Undrafted Rookies, Quarterbacks, and Zee
We had a server problem yesterday that kept Seahawk Addicts offline for awhile, but the people at Bloguin fixed it and got us back up and running as quickly as possible. My apologies to any of you who got a 403 error instead of Seahawks news yesterday.
Yesterday, Seahawks.com announced that the team had signed 19 undrafted free agents, which we've all been waiting to see happen since the end of the draft back in April. I'll have something up later with more details about each player (or at least as much detail as is available), but for now here's the list:
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| Position | Name | College |
| DE | Pierre Allen | Nebraska |
| DE | Jarrett Crittenton | Middle Tennessee State |
| DT | Ladi Ajiboye | South Carolina |
| LB | Deron Minor | McNeese State |
| LB | Mike Morgan | USC |
| CB | Jesse Hoffman | Eastern Washington |
| CB | Ron Parker | Newberry |
| S | Jeron Johnson | Boise State |
| S | Rickey Thenarse | Nebraska |
| G | Michael Huey | Texas |
| G/C | Brent Osborne | Harvard |
| T | Zach Hurd | Connecticut |
| QB | Zach Lee | Nebraska |
| QB | Josh Portis | California (PA) |
| FB | Dorson Boyce | Washington |
| WR | Doug Baldwin | Stanford |
| WR | Ricardo Lockette | Fort Valley State |
| TE | Ryan Travis | West Liberty |
| P | John Gold | Texas |
The other big news is that Hasselbeck will not be returning to the Seahawks. Competing to replace him will be Charlie Whitehurst, the two rookies in the list above (Lee and Portis), and possibly Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Leinart, although Leinart is also currently reported to be eyeing the Redskins as an alternative destination to the Seahawks. Here's Zee Samnani with his take on the situation:
So the big news of the day is that Hasselbeck will reportedly sign with Tennessee. As hard as that is to see, we need to remember that Hasselbeck is 35 and there’s no doubt that he has lost the skills he had when he was a pro bowler. To replace him the Seahawks will sign Matt Leinart and Tarvaris Jackson, and both will compete with Charlie Whitehurst for the starting job.
A lot of fans are mad about these moves because they believe that Kevin Kolb was the best QB option for the team. However, the asking price for Kolb is way too high: there are reports that the Cardinals are offering cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2nd round pick for the Eagles’ quarterback. That’s too much to give up for someone who still hasn’t proven himself in this league and has only started seven career games. If the Seahawks had made this deal, it would’ve cost a 1st and 3rd round pick, plus some quality young players.
In the seven games he played last season (five of them starts), Kolb threw 7 interceptions on 189 attempts for an average of one interception every 27 attempts. For comparison, Hasselbeck threw 17 interceptions on 444 attempts for an average of one every 26.1 attempts, and master of the back-breaking interception Jay Cutler threw 16 interceptions on 432 attempts for an average of one every 27 attempts. Stats-wise, that isn’t good company. In short, the Seahawks may not have made the right move by pursuing Jackson and Leinart, but Kolb was not a better option.
