Month: December 2023 (Page 2 of 4)

Earlier today I was invited onto KJR again to discuss the Seahawks with Puck & Jim.

Have a listen below…

Sorry this is later than usual but here are my thoughts following the Eagles win…

Sign Leonard Williams to an extension now

It might cost you a bit more to get it done but who cares? You made a very expensive trade to acquire Williams and the focus now has to be making sure his future is in Seattle. He has played very well despite the 2-5 record since his arrival. This team cannot afford to waste a second round pick on a rental. They need to get a deal done.

Cap space is extremely tight for 2024 (they’re currently projected to be $9.5m over the cap next year) but we know changes are coming. Jamal Adams’ days are surely numbered for a start. They will cut other players like Bryan Mone. I’d argue it’s highly unlikely they are going to triple Geno Smith’s salary, given he’s now missing games to go along with a year that wasn’t as good as last season.

You have to commit to Williams. You have to go to him and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Don’t allow him to reach free agency and potentially have his head turned. Let’s not forget, the Rams currently have about $30m to spend next year. They could try and lure him back to California to play with Aaron Donald. You can’t allow that to happen. You have to make sure this wasn’t a wasted second rounder.

His performance against the Eagles was so impactful — he was pretty much the only defensive lineman making a difference. The Seahawks have a responsibility to keep him. He has to be in Seattle next season.

I can’t think of a better Christmas gift this week than committing Williams to a new deal. He ticks every box — talented, impactful, character fit.

Don’t rely on being able to recruit him in free agency. Tie him down now and let’s put to bed the word ‘rental’ once and for all.

Incredible Jaxon Smith-Njigba

What an unbelievable catch that was to win the game. Stunning. It’s the kind of play you need to see from a player you draft as highly as JSN. The nature of the catch — finger-tips at full stretch, the body-control, the fact he got open in the first place, then the ability to complete the catch to the ground. That was special — one of the best catches to win a football game you’ll see.

We don’t need to see Jamal Adams play for the Seahawks again

Nothing more needs to be said.

Well done to Drew Lock, but…

If the Seahawks want to give themselves the best chance to win their remaining three games, Geno Smith — for me — is still the better player. That was a fantastic 92-yard drive to win the game by Lock and he deserves credit for it. Up until that point, though, he looked very similar to Charlie Whitehurst.

For me it’s pretty much a pointless debate anyway. Smith has already been declared the starter by Pete Carroll if healthy next week and neither player is the answer long term. The Seahawks have to find a way to draft a quarterback.

I have mixed feelings about the win

There’s no point lying about it, I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy when the Seahawks won. I don’t think it makes me a ‘bad fan’, although some will suggest that. I never root against the Seahawks, I just watched with a very balanced emotional state. I also stayed up until 5:30am to watch then reflect on the game (just in case anyone wants to question my commitment to the cause).

I do fear, though, that the Seahawks are now absolutely heading for the playoffs — which will create the impression that everything is mostly OK again, will put off necessary changes to drive the team forwards and a lot of the conversations we’ve been having for the last few years will simply extend into 2024.

The perfect scenario would be ending the season with a flourish to allow Carroll to bow-out gracefully. That would be the best of both worlds. Instead I suspect we’re going to see an epic papering over the cracks with a playoff qualification that will be of the back-door nature, in a NFC that is — if we’re being honest — absolutely woeful apart from one team. Talk of ‘running it back’ and it being ‘crazy’ to part with Carroll will emerge, even though all of the relevant complaints from recent weeks remain. They beat a collapsing Eagles team who look a shadow of their former selves.

I think for the Seahawks to have a chance to be great again they need an offensive-minded Head Coach (Bobby Slowik increasingly feels like a great shout, especially if you’re drafting a QB) and a new young quarterback. Immediate contention isn’t very likely but I think it’ll set you on the path to potentially get there.

I cannot in any way, shape or form imagine Carroll, Clint Hurtt and Shane Waldron leading the Seahawks to the promise land. I can’t even imagine them getting one over Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay in the division. The thought of another year of watching four embarrassing defeats to the 49ers and Rams is about as desirable as watching ‘Christmas with the Kranks’ (the worst film ever made).

I appreciate other people’s response to this is ‘just enjoy the win’. I respect anyone who feels that way and does indeed want to take solace and enjoyment from inflicting a third straight defeat on the Eagles. If you disagree with me, that’s perfectly cool. All I ask is you offer that same attitude to me. I am less enthused than you are about the win because it increases the chances of necessary changes not happening after this season. That concerns me, because I can’t see any alternative other than the same repetitive issues with the Carroll Seahawks. More bad defense. More inconsistent identity. More failing to provide answers or solutions to problems. More losing to Shanahan and McVay.

The last few weeks have felt like a natural end is on the horizon after 14 years. I don’t feel any differently after this game.

That was my prevailing thought after the win. I don’t like it but can’t lie either.

If you missed my post-game live stream, check it out here:

This is a guest post by Curtis Allen…

The Seahawks and the Eagles find themselves in very similar circumstances as they prepare to face off tonight.

Although the Eagles are far better positioned – having already secured a playoff spot at 10-3 – they find themselves not playing very good football. They have been playing to a level that is less than the sum of their parts.

When faced with some of the NFL’s better teams, the defense has not been able to match up with them very well in terms of scheme and execution. Their tackling and effort have been off and their linebackers and safeties have been easy targets for enterprising offensive coordinators. They currently are the worst team in the NFL at getting off the field on third downs.

As a result, in the last six games, they have allowed an average of 428 yards and 30 points.

It is not completely the defense’s fault though. The Eagles in that same stretch have starved their running backs of carries and put the lion’s share of their offense on the shoulders of the passing game. Therefore, the defense has been on the field far more than they should be and the team is routinely behind in time of possession.

They come into this week’s game looking to get back on their feet and recalibrate to get on track for the stretch run and the playoffs.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

While the Eagles and Seahawks do not have a direct rivalry by nature of their geography, they often find each other at a bit of a crossroads for both franchises. They usually meet at a time when they are struggling with their division mates and trying to confirm their status as a contender. Tonight is no exception.

Pete Carroll has long come out ahead in these sorts of encounters. He has never once lost to the Eagles in his Seahawks tenure. That might bring a measure of comfort to Seahawks fans but the truth is, many things have changed since these two last met in November of 2020.

Nick Sirianni has taken over as head coach, Jalen Hurts has become a fixture at quarterback and they punctuated their ascent with a Super Bowl appearance last season.

Meanwhile, Seattle has been one of the NFL’s worst defenses in that stretch. The addition of a ridiculously priced safety team to the detriment of the defensive line combined with a lack of coordinators that can scheme up the talent they do have has conspired to crush any hopes of making a deep playoff run.

The Seahawks are most certainly at a crossroads. Having lost four in a row, they limp into the final leg of the Quadrangle of Death stretch of their schedule with very dim prospects.

A talent-stacked defense looks shaky and slow. The offense struggles to support it by either turning the ball over, three-and-outing or ironically, scoring too quickly. Questions of motivation from Pete Carroll, the job competency of both coordinators, game planning and the handling of internal matters are dogging this team at the worst possible time.

This matchup is the Eagles’ typical strength against the Seahawks’ typical weakness: trench play. The game has many stars like A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, De’Andre Swift and Kenneth Walker. But the battle is won or lost on the lines and the Eagles have a decided advantage there.

Which, according to the Magic-eight-ball-like way the NFL operates, means the Seahawks will put together a solid effort and make this game competitive.

Let’s look at how that could happen.

Attack Philadelphia with the Passing Game

I have spent a ton of time in my previous posts beating the drum for the Seahawks to employ their investments in the running back position more liberally. The Seahawks have been unusually pass-happy this year, going into this weekend’s slate of games as the #5 offense in the NFL in play selection being the pass.

Yet they have an opportunity to really control this game by taking advantage of the Eagles’ weakness in defending the pass.

First off, the personnel: Their best corner (Darius Slay) will not play due to injury. That means that they will likely roll out 31-year-old Bradley Roby (who has been more of a plug in nickel/safety type the last couple seasons) or rookie Kelee Ringo (a fourth-round size/speed prospect Rob scouted extensively), who has 28 NFL snaps of experience at defense in his spot.

Their other starting corner (James Bradberry) is hitting age 30 hard and has yet to adjust to losing a step in his speed. Currently, Bradberry has given up more touchdowns than any corner in the NFL with 10. Quarterbacks have a 111 rating when targeting him and he is conceding 11 yards per reception in coverage.

New acquisition Kevin Byard has only one interception this season and is sporting a 109 QB rating when targeted and Reed Blankenship is still trying to fill out in his first year as a full-time starter. If the Seahawks manage to get Blankenship isolated on a receiver – any receiver – that should be a win for them.

The Eagles are a bit stuck with their personnel. The linebackers are just a step ahead of Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks in coverage and offenses have “caught” them on the field in passing situations often and taken advantage.

If I had to guess, the change in defensive coordinators means more man coverage than zone. Sean Desai ran out an extraordinary percentage of zone and without elite corner or safety play, teams were able to find their holes rather easily and exploit them regularly.

Now the stats. The Eagles are the NFL’s worst team in defending wide receivers. They have given up 206 catches and 23 touchdowns — both of which are league-bottom. Only the Washington Commanders have given up more yards to wide receivers than the Eagles have. You might recall that Geno Smith and the Seahawks had a season-best day throwing the ball against Washington, recording 369 yards through the air.

Are they covering Tight Ends any better? Not really, no. They have conceded six touchdowns and are allowing a 75% completion rate when Tight Ends are targeted.

D.K. Metcalf. Tyler Lockett. Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Jake Bobo. Noah Fant.

Someone on the Eagle defense is going to be overmatched every time one of those players is on the field. While it seems easy to say the quarterback’s job will be to find the mismatch and exploit it, there is no matchup he should be concerned about, save for a double or triple team.

In truth his biggest job will be to make sure he makes himself available to throw the ball cleanly.

I am guessing that Matt Patricia will dial back the blitz a bit and be more selective. Consider this a “shooting fish in a barrel” move because the Eagles are one of the NFL’s worst defenses when they blitz: They have no interceptions, have conceded a 69% completion rate for an average of 8.7 yards per attempt and eight touchdowns. They only have 10 sacks on the blitz but are one of the better teams in the NFL when it comes to Hurries and Pressures (both #2). Some of that is a function of them not getting off the field properly, as their Pressure Rate is 23.4%, good for #9 in the NFL. That sounds good but another pedestrian game like the streak they are on will have them dropping into the teens.

The NFL is trending towards quick throws and yards after catch to defend the pass rush. The Seahawks will need to employ both of these things and their quarterback will need to discern when to get rid of the ball and when to use his feet to ascend in the pocket to create time for options and deeper routes to open up.

Another way to take advantage of the defense: get a lead early and maintain it. This defense has recorded only six of their 37 sacks this year when behind on the scoreboard. That may change with Patricia but this defense loses their teeth when trying to get the team back in the game. Add in their poor third down record and it creates a bit of a cascading loop the have not been able to escape from lately.
There is no excuse for the Seahawks to not take advantage of their weakness.

Stop De’Andre Swift

I imagine that Eagles fans are as frustrated as Seahawks fans about their use of running backs this year. Old friend Rashaad Penny has been an afterthought, only being active for two games and getting a grand total of six touches in 2023 so far.

Especially lately, their choices on offense with feature back De’Andre Swift have been very confusing.

Swift got a meager 11 touches against Dallas in their big loss last week, after recording only eight touches against San Francisco the week before.

Lately the Eagles offense has devolved into three main options: running Jalen Hurts, liberally throwing to A.J. Brown on the slant play that was his bread and butter when with the Titans and taking deeper shots with DeVonta Smith (only five WR’s in the NFL have more targets deeper than Smith).

It has gotten a bit stale and predictable and opponents like San Francisco and Dallas have sniffed it out and taken advantage of their lack of diversity.

When Swift is used liberally and properly, he is an engine that makes the Eagle offense go. They have used him wisely at times and then decided to limit his touches at times, despite him not appearing on the injury report even once this year (not even after getting absolutely rocked by Kam Chancellor, I mean, Deommodre Lenoir).

With questions of Jalen Hurts’ health and the potential of backup Marcus Mariota stepping in tonight, it is logical that the Eagles would turn to Swift to carry much more of the load.

The defense will need to be better in between the tackles and react decisively when they try to gadget Swift up with some plays to loosen the linebackers and safeties up for deeper shots.

Play Better

This is more of a gripe than a watch point.

The Seahawks have failed to make their fans proud of the way they play for much of this season.

Poorly timed penalties, losing their cool, bad play calls, ‘what were you possibly thinking’ mistakes, turnovers, bad angles and worse tackling have all been regular features of games we have had to endure this year.

Enough.

There is a stink over this franchise currently and perhaps it is one that can only be solved by regime change.

But for one game – even in a loss – this team needs to reward fans’ patience with a solid, well-put together effort that can give us some reason to keep intently watching for the rest of the season.

The whole nation will be watching tonight. Can they deliver it?

We will see.

There are only two worthwhile descriptions for a NFL franchise.

Super Bowl contender, or on a journey to become a Super Bowl contender.

If you don’t fit either category, it’s a waste of time.

A lot is made of Mike Tomlin’s record of never having a losing season. It sounds great. The reality is the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. They do a great job avoiding being awful (until now, at least). That’s it. Hang the banner.

Tomlin’s teams have muddled along, being good enough to be vaguely relevant for a period without anyone actually thinking they’re going to win a Super Bowl.

This year they’re 7-7 with at least a chance to once again avoid a losing season. Yet during a three-game losing streak against the Cardinals, Patriots and Colts — nobody can say with a straight face that the Steelers are ‘contenders’.

For me, this is a dangerous place for a team to be. It prevents you from taking the actions needed to become contenders again. It’s why I worry about the Seahawks — because it feels like they’re in a very similar place.

For Seattle it’s one playoff win in six years, against a very average Eagles team featuring 40-year-old Josh McCown at quarterback. In the last seven seasons (including this one), they’ve won the NFC West just once. It’s their worst run since re-joining the division in 2002.

The Seahawks have been far from a bad team but they’ve also consistently felt like they’re a ways off being a serious challenger. On top of this, persistent issues have blighted the team — such as poor defensive output and an identity that comes and goes. It’s been nearly a decade since the Seahawks have felt like a legit contender.

Whenever this is brought up, there’s a rapid-fire response from some fans accusing others of being ‘spoilt’. How can you possibly complain about being in the playoff mix? Other teams would love to be in that position.

I would challenge that. Fans of the Browns, for example, do not dream of being the Seahawks. They dream of being the Chiefs, competing in three Super Bowls in recent years. They dream of being the 49ers, a consistent contender for multiple years. They’ll think about copying the Buccs and Rams, recent winners of the Super Bowl. Or can they find a way to emulate the Eagles, Super Bowl winners and runners-up within a few years?

They don’t want to be a team that is ‘good enough to maybe qualify for the playoffs’. It’s utterly pointless. As I said at the start, you need to either be a contender or be on a path to becoming one. Crappy teams don’t aspire to be average teams. The end result is the same. And fans of average teams shouldn’t settle into the comfort of merely not being ‘bad’.

I would argue the Steelers and Seahawks are stuck in a large NFL middle-ground — or purgatory as some people call it. They do just enough every year to stay in this zone and it just leads to avoiding making difficult decisions to enact needed change.

I can’t watch Pittsburgh’s last three games and think they’re a good off-season away. Their offense needs a total rebuild from scratch. This likely isn’t possible within 24 months, when a lot of the core, impressive defensive talent will be nearing the end of their careers.

The Seahawks are different, their issues flip-flop between offense and defense a lot more. They don’t have a defense like Pittsburgh’s but they have a better quarterback and weapons. Schematically they feel uncultured on both sides of the ball and they haven’t had a ‘big’ eye-catching win for several years (beating the Lions doesn’t count, I’m afraid).

The Steelers are 7-7 and the Seahawks are 6-7.

Both teams would lap the Panthers or Patriots in a race. Both would be battered by the 49ers and well-beaten by other legit contenders.

The problem is, neither team regresses enough to have a serious conversation about any of this. The topic is consistently dodged and those wishing to discuss it are derided as ungrateful lunatics.

Maybe Pittsburgh’s reaching that point now, given just how bad they’ve been recently? It started to happen in Seattle this week, with serious reporters speculating on Carroll’s future.

Yet if either or both teams sneak into the playoffs as a lousy seventh seed, making up the numbers so the greedy NFL can make even more money with it’s dumb ‘Super Wildcard Weekend’ nonsense, I suspect the same narrative will begin all over again.

‘How can you criticise Tomlin/Carroll, they’re in the playoffs!‘

Rinse and repeat. See you in 12 months where the same thing happens again. Meanwhile we all get a bit older, the Steelers still suck on offense and Carroll is still talking about trying to fix the same old problems and Jamal Adams is still earning a fortune to deliver a crappy PFF grade while celebrating the other team ‘only’ gaining seven yards on first down.

Neither team is on the path to contention. I suspect neither will get there without bold, serious change.

Firstly, the coaches. Both are Super Bowl winners yet neither seems likely to reach that point again. Particularly in the case of 72-year-old Carroll, with only two years remaining on his contract and possibly his career. Does anyone think two more years of doing the same thing in Seattle will lead to a title? If not, what’s the reason for continuing? Convenience ahead of a franchise sale we speculate a lot about but know little about in reality? Existing purely for Carroll to work to his preferred timescale, rather than what is most optimal for team success?

Meanwhile with Tomlin — Pittsburgh’s offense is so utterly dreadful, they look like a team that needs to pivot to a younger, more creative offensive mind — paired with a more aggressive approach to fixing the quarterback position.

They’ve been in charge since 2007 in Tomlin’s case and 2010 in Carroll’s. That’s a long time. Eventually, you need a different vision. Things can’t just go on forever. The Patriots are experiencing that currently. Bill Belichick’s legacy is being slightly impacted by seeing just how bad New England are without Tom Brady. Nobody will take away Belichick’s rightful place as one of the all-time greats. Yet it’s pretty clear now that Brady’s brilliance, paired with his ability to put up with Belichick’s grumpy, borderline toxic ways, is what led to so much success. Without Brady, the Patriots are bloody awful and fairly shambolic.

Without peak-Ben Roethlisberger, Tomlin likewise hasn’t been able to create a winner. Without the LOB, Marshawn Lynch and peak-Russell Wilson, Carroll’s in the same boat. Neither coach, as an individual, seems to be elevating their teams schematically. This is a stark contrast to the work of Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and even coaches like Zac Taylor, winning with a backup quarterback.

Tomlin and Carroll would be best served avoiding Belichick’s fate and going out with fond memories still attached, rather than letting things get even sourer.

Yet I can’t shake the feeling that the Seahawks will beat the collapsing, injury-hit Eagles on Monday and we’ll have a week of fans and media crowing that any suggestion of a future beyond Carroll is the stuff of entitlement and stupidity.

I said a few weeks ago I think Carroll can still be a Super Bowl Head Coach. In order to do it, though, he’d need to be prepared to change. My favourite Carroll quote is, “it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.” I wish he would’ve taken that advice a while ago, acknowledged his flaws (schematics, details) and gone out to employ the best coordinators money can buy and let them run the offense and defense, becoming an experienced overseer and motivator.

He’ll never do that. Control is too important for Carroll. He needs to do things his way. It’s the only reason he ever returned to the NFL, because the Seahawks were offering total control.

That’s not to say he hasn’t tried to delegate. Clearly we saw that with ‘Let Russ Cook’ in 2020. Yet at the first sign of trouble, he wrestled back control and they went back to Carroll-ball. It was indicative of how uncomfortable he is ceding responsibility and there’s no chance, sadly, of him ever being a Nick Saban type of Head Coach who gives the keys to his coordinators.

I can’t root against the Seahawks. I’m a Seahawks fan. I never miss a game, despite many beginning in the early hours of the morning. I’ve committed 15 years of my life to writing a blog about the team, eating my free time at a rate comparable to a dog let loose in a butcher’s.

I also can’t say I’ll be that pumped watching the Eagles game on Monday, or feeling very celebratory if they win. I fear the Seahawks will finish by beating some bad teams, potentially squeeze into the playoffs (they only need to usurp the Rams and Packers, who are both wildly inconsistent) and we’ll have more false dawn rhetoric, ‘run-it-back’ platitudes and we’ll get to witness 2024 looking exactly like 2023.

There are two, maybe three teams in the NFC who are actually good. The rest are mediocre or awful. Being seventh best in a bad conference, during a poor-quality NFL season, qualifying for the playoffs and then making very little noise in the post-season, is not attractive if all it does is delay the kind of front-line change required to get this team back to the top.

I don’t want to endure another year of excuses for having another very expensive bottom-10 defensive unit. I can’t listen to chatter about identity when they can’t run the ball. I don’t want to hear over-hyped praise for Seattle’s culture while people like Jamal Adams act like a jerk on social media with zero public accountability from Carroll or the team. Most importantly, I can’t watch Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay continue to dance rings around a coach who has no counter-punch for either of them.

New ideas, a new vision, a new quarterback, fresh attention to detail, expensive and underperforming players cut, re-emphasis on the trenches and the potential to be back on the path to contention, rather than deluding ourselves (as the Seahawks did with the Leonard Williams trade) that we’re already there.

That is what’s required in Seattle.

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I wasn’t going to post this unless things took a turn in the final four games. Then I heard Albert Breer, Mike Garafolo, Ian Rapoport and Gregg Bell all speculate on whether Pete Carroll might be coming to the end in the space of 24 hours and thought, I’m going to get this out there.

Rapoport, for what it’s worth, said on KJR today that he “really thought” Carroll was stepping down three years ago and also linked Dan Quinn as a replacement. He also couched his speculation by saying he hears this all the time and so far, it hasn’t happened. So he’d ‘almost have to hear it from the man himself’ to report it definitively.

Of course nothing has been decided and yes, it’s all what I’d call ‘educated speculation’ at this point. Breer, Garafolo, Rapoport and Bell aren’t just coincidently all opting to fire this into the air at the same time. There’s no smoke without fire. Yet the likelihood is that any decision will be heavily influenced by the next four games.

I’m not a big fan of that idea because I don’t think you should make a decision on such a small sample size of results. Either Carroll is energised and fully committed or he isn’t. Either the franchise believes he can win a Super Bowl before his contract expires in two years or they don’t. Finishing 9-8 and making the playoffs as a seventh seed shouldn’t change anything, assuming it’s a short-lived post-season berth.

This is likely the hand we’re dealt though as Seahawks fans. Either the team is going to turn things around and the status quo remains or Carroll appears to at least be contemplating the end.

Quinn is already being touted as a replacement and he would be on my list of candidates. I’ve written why below, along with five other options I think are worthy of being discussed.

Brian Callahan (OC, Cincinnati Bengals)

There are several reasons why Callahan appeals. Firstly, he understands the modern game. Watch this interview. He’s asked after 55 seconds to discuss how the NFL is evolving. He speaks about ‘the teams who win the most games’ and why they are succeeding (and it’s a very offensive-minded answer). To me this is the way the Seahawks need to go — using their weapons on offense to form a new identity.

I also think the Seahawks need to draft a quarterback early in 2024, possibly after moving up in the draft. Callahan has been the offensive coordinator with the Bengals since 2019. This means he has worked closely with Joe Burrow since he was drafted in 2020. Having experience of working with and developing a rookie is a big plus if the Seahawks are going to take that path next year.

Callahan is very experienced within the NFL. He worked closely with Peyton Manning in Denver and was on the staff when they won a Super Bowl. He has also helped guide the Bengals to the Super Bowl — so he knows what it takes to make a deep playoff run.

Despite an injury-plagued season for Burrow, the Bengals are currently ranked 11th for offense on DVOA. They’re currently winning games with Jake Browning in relief.

Finally, he is the son of long-time offensive line coach Bill Callahan. I don’t know whether they would have interest in working together but the idea of bringing his father — one of the best O-line coaches in the business — to Seattle would be a real asset.

Potential downside — he doesn’t call the plays in Cincinnati and that’s not always an easy adjustment, although he could hire an experienced play-caller.

Eric Bienemy (OC, Washington Commanders)

You can’t help but admire what Bienemy did this year. He could’ve stayed in Kansas City, coached Patrick Mahomes as Andy Reid’s right-hand man and enjoyed a fairly straight forward existence. Instead, he moved on to the disaster-zone that is Washington. He wanted to control an offense and show what he could do without Reid and Mahomes. Instead of the best offensive player in the league, he took on the challenge of a former fifth-round pick starting at QB for the first time (Sam Howell).

He’s done a good job. Howell has been productive. This has happened despite having no O-line to work with and very little in the way of weapons outside of Terry McLaurin. If you draft a quarterback in 2024, Bienemy has shown he can help develop that player and put him in a position to succeed.

Bienemy can lean on his experience working with Reid, he knows what it takes to win (double Super Bowl champion) and his offensive system will be modern, aggressive and would make the most out of Seattle’s weapons. It’d be very easy to get behind the appointment, giving Bienemy a long-anticipated opportunity to lead a team.

By taking a gamble in moving to Washington, he’s shown how determined he is to make things happen in terms of a Head Coaching position. I think that’s admirable and he’d be worth a shot.

Potential downside — he has been interviewed, and passed over, many times — there has to be a reason why.

Ben Johnson (OC, Detroit Lions)

Seen as the hot-shot offensive candidate for openings this off-season, Johnson passed over jobs in the last cycle to spend another year in Detroit. He’s played a big part in the Lions becoming explosive and dynamic — with the #7 ranked offense per DVOA. Johnson is creative and has managed to get a song out of Jared Goff after he was dumped by the Rams.

Johnson graduated from North Carolina with a degree in mathematics and computer science. He’s a good age (37) and is in-tune with all the modern elements of the NFL.

He basically runs the offense in Detroit. Although Dan Campbell is a former offensive player, he’s an overseer. In Johnson you’d be getting someone who knows how to run an offense, call plays and handle a lot of responsibility. There’s also a good staff in Detroit and you’d imagine he’d be able to surround himself with a decent group.

There’d also be some crossover in terms of identity. Campbell combines physical and tough with explosive in Detroit. The Lions are fourth in the league in rushing yards and fourth in yards-per-attempt. That’s what the Seahawks have been looking for. Perhaps Johnson can finally deliver?

Potential downside — he’s been able to work with a veteran QB in Detroit so there’s no experience of elevating a younger, unproven player. This could be a minor quibble if they intend to draft a quarterback.

Bobby Slowik (OC, Houston Texans)

The Texans have been a big surprise this year. They’re competitive, C.J. Stroud has been tremendous and the future seems bright. Slowik, who is from the Kyle Shanahan tree, has done a great job with Stroud. It helps that the quarterback is as talented as he is — but Slowik has earned rave reviews from Texans fans.

The idea of getting someone with first-hand experience of working with a young QB, plus someone who can install Shanahan’s offensive system, is very appealing. Houston’s offense, despite having little in the way of expectations this year, is currently ranked 12th per DVOA.

Although he only turned 36 this year, he was with the 49ers between 2017-2022. His final two jobs in San Francisco were passing game coordinator and passing game specialist. He would be able to incorporate some of the modern-day offensive scheming the Seahawks lack. He could also make the most of Seattle’s weapons — look how he has transformed Nico Collins and succeeded with Tank Dell.

Slowik has the feel of a true up-and-comer and we’ve seen coaches from the Shanahan/McVay tree mimic the Rams’ Head Coach by becoming accomplished leaders in their young careers.

Potential downside — after just one year of calling plays in Houston, he might be a little bit inexperienced. He also might prefer to spend another season with the Texans.

Mike LaFleur (OC, LA Rams)

It didn’t work for LeFleur with the Jets — but that could be down to the fact it was an impossible job to make Zach Wilson relevant. His was a short-lived spell as an offensive coordinator in New York but he might be stronger for the experience.

Speaking of experience, let’s look at his background. He was an offensive assistant for the Falcons working for Kyle Shanahan, before moving to the 49ers with Shanahan in 2017. He was passing game coordinator for three years in San Francisco before getting the Jets job. This year, he’s now Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator with the Rams. He’s achieved all of this despite only being 36-years-old.

Clearly Shanahan and McVay value his ability. This is a piece well worth reading on what he’s doing in LA and the trust he has earned:

The new offensive coordinator of the Rams is doing things McVay did in the past and things that Liam Coen, Kevin O’Connell, Shane Waldron, Zac Taylor and Matt LaFleur, Mike’s brother, never did when they were in similar positions under McVay.

McVay still will call plays, but he trusts LaFleur to take from his plate because LaFleur can connect with players and coaches.

“We’re lucky to have him,” McVay says of his 36-year-old assistant. “You know, he makes me feel a lot better about being able to be a head coach because he can lead those guys on offense. And while we see the game through a similar lens, he’s also not afraid to challenge me. And he takes the initiative.”

LaFleur’s brother Matt has been a net-success in Green Bay and when you’re rated this highly by McVay, I’m paying attention. Kevin O’Connell and Zac Taylor have also become good Head Coaches after working with McVay.

Potential downside: The Jets spell ended badly even if it was a tough gig and it’s hard to shake that from your memory.

Dan Quinn (DC, Dallas Cowboys)

The only defensive-minded coach on the list. I get the sense he learned a lot from his time in Atlanta. When he lost Kyle Shanahan, things kind of fell apart. There’s always a chance that happens again but I think he appreciates the need to have a certain caliber of offensive mind calling the plays.

Quinn knows the Seahawks and has a prior connection to the team, which could make for a smoother transition. There’d be some crossover if Carroll departed. I do trust him to go out and put together a strong staff. I also think it helps that he’s worked with Mike McCarthy, who openly admitted he reinvented himself after leaving Green Bay. Quinn has supposedly also spent time preparing for his next go at being a Head Coach.

I’d expect Quinn to be modern in his thinking, aggressive and rejuvenated. Unlike the other candidates, he’s been there and done it and nothing will surprise him. He’s already made mistakes to learn from.

His Dallas defense is highly productive and currently ranked sixth per DVOA (having finished fourth in the previous two seasons). He wouldn’t get to bring Micah Parsons with him sadly but at least he’d be coming from a team that has invested in the trenches and at cornerback, saving money at linebacker and safety.

Potential downside: He’d have to get the offensive coordinator hire right and even if he did, there’s always a chance that person leaves and then things unravel again.

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Well, this is interesting.

Albert Breer from SI.com was asked in his latest mailbag whether Pete Carroll will be coaching the Seahawks in 2024.

Here’s his response in full:

I’d say I’m less sure of it than I have been in recent years. Going into this year, it sure looked like the Seahawks were creeping closer toward having the kind of core group of players they did in Carroll’s early years, with a very solid 2022 draft class coming back and the ’23 class bursting with promise.

Now they’re 6–7 heading into a matchup against the NFC champion Eagles, who are coming off consecutive losses. So while Seattle remains loaded with young talent, it’s fair to ask how far away they might be from a championship and where they stand at quarterback after this year. Because, while coming into this year I thought that infusion of young talent might keep Carroll around for a while, if the coach doesn’t think he’s that close, it could alter his decision on returning for next season (during which he’ll turn 73).

And the idea that Seattle would try to get Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (who was Seattle’s DC for its two Super Bowl trips a decade ago) if Carroll were to retire has been floated around a little. Which … the Seahawks could do a lot worse than that, if this were to be it.

Interestingly, Puck & Jim on KJR played a segment from Breer discussing this on their radio show earlier. Afterwards, Puck revealed that Mike Garafolo had spoken to him recently and suggested the same thing about Carroll. You can hear it by clicking here and fast-forwarding to 14:30. You can also hear from Garafolo on the same show here:

“I’m picking up what Breer’s putting down. The Seattle/Dallas game is where I was really hearing a lot of that, ‘don’t be surprised if this all falls into place’. I believe that some people think this could be the end for sure, depending on how this finishes up down the stretch.”

Back to Breer’s article and let’s start with the retirement talk. It’s interesting that this is at least being discussed by a reporter of Breer’s status. It’s still wholly speculative. There’s no reporting here, just thoughts. But we haven’t had anything like this since the end of the 2017 season when Jay Glazer suggested Carroll was considering retiring.

It’s worth noting that back in 2017, things were imploding somewhat. Weeks after that season ended, players like Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett were cut. A major re-set took place, with two new coordinators. If the Seahawks are facing something similar in a month’s time, it’s worth considering whether Carroll — now six years older — still has the appetite to go through it all again. Especially if he was thinking of walking in 2017.

Carroll can’t look at the current product on the field and think the Seahawks are close. They’re a long way off. The games against San Francisco brutally exposed that. If the decision is based around a feeling that a lot of work is still required, that could lend weight to Breer’s speculation.

We also need to think about the trade for Leonard Williams. When the Seahawks were in first place, making that trade, it was clearly an attempt to take ownership of the division. To go 1-5 since that move, with two hefty defeats against San Francisco thrown into the mix, is a stark reminder of how far behind Seattle is. The aggressive nature of the trade could also be indicative of a coach who was in a rush to win.

I think Carroll has continued not for the sake of it but because he genuinely felt like success was forthcoming. In 2017, he cracked on and why not? Russell Wilson was about to enter his peak years. There’s nothing like that now. Instead there’s K.J. Wright going on the radio and suggesting the players ‘don’t give a damn’ about what Carroll’s saying while also wondering if the coach is equally a bit sick of certain players on the roster. Meanwhile, we can all see a team with no identity and serious question marks at key positions.

You can’t ignore all of this stuff and there’s a definite ‘end game’ feel to what we’re witnessing. John Middlekauff and Colin Cowherd talked about ‘the end’ a few days ago. Now we have this from Breer. It’ll only grow if the Seahawks lose a fifth game in a row on Monday night.

Let’s finish with the final paragraph and the suggestion by Breer that people within the league are at least discussing the possibility of Carroll departing and Dan Quinn replacing him.

If you’d have said any time over the last two years, put money on someone to replace Carroll, I would’ve put it on Quinn. They are clearly very close. Carroll talks glowingly about Quinn. At the various pro-days this year, the pair were often spotted in conversation. There’s a big connection there.

It’d be very easy to see Quinn as a continuity candidate, carrying some of the Carroll DNA forwards while putting his own slant on things.

He’s also been a Head Coach, has helped lead a team to the Super Bowl and nothing will surprise him in the top job. It’d be a safe appointment.

For all of these reasons, it’d be an easy sell to fans. With Head Coaching appointments you often try to ‘win the press conference’ as owners/decision makers. This would be a way to do that and even those not keen on the move would likely give Quinn a chance.

His defenses in Dallas have succeeded. They’re currently sixth in the league per DVOA and in 2022 and 2021 they finished fourth. He has consistently produced a top-performing unit.

Clearly Quinn has benefited from the presence of Micah Parsons — a thoroughly unique playmaker who fits the bill of ‘generational talent’. He wouldn’t be coming to Seattle with Quinn, obviously.

This is a point people uneasy with the appointment will make.

For the sake of balance, it’s worth noting that many other players are performing well under Quinn’s leadership. DaRon Bland is setting records for interceptions and has a 90.5 PFF grade as a former fifth round pick. Malik Hooker is grading as a top-10 safety and Stephon Gilmore has returned to form at cornerback. Markquese Bell is PFF’s seventh ranked linebacker and Osa Odighizuwa is their fifth ranked interior defensive lineman. DeMarcus Lawrence has a 90.3 grade and several other defenders are grading well too.

Maybe Parsons is just so good that everyone else jumps up a level? Or maybe Quinn has actually done a really good job developing and maxing out Parsons with creative scheming, while elevating a number of other players (young and old)?

Another criticism might be that Quinn’s Atlanta success was heavily influenced by Kyle Shanahan’s presence as offensive coordinator. When he departed for San Francisco, things fell apart somewhat. After the pair went 8-8 together in 2015, they finished 11-5 the following year and reached a Super Bowl they should’ve won. Without Shanahan, Quinn went 10-6, 7-9, 7-9 and 0-5 before being fired.

Shanahan turned Matt Ryan into the league MVP. Steve Sarkisian replaced him for two years, then Dirk Koetter took over. They never reached anywhere near the 2016 heights.

This is the problem with any defensive hire as a Head Coach. The league is so heavily weighted to offense now that unless you get the play-caller/quarterback right, you immediately put yourself on the back foot. DeMeco Ryans is an example of how it works with Bobby Slowik and C.J. Stroud. Dennis Allen, with Pete Carmichael Jr and Derek Carr, is an example of it not working.

The other problem is that when you have any success on offense, you’re likely to lose your offensive coordinator as Quinn did in 2016. It’s why so many teams now prefer to go the offensive route. You need your play-caller and QB to be tight. You need your offensive game-plan to be consistently strong. You won’t lose your play-caller or system to another team if the Head Coach is also the man leading the offense.

Quinn has presumably spent considerable time pondering who he’d like to hire if he gets another chance to be a Head Coach. It could be someone like Kellen Moore — who’s not guaranteed to stay with the Chargers if Brandon Staley is fired. It could be an up-and-comer on the Dallas staff, such as Scott Tolzien. It could be someone we wouldn’t expect. Preferably it would be someone with the sufficient chops to lead this team and potentially develop a young quarterback, with it feeling increasingly inevitable that they’re going to draft a QB. If Carroll retires, whoever the new Head Coach is has to — as an absolute priority — find a way to maximise the weapons Seattle has on offense with cultured scheming, misdirection and far more consistency.

I wouldn’t hate a Quinn hire, even if I’d prefer the team to somehow land the next great offensive mind. This isn’t a fantastic coaching cycle in 2024. There are offensive-minded candidates but some aren’t calling plays because they work behind offensive Head Coaches. Some are young, raw and would be unpredictable. There aren’t many big name options. The 49ers don’t have an offensive coordinator to poach (they simply have Chris Foerster operating the running game and O-line and Klint Kubiak acts as a passing game specialist) while McVay’s coordinator is Mike LaFleur who is respected but recently struggled with the Jets.

With Quinn, at least we know he’s been there and got the T-shirt. He’ll have hopefully learned from his time in Atlanta. There’s something to be said for that. He’s likeable, uncontroversial and it’d feel like a solid hire.

I can also well imagine Carroll’s approval being part of any potential departure, too. And as noted, he and Quinn are close.

That might be my least likeable thing about it though. There needs to be a proper clean break with new messaging and a new staff. It can’t just be Carroll’s staff with Dan Quinn and a few others. The Seahawks can’t cling to the old glory days with the hope that Quinn can effectively be a young Carroll. If they did end up with Quinn, you’d hope he’d be given a big say in putting together a new staff with a focus on a fresh start and a clean break.

He would also have to get the offensive coordinator position right.

I appreciate this is all still very much in the ‘need to see it to believe it’ stage but when you listen on the radio these days, both KJR and 710 are talking about Carroll’s future. Breer’s talking about it. Middlekauff and Cowherd are talking about it. Garafolo is talking about it.

Without a serious upturn in results in the last four games, maybe change is around the corner after all?

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This is starting to feel like the end to 2009.

K.J. Wright, who presumably still has some decent contacts with the team (cough, Bobby Wagner) made his weekly appearance on Brock & Salk today.

You can listen to the whole thing here but I’m going to break down the highlights.

— Wright was asked who the leaders are on the team, after he suggested you need at least four. He named Wagner. He then tilted his head back and forth when Quandre Diggs’ name was mentioned, before stating, “I’ll say this, there isn’t four. Let’s be crystal clear, there isn’t four guys.” He then suggested there were only two. Geno Smith’s name was brought up and in the video (watch here), Wright rolls his eyes and shakes his head in a way that made it absolutely clear he doesn’t believe Geno is a leader. He settled on Wagner and Jarran Reed. That’s it.

— He went on to say the team are distracted. “They’re fighting their own internal battles within the building.” He was then played a clip of Pete Carroll, responding curtly to a question about whether the players are listening to his message. “What I’m hearing from Coach Carroll is he’s sick and tired of these guys. He feels like he’s preaching to them but they’re not receiving his message well. It says they don’t give a damn what he’s saying at this point.”

— Wright said Carroll has to do something to send a message. That if he’s inactive, people will react to that. “If you just continue to let this behaviour continue, oh he’s not holding these guys accountable. If I look at us on Monday Night Football and I see the same personnel out there, if I see the same plays out there… it’s not good enough.”

— Mike Salk asked how serious the situation is in Seattle and how important the last four weeks are for this era of Seahawks football. “It’s everything” replied Wright. “I know how much this means to him (Carroll) but when I look at his personnel, they don’t have his back.”

— “What’s rule #1?” Wright asked at the start of the hour. “Protect the team. Some guys have completely dropped the ball when it comes to protecting the team.” This was a clear message to Jamal Adams and the fight at the end of the 49ers game. “That’s what these guys have failed with miserably.”

— Salk criticised Jamal Adams, saying he was “way out of bounds” over his tweets, noting he didn’t apologise (instead he doubled down) and then made an excellent point about there being no public accountability. The Seahawks may have acted behind the scenes but to the fans and media, it just looks like they swept it under the carpet. Compare this to the way the Bills acted on Shaq Lawson and then allowed the story to creep into the public domain. To an outsider, the Seahawks have just brushed this off. It’s not good enough and Salk was right to point it out. His broader point was that there’s a lack of accountability. Wright called on Carroll to “lay down the law” with the players, adding, “enough is enough.” He also criticised Adams for his actions. I appreciate it’s a bit rich, given Wright’s feeble ‘apology’ after voicing concerning opinions on social media last year — but I thought I’d add it here.

— Brock Huard brought up that Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick’s days might be numbered in Pittsburgh and New England. He asked Wright whether, after 14 years, Carroll’s messaging has run its course. “They’re not receiving it, they’re not respecting it. We bought in during our time. If these guys are not buying in, you have to do something. He’s not holding these guys accountable. You have to create some kind of shock in this building.”

— Huard also noted the Seahawks can’t run the ball. They’ve had one 100-yard rusher all season, the lowest output in Carroll’s entire tenure. In 13 games they only have five 100-yard rushing games. Spelt out on air, it’s incredible — given what they’ve invested in the running game in terms of stock and personnel. “There’s no nastiness, there’s no grittiness on the offensive line” added Wright.

So there you have it.

Players aren’t listening to the message. Players are thinking about themselves and their own interests. Players don’t give a damn what Carroll’s saying. Carroll needs to send a message and isn’t producing enough accountability. They can’t run the ball. The players don’t have Carroll’s back.

This is a mess.

Are the Seahawks seriously going to be able to get this back on track when they cut people like Diggs and Adams in the off-season? They’ve spent all this resource to endure blowout defeats, a four-game losing streak and have people as connected as K.J. Wright questioning whether the players are even listening to the coach. In fact, he’s questioning whether they even care what he says.

This isn’t sustainable. It’s been a great 14-season run but cutting a few players and a tweak here or there isn’t going to be enough. When you start talking about players tuning out the message and there being such glaring problems that totally contradict the chosen identity, what does that say?

They’ve spent a fortune in picks and salary to have the 26th best defense in the NFL per DVOA. They’ve spent two second round picks on running backs and they can’t run the ball. Players aren’t listening to the coach. They only have two leaders on the team. This is a shambles. It sounds exactly like the end of 2009.

Stumbling into an eight or nine-win season and maybe making the playoffs simply because the NFL ridiculously added a seventh seed and teams like the Packers blow games against bad opponents shouldn’t mask anything. If they win a couple of games to end the season, what difference will it make?

It’s time.

It’s time for Jody Allen and Bert Kolde to have a polite conversation in the off-season and do what is best for this team. They have a responsibility as custodians to do this, otherwise the accusations of a lack of accountability will be turned their way. We’ve all been around sport long enough that when you start hearing what we heard on the radio from people who are connected to the team, you don’t recover from this.

They need a bigger reset than a coach who is 72 with only two seasons left on his deal (career?) can oversee. They need a new voice, new messaging, new schemes, new ideas, new leadership.

They need change at the top, they need to draft a quarterback and they need to plan what the next era of Seahawks football is going to look like.

What was described on the radio today is a mess.

It comes down to this. Carroll is contracted to 2025. Based on what we heard on the radio, what are the chances this team wins a Super Bowl between now and then? I’d say no chance. Zilch. Thus, why wait? Make the change now and set yourselves on the path to actually trying to get there. Don’t squander two more years for the sake of it, potentially witnessing Carroll sour his legacy even further.

If he can’t get the players to listen, if they don’t ‘give a damn’, if they have no leadership or identity after everything they’ve done to this roster — it’s time.

It’s just time.

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With the way Pete Carroll spoke on Monday, changes are coming. These will include short-term personnel moves for the Eagles game but more importantly — we’re likely to see changes in the off-season.

Make no mistake, a mini-reset is coming. Over The Cap is showing the Seahawks to have only $3m in available cap space for 2024, meaning they are $9.5m in the red when it comes to effective cap space. This has changed because OTC has adjusted their projection for the size of the salary cap next year. They now think it’ll be around $242m rather than $255m.

Cuts are inevitable and avoidable. Big ones. It also means some players are going to be leaving and replaced in a more cost-effective manner.

They really did go all-in for this season. That’s something I don’t think is being acknowledged enough within the media and fanbase. This was a very aggressive year for the Seahawks. It speaks to the timeframe they’re working towards (ageing coach who needs to win now) and the way they’ve misjudged where they’re at as a roster (thinking they’re good enough to use a second round pick on a 10-game rental).

The 2024 season is going to require a shift because the performance hasn’t been good enough this year and they have to create money.

This is a key reason why I think they’re going to aggressively pursue a quarterback in the draft. It’s an easy way to save money. Cutting Geno Smith creates cap space and they can replace him with a rookie contract. They’ll use the move to generate excitement and energy that is badly lacking. We better hope it works out, especially if they mortgage the future to trade into the top-five.

Jamal Adams will be gone and could easily be replaced by Coby Bryant or someone else cheap. I wonder if, rather than cut Quandre Diggs, they do something to lower his incredible $21m cap hit. Cutting him is an option though. Either way, big changes are coming and I’m not sure people realise how ruthless they’re going to need to be. The cap situation is quite ugly.

A defense highlighted by Adams, Diggs and Bobby Wagner isn’t going to be on the field in 2024.

A move for a rookie quarterback would likely involve future picks rather than current picks, because they have too many holes to fill on the cheap. They’re currently picking 13th with four games to go. Packaging that selection with two future first rounders could get them into the top-five, where they’d need to be to get one of the best quarterbacks.

There’s a lot to work out here still. Is Quinn Ewers going to declare, for example? Increasingly the buzz is moving away from Drake Maye (who was always a bit overrated) and towards Jayden Daniels — who increasingly feels like he could be QB2. It’s also possible the Seahawks don’t feel obliged to move up, with a Ewers type maybe lasting into range — or they could value a Spencer Rattler or Michael Penix Jr.

Regardless, replacing Wagner is going to be necessary. It’s not that he’s awful these days. He just can’t cover. His movement skills have eroded with age. What he does well (run defense) is not as important as the area where he’s being exploited (coverage).

I highlighted some possible middle/late round coverage linebackers last week — Steele Chambers (Ohio State), Cedric Gray (North Carolina) and Tatum Bethune (Florida State). For me, though, there’s a prize asset I want to focus on.

I’ve moved NC State’s Payton Wilson into the first round range on my horizontal board. I’ve done this with a red ‘injury’ mark because there are issues here. He suffered a torn ACL in high school then had another knee injury as a true freshman in college. He had surgery on both shoulders before his junior season yet still suffered a season-ending shoulder injury when the games began.

He chose not to declare a year ago because the league voiced concerns over his availability:

“I was hearing from other guys that I could go anywhere from the third round to undrafted or that some teams might not even look at me because of my injuries.”

If the NFL wanted to see him stay healthy for back-to-back years, he achieved that. Yet it remains to be seen what the medicals will say come combine time.

It’s a shame because I’m convinced without the injury flags, he’d be a lock to be a top-20 pick.

Wilson is everything the Seahawks need at linebacker.

His coverage skills are exceptional. He had a 90.4 coverage grade per PFF this year, fifth most among qualifying linebackers playing +50% of snaps. He was targeted 37 times, giving up only 64.9% completions — the 11th best mark in college. He had three interceptions at linebacker in 2023 and he has seven for his career at NC State.

In comparison, Wagner’s coverage grade is 59.6 this year and he’s giving up 80.4% completions on 51 targets. It’s not as bad as Jordyn Brooks, though, who’s giving up 85% completions on 60 targets. There might be a scheme issue here on top of performance.

Missed tackles have been too big an issue for Seattle in recent years. Wilson missed only 4.7% of his tackles in 2023, the sixth lowest percentage in college.

He’s more than just a linebacker. His athletic qualities enable him to threaten opponents in many different ways. Wilson recorded 22 pressures in 2023, six sacks, seven QB hits and nine hurries. He had 490 snaps as an orthodox linebacker, 174 as an outside rusher and 44 covering in the slot. Whisper it quietly but he could be a poor man’s Micah Parsons.

What’s his attitude and approach on the field? Crazed. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a better motor. Look at this:

ATTENTION ALL CFB PLAYERS: If you want to get noticed by NFL scouts, play with type of relentless effort shown here by NC State’s Payton Wilson.

All strain. No give up.

This is an ILB hawking down a WR. 👀 pic.twitter.com/UUktM6dL5W

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) September 10, 2023

Wilson flies to the football, never gives up on plays and the incredible thing is he has the athletic profile to constantly get to the ball-carrier. The tape backs up the stats listed above. He can drop superbly and he is so fluent changing direction. His agility is impressive and he has light feet. He clearly has explosive traits to burst upfield and loves contact. He’s slippery to shed blocks and as a finisher, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a linebacker as effective.

If you want someone who can truly elevate the energy, speed and physicality of your defense — leading by example and helping set the tone — while also showing greater ability to cover and make life harder for opponents, this is your guy.

Per Bruce Feldman’s freaks list:

A former standout lacrosse player and state champion wrestler, the 6-4, 235-pound senior is one of the best players in the country. He led the ACC in tackles in 2020, missed most of the 2021 season with a shoulder injury and then bounced back to make 82 tackles last season. Wilson has been clocked in the 40 at 4.49 and ran a 4.21 in the pro agility shuttle this offseason. He bench-pressed 390; vertical-jumped 35 1/2 inches and broad-jumped 9-8 1/2.

Here’s what NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren said about Wilson:

“He’s a stud. All the accolades he’s getting are so deserved. He’s earned them. And, boy, has he suffered to earn them – physically and the emotions of not playing as many times as he’s had to watch. Some players can watch a game and have fun. They’re dancing to music. For him, it’s depressing to watch a game. He wants to be on the field. I’m so happy for him and I’m enjoying watching him too. I’m definitely taking it in, because I know he is a generational player.”

Wilson is without question one of my favourite players in the draft. Without the health concerns, he would be a high first rounder. It’s a shame, actually, that two players I love — Wilson and Michigan guard Zak Zinter — both have injury concerns. I’ll warn you that I’m going to spend a lot of the off-season talking about both and I won’t criticise the Seahawks if they roll the dice on Wilson’s shoulders and Zinter’s broken leg. They are, for many reasons, exactly what they need at their respective positions.

If the injuries really do knock Wilson into the third-round range, I’ll be stunned. If he and Zinter are there in round three for Seattle’s two picks — although it’s early, count me in for that health gamble. Paired with finding a way to come out of round one with a quarterback, that would feel like a job well done.

If you missed my spot on KJR yesterday, check it out here:

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I was invited onto KJR today to talk Seahawks with Puck & Jim. Please check it out below using the Apple Podcast embed (or click her for the website version).