No More Fat Man By Zach

In the wake of the Seahawks first round loss to the Rams, the biggest question in Seattle is whether or not Mike Holmgren should be retained as head coach. I promise that if he is, you'll see another talented Seahawk team next year that underachieves. Holmgren is one of the biggest frauds I've seen. The guy came to Seattle full of boast and swagger, coming off back-to-back Super Bowl appearances and the resurrection of the Green Bay franchise. He was given the keys to the Seahawks, being made both the coach and GM. Heck, things looked great right away, as he took a Seahawk team that the year before went 8-8 and started the season 8-2. Then they went 1-5 down the stretch and backed into the division title before getting beat at home in the first round of the playoffs. Hey, look at that, six years later and things haven't changed at all. Well, at least in 1999 Holmgren could point to the fact that Jon Kitna was his starting QB.

Thank God for Brett Favre, eh?

One of Holmgren's biggest flaws is that he's nothing more than a puffed-up offensive coordinator. The guy is certainly inconsistant as a talent evaluator. Just look at the first-round selections they've made since he's been in Seattle.

1999-22nd overall pick-Lamar King, DE, Saginaw Valley State-um, who?
2000-19th overall pick-Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama-the best player on the team, he's leaving in free agency because Holmgren never liked him. All he did was lead the league in touchdowns.
2000-22nd overall pick-Chris McIntosh , T, Wisconsin-injury-prone and sucked anyhow
2001-9th overall pick-Koren Robinson, WR, North Carolina State-Holmgren panicked, said he needed a reciever, and took a guy who everone at NC State warned him about. Robinson had a decent rookie year, a great 2002, then declined in 2003, dropping most of the balls thrown his way. Only played 10 games in 2004, because he was suspended for 6, and still managed to finish 3rd in the league in drops.
2001-17th overall pick-Steve Hutchinson, G, Michigan-the best of the first-round picks. Yes, better than Alexander, because Alexander was clearly the best RB left. Hutchinson is one of the best guards in the NFL. And you have to have a good offensive line to win in the NFL.
2002-28th overall pick-Jerramy Stevens, TE, Washington-Holmgren twice traded down, then was astounded when New England traded up and grabbed the guy Mike wanted, Colorado TE Daniel Graham. Instead of either taking a different position (oh, like say a defensive player, notice a trend here) Mike reaches for the next TE on the board, local boy and troublemaker Stevens. So far, Stevens, despite being 6'7" and tremendously physically gifted, has been unable to beat out Itula Mili for the starting job, and has also consistantly disappointed fantasy owners. At least he's stayed out of trouble recently.
2003-11th overall pick-Marcus Trufant, CB, Washington State-Trufant is available only because the Minnesota Vikings have another clock snafu and take some guy named Kevin Williams. Since 2000, the Seahawks had had 5 first round picks and used them all on offensive players. Someone (probably new defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes) told him that you have to keep the other team from scoring to win. But I can't bash this pick, even if it was a lucky one, because Trufan1t is actually good.
2004-23rd overall pick-Marcus Tubbs, DT, Texas-Probably too early a pick to judge, especially because Tubbs was hurt most of the year (clearly a good sign), but Holmgren continues to take random defensive players named Marcus.

So, as I see it, with 8 first round picks in 6 years, Holmgren has selected:
2 guys already out of the league
2 guys who have plenty of "potential" but never "are any good"
2 Pro Bowlers (both on offense)
2 guys who are too young to judge fully.

Of course the draft is in some ways a crap shoot. But the point here is to prove that Holmgren is vastly overrated. Look at the draft of the New England Patriots since Bill Bellichek took over for comparison.

So far, it seems as though Holmgren has suceeded in building a team that 1) Has a very good offense and 2) sucks defensively. This has been a consistant aspect of the team since Holmgren has been around. Their defense, this year as in years past, has been utterly unable to generate any pressure on the quarterback with the front four. The guy who was supposed to fix that, DE Grant Wistrom, was hurt most of the year. And he's 30 something. And still has a lot of money coming to him. And will be cut next year. There was a day when the Seahawks had the best front four in football, with Cortez Kennedy, Sam Adams, Michael Sinclair, and Mike McCrary. Those guys could straight-up ball. This year's front four was Chike Okeafor, Cedric Woodard, Rashad Moore, and Antonio Cochrane. They can not ball.

Attn. NFL GMs: Don't hire this guy.

But this leads us to the biggest problem with this team. Ray Rhodes, the man who will cause me to go to prison for life. That's because I will murder him if he isn't fired. He blitzes on third and long. He should never be allowed to be a defensive coordinator just for that. Seriously, it's one thing if you're sending Chad Brown and Anthony Simmons on those blitzes, but by the end of the season he was sending Tracy White and Niko Koutovides. Yeah, that's what I thought.

See, that's Rhodes' problem. He never adapted his schemes to his personnel, and the injuries. Yes, there were a lot of injuries, but it's football. Everyone gets hurt. Not everyone folds up like the French Army. I swear to god, if I hear him called a defensive genius again, I'll go into convulsions.

Who do I want instead? I honestly don't care. I'm so tired of recievers dropping balls, defenses giving up fourth quarter leads, and Holmgren looking perplexed, I'd take just about anyone. Except Dennis Erickson.