Does Carroll want to win?

Never in this century have I had more mixed feelings on a Seahawks opening day

The season's beginning offers a good opportunity to evaluate the "Great Collaboration" between head coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider.

Analysts in the press and on the web have debated whether Seattle is rebuilding; Carroll and Schneider hotly deny this, insisting that the goal is to win now.

Looking at the personnel changes they have made, the question is whether they ever want to win.

What were they thinking when they looked at last year's roster and decided that the team's weakness was its receiving corps?

In Nate Burleson, John Carlson, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the team already had an above-average trio of starting pass catchers.

Why not just re-sign Burleson, a talented receiver, a dangerous returner, and a hometown kid with a great attitude?


Is the new starting tandem of Mike Williams and Deion Branch an upgrade over last year's wideout duo of Burleson and Houshmandzadeh?

Do the Seahawks get better value and production from paying Housh $7 million to play for the Seahawks, or by paying him nearly $6 million to start for the Ravens?


Why bring in so many athletes to compete to play wideout? This is not the NCAA, where a good receiver can dominate a game by virtue of freakish speed and size, compared to the college norm. In the NFL, every player is an athletic freak of nature, so the large talent disparities seen in college ball simply do not exist.


Instead of wasting so much time and effort failing to upgrade the receiving corps, why not address the real root of the offense's underproduction: our weak line?
As a result of Carroll and Schneider's relative neglect of the O-Line, the Seahawks once again begin the season with an unsettled and thus far unimpressive front five.

Similarly, the Great Collaborators have apparently failed to upgrade our feeble defensive line.


Worst of all, the team traded away cornerback Josh Wilson for a 5th-round pick. Wilson had been battling Kelly Jennings for a starting spot. Even if Jennings had the edge this year, why not keep Wilson as a hedge against injury, as a quality nickelback with demonstrated big play (pick six!) potential, and as a deadly kick returner?

The team explained that they got good value for Wilson because the Patriots got Randy Moss for a 4th-round pick a few years ago. Nonsense. At the time, Moss was in his 30s and in the midst of a career slump with the hapless Raiders; no one knew if he could return to form. Wilson, by contrast, is only 25 and in the prime of his career.

Schneider's personnel philosophy dictates an emphasis on youth, but a season without a salary cap offers an exceptional opportunity to upgrade the roster through short-term investments in veteran talent. This raises the question of whether Paul Allen wants to win. He is the richest owner in the NFL, which means for this one season, the Seahawks could have been the Yankees of the NFL, using a fat payroll to buy a championship. Was there no place on our weak offensive line for a Pro Bowler like Kevin Mawae?

There have been some encouraging signs. Despite offering obscene overcompensation to Charlie Whitehurst, Carroll sensibly concluded that Hasselbeck remains the best quarterback on the roster, making Whitehurst one of the league's best-paid clipboard holders. Similarly, Carroll wisely made Justin Forsett our starting running back, recognizing the little man's remarkable tenacity, his shifty running skills, and his automatic command of the zone blocking scheme. The move rightly relegated Julius Jones to third string, while Schneider played hardball to cut the underperforming back's salary down to size.

Of course, I hope I'm wrong. I hope Carroll and Schneider possess superior personnel insights that I cannot fathom, and that the changes they've made have in fact strengthened the team. I hope the coaching staff has schemes up their sleeve to protect Hasselbeck, establish a real running attack, and pressure and sack opposing quarterbacks. I shall be happy to eat some crow if we can beat the 49ers today.