What is happening in the National Football League? Every day the infirmary report seems to include dozens of casualties and some of the most high profile players are standing around the training camp practice fields in street clothes or jogging suits with ballcaps. The Seahawks have been no exception, nor has division rivals San Francisco been able to avoid the injury bug to several players and at key positions.
Just prior to the NFL draft, national sporting news sources picked up on the so-called arms race between the Seahawks and the 49ers. Each of their moves seemed to be connected in some way to the transactions of both teams. Early in the off-season, the Seahawks made a blockbuster trade to bring the highly sought after, multi dimensional wide receiver, Percy Harvin, to Seattle. Almost immediately, Jim Harbaugh's Niners made a trade with the Baltimore Ravens to acquire wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Not exactly a tit-for-tat equal with the Harvin pickup, but it was clearly a move to keep up with the Seahawks potentially superior aerial attack. Boldin provides a big bodied receiver that San Francisco didn't have on the roster last year except for perhaps Vernon Davis, their tight end. With big hands and the ability to physically take the ball away from defenders, Boldin added a new dimension to a defense that featured primarily speedy, but shorter wide receivers. Because the Seahawks have such unusually tall, physical defensive backs, it's presumed that Harbaugh needed players who could match up with the press, man-to-man style coverage that Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner present. Boldin had an outstanding 2012 season with the Ravens, showing exactly the kind of physicality that the 49ers needed to counter the tough corner play of the Seahawks huge DBs known from the Pacific to the Atlantic as "The Legion of Boom."
Next, Seahawks GM John Schneider worked some magic to bring sack-master, free-agent defensive end, Cliff Avril, to Seattle to shore up the Seahawks pass rush. Last season, the Seahawks improved their pressure on the quarterback, but only by four sacks did they improve from the previous season 32/36. That wasn't satisfactory to the Seahawks organization and they meant to do something about it. Avril was a free agent, having several successful seasons with the Detroit Lions, but the Lions requisitioned most of their salary cap reserves toward their offense to improve the rushing attack acquiring Reggie Bush from the Dolphins and to pay Calvin Johnson who recently signed a $135 million contract for seven years, with $60 million of that guaranteed. This made Avril a numbers game for them and because the Seahawks had such a promising season, Seattle has become a destination for veteran players looking for a chance to get on with the team that could possibly challenge for Super Bowl. Schneider negotiated a two-year deal for Avril, for approximately $7 million a year Before the 2012 season, the Lions offered Avril a franchise tag of over $10 million for one season and he turned it down. Avril was asked whether or not he regretted turning down the offer, but he said that he believed everything happens for a reason and he was glad to be in Seattle to show his talent and help the Seahawks compete for a division title and perhaps a lot more.
Almost immediately after signing Avril, Schneider parlayed his luck going after former Seahawks Michael Bennett, who was a free agent and left for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers released Bennett and the Seahawks were fortunate enough to be able to sign him to a one-year deal in Seattle. The Buccaneers fan base was furious to see their best pass rushing defensive end leave. Bennett is familiar with Seattle's system and should fit right in without much in terms of growing pains learning Seattle's defensive sets. This gave the Seahawks the best two of three defensive pass rushing free agents on the market. San Francisco answered by signing first-round draft pick from 2008, Glenn Dorsey, who became a free agent after a disappointing four seasons with the Chiefs who released him leaving him an unrestricted free agent. He was expected to be a standout defensive end, and San Francisco is hoping that a change of scenery will improve his play on the field.
The Seahawks continued their gluttony of good defensive line free agents by signing defensive tackle, Tony McDaniel, a 6'7" 305lb. earth-mover from the Miami Dolphins. McDaniel is an interior pass rushing tackle who ironically uses all of his 6'7" to get down and develop leverage on offensive lineman. It is extremely rare for such a tall defensive tackle to be effective in the interior defensive line, but McDaniel has been a great run stopper with the Miami Dolphins and should be able to help Seattle replace Alan Branch who had a subpar season particularly against the run last year.
The Niners, suffering in their defensive secondary, due to the casualties of pro-bowl safety, Deshon Goldson, to free agency and the inconsistent play of Carlos Rogers, Chris Cullinver and Dante Whitner, made a move to pick up free-agent, Nnamdi Asomugha, the former standout from the Oakland Raiders. Asomugha played three years in Philadelphia first, where he drastically underperformed his huge contract, forcing the Eagles to release him. Again, the 49ers are hoping that another veteran underachieving will come closer to achieving their potential in the Bay Area.
The Seahawks appeared to react to the Asomugha deal in San Francisco by signing the best available slot corner, Antoine Winfield, who was released by the Vikings for financial reasons. Winfield will nicely fill out an already ridiculously talented defensive secondary in Seattle. At 36 years old and entering his 15th season, Winfield still has a lot in the tank, but he will be a nickel and dime back on primarily passing downs allowing him to rest so that he's fresh on every down. Winfield is a masterful open field tackler and in coverage, hasn't given up a touchdown pass in three years. Although, even older than Marcus Trufant, Winfield doesn't have a litany of injuries slowing him down. Trufant was released and acquired immediately on waivers by Gus Bradley, the Jacksonville Jaguars new head coach, after Bradley left Seattle's defensive coordinator job.
Since the slew of new acquisitions by both the Hawks and Niners, things have slowed down somewhat in terms of veteran free-agent acquisitions. However, the Seahawks acquired Brett Swain, a WR dropped by the Niners and San Francisco acquired Charly Martin and Ricardo Lockett formerly wide receivers with the Seahawks earlier in the year.
There's definitely something going on between the Seahawks and the Niners, but most of it really couldn't be categorized by good or bad. What can be categorized is the injury onslaught on both teams and throughout the NFL. Ironically, before the 2011 season when the NFLPA and the league officials came to terms on the new collective bargaining agreement, the stipulation on work conditions restricted coaches from continuing several traditional agendas developed over the decades since the NFL AFL merger in 1970. Gone are the days of the grueling two-a-day practices sessions and full pads and helmets contact drills throughout training camp. Now, coaches are limited to one training session per day and the number of hours are limited. Also limited, are the number of minicamps and OTA's leading up to the summer training camp. With nearly no real game like player contact during drills and scrimmages and limited hours on the practice field, it's astonishing how many moderate and serious injuries have been reported even before contact drills commenced. Reports of; concussions, ACL tears, Achilles tears, hamstringing injuries, Hip and shoulder injuries and ankle and foot injuries have dominated the training camp headlines and many of them are season ending injuries or at least injuries that will preclude players from practicing or taking part in preseason games. It's difficult to evaluate the difference between coaches and trainers being extra sensitive to nagging but insignificant injuries or if players are just getting injured at an alarming rate. Even before teams began engaging in serious player contact drills, there there have been reports of several notable players ruled out for the season already;
TE Dennis Pitta, Ravens
CB Chris Cullinver, 49ers
WR Santonio Holmes, Jets
WR Jeremy Maclin, Eagles
TE Anthony McCoy, Seahawks
WR Michael Crabtree, 49ers
DL Tyrone Crawford, Cowboys
C Dan Koppen, Broncos
WR Armon Binns, Dolphins
DL Jason Pierre Paul, Giants
LB Jason Phillips,Eagles
There are far more than this list injured, but some have indefinite return predictions and some are held out for minor injuries without explanation by the teams doctors or trainers.Regardless of the severity of each of their injuries, it's not debatable on how much precious time they're missing to prepare for the upcoming regular-season, particularly the rookies and younger players as well as players new to the system.
So, the questions beg; "What is making the injury statistics skyrocket during the NFL off-season and preseason camp activities? With the shorter camp sessions and decreased amount of player contact with pads and helmets, why are so many players getting injured? How severe are these injuries that are landing scores of players on physically unable to perform lists and the non-football injury category before the big hitting even starts? One thing is for certain, it's time to revisit the idea that shorter training camps and shorter fitness training before the season is helping players stay uninjured and ready for the regular-season. Something isn't working,
1 comment:
Franchise owners need to fall back to the work rules of the common man...if you can't do the job...no pay!
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