Hawk Talk: Competition for Steven Hauschka
May 15, 2013, 4:47 PM | Updated: 4:51 pm
By 710Sports.com staff
Danny O’Neil hosted another edition of “Hawk Talk” Wednesday. The full transcript can be found here. Highlights are below.
page asked for the odds that sixth-round pick Spencer Ware makes the team.
Danny O’Neil: Pretty good, I’d say. The fact that Ware carried the ball so often in minicamp made me think that while he’s competing for a spot at fullback, he might have a different niche in terms of the offense than Michael Robinson.
 Steven Hauschka was 1-of-4 on attempts 50 yards or longer last season. (AP) |
RWIII asked if coach Pete Carroll might take a page out of Jim Harbaugh’s playbook and keep the Seahawks in the midwest between their road games against Houston and Indianapolis in Weeks 4 and 5. He noted that strategy worked for the 49ers in 2011 when they won at Cincinnati and Philadelphia in consecutive weeks.
Danny O’Neil: Yes, the 49ers have. They’ve stayed in Youngstown in fact, but to answer your question, I don’t think Seattle will choose that option. Pete Carroll is pretty concerned with habits and routines, and I don’t see him disrupting the schedule like that.
Adam isn’t sold on kicker Steven Hauschka’s leg strength and wondered if he might lose his job to Carson Wiggs, who was with Seattle in training camp last year and was signed as a free agent in March.
Danny O’Neil: I’ll tell you what: Keep an eye on the kicker out of Portland State, Zachary Brown. He goes by Ramirez now, and he’s got a boot. Certainly going to be a competition.
Patrick asked about the outlook for Benson Mayowa, the defensive end Seattle signed after he impressed the team during a tryout at last weekend’s rookie minicamp.
Danny O’Neil: He was explosive, and showed enough promise to be signed to the regular roster, but I think he’s more a practice-squad candidate.
Sekolah asked about expectations for Seahawks safety Winston Guy, a sixth-round pick in 2012.
Danny O’Neil: We’ll see. The team tried to give him a role last year as that designated pass rusher in the bandit package, and he was in over is head.
An anonymous guest asked whether Carroll or general manager John Schneider has final say in personnel decisions and how the two settle disagreements.
Danny O’Neil: Well, personnel acquisitions are John Schneider’s decision, and the idea of final say would only come up if they were at an impasse. The reality is that they’ve worked very well together. I know everyone wants to know what happens when they disagree, and who would win a power struggle, but the reality is that Pete is pretty open-minded and excited about what John finds, and John doesn’t want to force players on a coach who didn’t want a guy. In terms of chain of command: John Schneider reports up to the president, Peter McLoughlin, who reports up to the owner.
Dan asked whether defensive tackle Clinton McDonald will be on the roster in Week 1.
Danny O’Neil: He’s going to be playing for is job, but after the injury to Greg Scruggs, it would surprise me if McDonald wasn’t on the team. Very capable of backup who was always active last season.
