The Seahawks host the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, kicking off their week of practice Wednesday, which means today we have time for another round of Twitter questions from you the fans. As always, thanks to those who asked questions, and apologies if I wasn't able to get to your question.
@stretchjohnsen asks, "Based on their progress to date, what are the chances that Mark Glowinski and/or Kristjan Sokoli start in 2016?"
A: It's still way too early to start projecting next year's offensive line. For starters, we don't know who all will be on the team next year, both in terms of who could leave and who could be added, and secondly, how the current line plays between now and the end of the season could also impact decisions made in the offseason.
All of that being said, however, it's understandable people want to know what is happening with the three linemen the Seahawks drafted this year, fourth-round picks Terry Poole and Mark Glowinski, and sixth-round pick Kristjan Sokoli. Unlike some positions that rotate players in and out such as defensive line, receiver or running back, offensive linemen tend to never leave the field unless there's an injury, so fans haven't seen anything from Glowinski and Sokoli, other than one play from Glowinski last week when J.R. Sweezy briefly left the game, or from Poole, who was on the practice squad before being placed on practice squad injured reserve Tuesday.
Asked about those players last week, offensive line coach Tom Cable said he was seeing "continued improvement, little by little. I think the transition (from defensive line to offense) for Kristjan is starting to take hold, which is pretty cool to see. For Terry, he really was kind of out whack learning what pro football was all about, and now I think he's starting to find that. Mark's pretty solid. We feel like we could put Mark in there to play."
Cable said the Seahawks didn't add those three players in the draft ever expecting they would contribute right away, but rather as players who could be developed for the future.
"I think it's kind of right where we thought," Cable said. "You need to start to develop that younger group coming up, so you want to stay on that and stay in that mindset.
@Gink_1228 asks, "(1) Should I make sage, corn bread or oyster stuffing, (2) inside the turkey or as a casserole?"
A: I'm no stuffing expert, but I'm intrigued by the idea of oyster stuffing, so that gets my vote. As for part two of that question, oysters inside a turkey sounds a bit strange, so let's go with casserole.
@kkurt13 asks, "What will be done to fix the Seahawks' issues against opposing tight ends before they face Heath Miller on Sunday?"
A: There were a few questions about tight ends this week after San Francisco's Vance McDonald became the latest tight end to score a touchdown against Seattle. And while it's worth pointing out before panicking about Seattle's coverage of tight ends that the Seahawks rank second in both passing yards and total yards allowed and seventh in scoring defense, it is true that opposing tight ends have had more success than have opposing receivers this season. While the Seahawks would prefer to give up fewer catches and fewer touchdowns to everyone on the field, tight ends in particular being targeted is, to a degree, by design.
"I think it's because we do play aggressive outside, and the ball does get pushed inside a lot," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said earlier this season. "Pushed inside and underneath. And we've played very good players and all that. We would like to do better against those guys, but I think that's the first thing I think of. We're lining up on those wide guys as much as we can, and getting right up in their face and trying to make it hard on them outside. And the ball gets pushed inside a little bit more because of that."
Does that mean the Seahawks are happy with the way they have defended tight ends all season? Of course not, as Carroll said, "we would like to do better against those guys." But by no means to the Seahawks feel like their defense is broken; instead they know that by cleaning up a few issues, especially in zone coverage, they can be even better going forward.
@johnpboyle can lynch ice skate — Ben (@IntentDeath12) November 24, 2015
@IntentDeath12 asks, "Can Marshawn Lynch ice skate?"
A: Honestly, I have no idea. I will say that if he doesn't know how to, I would guess he'd be a quick study considering his quick feet, balance and overall athletic ability.
Now I am confident in saying that Lynch could handle driving the Zamboni.
@willherbstone asks, "What will Jeremy Lane's role be for his first week back?"
A: Carroll said Lane should be back in action this week for the first time since suffering serious knee and arm injuries in the Super Bowl. While Lane has been Seattle's nickel corner in the past, Carroll said it's too soon to know how Lane will fit into the defense when he does return. Lane could jump right back into the nickel spot, or he could compete for time at right cornerback, a position Carroll said is up for competition after DeShawn Shead replaced Cary Williams there in the second half against San Francisco. It's also possible given Lane's long layoff that he could be worked in slowly in his first game back and split time at one or both of those positions.
@Cougarboy85 asks, "Zone read only works if the QB actually keeps it occasionally. Russell Wilson seems to be doing that less this year. Any numbers to back that up?
A: I don't have a number in terms of how often Wilson has kept on the zone read this year, but while Wilson running at roughly the same rate as last year, you're probably right in observing that fewer of those have been of the zone-read variety. That in part has to do with the offense trying to get back to a more downhill rushing attack from under center, but also because as offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell noted last month, more teams are accounting for Wilson in the running game since he has been so dangerous there.
"Russell's a major factor for us, and I think defenses are definitely accounting for him," Bevell said. "Whether it's in the run game with zone-read, or not, and then any time we have a handoff fake there's always somebody. I think that they're checking him. So we look for opportunities to do it. It doesn't have to be a major part of us, but it's something that we like to use."
@ByTimBooth asks, "When does the next Super Mario Bros. come out?"
A: Associated Press reporter Tim Booth apparently wanted to make fun of my mustache, even though I'm growing it for a good cause (OK, it is kinda creepy). Well, Tim, I know of no new Super Mario brothers in the works, but I do know you ought to be careful with any hair-related jokes… Something about stones and glass houses.
@josephmuldoon asks, "Are the Seahawks still working with George Farmer making the conversion to CB, and any updates on his progress?"
A: Yes, that conversion is still ongoing, with Farmer currently a member of Seattle's practice squad. For those unfamiliar with Farmer, he is a former receiver at USC who the Seahawks signed this summer with the hopes of making him a cornerback.
""George was a tremendous athlete (in high school), a great track runner from a great school that featured track guys," Carroll said during training camp. "So we're playing him on defense, we want to see what he looks like. It didn't work out for him offensively… So we'll see what happens."
@MoneyLynch24 asks, "Messi or Ronaldo?"
A: I mean, I posted this on Twitter when my daughter was three weeks old, so there's probably not a lot of mystery about where I stand on this debate.
But thanks for giving me an excuse to watch this at work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ZPNhIuuMo
@GOSeahawks12 asks, "What is the current situation with Thomas Rawls and Marshawn Lynch? Who will be starting now, especially with Lynch's injury?"
A: While there's no update yet on Lynch beyond the fact that he went to Philadelphia to see a specialist, Carroll didn't sound optimistic about the running back's chances of playing this week regardless of what they hear about this visit. So it looks like, for this week at least, Rawls is probably the lead back, but what will be interesting is to see how carries are divided if/when both are healthy going forward. Rawls has been very good when given an opportunity, including games of 209 and 169 rushing yards, but Lynch is still one of the very best in the game when he's healthy, so it's not like a healthy Lynch is going to sit on the bench. Let's just say that would be a problem the Seahawks would love to have to sort out going forward.
@PFF_Jim asks, "Ham or turkey for Thanksgiving?"
A: Wait, is ham on Thanksgiving a thing? In general, I'd actually prefer ham to turkey, but on thanksgiving? No way.
