
Trufant, who picked seven passes in 2007 with the Seattle Seahawks, had the franchise tag placed on him earlier this week, but the Seahawks could still opt to trade him. The Seahawks used the non-exclusive franchise tag on Trufant which means he can still negotiate with other teams; however, any team signing him would have to give up two first-rounders, a pretty steep price to pay even for a Pro Bowler.
The Giants may have turned their attention more toward Trufant after learning the Falcons would demand at least a first-round pick in return for DeAngelo Hall, who has done everything but place a gun to owner Arthur Blank’s head in his efforts to get traded out of Atlanta.
Here’s one no one saw coming…according to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Washington Redskins have decided to hand their head coaching position to Jim Zorn, who was hired to be the team’s new offensive coordinator on Jan. 26.
The Redskins were widely believed to be on the verge of giving their head coach job to Jim Fassel. It was even rumored that Daniel Snyder was sending his private plane to Arizona to pick up Fassel and bring him to Washington to introduce him as coach. Maybe Daniel just wanted to save on jet fuel?
Zorn takes over for joe gibbs, who retired after leading the Redskins to the playoffs in 2007. Zorn’s previous coaching experience includes almost a decade in various positions with colleges, then several stints in the pros including 8 years as quarterbacks coach with the Seahawks. He had never been as high as offensive coordinator before the Redskins hired him for that job - and now he is their top man.
giants D-coordinator Steve Spaguolo was believed to be high on Daniel Snyder’s list before Spagnuolo re-upped with New York, and steve mariucci was also considered. What does it say about Mariucci and Fassel, guys who’ve led teams deep into the playoffs as head coaches (Fassel even got to the Super Bowl with the Giants), that they were spurned for someone in Zorn who had never been even a top coordinator in the pros?
Either Zorn really impressed Snyder, or he was simply uninspired by the chance to recycle Fassel or Mooch. I think Snyder wanted Spagnuolo bad and was miffed when he decided not to come. So now it’s Zorn’s job. He’ll have his hands full in the NFC East, which figures to be brutal again this year, with the Cowboys and Giants coming off big years and the Eagles looking to improve.
Mora, currently the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in Seattle, was seen as the heir apparent to Holmgren from the second he was hired by the Seahawks. A lot of people thought Mora would take over in 2008, but Holmgren, rather than ride off into the sunset after a playoff season, decided to give it one more go.
Holmgren has said he will hang it up for sure after 2008, clearing the way for Mora to have his second head coaching opportunity in 2009. Mora went 26-22 as head coach of the Falcons, and was roundly criticized during that time for not taking full advantage of Michael Vick’s skills. Nevertheless, he was able to make it to the NFC title game in 2004 with Vick at the helm.
Hopefully this time Mora will keep his mouth shut about his college dream jobs.
Another great weekend of football.
Followed by another great Peter King never-ending-essay. Here is an excerpt from the early portions - always a joy to read Peter:
Still think it’s a good idea to rest your players for the playoffs in Weeks 16 and 17? The Bucs and Colts went to a spa the last half of December and lost to underdogs at home in their first playoff games. That’s the second time in three years it’s happened to Indy. The packers barely rested their guys and looked like the ‘58 Colts in whipping the Seahawks. New England, Green Bay and New York rested no one; they’re 4-0 combined. The giants, in fact, were badly slumping entering Week 17 with nothing to play for. Since then, they nearly knocked off the best team in the league and have won two road playoff games.
• If Brett Favre retires (which I don’t think he’ll do, but I have no more information on it than the man in the moon), he’s nuts. He’s too good, having too much fun, and, when you read SI this week, you’ll find out how much his game means to his 8-year-old daughter, Breleigh.
• Tom Brady was a ref’s buried whistle and a stunning drop by Mr. Hands Wes Welker from being 28-for-28 the other night. Are we watching the best quarterback of all time in mid-career? Are we watching, maybe three of the best five or six of all time?
And folks - that’s what we call a gimmie in betting lingo.
At Lambeau field. Brett Favre is having a magical season. They annihilated the Seahawks and Eli Manning has gone three consecutive weeks without imploding. It’s coming.
Take the packers to cover against the NY giants and enjoy the winnings.
Poor Matt Hasselbeck - this is an awful choke job.
After the Seahawks got the ball from the Redskins missed 30 yard field goal attempt (yes - it’s true), Hasselbeck drove the team down inside the Skins territory and then delivered another brutal interception.
Last week’s intro: After bragging last week about our collective success as NFL prognosticators and my success against Jack, I had the worst week EVER… and got harassing emails telling me as much.
This week’s intro: I was nearly perfect last week with my picks and Jack had a fate far worse than mine last week… So I’m back up to +3!
A quick refresher on how this works - we rotate picks against the spread - so if Jack picks first, he will take the game that he likes best. I then pick my next two favorite games… and so on. Jack picked first this week and our top four picks (our locks, if you will) are in this order… and by the way, our locks have been amazingly accurate !
Jack’s Picks Falcons at Tampa Bay -13.5 Jacksonville at Pittsburgh - 3.5 Baltimore at Miami +3.5
NY Jets at New England -23.5 Chicago at Minnesota -10
Bills at Browns -5.5 Indianapolis at Oakland +10.5 Detroit at San Diego -10
Ryan’s Picks Denver at Houston -1 Bengals at San Francisco +8.5 Seattle at Carolina +7
Arizona at New Orleans -3.5
Washington at Ny Giants - 4.5
Philadelphia at Dallas -10 Tennessee at Kansas City +4 Green Bay at St. Louis +9.5
