By Kshell
The Seattle Seahawks traded their second round pick(57th) to the Detroit Lions for the Lions third round pick(75th) and fourth round pick(107th) plus swapped their fifth and sixth round selections as well which the Seahawks in both rounds will have moved up in. When the dust settled from that trade the Seahawks got the guy Tom Cable wanted which was John Moffitt the 6'5" 323 pound guard from Wisconsin. The days of the Seahawks being the "little Ruskells" are long gone as John Schneider and Pete Carroll believe in getting guys with size. The Seahawks are finally taking care of the offensive line problems. Like I wrote yesterday the Seahawks selected James Carpenter in the first round along with Russell Okung last year. The Seahawks are trying to make sure they never have a season like last year again where there was so many different offensive line changes.
When the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl in 2005 it didn't matter who the running back was. Every team in the league knew on third and short the Seahawks would run the ball behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. The Seahawks were 100% on the year on converting third and shorts that season. Then Ruskell let Hutchinson walk as a free agent to the Minnesota Vikings instead of franchise tagging him. The Seahawks have not produced a one thousand yard rusher since then. The Seahawks didn't have a single 100 yard rusher in a game last year in the regular season. As was proven with Shaun Alexander in 2002-05 and then from 2006-2007 the offensive line means everything. With a good offensive line all of a sudden your quarterback and running back look better. The Seahawks are hoping with these last two years worth of drafting that the offensive line can go from a weakness to a strength.
I like what the Seahawks are doing in the Schneider and Carroll regime. I also think trading down was the smart move there too. By trading down you picked up an extra fourth round pick and you got the guy you wanted anyways. Going into the draft Cable told Schneider Moffitt and Carpenter were the two guys he wanted so that is who the Seahawks drafted. With a good offensive line Marshawn Lynch can finally turn into "beast mode" this year. Hard to judge Lynch last year when he was blown up everytime he touched the ball. The offensive line this upcoming year will get a healthy Okung, Unger back from injur and now with these two draft picks the Seahawks are fixing an area of concern. The Seahawks have plenty of weaknesses but with a good offensive line everyone else on offense looks better.
Overall, the Seahawks are doing what I've wanted them to do which is address the offensive line problem. Had Earl Thomas not fallen in their lap last year I would have liked to seen them go offensive line there too. Schneider is announcing in a very loud way that the "little Ruskell's" era is officially over. Now on those third and one's in the near future as a fan I can feel confident that the Seahawks will get those tough yards. In the NFL the difference between winning and losing is so close that little things like moving the chains is the difference between drafting in the top 10 or winning the super bowl. The Seahawks won't win the Super Bowl based on this draft but so far like last year it appears the Seahawks have a nice philosphy. The Seahawks are wanting to get bigger and it all starts with line play. With good line play the Seahawks are hoping to get back to the forumala that worked so well in 2005. I'm glad to see the Seahawks go with offensive line this year. Finally a general manager in Seattle who finally understands football is a great sigh of relief after the Ruskell years.
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