The Audible interview with Mike Sando (1 Viewer)

http://podcast.footballguys.com/2007/Footb...2007-Vol91a.mp3

In This Episode: Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom break down the Seahawks with Special Guest Mike Sando, Insider from thenewstribune.com Topics include Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, the OLine woes, DJ Hackett, Patrick Kerney, and more!

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

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I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

Warpig said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Click to expand...

I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

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Boby Wade is not our #1 WR

Warpig said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Click to expand...

I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

Click to expand...

Well he did reinforce that Engram is the #3 - that would make Burleson the #4. #5 is probably a battle between Courtney Taylor and Ben Obomanu. I would think Jordan Kent ends up on the practice squad unless he's so impressive in camp that they dont think they can sneak him on there.We'll talk to Sando again, dont worry. These guys give such good detailed answers, and believe me they are busy, they are doing us a great favor by giving us 15 minutes. There just isnt enough time to ask everything. You should feel free to ask Mike questions on his blog, he is always writing "answers to your questions" posts.

Sigmund Bloom said:

Warpig said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Click to expand...

I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

Click to expand...

Well he did reinforce that Engram is the #3 - that would make Burleson the #4. #5 is probably a battle between Courtney Taylor and Ben Obomanu. I would think Jordan Kent ends up on the practice squad unless he's so impressive in camp that they dont think they can sneak him on there.We'll talk to Sando again, dont worry. These guys give such good detailed answers, and believe me they are busy, they are doing us a great favor by giving us 15 minutes. There just isnt enough time to ask everything. You should feel free to ask Mike questions on his blog, he is always writing "answers to your questions" posts.

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Cool! I'll do that.His time is appreciated. I was just hoping for more juicy info for us deep leaguers.

He talked about Kearney not being ready... but you didnt ask about Darryl Tapp.

BigSteelThrill said:

He talked about Kearney not being ready... but you didnt ask about Darryl Tapp.

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Im sorry we didnt get to ask everything. Believe me, Cecil and I could spend 2 hours interviewing these beat writers and not ask them everything we want to ask. We plan on having all of these writers back on periodically, especially when their team is in the news (assuming they want to and have time, of course). As I said above, these are busy busy people, and even 15 minutes of their time is precious. Thanks for listening!

Sigmund Bloom said:

BigSteelThrill said:

He talked about Kearney not being ready... but you didnt ask about Darryl Tapp.

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Im sorry we didnt get to ask everything. Believe me, Cecil and I could spend 2 hours interviewing these beat writers and not ask them everything we want to ask. We plan on having all of these writers back on periodically, especially when their team is in the news (assuming they want to and have time, of course). As I said above, these are busy busy people, and even 15 minutes of their time is precious. Thanks for listening!

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But you were already talking about Kearney continuing to be injured an unable to play or practice. Its was a lot of perfect build up with no money shot. :(

BigSteelThrill said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

BigSteelThrill said:

He talked about Kearney not being ready... but you didnt ask about Darryl Tapp.

Click to expand...

Im sorry we didnt get to ask everything. Believe me, Cecil and I could spend 2 hours interviewing these beat writers and not ask them everything we want to ask. We plan on having all of these writers back on periodically, especially when their team is in the news (assuming they want to and have time, of course). As I said above, these are busy busy people, and even 15 minutes of their time is precious. Thanks for listening!

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But you were already talking about Kearney continuing to be injured an unable to play or practice. Its was a lot of perfect build up with no money shot. :(

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for whining. They didn't answer all the questions I had but you don't see any . Jeezus.

mad sweeney said:

BigSteelThrill said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

BigSteelThrill said:

He talked about Kearney not being ready... but you didnt ask about Darryl Tapp.

Click to expand...

Im sorry we didnt get to ask everything. Believe me, Cecil and I could spend 2 hours interviewing these beat writers and not ask them everything we want to ask. We plan on having all of these writers back on periodically, especially when their team is in the news (assuming they want to and have time, of course). As I said above, these are busy busy people, and even 15 minutes of their time is precious. Thanks for listening!

Click to expand...

But you were already talking about Kearney continuing to be injured an unable to play or practice. Its was a lot of perfect build up with no money shot. :(

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for whining. They didn't answer all the questions I had but you don't see any . Jeezus.

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:tissue:But they were sooooo close.

The thing that got my attention was how lukewarm he sounded when talking about Hasselbeck.

The Scientist said:

Warpig said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Click to expand...

I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

Click to expand...

Boby Wade is not our #1 WR

Click to expand...

I actually think their WR's are pretty solid. They are far from great, but they certainly don't have a disaster like the Vikings do.

lions327 said:

The Scientist said:

Warpig said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

I think the biggest thing to take out of this is that you should just assume Hackett starts on your cheatsheets. Many already are, and we all assumed he would win the job, but now we have confirmation from someone close to the team that the job is hackett's to lose.

Click to expand...

I was kinda disappointed at the fact he didn't really delve beyond that. The Seahawks have about as much of a mess at WR as the Vikings do. It would have been nice to get an insiders perspective at how he thinks it will all shake out.

Click to expand...

Boby Wade is not our #1 WR

Click to expand...

I actually think their WR's are pretty solid. They are far from great, but they certainly don't have a disaster like the Vikings do.

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A superbowl MVP, a veteran who can't help but get first downs, a heralded young WR who has produced in 2 seasons of limited action and another potential starter in the 4th spot. As opposed to a team who wishes they had Koren Robinson back. Very similar.

if you havent listened yet, you should -

Another very important point I took away is that if you read between the lines, SA's foot is still broken, and will remain broken. Sando didnt say this, but the reassurance he gave was that SA played with condition last year in the 2nd half of the season and playoffs - that tells me that he will be playing with it again this year...

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Sigmund Bloom said:

We'll talk to Sando again, dont worry. These guys give such good detailed answers, and believe me they are busy, they are doing us a great favor by giving us 15 minutes. There just isnt enough time to ask everything. You should feel free to ask Mike questions on his blog, he is always writing "answers to your questions" posts.

Click to expand...

Sando's blog is the best in the business. Check out the site, even if you're not a fan of the Seahawks, just so you can picket your local beat writers about how they ought to cover their respective teams.

lions327 said:

The thing that got my attention was how lukewarm he sounded when talking about Hasselbeck.

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He's been injured and (thus far) has no timing with receivers he had trouble developing rapport with most of last season. It's June, but it's a concern when the top WR for the last half-decade is 750 miles south, and no one is immediately stepping up to replace him in the QBs eye.

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

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From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

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He sure did a good job dancing around that.

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

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Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

Sigmund Bloom said:

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

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Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

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I think this will end up being much ado about nothing. The injury -- apparently a fractured metatarsal bone -- probably would've done best with an eight week recovery period. Coming back in a little over six weeks, then running him 40 times just over eight weeks after the injury wasn't doing him any favors.

Whether it had not fully healed or was re-injured on any of the 250 plus touches he had after he returned is hard to say. He was "injured" briefly during the Dallas playoff game.

If the bone had still not fully healed after the season and there was a chance it wouldn't be fully healed by mini-camp, I'd think that the medical staff would take steps to fix the bone surgically to allow adequate recovery time well before the season started.

I can see where Holmgren is coming from here. Alexander pestering him to return quickly last year, Alexander getting a second test to assess his religious healing, Alexander casually mentioning it still hadn't healed after the season. My guess is that the Seattle medical staff has told Holmgren it was a minor injury that has now finally been given enough time to heal and he's sick of hearing about it.

That's assuming the initial diagnosis was correct of course.

Jene Bramel said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

Click to expand...

Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

Click to expand...

I think this will end up being much ado about nothing. The injury -- apparently a fractured metatarsal bone -- probably would've done best with an eight week recovery period. Coming back in a little over six weeks, then running him 40 times just over eight weeks after the injury wasn't doing him any favors.

Whether it had not fully healed or was re-injured on any of the 250 plus touches he had after he returned is hard to say. He was "injured" briefly during the Dallas playoff game.

If the bone had still not fully healed after the season and there was a chance it wouldn't be fully healed by mini-camp, I'd think that the medical staff would take steps to fix the bone surgically to allow adequate recovery time well before the season started.

I can see where Holmgren is coming from here. Alexander pestering him to return quickly last year, Alexander getting a second test to assess his religious healing, Alexander casually mentioning it still hadn't healed after the season. My guess is that the Seattle medical staff has told Holmgren it was a minor injury that has now finally been given enough time to heal and he's sick of hearing about it.

That's assuming the initial diagnosis was correct of course.

Click to expand...

Dr. Jene has to come in with his "facts" and "knowledge" and blow up my theory. Thanks Jene's the voice of reason here - I just get a bad vibe from the foot still having a crack after the Chicago game and Alexander's comments, but this is the more rational take. Really what this affects for redraft this year is whether SA is worth the 4/5 or 6/7- I dont think he'll fall much further than that in most drafts.

As a Seahawks fan, I would gladly take Shaun at 4. He has something to prove this year and he finished the season strong last year against some of the better D's in the league.

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

We'll talk to Sando again, dont worry. These guys give such good detailed answers, and believe me they are busy, they are doing us a great favor by giving us 15 minutes. There just isnt enough time to ask everything. You should feel free to ask Mike questions on his blog, he is always writing "answers to your questions" posts.

Click to expand...

Sando's blog is the best in the business. Check out the site, even if you're not a fan of the Seahawks, just so you can picket your local beat writers about how they ought to cover their respective teams.

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Thanks for the comment on Sando's blog about the show!Comment from: godtomsatan ( Registered User ) FBG.com is a great fantasy resource, but the podcast they run is the best pure football broadcast on the web. 06/05/07 @ 15:08

Sigmund Bloom said:

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

Click to expand...

Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

Click to expand...

They didn't draft a RB, didn't get a vet backup and they know Momo is not the great hope they thought he was before. Alexander is participating in voluntary camps, despite the fact that he knows the offense back and forth blindfolded, very little is new for him to learn. And everyone knows what happened to the team last year when the big guns went down. Does this sound like a team full of top notch doctors and coaches that is worried about the injury, longevity or production of their star RB?

mad sweeney said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

Click to expand...

Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

Click to expand...

They didn't draft a RB, didn't get a vet backup and they know Momo is not the great hope they thought he was before. Alexander is participating in voluntary camps, despite the fact that he knows the offense back and forth blindfolded, very little is new for him to learn. And everyone knows what happened to the team last year when the big guns went down. Does this sound like a team full of top notch doctors and coaches that is worried about the injury, longevity or production of their star RB?

Click to expand...

I don't think the Seahawks are worried about losing SA to the foot injury during the year. I do think that if there is a condition that he just has to "live with", it could take enough edge off his production to drop him from the early first to the mid first behind some guys like Gore, FWP, and Westbrook. Sando's reassurance was that SA played with the cracked bone last year, not that the bone is 100% healed. That's fine, but the SA we saw last year was not the SA we saw in year's past, although the line also had a lot to do with that.Foot condition aside, Sando's comments weren't extremely optimistic about SA's production, he said somewhere between last year's disappointment and SA's heyday - IIRC 1200 yards rushing and 10-15 TDs. First rounder? Yes. Uberstud? No.

All I know is none of them came right out and said his foot is completely healed and/or 100%. That is telling to me.

Alexander says he wasn't serious when he said he could still have a crack in his foot bone last month.

Hardy Har Har.

The last time Shaun Alexander talked -- no, joked -- about his infamous left foot it became national headlines.

So the Seahawks' leading rusher treaded more lightly, if not seriously, Wednesday when asked about the cracked bone that forced him to miss six games last season.

"My foot's doing great," Alexander said after the third practice in the team's two-week minicamp.

Alexander then scanned the cluster of reporters gathered around him and added, "Of course, you guys are all local people, so you guys know how much I crack jokes about stuff."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Alexander smiled and offered, "Crack jokes. No pun intended."

The last time Alexander had some fun with what was not a laughing matter last season his levity was misinterpreted. Asked about the foot during the team's post-draft minicamp last month, he cracked, "I don't want to get another X-ray until after this camp. If the X-ray shows it's still cracked, it's like, 'OK, what does that mean?' "

The comment was included in an Associated Press story that quickly appeared on Web sites under the headline, "Alexander still has broken foot." The "news" spread to ESPN's ticker and scrolled across the bottom of TV screens across the nation.

"One of the boys I mentor, he had some of his friends over to our house," Alexander said. "We were watching ESPN and the ticker shows up. They're all looking at me and I'm like, 'If it's on the ticker, it's got to be right.' "

Alexander laughed.

"It's always weird, especially when you've got a bunch of your friends and everybody is just sitting around hanging out and your name flashes up (with something like that)," he said.

Especially when the "report" is not true.

"I didn't think it was too big until my grandma called," he said. "Then I was like, 'I guess I need to tell everybody I'm OK.' "

Alexander then looked into one of the TV cameras trained on him and said, "Grandma, I am good."

Actually, Alexander's actions have spoken even louder than his words.

He has looked faster and stronger in this minicamp. Perhaps because he is. Alexander even appears lighter, but stressed that he still weighs 225 pounds.

"I was thinking that maybe I was just running so slow last year," he said. "I thought, 'Dang, did the foot break make you look (ital)that(ital) bad?'

"I am the same weight," he added. "I am a lot stronger. I feel stronger right now, but the weight is exactly the same."

Asked if he had gained weight during his wife's latest pregnancy (she gave birth to their third daughter in March), Alexander said, "Normally I do, but I didn't get weird cravings this time. So I guess that's cool."

And so is his left foot.

Is that confirmation enough for you fools?

cacksman said:

Is that confirmation enough for you fools?

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I have a weakness for , guilty as charged.

From Sando's blog where SA is participating in voluntary camp:

And while Shaun Alexander has never been known as a great practice player, he seems to have quite a bit of energy and enthusiasm out there. He sprinted out of stretching exercises before the other running backs, claiming victory when he was the first to arrive for positional drills.

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http://www.thenewstribune.com/static/podca...ando_on_KJR.mp3

More from Sando in an audio interview with John Clayton, covering an overview of the OTA that broke on Friday. Promising rookies on both sides, the secondary and general defensive improvement, Branch/Hasselbeck and the underwhelming results so far, Hackett doing well in practice, Burleson's continuous disappointment, Alexander and his non-issue foot and his upcoming red zone use, FB Leonard Weaver as 3rd down back and talented player who needs more PT, Mack Strong's age, Kerney and his injury/promise, coaches commitment to young OL early on so they can gel.

Points of interest:

-Another affirmation that there is almost no way barring injury or miracle comeback that Burleson overtakes Hackett. He cautions only that Hackett practices well and plays through minor injuries but hasn't been tested as a full season starter.

-Young lineman Willis and Sims are almost essential to continuiy on the line and the coaches need to find the 5 best guys in TC and stick with them. My guess from that would be from L-R. Jones, Sims, Spencer, Willis, Locklear. Willis bounced around a lot playing both tackles and guard. Spencer will need to be the glue and his shoulders are a key to watch.

-Alexander looks very good in practice. Sando is not worried about the foot at all and restates that although he'll be 30 soon he hasn't taken the pounding that a lot of 30 year old backs take and with a consistent OL he'll be a probowl candidate. He predicts over 1200 yards and double digit TDs. In addition with no Stevens or Jurevicius-type RZ threat, unless Pollard goes nuts, SA will be the main RZ target.

-Kearney is a big question mark still, young CB Wilson and new safeties all look very good and if the injury bug is mild for the team the defense could creep towards the top 10

-FB Leonard Weaver who was hurt in preseason last year and shipped to the IR is a talented player with great hands and runs very well for a FB. Strong is still the best blocker but this is probably his last season. Coaches will find a way to get him the ball and it looks like he will be the 3rd down RB. IMO, he might even be a better way to spell SA than Momo is.

-One of the reasons Branch has been underwhelmoing is that he missed TC and right when he and Hass started to gel, Hass went down so it never strengthened. Branch missed half of th OTA on his honeymoon, scheduled before he was even dealt to the Seahawks, so they have to work hard in TC to establish that but Sando feels they will form a good connection and be very successful. Clearly he feels Branch to be superior to Hackett, though he praised Hackett's efforts in camp and in previous games.

it's a good interview and Sando takes a slightly pessimistic tone due to the fact that he's been covering the team for too long to get his hopes too high. But he predicted a 10 win season as long as they stay healthy.

mad sweeney said:

-FB Leonard Weaver who was hurt in preseason last year and shipped to the IR is a talented player with great hands and runs very well for a FB. Strong is still the best blocker but this is probably his last season. Coaches will find a way to get him the ball and it looks like he will be the 3rd down RB. IMO, he might even be a better way to spell SA than Momo is.

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If he had been healthy last year, we would have seen a Weaver/Momo combo when SA was out. Built like a fullback, runs like a halfback. I believe he led the entire league in rushing a few preseasons ago.

Sigmund Bloom said:

Jene Bramel said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

lions327 said:

godtomsatan said:

Sigmund Bloom said:

Of course, we are having to piece the SA foot situation together with detective work because no one has come out and directly addressed it with some sense of certainty.

Click to expand...

From May 11th:Holmgren: "He is not going to have it looked at. No one is going to have it looked at. I haven’t looked at it, he hasn’t looked at it, no one has looked at it. I don’t know why he said what he said. I don’t know why whoever wrote it, wrote it. I just don’t get it, but he is fine. We X-rayed it after the season was over. How long has it been? You saw him running out here, he is running all over the place. That is a non-story, honest to goodness. There is nothing wrong with Shaun Alexander."

Click to expand...

He sure did a good job dancing around that.

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Does he actually say anything about the condition of the foot? He says Alexander is fine, but that's consistent with "He played with last year, so he'll be fine". I find it hard to conclude from what we know (Still a crack after the Chicago game, the delays getting him back during the season, Alexander's cryptic comments) that Alexander's foot is 100%. Holmgren needs to minimize this story so I understand his comments, but I am not convinced that Alexander's foot is completely healed.

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I think this will end up being much ado about nothing. The injury -- apparently a fractured metatarsal bone -- probably would've done best with an eight week recovery period. Coming back in a little over six weeks, then running him 40 times just over eight weeks after the injury wasn't doing him any favors.

Whether it had not fully healed or was re-injured on any of the 250 plus touches he had after he returned is hard to say. He was "injured" briefly during the Dallas playoff game.

If the bone had still not fully healed after the season and there was a chance it wouldn't be fully healed by mini-camp, I'd think that the medical staff would take steps to fix the bone surgically to allow adequate recovery time well before the season started.

I can see where Holmgren is coming from here. Alexander pestering him to return quickly last year, Alexander getting a second test to assess his religious healing, Alexander casually mentioning it still hadn't healed after the season. My guess is that the Seattle medical staff has told Holmgren it was a minor injury that has now finally been given enough time to heal and he's sick of hearing about it.

That's assuming the initial diagnosis was correct of course.

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Dr. Jene has to come in with his "facts" and "knowledge" and blow up my theory. Thanks Jene's the voice of reason here - I just get a bad vibe from the foot still having a crack after the Chicago game and Alexander's comments, but this is the more rational take. Really what this affects for redraft this year is whether SA is worth the 4/5 or 6/7- I dont think he'll fall much further than that in most drafts.

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I figure that if the team had any suspicion that he really wasn't healed, then wouldn't they have taken a RB in the draft or brought in someone, anyone, to offer more depth? Especially after Morris was less than impressive last year? Now, the team could be wrong. But it seems apparent that they really are not worried about it.

A little too much attention perhaps? Sando is leaving his post at the Tacoma News Tribune and joining ESPN.com. Hopefully he will still be able to devote a good amount of time to the Hawks.

mad sweeney said:

A little too much attention perhaps? Sando is leaving his post at the Tacoma News Tribune and joining ESPN.com. Hopefully he will still be able to devote a good amount of time to the Hawks.

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WOW...thats awesome for him. He totally deserves it. Hopefully he still comes on local radio shows (like John Clayton) to talk football.

The Scientist said:

mad sweeney said:

A little too much attention perhaps? Sando is leaving his post at the Tacoma News Tribune and joining ESPN.com. Hopefully he will still be able to devote a good amount of time to the Hawks.

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WOW...thats awesome for him. He totally deserves it. Hopefully he still comes on local radio shows (like John Clayton) to talk football.

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and the Audible *fingers crossed*

Sigmund Bloom said:

The Scientist said:

mad sweeney said:

A little too much attention perhaps? Sando is leaving his post at the Tacoma News Tribune and joining ESPN.com. Hopefully he will still be able to devote a good amount of time to the Hawks.

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WOW...thats awesome for him. He totally deserves it. Hopefully he still comes on local radio shows (like John Clayton) to talk football.

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and the Audible *fingers crossed*

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That might conflict, won't it?

mad sweeney said:

A little too much attention perhaps? Sando is leaving his post at the Tacoma News Tribune and joining ESPN.com. Hopefully he will still be able to devote a good amount of time to the Hawks.

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grrrrr Sando was one of the guys who made the Seahawks a fantasy goldmine, with solid info that was spot on, to those who paid attention to him.