Stop me if you’ve heard this already — but I’m ready and prepared for a tough season. You’ve just got to embrace it.
2022 is about college football. It’s about quarterbacks. It’s about getting to the end of the NFL year and treating it like it’s a half-marathon you’ve not really trained for.
I fear, however, that some Seahawks fans are seeing things differently. That while they’re not quite getting their hopes up — they’re allowing themselves to view the roster Seattle announced yesterday as worthy of some optimism.
I feel the opposite.
It looks bad.
So much work needs to be done.
I think the roster is some way off what they had even in 2011.
That shouldn’t be a surprise. This is year one of the rebuild. It was year two in 2011. The difference this time is they weren’t starting from an expansion franchise-level team they inherited from Tim Ruskell. Yet the depth and gold-standard talent is missing and they haven’t drafted or signed the entire LOB, added Marshawn Lynch or brought in the likes of K.J. Wright and various others.
I’ve seen several people argue in the comments section here and on my YouTube channel about what the Seahawks have.
A chap called Aaron, for example, posted the following:
“Every skill position on the offense minus the QB has star power in the starters. I understand there’s a depth issue here, but you have to give them the offensive talent. It’s there. You put any true top 10 QB on this squad and the offense becomes elite.”
The word ‘elite’ is used so liberally these days.
When you strip it down, things become a bit more realistic.
I’m not for a second suggesting everyone is rubbish or there isn’t any hope for the future. Yet I think we need to analyse what they actually have.
Let’s start with the offense.
D.K. Metcalf is an excellent player but I still think he has a ways to go to reach the top of the game at his position. Tyler Lockett is clearly an excellent and reliable player. Yet these two — who aren’t supported by much else at receiver — will be reliant on Geno Smith throwing the football in 2022.
Arguably Seattle’s two best players will be hamstrung by the quarterback situation and this could hamper their impact potential.
The tight end group is very much a question mark. Will Dissly may be a solid blocker but in 31 games over the last two seasons he’s accumulated only 482 yards and three touchdowns. Noah Fant has had an underwhelming career so far and Colby Parkinson has shown very little in the game time he’s been afforded.
I’m excited to see if Rashaad Penny can continue his form at the end of last season and I really like Ken Walker. Yet Penny still has to prove he can stay healthy and produce for a longer period than a brief flourish at the end of his contract year. Walker has a hernia that Pete Carroll is being worryingly evasive about. Right now, I just want him to be available.
It’s been pleasing to see Travis Homer and Deejay Dallas look brighter in pre-season than previous years but it’s hard to muster much enthusiasm if either is thrust into extended playing time.
On the offensive line there’s plenty of promise at offensive tackle but that’s what it is. Promise and hope for the future. This is fine — you don’t expect any more than that from rookie tackles. Growing pains are inevitable though and there might be some ugly moments this season. We just have to give them time and hope they can develop into good, quality players. They will probably not start their careers at that level — probably far from it.
And then there’s the quarterback situation. I know some people have convinced themselves that Geno Smith can be adequate. The cold, stark reality is Geno Smith is still, believe it or not, Geno Smith. The only alternative remains Drew Lock. The people suggesting this is the worst quarterback room in the league have a valid point.
That’s the offense. If we were reflecting on this unit for a NFC West foe, we’d be grinning from ear to ear.
It’s all about the rookie tackles bedding in and a running game being sustained to set the table for the future. That has to be the hope and the aim. If the running game isn’t strong and consistent, this unit could have major, major problems and the quarterback — unlike previous years — will not be there to bail you out.
On defense, the unit lacks stars. The hope is that someone like Darrell Taylor can emerge as one but the truth is we just don’t know. He showed tremendous promise in 2021 but going from what we saw last year to even a 2018 Frank Clark level player is a big step. Let’s hope he can show it.
They have a collection of big-bodied interior defenders but lack a truly disruptive pass rusher in the middle. I’m not convinced Uchenna Nwosu will be a difference maker. Alton Robinson deserves a chance to (finally) show what he can do but will he ever get it? Boye Mafe — while filled with talent and potential — will likely experience the same ups and downs as the young offensive tackles.
There is a chance in the future that Taylor and Mafe could be a frightening double-act. Again though, it’s more hope than guarantee at this point. The Seahawks are trying to develop players to solve a long-lasting problem (X-factor pass rushers). It’s good that they have two projects but the reality is they won’t start the season with a proven blue-chip defensive lineman.
Linebacker depth is bizarrely thin. Big things are expected of Jordyn Brooks but I still think he has a lot to prove — especially now that Bobby Wagner has moved on. If he was to get injured, it could be a crisis without an obvious solution.
In the secondary, the cornerbacks are already banged up and hurting. Michael Jackson has been the big winner in pre-season and should get a start. The two rookies — Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen — are showing promise. Yet, once again, there’s very little proven quality here. It’s just more hope and optimism that answers will emerge.
At safety you have a very solid, dependable player in Quandre Diggs but not someone who is going to necessarily tilt games in your favour. Then there’s Jamal Adams — a player who might well have already had the best days of his career. He’s often injured and facing a make-or-break season. It’s fair to call that trade an expensive disaster so far. It’s hard to invest any faith in Adams staying healthy, let alone providing the big impact his price-tag demands.
As with the offense, there’s some young hope for the future but not enough big-time talent to feel confident projecting this as a unit that can have major success. Throw in a rookie defensive coordinator and some changes to the scheme — and it might also be some time before everyone settles into a rhythm. It’s been so long since the Seahawks rushed the passer properly and turned the ball over regularly you’d be forgiven for wondering if they remember how to do it.
Finally, special teams. Jason Myers continues to hint that his one-good year in 2020 was an outlier while the kick coverage was appalling in pre-season. For a team looking to play close to the vest this season, this wasn’t a good sign.
For me this roster looks ripe to struggle. I suspect this team is somewhere between 2010 and 2011. Remember — in 2010 they already had Russell Okung, Earl Thomas, Chris Clemons and Marshawn Lynch. They had experience at quarterback and a few other experienced players. But it was year-one of a rebuild so they had some big weak areas too (a bit like this year).
They won seven games in 2010 but let’s not forget four of those wins came from within a division Seattle won at 7-9. They also defeated the 2-14 Carolina Panthers.
They have no such luxury this year. The NFC West is much harder. There probably won’t be four wins to claim. They might be able to find them elsewhere against the likes of the Lions, Falcons, Jets and Giants — although it’s a stretch to think they’ll win all of their perceived ‘winnable’ games.
Contests against the Chiefs, Buccs and Chargers could be terrifying experiences.
For what it’s worth — and I may live to regret saying this — I kind of fancy them in week one against Denver. I could see them pulling off an upset. Admittedly, I can also see a very long evening too. It should be a fascinating game.
This roster has the look of a team primed to pick in the top five or six in 2023 and I don’t think first or second overall is out of the question.
I’m perfectly comfortable with that. They need another draft to add more talent because there simply isn’t enough right now. Short term pain for longer term gain has always been the best approach this year after trading Russell Wilson. I’m tempted to give them credit for committing to it by sticking to their guns at quarterback. It would’ve been easy enough to make some half-baked trade to marginally upgrade. This almost looks like a stoic, disciplined commitment to mediocrity. Either that or complete misplaced confidence.
I sense fans overly familiar with certain players are elevating the roster to a level that is unwarranted and I fear those same fans will react accordingly when things don’t go as they expect.
They need so much more. This could be ugly.
My suggestion would be to embrace it and look forward to the return of college football and the start of the biggest draft season this franchise has arguably ever had.
If you missed it yesterday check out my piece on the non-quarterback prospects eligible for the 2023 draft.
And if you enjoy the content on Seahawks Draft Blog, why not consider supporting the site via Patreon? (click the tab below)
Mr. Staton, the Court finds you guilty of the charge of Taking Away The Punchbowl from unhinged Seahawks fans. You are hereby sentenced to three weeks of house arrest. While you serve out your sentence, your laptop will be required to play – on loop – clips on offense from the Seahawks’ 1992 season, to remind you of what real football despair looks like.
May God have mercy on your soul.
🙂
That’s cruel!
Poor Rob. He has no idea what he is in for. If he thinks the Geno Smith experience is awful, wait until he gets a load of Stan Gelbaugh/Kelly Stauffer horror show.
I have a feeling Denver is going to curbstomp them.
I don’t think offense will be good at all, no qb, no threats to catch passes after DK/Lock
The middle D is going to be awful. As soon as opposing RBs break the first level it will be open season, and Jamal Adams will probably disintegrate his shoulder trying to stop one of these plays. The LB unit has been steady for so long I worry for fans who aren’t anticipating this. Over the Cap says the Hawks have a little over $15 million still, and I get letting Wagner walk on the deal he had but why not bring KJ back for a year to play with all the young guys? Yesterday it seemed like he was making public overtures to the team and fans ( and they brought Justin Coleman back today to take up a roster spot).
I’m ready to watch a struggling team and anticipate 4 wins. I just hope they look competitive and are improving as the season progresses. We need to see the future at OL, DL, and CB. Beyond that my biggest question is Shane Waldron. What should be expected of his offense with Geno Smith, and is this the guy to keep when the eventual QB successor lands with the team next year?
I’m afraid to say that you are basically preaching to the choir. At least for some of us. I’ll watch with zero expectation and if they do well in certain games I’ll be happy for them. But I still see a 4-13 season in front of us.
A week or two ago I tried mapping out how I thought the season might go, and even at my most charitable, the most I could come up with is 7 wins. I think 4 or 5 is more likely. I keep telling myself that “this is a process”, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, etc. etc..
If by the end of the season we look kinda bad-ass running the ball, and have a semblance of a regular pass rush, I’ll take it. Basically I just really hope we have some sort of momentum that looks like it might carry over into 2023.
There is a lot of delusion coming from Seahawk forums. There is a huge chunk that not only think Geno will be serviceable, but is untapped potential. I’ve seen some of these fans go as far as to say that his QBR will be as high as 90, his TD/INT ratio will 2/1 ratio, a few went as far to 3/1 and he’ll eclipse over 3500 yards passing, toss in a handful of rushing TD too,
What is this? He isn’t some raw talent getting a chance, he’s an established commodity and never in his career put up any numbers similar to the ones I hear some fans claim he’ll achieve. Am I missing something?
“Untapped potential” whew, well there we have it, just a couple … couple score that is, make it a round 40 taps, and this team will suprise.
I’m actually predicting 3500 yards for smith.
However in a 17 game season that’s a bit more than 200 yards a game which is nothing nowadays.
Still going with: 3500 yards. 20 tds. 12 ints. Which will actually be very good for smith and very terrible for a nfl starter.
Geno Smith will be more than serviceable. He will be outstanding in his role of helping Seattle earn a top 5 pick.
I think he could have a high qbr and very few turnovers. But I also think he’ll throw for about 180 yards a game and we’ll score under 17 points bc he’ll be a checkdown Charlie.
I agree wholeheartedly having watch this team since 1977. This year is going to be 1992 Tom Flores bad. The worst part is that PC gets final say over those prime picks come next April. I have no faith in him anymore. He’s dust.
Geno Smith is one of the worst qbs to ever play the position. Pete’s commitment to him makes me much more concerned about delusional thinking instead of tanking without saying it. I’d rather be 3-14 than 7-10 for the draft benefits but can this organization be expected to make good picks and develop them based on their history, particularly recent history? Finding ways to make their best players shine this season would give me optimism; it seems that they do the opposite of that with Damien Lewis and Alton Robinson being notorious examples. This will be a very painful Pete confused face season and 4 wins seems about right.
Come on now, he’s nowhere near one of the worst.
Sadly he is near the worst. Justin fields and Zach Wilson have looked like crud.
Jalen hurts has stayed positive in td/ints and has plus rushing skills.
Daniel Jones has been better and I think most of us would think he kind of sucks. Davis Mills far from being good and has stayed on the right side of production.
If you fire up a list of the starting qb’s then look at who you think is bad vs. Smith’s career he is objectively very near the bottom of that list.
He’s the worst starting quarterback in the league in my opinion, I am however excited to have the number one pick.
I don’t care about record. If we go 8-9 I won’t be sad about lost draft capital, but happy that the team was able to find that many wins in a down year. I’d be happy too if we go 0-17, but 90% of those losses are nail biters.
More probably we go 5-12 or 6-11 (according to sport books that have our line at 5.5). What I want to see is the rookie tackles gaining experience and improving, the defense geling and showing their potential, and new schemes looking appropriate for the type of talent we have, even if struggling a bit. I’m curious how Cover-6 and dime packages will work.
Good stuff Rob. I am amazed what Seahawks have convinced themselves of with Geno Smith. I’ve never seen anything like it. They really think he’s a good player and this is a playoff team.
I agree with every word of this. My only minor quibble is that you seem a bit harsh regarding one or two misses from Jason Myers, who could just as easily right the ship. This is a 3-win team, and the appalling lack of depth is simply the Hawks having to pay the piper for 5+ years of gross ineptitude in roster and draft mismanagement, simple as that.
Myers was extremely poor last season
Promise but we just don’t know. I guess we will find out
Hey Rob,
I was wondering what your impression was of Habakkuk Baldonado and Calijah Kancey of Pitt. I’ve always liked Pitt because they tend to regularly turn out players that end up being solid to great in the NFL. So far I’m more intrigued by Kancey than Baldonado after watching PITT vs CLEM and WF. Commands a ton of double teams but looks quite explosive off the line and can really shoot through the gap if he’s in 1v1 situations. My biggest concern though, he’s 6 feet tall. Any thoughts?
Apologies, I haven’t studied either
I 100% agree with your assessment of the team in this article. And I hope the front office didn’t jump at the chance to grab a Baker or Jimmy for an extra 2 wins because they do have a plan for 2023 and not because they have some blind optimism of the current roster.
This team will not be very good in 2022. 5 wins seems like a good over/under bar. And like Rob, I’m ok with that this year. This year has to be considered year 1 of a true reset and maybe in 3-4 we are back at the top. This past draft looks promising and gives me some hope
Thank you for the realistic perspective. Let’s approach this season by being supportive but with lowered expectations – so we can take pleasure in their achievements but not be overly angered and frustrated by their shortcomings. As you basically said, look at this roster. How are they supposed to be world beaters? It will be cause for joy if they somehow do well, but it isn’t expected.
I’m excited for the franchise to finally bottom bounce in 2022 & start the climb toward contention. The 2023 NFL draft for Seattle is going to be fun as hell. There’s going to be incredible potential to fast track a new core foundation & this is the best site on Earth to preview those Hawks-to-be.
I think that they’re ultimately taking the prudent non-reactionary long-term approach, which, for 2022 at least will be pretty ugly. But I think that investing any draft capital or money into a QB who makes you 3-4 games better than Geno ultimately doesn’t serve much purpose.
And regarding Geno/Lock, what do people expect Pete to say? That they’re not up to standard and will hamstring our ability to compete most weeks? The man spoke well of TJack and Charlie when they were the options too. The head coach can’t in good faith explicitly tell fans and his players to wait a year.
Nobody has suggested he should do that. It’s a strawman argument.
Carroll could still communicate better with fans to set realistic expectations. It’s not “tell everyone we’re rubbish” or “we have two number one QB’s and we aren’t rebuilding!” as the only two options
Coaches will lie to the public; I don’t know what to tell ya.
You continue to miss the point
It’s not about ‘lying’
It’s about managing expectations
I’ve said this too often to keep hearing the same strawman replies
I think our roster has some players that should normally be in the practice squad. The practice squad has players nobody wants and we probably hope we never have to start. I think the expectations should take this into account. Even if the starters were able to perform to a half-decent NFL level (and we need every star in the sky to align for that, far far away from elite), as soon as you have to make replacements, problems start. I will be happy to watch the games with the hopes of seeing our youngsters develop, but I don’t have winning expectations. We’ll have a hard time scoring more than 20 points and it’s tough to win like that.
I look forward to seeing some nice PFF grades from the youngsters when we lose by 20.
I expect Russ to return to town with a point to prove and think it will be a very ugly loss for us week 1.
Both teams have holes, but remember that a franchise QB can cover up a lot of them. I think we experience the flip side of the coin this time. And I have zero faith in PC to magically clean up our preseason form in a couple weeks’ time.
“I expect Russ to return to town with a point to prove and think it will be a very ugly loss for us week 1.”
I agree with you. 31-9
If lumen field had the energy of the Clink from nine-ish years ago I’d think it would be a close game and the seahawks with the edge.
That stadium is dead as a door nail now. And Pete’s teams start slow as molasses both in games and in the season.
Get some 3 and outs on offense rolling and the energy of a new season may drop right out of the sky.
The long years of Seahawk tribulation, disappointment, and ever-increasing frustration are about to commence. False hopes and wishful thinking will fall away quickly once the season begins. Maybe I’m totally wrong. Hope so. Go Mariners.
Go M’s!! They are pulling strong into the start of September. I feel like the majority of Seattle sports fans, even die hard Seahawks fans, will have more interest in the Mariners postseason run, and rightfully so.
Im prepared for an ugly season for the Hawks, it will be the fist season in awhile I don’t get NFL Sunday ticket, because I don’t want to sign up for full on Direct TV and sign a contract. Apparently Sunday ticket will go streaming next year, so I will wait a year lol. I can find some stream on the web this year because there will be many games too painful to watch.
After they win 2 to 5 games this season and draft the QB of the future, will they even be able to develop said QB? I know Pete can’t do it, Waldron?
In my view not only is there lack of talent and depth on the roster but in the coaching ranks.
This organisation desperately needs a new direction. Period!
I don’t disagree
Well, to be fair to Pete, he “developed” Russel Wilson.
That’s a bit generous
Did he?
That’s why I put it in quotes. But he did give him a very soft landing. He didn’t have to put up:0 points to win his first couple of season. I mean if Pete didn’t develop Wilson who did??
IMO it’s pretty clear that the man who developed Russell Wilson.
Was Russell Wilson.
This is a curious question, I would say he did, but then my second reaction is that Wilson may have developed himself. He won the job out of camp as a rookie and was off to the races from there. I’m not sure, would be interesting to hear others opinions on this.
Actually, I think Pete helped develop some of the negative things about Russels game.
Pete likes to limit turnovers and have explosive plays.
To a young, impressionable mobile qb with a strong arm that translated to:
Extend plays and always look downfield
Throw to an actual open receiver, not to a spot where a receiver is going to be
Now, Russ at times has trouble not playing that way, but it doesn’t work as well as it used to. Will be curious to see how much Russ evolves in Denver.
Perhaps the one positive would be Pete helped Russ really develop his deep ball game.
It’s going to be ugly for a while but I’m embracing the change
I’m fine with all that. My biggest fears are:
– Taylor is nothing special, JAG who can bring you 3-5-6 sacks especially if you have a star passrusher next to him, but otherwise he’d be the 2nd/3rd rusher on most teams
– Mafe will be a mediocre player, like a worse Taylor
– DK is what he is, and he’s development will stop now
– Lockett is getting old and when we have our offense set and a new good QB, he’ll decline or retire
– Walker is a bust
– Penny is just a shiny toy, who sometimes can have great games, but otherwise injured on a non-factor
– Cross will be a bust
– No-one will emerge from the young CBs
If some of these are true, we’re in big-big trouble. If most/all are true, then this team is basically nothing. A group of backups at best
I don’t need 6-7 wins. But I really need to see development, and a couple of guys show promise and step up as the season progresses.
This might be 2010 or ’11, or this might be the next Browns/Jets/Jags
I think Taylor will be fine.
Mafe I am looking forward to.
Dk…?…
Very worried if time catches Lockett that there is nothing after him.
Not loving Pete’s smoke and mirrors regarding Walker.
Penny……still think that was some contract year magic act.
Cross I surprisingly like more than I thought I would.
But if I’m wrong about some of this and right about others this could get real grim.
Let’s drop the optimistic-glasses and see what this is:
Penny: He was injured more than he wasn’t. He had some great runs when he had room to run, but he was stonewalled a lot also. He cannot get skinny between tackles usually, and if he stopped at the LoS he rarely breaks free
Walker: He did OK, but didn’t yet showed anything that warrants a true RB1 or future star RB stamp. He might be OK, might be more, but until now, it doesn’t looks like he’s Lynch or Henry or something like that
Cross: He had some nice reps. He sometimes just stonewalls opponents. But he had a ton of penalties, and sometimes panics or just get straight up beaten. He might be good, even great or just a bust. It’s still 50-50 for me right now
iOL: A mess. Not sure a good/great OL would want any players from the inside. Not terrible, but none to me seems like a top5-10-15 player at their position
DK: He’s portrayed like a top5 WR. He’s not that. He’s not even top10 in the league right now. He’s an amazing WR2 or just a good WR1. He have potential, but not sure he’ll ever reach it. He’s like Clowney. Crazy potential, but JD never truly reached and it was able to held up the performance. He had some nice catches and obviously a tremendous athlete, but he also went non-existent in multiple games. Until he’s a constant force, he cannot be a top10 WR
LBs: Just a bad group. Barton showed some promise to not suck in the inside and Brooks can flash sometimes, but I don’t trust them. And depth is non-existent.
Taylor: He had some nice sacks, but it seems like he always tries to bend and go around the OT. I wanna see more moves from him. Rip, swim, bullrush. He either beats the tackle by quickness and speed and bend or he gets taken out of the play completely. If he can step up big with his moves he could be a pretty good player. If not, he’s a good rotational piece to me only.
Mafe: He’s a rookie. But I didn’t see much that warrants hype. Maybe I didn’t watch him close enough, but he played a ton, and tbh Alton Robinson or Poona seems to be a better rusher right now. Mafe has great motor, but he didn’t win constantly…heck, he didn’t win period against 2nd or 3rd string OTs in the preseason
iDL: Yeah…no. Occasionally I can see one of them slips the iOL and make a sack or TFL, but none of them seems like a force to reckon with. They can sometimes stop the inside run, but not even regularly.
CBs: I just don’t see it. I don’t see any outstanding talent there. They’re really raw, so anything can come from the group. Maybe another Sherm, maybe none of them will be a starter. They seem like development guys and we can only pray that from those group of 3-4-5 guys, at least one will be good or great down the road
TEs: Ton of JAGs, not even a hint of greatness to me
To me Lockett is awesome. He’s shifty, dependable, great route runner, and has awesome hand-eye coordination. But he starts to get older, so who knows how much will he available in the future.
Lucas seems pretty good, maybe better than Cross. At least his lows are not that low as for Cross.
I won’t talk about Geno, Adams or other clearly bad players who are overhyped by some fans. No reason, they are just plain bad.
Overall I see many JAGs, mediocre players, good rotational pieces – but not clear starters. A ton of question marks…this could be a foundational roster for something good, but currently I have a feeling that there’s like 30% chance for that and 70% chance for a crash and burn without any great talent.
Ton of and huge holes to plug in: WR3, maybe even RB1, TE1, OC, OG, QB, S (probably two as Diggs getting old and Adams is Adams), CB1 (if none of the youngsters emerge as a star), LB, DT, EDGE/DE/LB (whatever we call someone who rush opposite of Taylor)
Not saying we need #1 picks for all these positions, or high caliber FAs. But for most…yes. We need greatness and stars
We need a great QB. We need a great RB, a good/great TE. From OC and OG one should be great the other is at least good. A great CB1 (who can shut down even WR1s). A great outside rusher and at least one great DT who can push the pocket, get TFLs and some sacks and help to stop inside runs. And we need a great LB who can cover TEs/RBs, has the speed to run sideline-to-sideline and make good tackles.
We had: Kam, Sherm, Bobby, ET, KJ, Mebane, Clemons, Avril, Bennett, Irvin, Wilson, Lynch, we had Rice-Tate-Kearse-Baldwin for WRs, Unger. That’s 14 guys (counting the WRs as 1, because not WR1/2 is the important, but WR3/4) who are at least pretty good and in the top 20-25-30% of their position in the league. Multiple of them are amongst the very best at their position at the time.
How many do we have currently that we can easily say the same about? Maybe Dickson and Lockett (as WR2). That is just sad. And this team will need 2-3 good drafts and free agency periods to have at least 10 guys who can be a force in the league
Welp, looks like I get to post it:
Well this just makes our ability to maintain TWO #1 QBs more expensive, but it’s the proverbial good problem to have, right?
I say no more than $30M/year for each of them. 😉
Mahomes looks like a major bargain here, Russ hasn’t sniffed Mahomes production or consistency for years.
Uh…….you mean yards right?
He didn’t play one game for them. It’s a risk, no matter how good a player is, sometimes the chemistry simply isn’t there. I wouldn’t have done it now.
As a wilson fan I agree with you.
But what are they going to do? A guy who will be out of football for nearly two years got a quarter billion guaranteed.
Kyler Murray who has done nothing yet and may actually be an average but accurate player got so much money.
They’ve had all off-season and camp to evaluate leadership, chemistry, etc. Playing out the season would have likely meant even more guaranteed and Russ risks injury. It’s a fair deal for both parties today and I’m glad it’s not on the Seahawks books.
Mannion is essentially the emergency backup because he knows the scheme
Exciting times
The Pete Carroll show.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see Mannion start if Geno busts or he gets injured. Lock is too risky of a replacement for Pete.
I doubt that
I hope Pete and John get asked some solid questions on Russ’ contract as $42 M per year for 7 years doesn’t seem as crazy as the $50ish million people were throwing out there. Didn’t end up driving a hard bargain to be top paid, nor did he leave for the bright lights/marketing city like others assume was important to him. This is a good deal for the broncos today and will be even better in 2-3 years time when the market will be well over $50M for franchise QB. What happened John/Pete as that salary seems more than fair today?
And where’s the narrative that Russ’ agent is the Satan of all Satans who will take them to the woodshed and squeeze them for every penny, stretching this out until they scream? The contract is done before the season, is only $3 million more per year than Kyler Murray, and keeps him there until he’s 40 while being cap friendly this year and next year until the big explosion in the cap in 2024 will mask any big balloon in his pay. Yikes. Makes the Hawks’ talking heads look worse and worse.
Pete is far more important to the success of the last decade than Russ ever was, dontcha know?
And btw CD, the Downey soft Seattle media will never ask such questions. They’re too busy being Pete’s lapdogs.
There is definitely a line of questioning about the trade and subsequent decision to roll with Geno Smith that warranted investigating and probing, that has been left untouched.
Carroll should be pressed on that more than he has been. Even as someone who is embracing a bad season, he should be made to answer those questions.
You’re looking at it from Denver’s side. Don’t forget the Seahawks are eating $26m of dead cap this year. Denver paid dearly for Seattle to eat that much dead cap.
That would drive the 7 year average to $46m.
And I really doubt the divide with Seattle was over money.
Yeah the divide was probably more that mark Rodgers and John Schneider are the problem.
Wilson is weird dude fueled on as many platitudes as Carrol. Never once in a freaking decade did the team get an OC of note. Rodgers is an ass who plays hardball. And frankly John scouting other qbs while the wheels are falling off the defense and run game didn’t help matters. Oh and when your qb can throw 35 tds but you punt on 2017’s draft and then nearly do it again in 2019….not a great way to keep a team going.
I know fans think John is being held back but there are a ton of bad contracts on this team. And the recent Ugo Amadi for a practice squad player when the other team gets something for him shows me JS may have lost or at least is losing whatever juice he may have had.
That’s the deal you’re pointing to? Cmon.
The Seahawks picked up some badly needed cap room and traded a pretty terrible player from an area of strength to build up an area of weakness. And a 6th round pick two seasons out didn’t net the Eagles CGJ, the 2023 5th round pick the Eagles offered did. The net from the Amadi deal was the equivalent of this year’s 7th round pick.
Let’s talk about $38m to the safeties.
Let’s talk about $8m a year to a blocking tight end.
Let’s talk about trading your franchise QB and getting his massive salary off the books, but only having about $20-25m spendable cap in 2023.
But not the Amadi deal.
Yeah Cha. That is my point. They still got something from nothing and we got actual nothing.
Badly needed cap room? Really. They shouldn’t as you noted needed any of that cap room.
Like I said if another team can do anything at all with your junk and they can point to a few million in savings while pissing away tons of cash every well else that smacks of losing your mojo.
It’s like a labor day sale where “the more you spend the more you save!” No. You’re (the team) is still spending.
“Denver paid dearly for Seattle to eat that much dead cap.”
Cha, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this statement for a couple hours now.
Paid dearly, how? In terms of trade capital? At this point, I think we can all agree the included players were a throw-away component to the trade, none of whom will be on this team in 4 years and likely none of whom will have made a huge impact in determining wins and losses. I don’t know that we could get even a mid-round pick for all three even if we ate their salaries.
So paid dearly with 4 draft picks? Let’s just say we hit on all four of those draft picks and JS looks like a sheer drafting genius. Where will we be in four years, the fall of 2026? We’ll have a premier left tackle playing on a fifth year option who we are preparing to or have already given $26 million per year to; a premier edge rusher who has already finished his rookie contract and is making $20 million per year; perhaps a premier interior defender who we’ve had to decide about the fifth year option and will soon be making $16 million per year; and perhaps a top flight wide receiver we drafted to replace our last top flight WR and is demanding $28 million per year. On top of all this, we’ll have our QB, who will either be our Josh Allen and is already making $52 million per year, or might be our Kyler Murray who is making $48 million because we’re not sure he’s the future but we’re too afraid to be wrong, or is our Sam Darnold that we’re trying to trade for something-anything-while preparing to draft our next future franchise QB.
Meanwhile, Russ is making $42 million with three years left on his contract.
Paid dearly? I dunno man. I put a lot of value on peace-of-mind, roster stability, and the ability to land free agents. After seeing this offseason and preseason, I’d trade back if given the option. I hope my numbers are wrong and, as you always like to accuse me of, I’m assuming way too much but at this point I’m thinking Seattle is the one that paid dearly.
You are well within your rights to not like the return the Seahawks got for trading RW.
I’m curious if the Seahawks put that contract in front of Russ and his agent would he have signed it?
IMO no. So Russ can drop all the it was mutual stuff.
If Pete and John are not the ones pushing the contract toward him, then 100% he signs that contract. Jody made a choice.
If you just count the extention, it was 49/mill per year I believe.
I an optimistic that this is a young roster and not half full of past-their-prime veterans playing out the end of large contracts. I’m excited to see the infusion of talent and change in defensive scheme, which was long overdue. I’m hopeful that we can see the beginnings of an identity by the end of the year, and couple players maturing into the next core group. If we’re starting to use our TEs, hitting some short passes over the middle to receivers in space and converting better on third downs, I’ll be happy.
I do think we have a chance against Denver. Seattle uniquely knows Russell’s weaknesses and will double receivers deep and force Wilson to take short passes over the middle. If we can get even one interception, I’ll be smiling. I also think Denver is overrated. Sutton and Jeudy don’t scare me yet and their running game is over hyped. The problem will be moving the ball on offense, where I think we’ll struggle.
If we can steal a win form Denver, it’s not inconceivable that we could be competitive with the Falcons and Lions after likely dropping the 49ers game. That could make us 3-1 or 2-2 out of the gate and keep the season interesting, at least to start.
We might beat the Broncos just because of surprise factors, but we are not beating the Lions. That team is going to be sneaky good.
You lost me on their running game being over hyped.
I think it’s hyped just right. We’d kill for two running backs that both could rush for over 900 yards.
Our RBs are just as good and we have better depth:
Seattle
Penny – 6.3 YPC, 80.5 PFF
Ken Walker – TBD
Travis Homer – 8.4 YPC
Denver
Javonte – 4.4 YPC, 75.9 PFF
Melvin Gordon – 4.5 YPC, 77.8 PFF
Forrest the optimism is great but Travis Homer? If he was running a real 8.4 yards a carry he’d be an mvp candidate on a 200 carry workload. As it is he has 64 total carries in three seasons.
Melvin gordon has nearly as many carries as penny has total yards in his career. Penny is the one player I hope I am most wrong on this year.
And Walker I think will be really good.
It’s not an overhyped rb duo. It’s a super strong duo and we haven’t had anything like that for quite some time.
I’m with Peter on this.
I hope that Penny can stay healthy this whole season and effectively produce and I hope that Walker lives up to the potential that we saw in his college film but neither have shown that they are effective starters in the NFL over the course of a full season yet.
Williams was a rookie last year but he was a legit starting RB for the entire season and Gordon has shown that he can be the bell cow RB for multiple seasons. The Broncos have a solid/strong running game while we Hawks hope to have one.
The Broncos were 12th in the league last year in YPC (4.4). The Seahawks were…3rd (5.0).
The Broncos were 13th in rushing yards (2025). The Hawks were 11th (with 2074, despite rushing on 42 less plays).
The Broncos were 14th in rushing touchdowns (with 16). The Hawks were 11th (with 18).
Check it out:
https://www.nfl.com/stats/team-stats/offense/rushing/2021/reg/all
It’s a reasonable deal for both sides that tracks along with the Kyler Murray deal. Denver had little leverage but had a chance to see how he handles his business all offseason. I’m a little surprised Mark Rodgers didn’t hold out for a Watson deal, but I’m supposing Denver would have had him play out at least another season before upping the guaranteed money.
everything you said is True and on point and I appreciate as always your vivid Critique. BUT your conclusions always slipped to the Negative side
lets just say DTaylor does progress , Mafe as well that’s not a reach
Inside I totally disagree give Woods his props and Shelby Harris addition helps =solid
We can see a certain degree of promise in the running game even in the pre season
My main concern to your point is at depth at Linabacker and skill at QB ..Geno will not throw the game away but will he throw a touchdown ?
I don’t think he slips to the negative, I think he is just stating the reality. It’s ok to acknowledge the upside in Mafe Taylor and others (which he has) and be hopeful, but when projecting this team you can’t just assume what we have yet to see.
absolutely right!
however projecting is just that I would disagree only to the point as to which way that projection lands as an example I feel personally this defense will surprise people based on not Preseason but rather personal and scene change
DAVID: I’m not Rob, but I will say he uses the term “hope” an awful lot in his evaluation of this roster. He hopes Mafe and Taylor become bookend stud pass rushers, he hopes Walker can get and stay healthy, he hopes there’s no significant injury at the paper thin LB spot, he hopes Cross and Lucas work out, he hopes the young CBs develop, etc., etc. That’s a lot of hoping and there’s a pretty good chance half of those hopes won’t be realized.
For me, I “hope” you’re right about the defense.
I hope Hurtt and Desai give Pete no reason to “take over” and I hope Waldron is not what I think he is.
Rob literally said ” I feel the opposite.
It looks bad”. He has every right to think that and let’s face it He is the expert here and is most likely correct. My only point is I see No depth however I’m Bullish on the young Front line new talent on Defense new aggressive Scheme and some Older Players I like making a Good defense rather than Below Average which he is hinting at.
that’s all
I can’t argue with your take. The talent on the offense overall seems decent to good – but the lack of a halfway decent quarterback and inexperience at the tackles knocks them down a few pegs. (or more.) The defense seems to lack high end talent. Diggs, Adams, Brooks maybe Taylor – seems like that’s about it. The rest are mostly projections. It’s hard to be too optimistic there. With a good quarterback would they be a playoff team? I think so. Even with this down season I’m hopeful for 7 wins – maybe they can get to 9 and sneak into the playoffs? (That might be asking too much!)
None of those defenders are high end talent. Taylor has potential to be but isn’t there yet.
On offense, they have DK and Lockett and some RB’s with promise (but injury concerns)
Maybe not elite players but they are at least pro bowl level. Brooks Is a projection but also aplayer on the rise. But I agree that if that’s your top end then you’re lacking a little firepower.
I’m not convinced Diggs and Adams are going to be anywhere near the Pro-Bowl this year. I’m not convinced Adams is even capable of staying healthy.
Hey, Rob. What chances do you give my Oregon Ducks against Georgia this weekend? Slim to none I would imagine. Also, are there any Oregon prospects you will be watching?
The one of the best indicators of roster health – is how many cut players get picked up by other teams? Answer: none
A sadly great point.
Remember the years when it seemed like almost every player Seattle cut got scooped up by another team? Seems like a long time ago.
The Jets had 7 waived players picked up by other teams, including one by Seattle (CB Isaiah Dunn).
Yes, the Jets.
If the jets come to their senses in the season and bench Zack wilson or he takes even a marginal leap forward that game which felt a long time ago as a “gimme,” looks like another one where we might get manhandled.
Weapons on offense. Young potential on defense. A heart and soul player in Mr. Clemons.
The jets are the 2011 seahawks.
I didn’t know who Micheal Clemons was before Rob introduced him to me. But I’m grateful he did.
And I’ll tell ya this, he’s one of the few non Seahawks rookies I’ll follow as closely as if he were a Seahawk.
Love his vibe. Really wish there had been a way to get him on the team. Love this draft but Seattle needs someone like him.
Wait? You actually thought the hawks would have a game this year that would be considered a gimme?
Not necessarily after this off-season. But “a long time ago.” Like 2020 before the wheels really came off. If I saw jets in the schedule. Yeah. A gimme.
I think all the games the hawks will be struggling and none of the opponents now look like a cake walk.
I think they could beat Denver, but the linebacker group is so thin. They’re going to force Russ to throw over the middle and the middle is weak.
As for the roster, it’s not championship level but it has a clean feel to it. They can build on it. The holes are big but can conceivably be filled next off season. QB (average even), linebacker, D tackle, IOL, WR.
My one big fear is that Pete trades 2 picks for Roquan Smith or something.
And yes, it is terribly annoying to hear him say we have 2 number 1s. I’m ok with crowd psychology but be better at it.
6 wins feels further away than it did, but I’ll stick with it. I’m fine with that for this year.
One good thing trading Russ is we are close to win super bowl. Will not like to see trade like Adams anymore.
While our LB position is not the 1985 Bears and not super deep. I think we need to see how the 3-3-5 D works.
I’ve seen somewhere that Barton will be swapped out with a Big Nickel safety like 50% of the time. So Brooks
Barton for half the snaps IMO will be fine. Hopefully one of the PS LB can be ready to go by mid season.
Rob, thanks for setting a expectations before season starts. How do you rate Broncos team? How many games they will win floor-celling?
I think the Broncos are a challenge to assess
Could see them being really good and also a bit underwhelming
The remaining cap space this year can be rolled over into next year, right? Why blow cap space in a year with Geno as QB when you can use it next year? Seems like a decent idea to me. Also, don’t we want to suck for luck?
Rolling cap space would be an admission of not competing, which they don’t seem prepared to make yet. Also, I’d prefer we coin “Red Pill for Will”
Reading about the Dolphins falling in love with Skylar Thompson made me wonder why we didn’t take a flier on a QB in the 7th. We clearly all knew that Eason wasn’t going to make this team. Why not bring in a late round guy just to compete, add something new, and maybe- just maybe- bring some juice to the competition. I mean, couldn’t be much worse than taking fliers on two WRs in the seventh round.
But then it dawned on me. They couldn’t take that risk. They couldn’t take the risk that QB actually showed up and balled out because then they’d either have to cut Geno, the patron saint of the QB room who knows the system better than Pete and never makes mistakes, or cut Lock, which would be an immediate blemish on the trade returns. I feel like the front office is putting so much stock into optics that they’re missing some of the finer nuances of roster building and fan management (the coordinated John-Pete-Jody letter to the fans to explain Russ forced his way out comes to mind).
But man, to have a young buck rookie like Thompson around, who’s good enough to force the Dolphins to actually keep three QBs, seems like such a luxury right now.
“I feel like the front office is putting so much stock into optics that they’re missing some of the finer nuances of roster building …”
Yep. That’s the same reason Jamal Adams was signed to a huge extension when it was obvious to most that he was not what they thought they were getting and it’s the same reason LJ Collier is STILL on this roster.
There weren’t no competition at QB this year. None.
Seattle can beat Denver week 1 IF they establish a dominant running game peppered with the kind of play action that allow them to take advantage of what will almost certainly be a stacked box on most downs. Think the kind of game/game plan we saw at Indianapolis to open the season last year. Geno is capable of shepherding that kind of offense if the OL give the RBs room to work.
I don’t know how strong the Bronco defense is, but they weren’t very good against the run to close out last season (they gave up an average of 133 rushing yards in their last 3 games and 112 average for the year).
We know our defense is weak in the middle (though I’m somewhat hopeful Brooks and Diggs firm it up a bit), so Denver will score. Hence, our best defense is to maintain possession for as much of game time as possible. Ironically, long TD runs wouldn’t be helpful (score too quickly). Long TD drives are what’s needed.
The Seahawks offense lives or dies by the running game.
Go Hawks!
ETS
Jubari Zuniga to the PS.
Another player Rob highlighted back in 2020 as one with serious potential. Wish the front office would take a read of this site and get Rob in as a consultant!
I’m thinking that RW, with his new 49 million a year contract, will have the attitude that he then has to go out and beat the heck out of his old team to justify it. I could see him being up 4-5 scores to none at halftime and resting the rest of the game. IMO-The Seahawks MUST clobber the heck out of him at every opportunity and shake his confidence as much as possible, with waving arms and persistent rushing. That is likely their only chance at making it a closer game that they could possibly win if the ball bounces right and they get lucky.
A lot can be gleaned from the first game of the season and future projections are perhaps better made after that first game and NOT be based on the results of 3 preseason games where many of the starters didn’t play much and the primary function of the preseason is to evaluate upwards of 100 prospects anyway. We will all likely confirm our dour predictions for this rebuilding season after the likely defeat by the Broncos (unless they get really lucky). Real fans stick with their team through feast and famine.
“I sense fans overly familiar with certain players are elevating the roster to a level that is unwarranted”
This is my favorite quote of the piece, Rob, and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m constantly seeing quotes like “We have so much depth at cornerback” and “Might be the best running back room in the league” and “best TE core in the league” and “top 10 offense line” (yes, I’ve even seen that one). Every time I see that, I’m thinking, “On what do you base this accolade?” and I think it’s simply that people keep seeing the same names over and over again to the point that they believe that if they’re still on the team, then they MUST be good. No one seems to stop and think that maybe they’re still on the team just because we can’t find any reasonable alternative that wants to play here.
Exactly right — and I’ve seen those comments too.
You are probably right about this season, Rob, but I can’t fully get behind this take – at least not yet. Perhaps I’m being too optimistic as a fan.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that the roster looks bad. There is a lot of talent on this team. The fact that the QB will impact the effectiveness of talented players is a different assertion – which I agree with- but that doesn’t change the fact that we have talented players on this roster.
And the fact that some players are rookies and will inevitably make rookie mistakes also doesn’t change the fact that they are talented players. And they’re on our roster.
This team has talent to be excited about.
As you wrote, DK and Tyler are excellent players. They’ll be hindered by Geno – but they are still excellent players.
Rashaad Penny played great last year – the fact that he is likely to get hurt this year doesn’t change the fact that he is talented and has proven it.
Kenneth Walker is widely regarded as a talented RB – yeah he’s hurt right now, but that has nothing to do with his talent. Of course he has yet to play in an NFL game, but there is more than enough reason to be optimistic about him.
Will Dissly is a good player who was sought after by other teams. Yeah he doesn’t have high receiving yards but Russ never utilized his tight ends much. That’s not Dissly’s fault. I’m glad to have him on the roster. Noah Fant was the top TE available just a few drafts ago – he played with back up quarterbacks in his short career so far (and has flashed even under those conditions). Surely that has had an impact on his numbers. He’s talented so I have reason for optimism here.
Our new tackles will have growing pains but we have every reason to believe right now that they are talented. We upgraded at center and that is going to make a huge difference. The offensive line could actually be a strength of the team this year with a QB who stays in the pocket and can see the entire field. I will be optimistic about them until I have reason not to be…which admittedly may come really soon.
Geno isn’t great, of course, although I do suspect that we may find a way to stay on the field longer with him than we have with Russell in years past. Imagine how much better the defense could play when they have time to rest.
This defense kept us in the game against the Packers last year – they contained Aaron Rogers for quite some time. There is talent there. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the Seahawks had something like the 3rd best run defense last year? We brought back the key players that made that happen (Poona and Woods). Everyone seems to acknowledge Shelby Harris as an underrated talented DT too.
We don’t have any start pass rushers – true – but there is reason for optimism with Tayler, Mafe, and Uchenna.
Brooks and Diggs are talented players and have been recognized as such by others in the league. I am concerned about Adams getting injured again but he is a talented player and has made an impact when utilized correctly. It sounds like this new scheme is going to do just that.
I see no reason to be negative yet about our cornerbacks. We have a talented group with lots of depth.
Sure we don’t have depth at every position (like LB) – but by the way – not many teams do. The Rams won the Super Bowl last year. They don’t have great depth this year either and many thing they are contenders for another Super Bowl.
In short, I think the Seahawks are going to perform much better than anyone currently thinks they are. There is talent on this team. Yes, that talent will be hindered by average to possibly bad quarterback play – but there is still talent. And because there is talent, I can be optimistic about what happens after we draft our quarterback of the future next year.
Looking forward…
You make it sound like the Seahawks talent is unique, that other teams have less.
I think most will acknowledge there is talent in DK, Tyler, hell all of them do to be on an NFL roster, but so do other teams and they have more.
I think this will be a 4-5 win team – if things go well.
I think this is part of the problem though.
You’ve taken a lot of crumbs there, forced them all together and are hoping it resembles a slice of bread.
I mean — take your cornerback assessment. They had to scramble around to re-sign Justin Coleman this week because the group is so banged up, thin and young. They don’t have even one proven quality starter. They just have a couple of young players we hope emerge in time and a guy in Mike Jackson who showed well in pre-season.
This is not ‘lots of depth’ or lots of talent. It’s just hope that players come through and turn into starters.
And then this quote…
I can barely believe someone has put this, to be honest.
But you’re in for a shock.
Perhaps. But with all due respect, a few days ago you were also absolutely certain that Jimmy G. was going to be released by the 49ers! He wasn’t. All of us have wrong takes every now and then – takes that we pronounce with absolute certainty – time will tell who is right.
Geno is not a great quarterback but it’s entirely possible that he could be an average one. And average quarterbacks can keep a drive going longer than Russell “Three and Out” Wilson. We have seen average *backup* quarterbacks doing just that against Seattle, haven’t we? I didn’t say that Geno would score lots of touchdowns or throw pretty deep balls – just that he could keep a drive going and that doing just that would actually help our defense. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all. Again – we shall see.
I disagreed with what seemed to be your main point – that the roster looks bad – and named a bunch of players to show that we actually have lots of talent on this team. The fact that the QB may hinder their effectiveness doesn’t at all rebut the fact that we still have a talented roster. Our defense ranked something like 11 last year and I believe in run defense we were third. There is talent on this team. And again, most NFL teams do not have the depth you’re talking about at all positions – including the Super Bowl winning Rams as Chris Simmons recently pointed out.
Yes our cornerbacks are currently “banged up” but that has nothing to do with their talent level. Jalen Ramsey could get injured tomorrow, we wouldn’t then make the comment that the Rams roster has no talent at cornerback. He’s just injured. Tre Brown looked pretty dang good last year – I am very high on him.
Justin Coleman was brought onto the team from the beginning – they never intended to drop him.
Sidney Jones, Artie Burns, and Justin are experienced. The other guys are mostly rookies but they have shown talent so there is reason to be optimistic…we will know once the season gets going. There is reason to be optimistic. It’s not thin – there is depth. And none of them look like Tre Flowers.
You can dismiss the above as “crumbs” but I think they are solid points so I’ll eat this slice of bread.
One thing I hope we can agree on – it would be awesome if this highly underrated team beats the Broncos in week one. Imagine the egg on all of the experts faces. Counting the days.
Color me pessimistic but I think the only thing we’re gonna see in week one is Geno&co producing 9-12 points, Russ throwing for 4-5 TDs, him excusing himself to the fans for kicking our ass in this ugly manner and Pete saying that we actually prepared well all week so he needs to see the tape to understand what just happened.
What has that got to do with anything? I believed, completely fairly, that San Francisco wouldn’t keep a $24m insurance policy and because that was the contract he was on, he would be released.
Nobody predicted he would re-do his deal and take a whopping pay-cut to be a backup for a team who wouldn’t even give him a playbook this summer. It’s a bit rich for you, in a debate, to throw that back in my face.
The rest of your comment is exactly why I’ve been saying what I’ve been saying this week. Everything you are writing is why this piece exists. You have perfectly illustrated what I’m talking about here and in my video this week.
To me, this roster is a work-in-progress that’s mostly about who can contribute (and to what extent) in 2023 and 2024. That’s going to unfold, and we won’t have a full picture until the end of the season.
In terms of 2022, this is a 3-6 team that may not win a road game. Because of the new coaches, the defense will need time to jell. As pointed out above, there may not be a dominant player there and the linebacking is woefully thin. The best hope for this defense is that Brooks becomes as a top player at his position, that Woolen flashes genuine potential as a shutdown CB, and that a solid supporting cast for the future emerges.
The offense won’t go into a single game with a clear edge at QB. Even so, it’s farther along than the defense in terms of upside: It may well have bookend tackles who could be forces by the end of the season, there’s real depth at RB, and the offense at least has a couple of proven star players. Still, they’re thin at WR after Metcalf and Lockett, and TE is a hodgepodge of talent distributed across three players. The interior OL is serviceable at best.
Then there’s the schedule, the back end of which is brutal, so much so that team could improve and still lose more. Seattle has enough to beat Atlanta, Carolina, and the Giants at home. There are opportunities against Detroit (road) and the Jets (home) and it may squeeze out an upset against one of the other teams. But let’s not kid ourselves: This roster is about culling for 2023 and 2024.
To me, this roster is a work-in-progress that’s mostly about who can contribute (and to what extent) in 2023 and 2024. That’s going to unfold, and we won’t have a full picture until the end of the season.
In terms of 2022, this is a 3-6 team that may not win a road game. Because of the new coaches, the defense will need time to jell. As pointed out above, there may not be a dominant player there and the linebacking is woefully thin. The best hope for this defense is that Brooks becomes as a top player at his position, that Woolen flashes genuine potential as a shutdown CB, and that a solid supporting cast for the future emerges.
The offense won’t go into a single game with a clear edge at QB. Even so, it’s farther along than the defense in terms of upside: It may well have bookend tackles who could be forces by the end of the season, there’s real depth at RB, and the offense at least has a couple of proven star players. Still, they’re thin at WR after Metcalf and Lockett, and TE is a hodgepodge of talent distributed across three players. The interior OL is serviceable at best.
Then there’s the schedule, the back end of which is brutal, so much so that team could improve and still lose more. Seattle has enough to beat Atlanta, Carolina, and the Giants at home. There are opportunities against Detroit (road) and the Jets (home) and it may squeeze out an upset against one of the other teams. But let’s not kid ourselves: This roster is about culling for 2023 and 2024.
Rob, as of today what positions do you think the Seahawks biggest needs are?
With an eye towards the 2023 draft, how would you address those needs in the first three rounds of the draft?
What players do you like for the Seahawks with our late 1st round pick and which players do you have an eye on that may be there for us in the 2nd round?
QB
Too early to say on the others