The Wheel in the Sky Keeps On Turnin'

It's hard to believe that there were nine head coaching changes after the season had ended. And that doesn't include San Francisco and Oakland who fired their coaches mid-season. They, however, decided to avoid the head coaching market and retained intern coaches, Mike Singletary and Tom Cable.

Because there were nine teams to analyze, I have decided to split it up into two installments so ladies and gentleman without further ado, part I.


-Seattle-


This was the last git-go for Mike Holmgren as he had decided this would be his final year before the season began. With this expected news Seattle wasted no time in promoting Jim Mora Jr to coach in waiting. This offseason Mora brought in Greg Knapp who had spent the previous two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders. Mora and Knapp are well acquainted as the two spent three seasons together, 2004-2006, as head coach and offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons.

Knapp's forte is the west coast offense so look for Seattle to focus on the running game and throw short quick passes. This bodes well for rbs Julius Jones and TJ Duckett. They are coming off disappointing seasons, and you never know who Seattle will bring in through the draft or free agency so consider these guys sleepers at best. QB Matt Hasselbeck is coming off a disappointing season also. This coupled with the fact that the focus is going to be on the ground game limit his potential for next season. He's a solid backup QB but don't rely on him as your starter.

The wide receiving core is riddled with question marks, and injuries. Deion Branch when healthy is a quality no. 2 borderline no.1 receiver, however, he spent much of last season on the sidelines due to injury. Bobby Engram is entering his 14th year, and has had injury problems of his own. This is why many draft experts have Seattle drafting Michael Crabtree, the young phenom from Texas Tech. At 6-3 214 Crabtree has excellent hands and playmaking ability after the catch. He also won the Biletnikoff Award in his only two seasons at Texas Tech. He clearly has the talent to be an outstanding player in the league. In a one year league use a middle to late round pick on him as rookie wide receivers tend to struggle adjusting to the NFL game. In a keeper league he should be drafted near the middle of the first round after the top-tier running backs have been taken.

Gus Bradley, who was previously Tampa Bay's linebacker's coach looks to bring the Tampa 2 defense with him to Seattle. The Tampa 2 is known for its solid defenses in fantasy play and this unit should be no exception as Seattle has talent on the defensive side of the ball with linebacker L. Tatupu and cornerback M. Trufant. The talent of the teams in their conference doesn't hurt matters either.