Yardbarker: Courtney Taylor

Deion Branch: Who Replaces Him If He Gets Cut, Courtney Taylor?

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:57:07 -0500

That rumor mill has been swirling again with a lot bloggers from other teams hoping the Seahawks cut WR Deion Branch. Sure, he has not been that great here, he has a 44 catch, four TD average in his three seasons with the Seahawks. His best season was sadly the one he was not even here at the start of in 2006, hauling in 53 catches for 725 yards, and four TD's. Sure, he has missed 15 regular season games since he has been here, five a season average. Sure, at $5 million this season, he is...

Training camp takes its toll

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:45:03 -0500

Camp Mora Soreness Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley gets credit for that moniker after the Seahawks had their largest list of practice absences: WR Courtney Taylor (knee) and WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (ankle) were back practicing, but that was dwarfed by the list of absences: S Deon Grant (groin), CB Josh Wilson (groin), DE Patrick Kerney (unspecified), DE Cory Redding (unspecified), DE Lawrence Jackson (unspecified) in addition to the other previous injuries to C Chris Spencer (ankle), LB W...

Seahawks WR Courtney Taylor Clears Waivers, Signs To PS

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:13:05 -0500

Seahawks WR Courtney Taylor, released yesterday, cleared waivers and just came out to practice about 20 minutes after it started. So at the very...

Seahawks Release WR Courtney Taylor, Promote Jordan Kent

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:11:24 -0500

The Seahawks shuffled some receivers today, releasing Courtney Taylor, who started at flanker the first two games of the season, and signing former...

Seahawks Release WR Courtney Taylor, Promote Jordan Kent

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:05:59 -0500

The Seahawks shuffled some receivers today, releasing Courtney Taylor, who started at flanker the first two games of the season, and signing former...

NFL Survivor: Week 2

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:17:49 -0500

Over the last few days, I have gotten into discussions about these silly NFL survivor pools in both the comments here and over at the RMMB. For anyone who doesn't know, the rules are simple: each week you pick one team to win straight up. If they win, you move on to the next week; if they lose, you're eliminated. The last man standing wins. The only catch is that you can't pick the same team twice. For no particularly reason--the only "pool" I'm in is the stupid ESPN "Eliminator Challenge"--I find the discussion of these picks to be very interesting, so I've decided to, at least for now, do a weekly post on them.

The first thing to remember is that your picks should consider the size of the pool you're in. Basically, you need to consider how long you're going to have to "survive" in order to win. If you're in an office pool with 10 people, you can afford to use up all the good teams in the early weeks, since you probably won't have to survive very long to win. On the other hand, the ESPN pool currently has 108,498 entries left; I can't seem to find how long last year's winner lasted, but I'd guess it was Week 12 or so. If you pick the four best teams in the league in the first four weeks, you're going to have some trouble navigating through the next eight.

With that in mind, here are some survivor ideas for Week 2.

Tampa Bay (vs. Atlanta)

The key to these pools is to bet against bad teams, rather than betting on good ones. Of course, doing both would be ideal, but you can only bet on each good team once; you can fade the weak teams as often as you want. Despite last week's win over Detroit, the Falcons certainly qualify as one of the worst teams in the league, ranking 30th in Football Outsiders' current DAVE rankings.

The line opened at 9, and shifted to 7 when it was announced that Griese will start. The public has been on the Falcons at both numbers, which is a good sign for Tampa Bay backers. Looking at Tampa's schedule, this is almost certainly the most points they'll be favored by until their Week 17 game against Oakland.

Seattle (vs. San Francisco)

Another solid choice, with the Seahawks (14th best team in the league according to FO) hosting the 49ers (#29). Seattle is favored by 7, and the public is pretty much split on this one. The main concern here is that the Seahawks aren't very good; it's unlikely you'll need to make it all the way to Week 14, so there's no real sense in taking the 14th best team in the league, especially so early. Also, as a general rule, once should probably avoid taking teams that employ Courtney Taylor as their #1 receiver.

NY Giants (at St. Louis)

I've seen it suggested that you should never take a road team in one of these things. I don't see any sense in having strict rules like that, since there's no point in immediately ruling out half the teams, but the logic certainly makes sense. If a road team is a big favorite this week, they'll likely be an ever larger favorite when they play at home in the near future. That is likely the case here, as just next week the Giants will host Cincinnati. The fact that the Giants are looking pretty public--64% at Wagerline, 74% at SportsInsights, 85% at Sportsbook, and 81% in Yahoo's Pick'em--is another reason to stay away.

Dallas (vs. Philadelphia)

Big spread (Cowboys by 7), but that's about all there is to like here, as they're facing a tough opponent; the Eagles are actually the best team in football, according to FO. Dallas is definitely a team you should save; they host the Redskins in Week 4, and the Rams the following week.

The other two biggest favorite are the Cardinals (-6.5 vs. MIA), and the Steelers (-6 @CLE). I see no real reason to take a team as bad as Arizona. There will be better spots with Pittsburgh, although maybe not until Week 12 vs. Cincinnati; the biggest reason to stay away from the Steelers is that the public is all over them, averaging 82% at the four previously mentioned consensus sites.

Seatowning 9-9, ESPN rightfully rips the "call"

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:37:02 -0500

Why isn't anyone considering Seneca Wallace as a legit replacement for Burleson? I think it is a likely possibility...

Local Football
+A total of THREE healthy recievers for the Seahawks now..Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne, and Jordan Kent..this sucks.. [ESPN]+Who to join the Seahawks' receiving corps? Michael Bumpus? Joe Horn? [Seattle Times] +Who is Bruce DeHaven? What does he have to do with Seahawks' Special Teams? [Assist by the Mitten]+ESPN talked too much about the Jake Locker call? [Bleacher Report]
Mariners
+How the hell are the Mariners going to rebuild? [Lookout Landing] +Who is going to play 1st base for the Mariners next year? [Bleeding Blue and Teal]+The Mariners' All-Worst team [USS Mariner]
Leftover
+The Martell Webster Problem [Blazer's Edge]
+Sue Bird for MVP? [StormTracker]+High School Girls rankings, Week 1 [Girls Soccer] [Football Rankings]

National+Why did Tom Brady get injured? Hint: It had nothing to do with the game last Sunday [Sportaphile]
+Rumor, if anything...Cullpepper to the Patriots?? [EMQB] +A joke, if anything...Mark McGwire out of retirement? [MLB Trade Rumors]
+Lance Armstrong out of retirement..Tour De France 2009 [FanHouse]+The Thunder logo is a Total Joke [Balls Don't Lie]

COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC, but I tottally agree that the MTV Video Music Awards were so wack the other night. I hated how undeserving artists continued to recieve awards! cough cough *britney spears*..sickening [SLAM]

Seahawks passing game worse than expected

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:24:02 -0500

In my preview of the Seahawks vs. Bills Week 1 matchup, I likened the Seattle passing game to an airplane flying on fumes with two busted landing gear. On Sunday, we learned that the damage is much worse thanks to a 34-10 whipping in Buffalo. With receiver Nate Burleson leaving the game with a knee injury and a young receiving corps that has real problems catching the football, you could make the case that this aerial attack is missing both wings and the crew is heading for the exit doors...

NFL Week 1 Preview-Seahawks VS Bills

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:06:02 -0500

Here we go, the preseason is over, the rosters are finalized, and its finally time for some Seahawks football. I'll try to put up a preview before games and with that, my predictions for the rest of the league. Let's make this short and sweet.

When the Seahawks have the ball...Look for them to try to run the ball early, and away from Marcus Stroud and Aaron Schobel. The Bills linebacker corps are hurting right now, and we should see Seattle try to exploit that with John Carlson and Jeb Putzier. Look for Courtney Taylor to have a big day.

When the Bills have the ball...Look for them to lean heavily on Marshawn Lynch and their running game, because they are certainly not going to rely on Trent Edwards. They should have some success with this, because losing Rocky Bernard to a one game suspension will really hurt our run defense.

The Bills have a huge handicap with the loss of Jason Peters, who will not play this week since he held out of camp. This seriously hurts their Offensive line. Lawrence Jackson should have a nice game, as well as Patrick Kerney.

On Special Teams...The No. 1 goal for us should be to keep the Bills dangerous returners in check. I'm not worried much about kickoffs because Olindo Mare puts 90% of his kicks into the end zone. Roscoe Parrish is one dangerous returner, even better than Devin Hester last year on punts. We need to keep any punts we have to make far, far away from him. Out of bounds, preferably.

PredictionsHere is what I think will unfold in Week 1. The Seahawks game will always be at the bottom.

NYG over WAS (ok, that one's a gimmie)
ATL over DET
CIN over BAL
NYJ over MIA
NE over KC
NO over TB
PHI over STL
HOU over PIT (upset of the week)
JAC over TEN
DAL over CLE
SD over CAR
ARI over SF
IND over CHI
MIN over GB
DEN over OAK

SEA over BUF, 24-14

Comments and questions are always welcome.

Branch Out for Sunday’s Showdown in Buffalo

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:01:18 -0500

The Hawks will be missing one of their weapons at wide out tomorrow when they take on the Bills, as wide out Deion Branch is out for the matchup after having major reconstructive surgery on his left knee.? "Next week (he can try) a little bit more and maybe get him into some competitive things," Holmgren said. "At some point he has to do that just so he knows he can do that. That's the big hurdle now."? Branch was limited in practice this past week, and only took part in a few snaps of team drills on Friday, and sources says that he's not full speed yet.? Nate Burleson and Courtney Taylor will get the call at the two WR spots for the Hawks.

Start & Sit: Week 1

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:00:31 -0500

Our first Start/Sit of the season did not go entirely as planned yesterday. I guess I still am shaking off some of the rust, as Jason Campbell looked lost in the new offensive system in Washington and Eli Manning was not as terrible as I thought he would be, though he probably was not good [...]

Seattle Seahawks (12th Man Rising)

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:26:01 -0500

Team MVP: Matthew Hasselbeck. I pondered this question for awhile in an attempt to get creative with this answer, but at the end of the day Matt Hasselbeck is the General of this team. When the running game went all David Copperfield on us last year, The Walrus announced to the media, and the league as a whole, that they were abandoning the run game. It was the best move Holmgren made all year. Hasselbeck was forced to shoulder a larger portion of the offense, and what did he do? He ranked in...

Site Has Hasselbeck as a Fantasy Bust in 08

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:27:50 -0500

Fantasy site KFFL.com has released their lists of "busts" in the fantasy world for 2008, and on the list is Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck. Here is their breakdown on the Hawks QB: Hasselbeck's favorite wide receiver, Bobby Engram, 35, is not happy with his contract and is holding out. Wideout Deion Branch (knee) is coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and may not be ready for Week 1. Seattle has several young receivers - Ben Obomanu, Logan Payne and Courtney Taylor - who may not be ready to step up. The tight end position could take an early hit with rookie tight end John Carlson as the expected starter. Finally, they have a new backfield after cutting former MVP Shaun Alexander, which could lead to instability. In some drafts this year, Hasselbeck, who was just getting Super Bowl tickets two seasons ago, is going ahead of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Each of these players could be better selections than Hasselbeck's fifth-round average draft position and be had later in your draft. Hasselbeck is still a weak No. 1 quarterback, and tickets to watch him and the Hawks maybe have a tough 2008 will be easy to come by. Speaking of grabbing tickets, Seahawks Gab is officially endorsing RazorGator as our recommended resource to grab great seats for all Seattle Seahawks games this season.