June 3, 2008

Mission accomplished: The Seahawks have gone to great pains to revamp their subpar ground game this offseason. Head coach Mike Holmgren said goodbye to longtime star RB Shaun Alexander, and hello to spirited new O-line coach Mike Solari and free-agent additions Mike Wahle, who he hopes can shoulder the load at left guard, and RBs Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett. First-round draft pick Lawrence Jackson and fourth-round draft pick Red Bryant should bolster the D-line outside and inside, respectively. Second-round draft pick John Carlson, who has shown nice early flashes, should be an upgrade at tight end over the departed Marcus Pollard, with lots of help from holdover Will Heller and newcomer Jeb Putzier.  

Unfinished business: Injuries are a major cause for concern. Heading into June, starting offensive linemen Walter Jones (OLT), Chris Spencer (C) and Chris Sims (ORG) and backups Ray Willis and Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack were all still nursing ailments. Same goes for starters Patrick Kerney (DLE) and Rocky Bernard (DRT) and former first-round DT Marcus Tubbs. The odds appear to be growing that WR Deion Branch, who tore up his knee in the playoff loss to the Packers, could start the ’08 campaign on the physically-unable-to-perform list. Two other areas of concern are special teams, where the team must overcome the loss of quality PK Josh Brown and top special-teamers Niko Koutouvides and Kevin Bentley, and veteran WR Bobby Engram’s contract issues.