A new year means new hope

It's finally training camp time again! That wonderful time of year when even Browns fans have high hopes. Seahawk fans are in the same boat as the browns right now. We can see potential, but nothing has been tested yet. With a new coach (USC mastermind Pete Carrol) a great draft class that includes immediate impact players such as Russell Okung, Safety Earl Thomas and Wide-out Golden Tate. The future of Mike Williams looks pretty bright at this point as well. Williams has stood out at all the team workouts to this point. If Matt Hasselbeck can stay healthy (which should be easier with Okung protecting his blind side) we have the potential to turn this ship around this year. Lets look at this. Matt's targets this year are TJ, Williams and Tate at receiver. We have phenom John Carlson at tight end and running back Justin Forsett catching passes out of the backfield. At first glance that looks like a pretty potent offense. The problem is, if Matt gets hurt the team falls on its face. He is the motor that powers this offense, without him we don't move. Protecting him has to be our #1 priority.

Now lets take a look at the defensive side of the ball. While Kerney will be missed, he really hasn't been a big part of the defense for the last 2 seasons due to injuries anyway. We still have Jackson on one side and he is a force to be reckoned with. At the tackles we have a few choices but they all have question marks. In my mind the defensive line is the weak link in our defense. That's not good news when you look at the running backs in our division. Our linebacking corp is arguably one of the best in the league with Lofa Tatupu leading the charge. Our corners need to step their play up from last year. Trufant needs to bring his "A" game this year. He got beat too many times last year. The safeties got a major upgrade with Lawyer Milloy and Earl Thomas out there.

In closing, our defense needs to play better and Matt needs to stay healthy. If that can happen then we should be leading the West again this year. Here's to hope! Only time will tell if that hope gets crushed or validated. Go Hawks!