Tuesday, June 18, 2013 @ 9:37pm

Time for a reality check with expectations for Wilson

Based on the feedback we received Tuesday to our interview with ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha on "Brock and Danny", I felt it was worth commenting on our audience's reaction to a set of opinions that don't necessarily fall in line with the prevailing wind in the northwest.

Russell Wilson is great. Not good, but great. He's the underdog that even non-Seahawks fans can root for because of his size (or lack thereof) and the draft spot in which he was chosen. We all assumed he would be Matt Flynn's backup last year, but by the third preseason game it was clear that we were all wrong.

But let's not overdo it.

Yes, he led what we believed to be a great team to the divisional playoffs. Yes, he put the team on his shoulders and spearheaded wins over Green Bay, New England, Chicago, and Washington – not to mention those blowouts of Arizona and Buffalo.

But for us to simply resign ourselves to the idea that Russell is always going to perform at that level is dangerous a way of thinking. The run-first offensive mentality of this team may prevent him from throwing too much and making foolish mistakes, but let's face it – with Percy Harvin and all the other weapons he has at his disposal, his pass attempts will increase and he will make more mistakes.

When Chadiha was on the air with us today, the Text Toy lit up with negative comments (many of them profane) from listeners who simply refuse to believe that Wilson could ever do anything wrong (see the image I posted on my Twitter page).

Yes, we love Russell Wilson. We should. But even the most diehard fan has to admit that there is obviously room for error. I love the passionate reaction, and as most of you know, I thrive on negative energy, so keep it coming. Conflict is what I believe to be the cornerstone of sports-talk radio.

But, let's at least strive to be smart about issues that will presumably take years to resolve.

Agree? Let us know.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 @ 3:13pm

Columnist doubts Russell Wilson will ever be elite

"Game manager" has become almost a pejorative term in the NFL lexicon, one that's used to describe quarterbacks who aren't good enough to win games on their own and instead are effectively told not to lose them.

Russell Wilson led the Seahawks to an 11-5 record and the divisional round of the playoffs last year while tying the rookie record for touchdown passes with 26. The Seahawks, particularly in the second half of the season, won some of those games because of their rookie quarterback, not in spite of him.

So naturally, the gloves nearly came off when ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha told "Brock and Danny" on Tuesday that he sees Wilson as more of a game manager than someone who will become one of the game's elite quarterbacks.

"I think there's a perception out there – whether it's fair or unfair – that he's going to be a superstar," Chadiha said, "and I don't think that's gonna be the case."

Wilson's passing yardage was the basis for Chadiha's contention. He averaged 195 yards per game during the regular season while throwing for fewer than 200 yards nine times. Wilson's only 300-yard game came in the playoffs, when he threw for 385 in a loss to the Falcons.

"I think if you look at his numbers, yeah, that's what I would call him. I think if you're talking about somebody who is carrying a football team, you're talking about somebody who is throwing for 300, 400 yards per game, doing what Tom Brady does in New England, doing what Peyton Manning does in Denver, doing what Philip Rivers does in San Diego," Chadiha said.

The genesis of the conversation was Chadiha's latest column on ESPN.com in which he contends Wilson has more to prove than fellow young quarterbacks Andrew Luck of Indianapolis, Washington's Robert Griffin III and San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick – who all had breakout seasons in 2012 as either rookies or first-time starters. Those other three, Chadiha wrote, were more impressive than Wilson because they did just as much or more despite factors that made their situations less favorable.

"I think that team (Seattle) is built to run the football, it's built to play good defense and it's built to have a quarterback who plays efficiently," Chadiha said. "He makes plays, don't get me wrong. But I think it would be wrong to say he is in the same category as some of the guys who are as young as he is."

Huard and Danny O'Neil pick up the conversation there.

You can listen to Tuesday's show here.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 @ 9:04am

'Hawk Talk' set for Wednesday at 12:30

The next edition of "Hawk Talk" with Danny O'Neil is scheduled for Wednesday at 12:30. Feel free to suggest topis for discussion in the comments section below.

Monday, June 17, 2013 @ 2:20pm

Position aside, who's the Seahawks' best player?

Danny O'Neil's latest column provided a starting point for what would be a spirited debate on Monday's edition of "Brock and Danny".

Earl Thomas

"If we forget about the positional pecking order and just talk about on-field performance, [Earl] Thomas right now is the best Seahawk at his craft," O'Neil writes while noting that a safety isn't as important to a team's success as a left tackle or a quarterback.

Sando agreed with O'Neil's choice of Thomas as Seattle's best player, saying his range is instrumental to what the Seahawks do defensively.

"I did this exercise last year, talked to some people around the league about it and Earl Thomas was the name that we kept coming back to. I think there was a period there where you could make a case for Marshawn Lynch, and I wouldn't argue against that, but Earl Thomas for his ability to let them play that man coverage the way they do with bigger guys works because he's able to get over there," Sando said.

"We saw it all the time. Look at the playoff game against the Redskins. There was an outside matchup that RG III likes and because he doesn't throw the ball absolutely perfectly, Earl Thomas picks it off. Well, having a guy who can do that is such a luxury. You talk about trying to make corners in the Seahawks' image, it really helps to have a guy who can let you play that defense the way you do by being able to get to different places around the field."

Clayton went with cornerback Richard Sherman, saying the "mind-boggling" plays he made during offseason workouts are evidence that he's even better than he was last year, when he earned first-team All-Pro honors. Clayton suggested that Sherman could reach double-digit interceptions in a season if opposing quarterbacks weren't so deterred from throwing his way.

"Just incredible to see how he's able to move toward the ball, his ability to read a play and know where the guy's going to be on the route, it's just a marvel to watch," Clayton said.

Huard shares his take as he and O'Neil continue the debate in the video below.

You can listen to Monday's show here.

Monday, June 17, 2013 @ 1:05pm

Seahawks' Moffitt pleads guilty to disorderly conduct

Seahawks guard John Moffitt pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in Bellevue District Court last Friday, paying a fine of $1,407 and receiving a suspended sentence of 24 months in jail.

John Moffitt

Moffitt originally faced two misdemeanor charges, one for criminal trespassing and another for obstruction of a law enforcement officer after a series of three different incidents at Bellevue Square mall in 2012.

Those were amended to a single charge of disorderly conduct, according to the court clerk who summarized the sentencing terms from last Friday's hearing. Moffitt will not have to serve any of the suspended sentence so long as he avoids further legal trouble.

Jon Fox, Moffitt's attorney, said via e-mail that Moffitt had no previous legal incidents and as a result received a deferred sentence. If Moffitt complies with the court's stipultions for two years, the verdict will be changed to not guilty and expunged from Moffitt's record. Fox said Moffitt is happy to have the situation behind him.

It's very unlikely Moffitt would face further discipline from the league regarding the personal-conduct policy.

The first incident occurred in January, when a member of the mall's security staff stated he saw Moffitt urinating on the skybridge between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square malls. Moffitt was given an order – which he did not sign – stating that he was not to enter Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place or Lincoln Square for an entire year.

In June, mall security called officers after seeing Moffitt at one of the restaurants at Lincoln Square. The security officers informed police Moffitt was last seen running away from the mall after urinating near a parked car. The officers went to a nearby apartment complex where Moffitt was said to hang out.

Moffitt was seen running away from the apartment complex, and according to the police report, the officer alleged he yelled Moffitt's name while in full uniform, in a patrol car with emergency lights flashing. The officer stated that Moffitt looked back, but continued running.

Mall security later picked out Moffitt from a photo array.

The final incident occurred in August of 2012 and resulted in Moffitt's arrest on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass. Mall security again summoned police, stating Moffitt was seated at the bar of a restaurant in Lincoln Square. Two officers responded, arresting Moffitt when they found him on the premises.

Moffitt appeared at a preliminary hearing last month before entering a guilty plea to the amended charge Friday.

Monday, June 17, 2013 @ 7:47am

Seahawks' Earl Thomas is on the cusp of greatness

By Danny O'Neil

He is the shortest member of a secondary known for its size, and one of the softest spoken members of a defense that has a reputation for its swagger.

But overlooking safety Earl Thomas is impossible. At least it is to anyone paying attention because he just might be the best football player on this Seahawks team that's as loaded with talent as it is with expectations.

That's right: the best player.

Because as good as cornerback Richard Sherman played last season and as much of a cornerstone as Russell Okung is at left tackle and as important as Russell Wilson will be as Seattle's quarterback of the future, Thomas is the member of this team who is closest to being considered the best at his position in the entire league.

Yep, he's that good.

"There's no end to the potential Earl has," coach Pete Carroll said, "because he's so fast and he's so tough, but more than that, he's just so driven to be great. He's just driven to be a great player."

And in that way, it's Thomas who best embodies the situation in which Seattle's entire team finds itself entering this season.

There's no doubt about the talent. Not for Thomas, who has been voted to the Pro Bowl as a starter in each of the past two seasons, and not for the Seahawks, whose roster is considered one of the most stacked in this league. Now, the question is about the ceiling because being considered among the best is different from being anointed the best.

But make no doubt, Thomas is in that conversation as a previous generation of playmakers enter the twilight of their careers. Guys like Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed, who's now with Houston, are past 30, leaving Thomas, the Chiefs' Eric Berry and the Bucs' Dashon Goldson as the vanguard of generation next.

Thomas isn't at the top of the heap. Not after a year in which he dropped more interceptions than he made, but in three years he has never missed a game and has proven himself as one of the hardest-practicing players his coaches have ever seen. And his interception totals don't show the fact that he put himself in position to make so many plays, and if he starts hanging on to the ball, we could start talking about him as one of this league's game-breaking players.

After all, he just turned 24, entering the prime of his career at a position that has produced three of the league's past nine defensive players of the year.

"He's really just kind of hitting it now," Carroll said. "He's just getting going."

Carroll has got a little bit of history coaching that position, whether it was Joey Browner with the Vikings, a young Lawyer Milloy – who made his Pro Bowl breakthrough while Carroll was in charge of the Patriots – or Polamalu at USC.

"Earl is as good as any of the guys I've ever coached," Carroll said.

Now, location matters as much in football as it does in real estate, and a safety isn't considered as valuable as a left tackle, a position that Okung occupies so capably. And it's certainly not on par with quarterback.

But if we forget about the positional pecking order and just talk about on-field performance, Thomas right now is the best Seahawk at his craft, a fact that speaks as much to his development as it does to the team's scouting.

Thomas was the second player drafted by general manager John Schneider, someone Seattle didn't think it would ever get the chance to choose with the 14th overall pick in 2010. Not after the Philadelphia Eagles vaulted up the draft order, trading into the 13th spot.

Schneider was so certain the Eagles were selecting Thomas to replace the departing Brian Dawkins that Schneider had a trade worked out to move back from No. 14 if Thomas were gone. But after the Eagles chose pass rusher Brandon Graham out of Michigan, the Seahawks picked Thomas, one of the youngest players in the draft and someone who had played just two seasons at Texas.

Three years later, that 5-foot-10 safety stands out not only amid one of this league's most talented teams, but all of pro football.

Friday, June 14, 2013 @ 5:16pm

Where Seahawks-49ers ranks among NFL rivalries

The Seahawks and 49ers have been in the same division for just 11 years. The two teams hadn't made concurrent playoff appearances until last season.

But while nascent, their rivalry is considered by some to already be the best in the NFL.

After 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh fanned the flames earlier this week with comments about the Seahawks' string of PED-related suspensions, Danny O'Neil and Tom Wassell spent part of Friday's show discussing where that rivalry ranks compared to some that have more history behind them.

They share their thoughts in the video below.

You can listen to Friday's show here.

Friday, June 14, 2013 @ 4:17pm

'Hawk Talk' highlights: Tom Cable's coaching future

The Seahawks were worried about losing Tom Cable to a head-coaching job after their 2011 season ended, so much so that coach Pete Carroll joked about cutting the wires on Cable's phone to thwart any interested team's attempt to reach out.

Cable, Seattle's offensive-line coach and assistant head coach, was considered the driving force behind what progressed into a formidable running game despite losing three starting offensive linemen to season-ending injuries.

Tom Cable

The Seahawks lost one coordinator, Gus Bradley, to a head-coaching job earlier this offseason and nearly lost another as Darrell Bevell interviewed with a pair of teams before receiving a new contract to stay in Seattle. There were no reports of Cable, who had head-coaching experience, interviewing for any vacancies despite Seattle finishing the 2012 season with the league's No. 3 rushing offense.

But as Carroll said, it's only a matter of time.

Cable's coaching future was among the topics during the latest edition of "Hawk Talk" with Danny O'Neil. The full transcript of the chat can be found here. Highlights are below.

K Falls asked whether Cable would want to become a head coach again or if he'd rather remain an assistant.

Danny O'Neil: Yes, I think Tom Cable wants to become a head coach again, and I think he certainly has a resume worthy of another head-coaching job. His 8-8 season in Oakland was the one beacon of hope in that franchise's dark decade. Unfortunately for him, that year in Oakland brought out a great deal of baggage. I'm torn on the discussion of the spousal-abuse allegations from his past because he was never charged with a crime, which is usually the barometer for reporting on those. He was never charged, but those allegations were widely reported to the point he had to comment on them. But football-wise, he absolutely deserves another head-coaching opportunity.

Isaac asked whether the Seahawks' defensive backs coach, Kris Richard, could become a defensive coordinator or even a head coach in the near future.

Danny O'Neil: Very much so. He seems like he would wear that very well, and certainly, Seattle's success in the secondary and developing players (not just Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, but right now, Jeremy Lane).

Isaac later asked which Seahawks have reached their ceilings.

Danny O'Neil: Ceilings? Well, Marshawn Lynch isn't going to get better. The question is how long he can stay this effective. Ditto for fullback Michael Robinson. And for offensive linemen, I would say Paul McQuistan is in the same boat, and I wonder how much room for improvement there is with Breno Giacomini.

Slim Shady asked how rookie wide receiver Chris Harper has looked during offseason workouts before Craig asked for a comparison between Harper's minicamp performance and that of Golden Tate when he was a rookie in 2010.

Danny O'Neil: Chris Harper has not stood out following the three-day minicamp. Golden Tate stood out MUCH more. But that just goes to show you how much (or in Tate's case) how little minicamps and offseason training translates to regular-season success.