Seattle Seahawks: Off-Season Preview
The Seattle Seahawks went into the 2016 season as serious contenders due to the combination of a generational defence and an elite quarterback.
Sadly for the fanbase, the offence was chronic for most of the season and Earl Thomas’ injury completely ended their season. Seattle crawled into the Post Season due to a relatively easy schedule, and they were destroyed by the Atlanta Falcons.
How can the Seahawks re-tool their roster in order to make another Super Bowl run? Find out below.
2016 Season Review:
The Seahawks entered the year with only one real question mark; the offensive line. Bradley Sowell and J’Marcus Webb arrived to provide competition, and the team also drafted Germain Ifedi from Texas A&M and Rees Odhiambo from Boise State. The questions surrounding this group were barely answered over the course of the year as Russell Wilson struggled to do anything behind the line.
Justin Britt played well at center, but outside of that, the performances were bad. Germain Ifedi blew hot and cold and Mark Glowinski was average at best. Garry Gilliam being an NFL player is still a mystery and Bradley Sowell was an absolute disaster. Seahawks fans fired criticism at Tom Cable, but he isn’t exactly being given good players to work with.
The Seahawks were up and down all season, and their 10-5-1 record was a reflection of this. The defence still looked like a top five defence, but Earl Thomas’ injury created a black hole in the secondary and this further exposed the lack of an interior pass rush. The Packers best exposed this in week 14 when they put 38 points up on the Hawks.
The offence was inconsistent for a couple of reasons. One was the offensive line, but the second was injuries. CJ Prosise looked incredible in the games he played, and he was the major reason that the Seahawks turned up to Foxboro and beat the New England Patriots with relative ease. Tyler Lockett’s injury also meant that the offence lost its only real threat outside of Doug Baldwin, as Jermaine Kearse played terribly after earning his contract.
Offseason Moves Already Made
The Seahawks haven’t been all that busy so far, which isn’t really that surprising. They signed Blair Walsh to a contract, but he isn’t necessarily going to be the starting kicker next year. I would imagine he has been brought in to provide competition for a new kicker, that Seattle will likely get from the NFL Draft.
Despite Seahawks fans’ blind criticism, Darell Bevell has remained as the offensive coordinator and he will be working across from Kris Richard, who did an OK job with the defence in 2016.
Long time Pete Carroll trustee Sherman Smith was fired as the running backs coach, which shows that some people paid the price for the Seahawks chronic offence in 2016.
Notable Free Agents
For the first time in the Pete Carroll era, the Seahawks don’t really have any notable free agents to deal with. DeShawn Shead is probably the biggest free agent, but I am almost certain that he will remain in Seattle. Shead was originally a nickel corner, but due to the bad play of Jeremy Lane, he became the CB2 across from Richard Sherman in 2016.
Long time kicker Steven Hauschka looks set to leave the Seahawks as they haven’t offered him a new deal and they brought in Walsh.
Bradley Sowell is a free agent, but there is more chance of hell freezing over than him being brought back, he was awful for the Seahawks in 2016. The same can be said for tight end Luke Willson, who had a very poor year despite all of his potential.
Tony McDaniel did a good job in the middle of the defensive line, but I doubt he is brought back unless he is just someone who competes for a roster spot in July and August. I’d apply the same logic to former Giants defensive end Damontre Moore.
The signing was chastised by many, but Marcel Reece played really well after his arrival from the Raiders, so he will probably get a one year deal. His versatility as a blocker and as a pass catcher from the full back position gave Darell Bevell an extra weapon to work with.
Top Three Team Needs
Offensive Tackle: The Seahawks tackles were the worst in the League by some distance, and it was for this reason that Russell Wilson recieved the most pressures. George Fant seems like a good kid and the potential is definitely there, but wasting the prime years of a quarterback by having a basketball player blocking for him is an absolute disgrace.
Garry Gilliam will go, as will Bradley Sowell, and this creates a huge conundrum for Pete Carroll. Germain Ifedi was probably drafted to be the franchise right tackle, but I question whether he showed enough at guard to become a tackle. For the purpose of the article, I will assume that Ifedi remains at right guard.
The best guy on the market at right tackle is Ricky Wagner, who is one of the better pass protecting right tackles in football. His short comings are in the run game, but the rest of the players on the Seahawks line should be able to help him out here. If the Seahawks want to be cheap, then they may be better looking at Andre Smith, Riley Reiff or Jordan Mills.
As a Seahawks fan, the dream signing would be Sebastian Vollmer, who could come in easily and become our best tackle. He lost his job to Marcus Cannon in New England, but he is a player who still has something left in the tank. Sadly, I think Pete Carroll will remain loyal to his current players.
Offensive Guard: Whether the coaching staff want to admit it or not, the Seahawks guards are not good at many things. Mark Glowinski is serviceable, but he isn’t someone who should be guaranteed a starting spot on a contender.
The Seahawks aren’t a team who can really go in for a big name guard like TJ Lang, but someone in the mould of Tim Lelito or Chris Chester would be a huge improvement on the guys that Pete Carroll currently has at his disposal. Jahri Evans is also available, but Seattle somehow thought he had nothing left in the tank when they tried him out last year, so a reunion is very unlikely.
Defensive Tackle: The Seahawks struggled to get interior penetration in 2016, and that is something that they will need to address as the four man rush is the most important part of their Cover 3 defence. Calais Campbell is a free agent, and the Seahawks would be fools not to try and get him involved. Seattle has room for one or two moves assuming they cut Jeremy Lane, and Campbell could make the difference for a team that felt the loss of Brandon Mebane.
If Campbell returns to Arizona, then Seattle will have to draft an interior penetrator as the majority of the available defensive tackles are run stuffers. Someone like Malik McDowell of Michigan State could be a long term piece for Seattle, as he can play a variety of roles.