Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Search for Zuzu



Seahawks fans have many differing opinions on the receiving core. Some believe the starting wide receivers Sidney Rice and Golden Tate are not true number one and number two wide receivers. Others believe tight end Zach Miller is overpaid to be a 30-40 catch a year guy and should be cut. Others believe that Rice, Tate, and Doug Baldwin form a solid trio of WRs and only depth is needed. But I think all fans believe the Seahawks should add someone to Russell Wilson’s arsenal.



Danny Kelly at Field Gulls wrote recently about how the Seahawks lack speed on offense:

2011 started out a little differently -- Doug Baldwin emerged as the Seahawks' best receiver - Rice had an injury-shortened season and BMW was ineffective - and Golden Tate improved as the Seahawks injected a little 'juice' into their offense, but still, no one player had, as Cosell likes to put it, that 'zuzu' element to their game. Tate's a pinball with an internal gyroscope whose specialty is YAC, but mostly because of his physical style of running and not explosive speed. Baldwin is more quick than fast - relying on absurd hops, body control, great route running, and excellent hands to make his plays. He's not the guy you use to stretch the field and he's not going to get the ball in space and make five guys miss.

He continued:

So, going into 2012, the Seahawks seemed to make a little push toward getting faster. However, we saw Kris Durham and Ricardo Lockette gone before Week 1, and Seattle's offense ultimately flowed through Russell Wilson and four players - Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Marshawn Lynch, and Zach Miller. Rice isn't known for speed or explosiveness -- he's a great possession receiver and a great red-zone target, he can get over the top of a defense but that's not really the type of player he is, and he's not going to make people miss in the open field. I already talked about Tate. Lynch is shifty when he needs to be, but he's not the type of runner with that 'zuzu' that Cosell really likes (I'd say probably LeSean McCoy or Jamaal Charles are good examples). And Miller - Miller is a lunchpail guy. He's not explosive.

I’d have to agree with Kelly on this subject. It gets frustrating when you have a QB with a great arm but no vertical threats. It is equally as frustrating to repeatedly see 260 pound Anthony McCoy lugging downfield while attempting to stiff arm defenders five yards behind him. The Seahawks lack vertical threats at WR and have few guys with any skills with the ball in their hands. Tate was the only Seahawk who consistently made plays of 20+ yards in 2012. I think the Seahawks lack a couple of role players they need to become a more explosive offense.

First off, they lack a wide receiver with vertical speed to take the top off a defense. I like Phil Bates for this purpose, but unless he really shows something at training camp he’s more of a practice squad type guy. Mike Wallace would be a free agent option, but John Schneider is not going to dump more money on a receiver. We need to draft someone who can take the top off the defense.

As I touched on earlier, Anthony McCoy has to be one of the least skilled players with the ball in his hands in the NFL. McCoy is a disaster when trying to make yards after the catch. Starting tight end Zach Miller isn’t exactly light on his feet either. Miller and McCoy are blockers. When asked to catch the ball, their strength revolves around running short to intermediate routes. The Seahawks need a third tight end that will better fit the “move” role; someone who can move around and line up out of multiple positions. They tried with Kellen Winslow Jr. and then with Evan Moore, but neither were fits and the Seahawks are likely to target a third TE in the draft.

Leon Washington seems like a completely different player on offense than on special teams. When returning kicks and punts, Washington is one of the most dangerous players in the league. But on offense, Leon doesn’t have the quick feet and agility he used to, and doesn’t contribute much. At $1.875 million, Washington is too expensive to not at least consider a cheaper option. I think the signing of Will Blackmon points to the fact the Seahawks will look at adding another returner in the draft, and one that could also be a change of pace back would be a nice addition to the offense as well.

There are about 10 or so solid WRs that will go in the first three rounds to add speed at WR. Ultimately I believe the Seahawks will draft one of these first three round WRs and I’ll try to write more about those players but for now I’m going to focus on two non wide receivers-one move tight end and one returner/running back-that could be late round additions for the Seahawks.

During the college football season I found myself watching a lot of Clemson games, specifically to look at Tajh Boyd and Deandre Hopkins. Both Boyd and Hopkins stood out to me as first round picks, but another player also impressed me. TE Brandon Ford finished the season with 40 receptions, for 480 yards and 8 touchdowns. He is 6-3, 235 and according to CBS Sports he runs a 4.67 second 40 yard dash. One of the league’s most prominent move TEs, New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, is 6-2, 245 and runs a 4.64, so Ford has adequate measureables for the position.

It’s tough to find too much tape of Ford online, so most of what I’ve seen of him has been live or in Tajh Boyd/Deandre Hopkins cut-ups. But from what I have seen, Ford is light on his feet and displays good hands. He seems to catch the ball away from his body and attack the ball in the air. He also seems to be able to turn his hips to catch the ball behind him or at his side and has an ability to high point the ball.

He caught 8 touchdowns this year, so that fits Pete Carroll’s description of that “touchdown maker” he is always looking for. He also caught passes of 30, 40, and 69 yards this season, showing he has ability to make those big plays the Seahawks are lacking. From what I’ve seen, he’s a sixth or seventh round pick that could develop nicely in an offense like the Seahawks that will allow for him to grow.

There aren't any cut-ups of Ford on youtube but here are a couple nice plays from Ford to show what he is capable of:






At RB, Kerwynn Williams out of Utah State stands out as a good value and a good fit in the Seahawks offense. Williams would join second year players Robert Turbin and Bobby Wagner as former Utah State Aggies on the Seahawks roster. Williams was 11th in the nation in rushing yards this season, and added nearly 700 yards receiving. Once he became the team’s lead running back in 2012 he lost his return job, but in his sophomore season in 2010 he put up over 1400 yards on kickoff returns and averaged nearly 30 yards per return. As a punt returner Williams is much more of an unknown, returning only 15 punts throughout his career. Williams will need to be able to effectively return punts to take Washington’s spot on the roster.

Williams is a small player (5-8, 190) but isn’t afraid to run between the tackles. He doesn’t have great initial burst but has breakaway speed once he fully accelerates. Williams rarely fumbles and displays soft hands when catching the ball out of the backfield. He can play wide receiver in empty sets and does a good job finding holes in coverages. As a pass blocker, Williams is not much help and needs a lot of improvement in that area. Also Williams’ vision is an area of weakness and if he is able to find and hit holes with better decisiveness he would be a better overall back. I view Williams as a strict seventh rounder since he is an unknown as a punt returner and will need to work on pass blocking to see the field on passing situations (as Washington did).
Here are cut-ups of some of his games:



Williams and Ford are two players I want the Seahawks to draft this upcoming April. The ‘Niners spent their offseason adding weapons such as Randy Moss, Mario Manningham, AJ Jenkins (although that one didn’t work out so well) and LaMichael James. The Seahawks should do the same, and bringing in a TE and RB such as Williams and Ford would be a start.

What is your opinion? Well share it!

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