I’m going to do something a bit differently this week and just list a bunch of people/groups I want to talk about rather than offer one overall review…
John Schneider
Seattle’s GM is about to come under serious scrutiny for the first time during his tenure. People have challenged and questioned his decisions, signings, trades and draft picks in the past. Now that the buck stops with him though, he is directly responsible for the product on the field.
And at the moment, it’s a shambles.
Ire will be directed at the way he’s constructed the current offensive line and with good reason. It’s awful. Having spent years explaining the brand of football they wish to play, they’ve failed to actually build a team capable of playing it.
Connor Williams is struggling badly, to the point that every snap at the moment feels like it could be an adventure. The third round pick they drafted to play right guard this year didn’t even make the active roster today. Laken Tomlinson is playing like a lineman they signed from the bargain bin after the initial flush of free agency (because that’s what he is). Even Charles Cross, drafted in the top-10 by Schneider, isn’t as good as many people seem to think.
However, there are new issues he’ll need to answer to. He assembled an inexperienced coaching team with no prior connections or experience working together. It shows. The team is fundamentally all over the place. He had to get these appointments right and sadly, the jury’s out already.
Excitement is pouring away like a cold cup of coffee you chuck down the sink. The Seahawks have lost four straight home games. They’re on a 1-5 run, typically reserved for the bottom feeders of the NFL. When you look at the current roster, the cap situation for the future and the total lack of blue-chip players or foundational building blocks on the roster — you have to wonder where exactly is this going?
Why can’t they build an O-line? Why don’t they have any genuine stars? What is the plan at quarterback? Did he get the coaching hire wrong?
What exactly is there to be excited about, for the present or future?
For a franchise that talks a good game about competing every year — why are you bottom of the NFC West and haven’t, in reality, been a serious contender for a long time?
These are the John Schneider Seahawks — and I’m afraid these are the kind of questions that will now be asked.
Mike Macdonald
To say Macdonald was inexperienced when he took the Seattle job is an understatement. His first positional coaching role in the NFL came in 2017. He’d only been a NFL defensive coordinator for two years. In that role, he benefited from playing with a lead most weeks — as we keep saying, last season the Ravens only trailed for a remarkable 88 snaps all year thanks to a MVP year from Lamar Jackson.
He’s only ever coordinated for the Harbaugh brothers — two very hands on, vastly experienced leaders. He’s never had to handle a situation spiralling out of control. Everything is new.
Meanwhile, there’s only really Leslie Frasier on his staff who he can turn to for guidance. His offensive coordinator is even more inexperienced — this is his first year in the league. Aden Durde has never been a defensive coordinator before.
Is it any wonder things look so disjointed?
It’s not just about the defense either. It’s a mistake to judge Macdonald on one side of the ball. He’s responsible for everything. Yet it’d be easier to tolerate issues such as the offensive line wrecking games if his area of expertise — the defense — was looking great. It isn’t.
I’m starting to fear that maybe it’s all come a bit too soon for Macdonald — that he doesn’t have the experience to know how to handle things going the way they are, plus he doesn’t have the right people around him to help.
I’m quite sure that Macdonald will be able to identify the issues the Seahawks have faced on defense and will have a good idea on what he needs to fix the problems. I’m not sure, however, whether he can sufficiently build and guide a whole team. I’m not sure he has the coaching contacts to build a staff that have had success, have worked together, understand what they’re all trying to achieve and can combine all the different moving parts to play complementary football.
I think the Seahawks need more people around Macdonald who come from the Baltimore/Harbaugh tree, who understand the philosophy and scheming, have a lot more experience and know how each other operate.
The worrying thing is, while both Harbaugh brothers are still coaching in the NFL, who the heck are you going to be able to bring to Seattle? The only one I can think of is Wink Martindale. I don’t think he’s the difference between what we’re seeing at the moment and a functioning football team though.
Some will argue he just needs time and maybe they’re right? That could definitely be the case. Yet you often get a feeling quite early on whether something is going to work. At the moment, I’ve got my doubts.
Most sensible people can live with growing pains provided it feels like a means to an end. If you can see the direction of travel to future success, you can handle losing. The way the Seahawks are losing, though, doesn’t give any hope beyond ‘well they haven’t given up yet like the 2009 team when they played the Texans’. We need to see more — especially at home. It’s unforgivable to lose four straight at Lumen Field.
The offense
It’s become borderline unwatchable. The fleeting explosive moments are not enough to forget about or excuse the regular snafu’s, some of which are obscene. The offensive line is putrid. The center can’t snap. The quarterback is as streaky today as he’s always been — with the physical prowess to deliver great throws but also the ability to make maddening mistakes. The running game can’t get you a yard on two rushing attempts with the game on the line.
They still don’t seem to have a fluid vision, or at least they can’t execute it. They jump between being massively committed to the run and the pass within each game. I’m still not sold on this no-huddle/look to the sideline stuff. Their red zone play is abysmal.
You always feel like you’re watching about five different teams in one offense. You feel like at any minute you could be blown away by an amazing pass or be rolling your eyes at the most ridiculous nonsense imaginable.
It’s very clear they need to overhaul the offensive line aggressively but how often do we say that and nothing changes? Do they have the right people coaching the line/offense for it to even matter? Have they ever had that? Or is it simply down to the GM to be more aggressive, as he was when the time came to trade for Jamal Adams or Leonard Williams, for example?
And while they need to massively rebuild the line as a priority, they’re also staring bleakly at the definitive age old NFL problem.
When you have a hotshot young quarterback, you feel like anything is possible. Ask Washington Commanders fans. They are difficult to find and it’s a problem many teams face. Yet there’s no other position that provides hope quite like having a brilliant, young QB.
How on earth do the Seahawks find one? And how does it work alongside the timeline of fixing the O-line? Because both are really important. They can’t just keep trotting out the same bad line and streaky older quarterback every year waiting for the perfect storm to address both issues. Until they do, it’ll be impossible for Seahawks fans to regain their excitement for this team.
