For much of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, Cortez Kennedy stood head and shoulders above the NFL’s corps of defensive tackles.

Because of his level of dominance, that head and those shoulders will now be cast in bronze and placed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer.

The Hall selection committee got this one right on Saturday afternoon by recognizing Kennedy as not only an elite defender, but a player who helped change the game as a force of destruction from the interior line.

It goes beyond that with Kennedy, though, as a player for whom fans could root without reservation.

Those of us who have followed Kennedy since he arrived in the NFL in 1990 have heard endlessly that “ ’Tez,” as they all called him, was a Hall of Fame teammate, a Hall of Fame guy, a Hall of Fame father, a Hall of Fame friend.

He was considered larger than life as a player (which is saying a great deal given his ample girth), but at the same time may have been the most humble man on the team.

You would ask him to analyze a play in which he overpowered two 300-pounders and then ran down a back from behind, Kennedy would always say: “Just playin’ Seahawks football.”

The man never voiced a complaint about the team’s inept offense nor chronic losing. He deserves a spot in the Hall for that alone.

Kennedy’s inclusion stands as a stunning validation, because individuals with credentials such as Charles Haley (five Super Bowl wins) and coach Bill Parcells (two Super Bowl coaching wins) were among those in the final 10 who did not earn the Hall’s signature gold jacket.

This was Kennedy’s fourth time as a finalist. Two factors have worked against Kennedy. He played a position where it is difficult to statistically quantify dominance, and he did so for a somewhat inconsequential and remote franchise. But two factors aren’t an obstacle for somebody so adept at beating double-teams.

This time around, there was better recognition of his effect on the game during his time.

Mike Sando, a former staff writer with The News Tribune and now of ESPN.com, presented Kennedy’s case to the selection committee. He put Kennedy’s performance into the context of the NFL in the 1990s, pointing out that only two other defensive linemen matched Kennedy’s eight Pro Bowls in the decade – Reggie White and Bruce Smith.

The others to match that output from their positions were Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith and Derrick Thomas. All are in the Hall of Fame.

Further context: In his 11 seasons, Kennedy played for four coaches, Seattle had two seasons above .500 and one postseason appearance. While fans and national media had little chance to see Kennedy’s rare combination of power and quickness, opponents thought they saw too much.

Veteran NFL line coach Alex Gibbs told Sando that Kennedy, alone, made facing the Seahawks a nightmare.

“… It was going to boil down to making a decision,” Gibbs said of preparation to face Seattle. “Do I spend all my time with Cortez or do I deal with those other guys?”

Kennedy demanded double teams, and sometimes that wasn’t enough. As former teammate Dave Wyman told me last year for a column on Kennedy before the Hall of Fame vote, there were times when Kennedy would somehow collapse the entire left side of an opponent’s offensive line – A, B and C gaps, Wyman said – like 300-pound dominoes.

But Kennedy was also the jokester who hid in Wyman’s closet during training camp just for the sheer joy of jumping out and yelling “boo” at him in the middle of the night. “Cortez was a gem, one of the best teammates I ever had,” Wyman said.

Seahawks linebacker Terry Wooden came into the league with Kennedy, and said he was so talented that “sometimes you felt like a kid around him … whenever we needed to have a big play, all eyes were on ’Tez; it was like we were all thinking, ‘Don’t worry, ’Tez will rescue us’. ”

via Humble ’Tez deserves respect in all respects | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

The wait has ended for Cortez Kennedy. The Seahawks’ eight-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was elected today to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Kennedy’s selection was announced on the NFL Network after the 44-person selection committee voted him into the Class of 2012. He was a finalist for the fourth consecutive year, but now has taken his rightful place among the best to ever play in the NFL – including Steve Largent, the Seahawks’ all-time leading receiver who was voted into the Hall in 1995.

Others with ties to the Seahawks are members of the Hall of Fame – Warren Moon, the former University of Washington quarterback who played for the Seahawks from 1997-98 and entered the Hall in 2006; John Randle, a sack-producing defensive lineman who played his final three seasons with the Seahawks in 2001-03 and was added to the Hall in 2010; Jerry Rice, the NFL’s all-time leading receiver who played the 2004 season in Seattle and also became a member of the Hall in 2010; Mike McCormack, an offensive lineman for the Browns who also was a Seahawks executive from 1982-88 and joined the Hall in 1984; Franco Harris, the former Steelers running back who played in eight games for the Seahawks in 1984 and entered the Hall in 1990; and Carl Elller, a defensive lineman for the Vikings who was with the Seahawks in 1979 and entered the Hall in 2004.

But Kennedy and Largent were with the Seahawks for their entire careers – Kennedy from 1990-2000; Largent for 1976-89 – and became cornerstone players in the franchise’s history.

Kennedy, a first-round draft choice in 1990, was a member of the NFL’s Team of the Decade for the 1990s and is the most-decorated defensive player in franchise history.

Moon was a co-host for the NFL Network show that unveiled the selections, along with fellow Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts.

“I played with Cortez Kennedy for a couple of years in Seattle, and the way he dominated the game at the nose tackle spot … having 14 sacks in a season from that position, also has three interceptions in his career, believe it or not,” Moon said. “The guy is just an all-around great football player. So he’s a guy I think is very deserving.”

via Seahawks.com Blog | Tez elected to Hall of Fame «.

Today our subject is Matt Flynn, the Green Bay Packers substitute recently determined to be a person of interest in the Seahawks’ manhunt for an impact starting quarterback.

(Definition of “impact” quarterback: A player capable of putting his team in position to win close games in the fourth quarter. On that score, Tarvaris Jackson went 0-for-4 in 2011. Jackson wasn’t the only difference between the Seahawks finishing 7-9 and 11-5, merely the main difference. Hence, the manhunt.)

I should admit, right off the bat, that I know little about Flynn, a 26-year old who has made two career starts over four NFL seasons. I vaguely recall his effort in leading LSU to the national championship after the 2007 season – the Tigers beat an Ohio State team coached by Jim Tressel, which helps explain why the memory is vague – but from there, it’s a bit of a blur.

Flynn went to Green Bay, right around the time Aaron Rodgers, longtime backup to Brett Favre, was asserting himself as the ultimate impact quarterback. Flynn might’ve put on precision-passing displays in practice, but on Sunday afternoons, he stood on the sideline.

So why am I writing about Matt Flynn?

Well, for one, I’m as unfamiliar with him as anybody else is, so it’s not as though my credentials are suspect.

Besides, it’s my obligation.

If the headline for this column were “Hawks’ Carroll Convinced Spaceship From Mars Landed On His Front Yard,” I suspect Seahawks fans would say to themselves: “A Martian Spaceship? Hmmm. That’s kinda weird. But what about the chances of acquiring Matt Flynn?”

Since he gave presumptive league MVP Rodgers an afternoon off on New Year’s Day, and threw for 480 yards (a team record) and six touchdowns (another team record) in a meaningless season-finale victory over Detroit, Matt Flynn has become to the Pacific Northwest what Tim Tebow is to the world.

The sports talk shows on Seattle radio stations are in an all-Flynn, all-the-time mode. This has its benefits – every 10 minutes devoted to Flynn means there’s 10 fewer minutes to devote to Tebow – but the discussion is typically slowed by a roundabout at every intersection.

The callers have no clue on whether Flynn is a long-term solution. Nor do the hosts. Nor, for that matter, do the Seahawks, whose general manager, John Schneider, once worked for the Packers, and might be the only Seattle-area resident able to distinguish Matt the Backup from any member of Mott the Hoople.

Schneider participated in the Packers’ scouting-department brain trust that made Flynn a seventh-round selection in the 2008 draft, but when Schneider and Carroll went looking for an alternative to Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst for 2011, they chose Jackson, a Minnesota reserve, over Flynn.

Meanwhile, questions persist about Green Bay’s plans to fit such potential free agents as Flynn and star tight end Jermichael Finley under the salary cap. Finley seems more likely to be designated with a “franchise player” label, because Pro Bowl playmakers are more coveted than quarterbacks who tote clipboards on the sideline.

If the Packers defy conventional wisdom and designate Flynn their franchise player, it figures to cost them about $14 million-$15 million a year – an investment predicated on trading his contract for a package including a premium draft pick.

On the other hand, if Flynn is allowed to become a free agent, how much should the Seahawks spend on a virtually untested quarterback whose Green Bay career, as permanent backup to Rodgers, has been defined by misfortune?

(Or maybe backing up Rodgers has been Flynn’s good fortune. In any case, it’s adding up to a fortune of some sort.)

A reference to Kevin Kolb is inevitable here. As a backup quarterback in Philadelphia, Kolb parlayed some decent work over seven career starts into a contract – $21 million guaranteed – with the Arizona Cardinals, who landed him in a trade that cost them cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft choice.

Hobbled by a foot injury, Kolb’s quarterback rating in 2011 (81.1) was basically Tarvaris Jackson’s quarterback rating (79.2). It should be noted the Cardinals’ second-half resurgence, from NFC West punching bags into fringe playoff contenders, didn’t begin until John Skelton replaced Kolb.

It’s reasonable to wonder: Is Matt Flynn the latest Packers backup on the verge of blossoming as a full-time quarterback, as Hasselbeck and Rodgers did?

Or is he another Kevin Kolb, terrific in a spot-starting role but a bust as a full-timer?

via QB Flynn divine after two starts | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas is going to have some familiar faces with him on the NFC roster for Sunday’s Pro Bowl.

Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, cornerback Brandon Browner and safety Kam Chancellor were among the 24 players selected Tuesday as replacements for the annual game in Honolulu matching the NFC against the AFC.

Lynch, who rushed for 1,204 yards and scored 12 touchdowns for Seattle this season, steps in for San Francisco running back Frank Gore, who is ill. Browner and Chancellor also take over spots vacated by the 49ers’ Carlos Rogers (Browner) and Dashon Goldson (Chancellor), putting 75 percent of the Seahawks’ starting secondary in the Pro Bowl.

Rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton and Andy Dalton also were chosen to replace Super Bowl quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady. Seven of the 24 replacements are filling in for Patriots; two are replacing Giants.

Carolina’s Newton replaces Manning, and Chicago defensive end Julius Peppers steps in for Jason Pierre Paul. The players stepping in for New England are Dalton and tight end Jermaine Gresham (for Rob Gronkowski) of Cincinnati, Jets guard Brandon Moore (for Logan Mankins), Jacksonville special teamer Montell Owens (for Matthew Slater), Baltimore guard Ben Grubbs (for Brian Waters), San Diego wide receiver Vincent Jackson (for Wes Welker) and Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins (for Vince Wilfork).

via Seahawks land 3 more on Pro Bowl squad | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

So, Seahawks fans, you’ve put away your face paint and have started your offseason rehab regimen of honey-tea and lozenges. But don’t forget that you still have rooting obligations in the postseason.

You must consider some options, though.

One might cheer for New Orleans, hoping the Saints cause San Francisco to suffer grievous humiliation in Saturday’s playoff match because, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

But deferred gratification might come if the 49ers went on a streak and won the Super Bowl, knowing they’d then be forced to pick last on draft day, and also might be more vulnerable to a let-down and laxity next season.

Either way, it is relevant now that there is reason for fans around here to care about the fate of their rivals – because they finally have rivals.

It is timely to note that the Seahawks just finished their 10th season in the realigned NFC West.

Before the Seahawks were shifted from the AFC West to the NFC West in 2002, rivalries with Denver and the Oakland Raiders were historic – but had fallen from currency because Seattle had so rarely contended.

The NFC West looked even less welcoming at the time, with St. Louis coming off two Super Bowl appearances in the previous three seasons, while San Francisco had a 12-4 record in 2001.

But in the subsequent 10 seasons, the Seahawks dominated with five division titles and five seasons above .500. Remarkably, the other three divisional teams combined for just five plus-.500 seasons in that span.

No wonder it’s taken time for rivalries to ripen. There was more guilt by association than bragging rights involved.

In those 10 seasons, the NFC West was by far the worst in the NFL, with an overall winning percentage of .423. The Seahawks are the only one of the four with a cumulative winning record since realignment, and they’ve gone 81-79.

After the Seahawks became the NFL’s first divisional winner with a losing record (7-9) last season, San Francisco (13-3) legitimately ran away with the division this season. But the on-field competition was intense, and the three top teams all showed improvement.

The final home game against San Francisco was a thriller, a 19-17 loss for Seattle, and the season finale at Arizona was a physical confrontation with nothing to prove other than relative testosterone levels.

So maybe you’ve become invested in the rivalries. You’re ready to ask Niners’ coach Jim Harbaugh something like: What’s your deal? And you have started gagging at the sight of that Yosemite Sam wannabe mascot that trolls the San Francisco sideline.

Maybe you scoff at that Jiffy-Pop stadium the Cardinals call home. And St. Louis … uh … mostly you’re just glad the Rams are in the division, because it’s hard to object to a foe who has keeled over 13 times in 14 meetings.

But an underappreciated element in a rivalry is not resentment, but respect. (Remember when Raiders cornerback Lester Hayes appreciatively dubbed Seahawks nemesis Steve Largent the “Caucasian Clydesdale”?)

The Niners feature guys like Patrick Willis and Frank Gore, so admirable in their toughness and intensity; so damnable in that they appear twice a season. And St. Louis back Steven Jackson has never played on a winning team, but his effort has been so conspicuously unrelenting that he brings honor to the game.

As for Arizona, the Seahawks constructed a secondary of towering defenders just to combat Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. But in the season-ender, he pulled in nine often-spectacular catches for 149 yards.

While some teams try bump-and-run on Fitzgerald, the Seahawks tried assault-and-battery, but on some plays after absolutely wicked collisions, they helped pry one another off the turf.

These are the real roots of rivalries.

via Better rivalries lift NFC West | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

In professional football – as well as in many other callings – nothing says love quite like a bundle of money.

And now is the best time to show it, in a private and personal setting, before others can flash their bankrolls.

NFL teams have until early March to make bids on their own free agents before they are allowed to enter what amounts to a public auction in the marketplace.

After a pair of 7-9 seasons rife with roster rebuilding, general manager John Schneider appears to have positioned the Seahawks for the next step by creating enough salary cap room to meet the most pressing needs.

Consider what’s at stake. Seahawks fans might trigger a seismic event from outrage if running back Marshawn Lynch takes his beastly style elsewhere.

And Red Bryant has likewise become an exemplar of spirited toughness for the Seahawks on defense.

These two are at the top of the list of 18 unrestricted free agents with whom the Seahawks may exclusively negotiate.

Coach Pete Carroll stressed a keep-our-own philosophy in his latest press conference.

“(Cap-wise) we have some room. … We really want to focus on the guys on our team right now, and I want that to be a strong message that we believe in the guys that we have put together here (as) the foundation of a championship team.”

There’s no question that players watch how the front office operates. Do the managers reward the guys who have produced?

Carroll praised Lynch’s “ferocity” as a running back and recognized its influence on the rest of the team. “His willingness to fight and claw and scratch for every inch is exactly what you want your football players to play like,” Carroll said last week. “So we’re going to try to hold on to him and get him back here and play for us again, and see if we can get all of that done.”

Applying the franchise designation to Lynch is an option, and would cost in the $8 million range. The Seahawks have covered that ground. Shaun Alexander had roughly 200 more carries than Lynch through his first five seasons.

In that pre-free-agent period of 2005, the Seahawks arrived at long-term deals with key cogs Matt Hasselbeck and Walter Jones, and then franchised Alexander. Before camp, they arrived at a one-year deal with Alexander with the promise they wouldn’t franchise him again the next season.

Alexander went on to be the league MVP with 370 carries and a record 27 rushing touchdowns that season. It led to a huge (but heavily back-loaded contract) the next year, and his productivity declined dramatically. He was gone after two more seasons.

Bryant is less of a risk of flight than Lynch. He confessed he wants to stay here, and the market will not be as strong for a run-stopping defensive end.

Carroll listed improvement in speed at linebacker as a goal, which can be a reflection of the limits to which they will pay to retain veterans David Hawthorne and Leroy Hill. Hawthorne has led the team in tackles three straight years, but it has taken a physical toll.

The arrival of free agent Zach Miller mitigated the injury loss of John Carlson at tight end, although, as Carlson qualifies for free agency, Carroll said he would like to have them both.

Fullback Mike Robinson was important in Lynch’s success this season, and he’s a valuable special-teams player and leader.

Like Robinson, tackle Breno Giacomini seems like another whose value to the Sea-hawks might be higher than to other teams. He filled in so well after the injury to rookie James Carpenter that he has starter potential and is, at the least, valuable insurance in case Carpenter’s rehab stalls.

“These guys that are here with us are the guys we’d like to keep around and are crucial,” Carroll said. “And we’ll do everything we can to make all those decisions properly.”

It’s important to consider his wording. He did not say they’d pay whatever it took to keep those players, but rather they’d do everything to make the decisions properly.

Just because they have the cap room, then, does not mean the Seahawks intend to dramatically overpay a player.

It often seems as if the best teams don’t make big splashes bringing in other teams’ free agents because they do such a good job of developing their own talent “in-house” and then keeping them under contract.

These are the debates and negotiations that take place behind the scenes these days. But they’re critical to shaping the franchise.

via Will Hawks pay price? | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said his team could use an infusion of speed on both sides of the ball, particularly along the front seven defensively, and a playmaker on offense.

When asked at a season-ending press conference last week where he thought his team needed to improve, Carroll said he wanted to add speed at linebacker, increase the team’s ability to pass rush off the edge and from the interior of the defensive line and find more scoring punch.

“You’re always looking for touchdown makers on offense,” Carroll said. “You always want to get guys that can score. So if there’s a wide receiver in the draft that would be cool, if there’s a big-time running back that would be cool.”

seattle seahawks’ final grades

quarterback

Not many expected Tarvaris Jackson to finish 7-7 as a starter. He showed toughness playing with a torn pectoral muscle for much of the season. Already tabbed the team’s starter in 2012, Jackson’s failure to lead the Seahawks from behind late in games could force the team to look for better alternatives.

grade: c

running back

Marshawn Lynch rushed for a career-high 1,204 yards and 13 scored total TDs (12 rushing). Both Lynch and fullback Michael Robinson were first-alternates for the Pro Bowl. Now, the Seahawks have to decide how much they want to pay the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Lynch to keep the team’s best player.

grade: b+

offensive line

They went through six starting combinations and finished the season with three-fifths of the team’s projected starting line on the injured reserve. Still, Seattle effectively ran the ball at the end of the season, a tribute to the teaching skills of offensive line/assistant head coach Tom Cable.

grade: b+

receivers

High-dollar free agent pickups Sidney Rice (wide receiver) and Zach Miller (tight end) underperformed, as did top returning wideout Mike Williams. But undrafted rookie free agent Doug Baldwin was a standout, and Golden Tate showed improvement in his second season.

grade: c

defensive line

The front four played stout against the run, but other than a team-high 11 sacks from Chris Clemons this group struggles to consistently get pressure on the passer.

grade: b

linebackers

For a third straight season, David Hawthorne was the Seahawks’ leader in tackles (115). Hawthorne could leave in free agency, along with veteran Leroy Hill. Rookie K.J. Wright proved to be the most versatile of the three, making him a solid replacement for jettisoned Aaron Curry.

grade: b

secondary

Earl Thomas earned his first Pro Bowl invitation, while fellow safety Kam Chancellor and cornerback Brandon Browner were selected as first alternates. Rookie corner Richard Sherman finished with four interceptions in 10 starts, and could join his teammates on that list next year.

grade: b

special teams

Leon Washington was solid, but not as explosive as last season. Punter Jon Ryan had another good season, and kicker Steven Hauschka made people forget about Olindo Mare. The usually solid coverage units gave up three return touchdowns and were one of the most penalized groups in the NFL this season.

grade: c

coaching

Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider have revamped the roster, with the Seahawks going from the seventh-oldest team last season to the second-youngest. Impressively, Seattle stayed competitive while doing so, and appears primed to make a legitimate playoff run next season.

grade: b+

We hand out the Seahawks’ final grades | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

Coach Pete Carroll had no idea how long it would take.

He admitted that without hesitation during his first day on the job as Seahawks coach. He stood behind a podium in his suit and tie two years ago and asked about the timeline for contention before anyone else could.

“Nobody has asked yet, ‘How long is it going to take you?’ ” he said. “I don’t know. I’ve got no idea. I wish I could tell you. I don’t know that.”

Carroll has a better idea after concluding his second season in Seattle, and it sounds like the clock is officially ticking.

“We feel like we’ve arrived at a foundation point right now,” Carroll said Tuesday.

The construction isn’t complete by any means. There’s still the question of a long-term quarterback and the need to improve the pass rush. But this franchise is no longer a fixer-upper. The roster has been retrofitted. The Seahawks have gotten younger, they have gotten faster and over the past two months this team has shown itself to be competitive.

That wasn’t always true a year ago. Sure, the Seahawks had one of the most memorable playoff victories in franchise history, but they also lost nine games by 16 or more points. Being the first 7-9 division champion in NFL history isn’t the kind of thing anyone aspires to.

It’s different now. Seattle has forged itself an identity.

“We know the formula,” Carroll said. “We know the style, we love the toughness, we like the way we prepare, the mentality in our locker room, the communication between the coaches and the players gives us a chance to really grow.”

This offseason isn’t just about addition, but avoiding attrition. That job starts with bringing back players like running back Marshawn Lynch and defensive end Red Bryant, who are among the 18 players scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.

“We really want to focus on the guys on our team right now,” Carroll said. “I want that to be a strong message. We believe the guys we put together here are the foundation of a championship team.”

There’s also the possibility that another team could come looking at Tom Cable as a potential head coach. Cable oversaw the restoration of Seattle’s rushing offense this season as the Seahawks had their first 1,000-yard rusher in six years and improved from No. 31 to No. 21 in the league in rushing yardage.

“He’s a really good football coach,” Carroll said of Cable, “and he has a tremendous impact on a football team. We felt it. It was a tremendous get for us to have Tom come here.

“It’s just a matter of time before somebody recognizes that and wants to come after him. I don’t know when that’s going to happen. I’m cutting the wires on his telephone here … I’d better get his cellphone instead, huh? As far as I know, nothing has happened at this point.”

It’s early, though. The offseason is just getting started, but already it’s clear that Seattle’s to-do list is fundamentally different from what it was the previous two years.

After five victories in the past eight games, Carroll enters this offseason believing this team is ready.

“Now we’ve got to grow up,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to do something with it. We haven’t done anything yet, but we feel like we’re at the point where we can … I’m really enthusiastic and excited about what we can do now.

“But we’ve got to go do it. Saying all that doesn’t mean a darn thing until we go out and do something with this offseason and come into preseason raring to go.”

via Seahawks | Pete Carroll believes Seahawks ready for next step | Seattle Times Newspaper.

You may remember last year’s Seattle Seahawks season post-mortem, when the re-signing of free-agent quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was listed as the team’s top priority.

If so, you’ll understand the wisdom of only loosely interpreting pronouncements about personnel matters made by NFL coaches or executives this time of year. Perhaps especially in regard to the quarterback position.

Shifting factors of expense and availability change the placement of the pieces on the board in ways that can’t be predicted at this point. And there’s still months of contract posturing and roster politics before free agency even starts. Then comes the draft.

So, they still express love for everybody they’ve got, and fervently wish to keep anybody who might be eligible to get away. Simply, it does no good to publicly marginalize guys you may end up having to count on later if other options don’t pan out.

While re-upping stars such as Marshawn Lynch and Red Bryant are obviously critical to Seahawks success in 2012, much of coach Pete Carroll’s Tuesday season-ender news conference focused on returning quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

Carroll expressed his appreciation for Jackson’s toughness and leadership. He fairly pointed out that some of his struggles (79.2 passer rating and inability to generate late-game scoring drives) was at least partially influenced by factors other than Jackson.

Carroll stressed from the start that he expects to challenge every player at every position. And that obviously includes quarterback.

But how? The question was put to Carroll, as it relates to quarterback, do you have a preference – bringing in a veteran or a young prospect?

In essence, the question is whether he’d rather have a soon-to-be free agent such as Matt Flynn of Green Bay, or a draft pick he can shape from the start.

He was emphatic: He is intrigued by young guys. And it’s clear he’s given it a great deal of thought while flipping 180 degrees on the issue.

“My opinion in the last few years has changed on what the quarterbacks can do coming out of college,” he said. “I would have told you in years past, as an NFL coach, that young guys can’t do it and there were only a couple that ever did, and that wasn’t enough to make that an expectation that you could count on. But I think that’s totally shifted. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”

He saw rookies Matt Ryan (Atlanta) and Joe Flacco (Baltimore) lead their teams into the playoffs in 2008. The next year, Mark Sanchez took the New York Jets to the AFC Championship game.

With further success by rookies Cam Newton of Carolina and Andy Dalton in Cincinnati, Carroll said he’s convinced “there’s a carryover in the upbringing of quarterbacks that now is allowing them to transition much more quickly.

“I think it’s all a product of the whole football world growing in the confidence and belief in the throwing game.”

He used USC’s Matt Barkley as an example of how quarterbacks are being developed at an earlier age. He could not comment on Barkley as a prospect since Barkley did not declare for the draft, but his experience is relevant.

Barkley, he said, has been throwing the same routes and reading defenses since seventh grade. And complex college schemes make just about any of them more NFL-ready now.

The Hawks could have taken Dalton in the first round last spring, but went with Alabama tackle James Carpenter, hoping to shore up the offensive line before bringing in a young quarterback.

Dalton took the Bengals into the playoffs and looks like Cincinnati’s long-term quarterback at a bargain rookie contract of $5.2 million over four seasons.

Meanwhile, Arizona went the other route, trading a second-round draft pick and a starting cornerback to Philadelphia for veteran backup quarterback Kevin Kolb, and then committing $21 million in guaranteed money in a potential $63 million package.

In contrast to Dalton, Kolb has been limited with injuries and was unspectacular at a high price.

Seahawks GM John Schneider, Carroll assured, is well into the evaluation process of all quarterback options already.

via Sounds like Hawks thinking QB in draft | Seattle Seahawks – The News Tribune.

In a season-ender news conference peppered with quarterback questions, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll also was able to make his points on other topics.

Pete Carroll conducted his season-ender news conference standing behind the same podium he has all season in the auditorium at Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

But a spit might have been a more appropriate perch for the Seahawks’ second-year coach because of the way he was grilled concerning the team’s quarterback situation and incumbent starter Tarvaris Jackson. Carroll was asked about the position, or the player, or both, more than half-a-dozen times during his roughly 45-minute Q&A session.

The bottom-line assessment for any and all questions remains unchanged, no matter how many times Carroll is asked about it: Jackson is the starter moving into the offseason because, “He’s our No. 1 guy in the program and that’s all we have right now,” as Carroll put it.

But that does not – and will not – preclude the team from looking for a quarterback in free agency or the NFL Draft.

“But we will compete at all spots,” Carroll said. “I want to very clear to you that there is no misunderstanding that that’s the theme in this program – competing. That means you’re always looking to get better and you’re always pushing in every way, and if we’re not we’re not competing. And that’s wrong for us. That’s not our right mindset. That’s it.

“I’m not trying to send any mixed messages and you shouldn’t take any out it, because there isn’t. That’s it.”

In between the barrage of queries about the QB situation, Carroll was able to make his points on other topics:

The number of young players who not only played, but made plays – The Seahawks finished their season against the Cardinals with three rookie starters and 10 others who were in their first season as starters in Seattle.

“There’s just so many positive things to look towards when you think how young this team was and how much this natural jump occurs between Year One and Year Two,” Carroll said.

As a prime example, he pointed to free safety Earl Thomas, who was a flashy player as a rookie but became a Pro Bowl player in his second season.

“Earl played a tremendous football season this year,” Carroll said. “He had a great season, and the numbers don’t show it because you don’t see the picks (two, compared to five last season). But his affect on what we’ve done and the affect of the guys on the back end in creating the defense that has improved tremendously from one year to the next is kind of what I’m holding onto that we can see dramatic advancements by a lot of guys.

“Knowing that they’re going to improve is really where the focus is right now.”

Doug Baldwin – Carroll was asked if there was one player that surprised him this season and the obvious choice was the rookie free agent who led the team in receptions (51) and receiving yards (788). Carroll referred to Baldwin as “our eighth-round draft choice.”

He was the team’s top priority after the draft, and proved to be the most-productive of a promising group that also included wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, QB Josh Portis, linebacker Mike Morgan and safety Jeron Johnson.

“Doug was as consistent as can be from the day he got here and we thought he was going to be a really good player,” Carroll said. “But I think that’s the biggest surprise – that he could take it that far.”

Free agency – The Seahawks have the salary-cap space to be players, but their primary plays will be retaining their own players – a group that includes running back Marshawn Lynch, defensive end Red Bryant, middle linebacker David Hawthorne and fullback Michael Robinson.

“Our first concern is to take care of our team, and take care of the guys that are unrestricted on our team,” Carroll said. “We have some room, and we’re going to be able to do some stuff. But we really want to focus on the guys on our team right now.

“I want that to be a strong message: We believe in the guys that we’ve put together here who are the foundation of a championship team.”

via Carroll looks back, but mostly ahead.