There’s not much to say about today’s final game, which didn’t even have draft position at stake (the Seahawks were locked into the #18 pick before kick-off). I thought the defense played a fair bit below expectations, given who was starting for the Rams. The offense, though, played better than expected and effectively won Seattle the game.
It means a 10-win season. Like many others, that’s what I predicted in pre-season. Now that they’re here, though, I think it feels more hollow than I would’ve expected.
They only had two wins against teams with winning records — Denver in week one (Bo Nix’s first NFL start) and against the Rams today, albeit against several of LA’s backups. It would’ve felt better had they had a statement win along the way against a proper team. Sadly, they didn’t — and they were easily beaten at home by the Bills, 49ers, Packers and, remarkably, the Giants. Losing that game against such a bad Giants team sticks in the craw. I wish they’d had a win of note to take away the aftertaste.
Going 3-6 at home was a big disappointment and it’s something the franchise should take very seriously internally. How do they fix this? The Seahawks haven’t been a very good home team for a few years now and it’s a problem. Going 7-1 on the road highlights the issue. They can and should be better at Lumen Field.
Defensively they’ve clearly improved, even if they gave up 403 yards and 20 first downs to Jimmy Garoppolo and friends today. It’s been a joy to watch Leonard Williams. Julian Love has emerged as one of the batter safety’s in the league. They tweaked their personnel mid-season to great effect — that isn’t easy to do. They still need more and I hope they capitalise on a draft class with some interesting defensive talent available. I’m not worried about Mike Macdonald’s defense holding up its end of the bargain going forwards though.
For the offense, I’m a lot more concerned. I think Macdonald badly needs someone who can run and control his offense at a high level. A lot of defensive-minded Head Coaches fail because they can’t get the offense operating properly. This isn’t a job for a NFL novice and I’m afraid, experimenting with a college coach who’d never worked in the league before was a mistake.
I don’t think Ryan Grubb is a terrible coach by any means. I just don’t think he’s right for the Seahawks. I don’t think you can learn how to be a NFL coordinator on the job, especially when you’re working for a defensive-minded leader who needs you to be on point.
Grubb, if he’s serious about a NFL career rather than returning to college, probably needs to take a step back and take a passing-coordinator job or something like that, learning the ropes that way. The Seahawks need a Head Coach for their offense. Someone with the experience of play-calling and leading a unit, or someone with the talent and chops to get there quickly.
Continuing with Grubb would be an error. From route spacing, imperfect use of play-action, head-scratching situational decisions, the inability to get the right balance between pass and run, the predictability of his screen game, the bad red zone moments and the inability to make the most of Seattle’s weapons — they need a more experienced man running the offense.
It doesn’t have to be a former Head Coach (although that would be appealing). The league is full of successful coordinators without that background. But it needs to be someone who has put in the hard yards already to position themselves to succeed, with the knowledge and experience required, having worked around the NFL’s best current play-callers. I want to see a change.
I think it’s inevitable to the point of near-certainty that Geno Smith will be back next season. When certain reporters speak, you have to pay attention. Brady Henderson is one of those reporters. He has been quite clear that his expectation is Smith will return because there isn’t an obvious, superior replacement.
I don’t have a problem with this. The thing I do take issue with is the lack of a pathway to the future. As I’ve said a few times, the Seahawks have a good bridge quarterback with nobody to actually bridge to. Until they have a young player on the roster that you can believe in as a future possible starter, it’s hard to generate much excitement for the franchise.
I think that’s all a lot of fans want, really. It’s not so much a desperation to move on from Smith. It’s a desperation to see a plan for life after Smith. I don’t think that’s unfair. He’ll be 35 next year. He has some very good games — this was one today. He also has some poor games, with costly mistakes. Meanwhile, he is becoming increasingly more expensive and the only attempts to add a younger player since trading Russell Wilson have been Drew Lock and Sam Howell.
Equally, it should be noted that I don’t think the Seahawks have passed on anyone worth having, with hindsight, in the three drafts since dealing Wilson. I don’t blame them for not drafting a quarterback. However, they’re three years on now. They’re at a stage, especially with Smith’s price going up, where I think they need to be seen to be doing a bit more. Whether that’s identifying someone in the draft they believe has the tools to at least attempt to develop over time, or signing a cheap reclamation project to have on the roster and compete for, if nothing else, Howell’s backup job in 2025 — an addition of sorts is required.
Kicking the can down the road, doing nothing and waiting for the perfect prospect to become available is a hard sell because that player may never arrive. While waiting, the Seahawks have to work to develop players like other teams are doing (with the Vikings a classic example this year). This can still happen without having to cut Geno Smith, so draft or sign someone to add to the group.
Negotiating a compromised deal will be a challenge. In 2023, Smith tested the market and that helped the player and team reach an agreement. Now, the Seahawks have no gauge of the market. Smith’s camp will point to a $44.5m cap-hit and presumably say, ‘we’ll sit on that if you don’t do what we want’. That doesn’t feel viable for a team needing to raise money, even if there are other ways to create room.
The other big offensive questions include D.K. Metcalf’s future, a huge storyline obviously, and the need to fix the offensive line. I thought it was troubling and unnecessary for John Schneider to say pre-game today, “We’ve never been a big free agency team” when asked about the off-season. It’s a quote that will irk fans hoping the team is going to do all it can to improve the O-line. The Seahawks, for years, have relied on draft picks and cheap, short-term, band-aid solutions on the line. It hasn’t worked. Nobody wants them to be reckless in free agency — but neither, I suspect, does anyone want to hear the GM playing down the usefulness of the veteran market ahead of an important off-season.
Personally I think they do need to sign one or two veterans — and ideally not the typical Laken Tomlinson, B.J. Finney, Brandon Shell types. I don’t think you can fix this purely through the draft. Free agents and trades should be considered. If someone like Trey Smith reaches the market, I’d like to see them do whatever it takes to try and land him. Nobody will criticise Schneider for splashing out on a guard like Smith. They will criticise him if he waits until the third week of free agency, signs someone who is left available for $2m and the line struggles again.
Assuming Smith isn’t available, there are other veteran players who might cost a bit more than they’ve been comfortable paying in the past but can do a job. Surely it’s time for them to consider a different approach? I hope ownership is willing to stress this point.
I want them to bring back Jarran Reed — but also hope they’ll not be left to force multiple needs on the offensive line in the draft. There are a handful of defensive linemen in this draft, who won’t go in the first round, with the physical qualities to be really good at the next level. I think this is a class where you might be able to find a diamond in the rough on defense in rounds 2-4 — and that’s at every position too. There are some very intriguing defenders set to go in that range.
It seems certain they’ll re-sign Ernest Jones. His agents did a good job this weekend, letting the media know contract talks were being parked to apply a bit of pressure. I doubt they loved Jones telling everyone a deal will ‘definitely’ get done after the game. Whatever media leverage game they were hoping to play, it kind of died in that moment.
A word on Tyler Lockett, who probably played his final game for the Seahawks today. He is one of their greatest ever draft picks and it was a pleasure to watch his career in Seattle.
So there we are. Another season ends. The Seahawks will pick 18th in the draft. I think #18 could be a bit of a no-man’s land position. You’re going to miss out on the top-tier of players. Seattle’s placing also might be a little bit too early to dive into the interior O-line class — so a trade down could be on the cards. It’ll be interesting to see if Drew Allar declares and if he does, what range he is projected to go. Would they trade up for him? Would he last to #18? Is he the kind of player Schneider would deem worthy of drafting to develop?
I hope they make the moves this off-season, including taking some risks, to take the next step and give fans a reason to dream again. I’m not sure anyone today is thinking like they were in 2012 — ‘one more off-season’. There’s work to do — and yet I don’t think internally they considered this a ‘rebuild’ at all after firing Pete Carroll.
Watching a team stuck in the middle can be frustrating. Like many, I’m desperate to see the Seahawks competing against the NFL’s best and being a serious playoff threat again. The evidence of this season is that they’re not close to being a great team. They’re very much in the ‘good’ category, with little in the way of obvious young star power at the most important positions.
My fear, as it has been for some time, is that they think they’re closer than they actually are. I hope, instead, they attack the off-season and by the end of the draft, there’s some genuine excitement surrounding the future of the Seahawks. Next year, they need to win some of those games against big opponents and dramatically improve their record at Lumen Field, while offering a clearer vision to future glory.
If you missed our post-game stream after the Rams game, check it out here:
