This is the most engaged I’ve felt about the Seahawks in years.

Part of it is pure intrigue for a new staff and something different. Part of it is relief that we actually got the change that was needed.

Part of it is also about what the Seahawks are, or at least can be.

One of the best thing’s I did during the long old wait between the draft and the start of the new season was participate in a NFC West ‘fantasy draft’ live streamed on Hawk Blogger’s channel. I took turns picking players from the four teams with Brian, Jeff Simmons and Griffin Sturgeon.

I wanted to do it properly and with a spare afternoon on my hands, I sat down and put together a full horizontal board of all the players on each of the four rosters. Yes, I know, what a fascinating social life I must have.

My expectation going in was that an army of San Francisco players would flood the top of the board, followed by a mix of the others. While it was true that the 49ers clearly had blue chip, proven stars the others lacked (Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner etc) — I had a lot of young Seahawks players in the second and third tier.

I think the feeling over the last few years is that combined together, John Schneider and Pete Carroll had done an underwhelming job. At least in the eyes of fans with Super Bowl ambitions, rather than merely avoiding be awful.

This exercise planted a different thought. The Seahawks have added a lot of good, young talent. What they badly need now is a staff able to turn these players from good to great. They need players to turn into stars.

D.K. Metcalf, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet, Noah Fant, Charles Cross, Devon Witherspoon, Tariq Woolen, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall. Then you chuck Byron Murphy into the mix and hopefully Abe Lucas in the future.

Not all of these young players can become ‘great’. What if 4-5 can become great, though? Is is possible? I think so.

Then you glean what you can from training camp and pre-season to try and get to know the new staff. That isn’t easy to do and really we won’t have a grasp of their capabilities until the regular season games start this weekend.

There have been some very encouraging signs, though.

Jarran Reed has spent many years in Seattle. These comments, saying that ‘grown man football’ and ‘physicality’ were back in Seattle, while admitting some of that had been lost in the final throws of the Carroll regime, is interesting:

The pre-season games spoke to this in a small way. The Seahawks did play a more intense brand of football against the Chargers. They flew around, made tackles and felt like they were close to multiple turnovers. It felt a bit like the early Carroll days again.

The opening drive on offense against Cleveland was both clinical and aggressive. There was no tentatively trying anything out here. Big shots, dagger in the heart, touchdown and off to the showers for the starting unit. Ryan Grubb and Kalen DeBoer took games to their opponents at Fresno State and Washington. It felt like Grubb was showing that same mentality has travelled with him to the Seahawks.

The way the coaches speak fills you with confidence. Grubb seems brilliantly tailor-made for the pro’s. There’s a degree of confidence, perhaps even borderline cockiness. I’ve heard he might not be for everyone and I’m perfectly fine with that. He’s the polar opposite of the shrinking violet sent out to call plays in previous years. Shane Waldron did not feel like a leader. Grubb does. He sounds totally sure of himself, his plan and he speaks with conviction. If nothing else, it instills confidence in anyone listening to him that things will be just fine this year.

The new OC all but admitted they intend to make the most of Metcalf as a receiver — finally unleashing his massive potential — while also noting the importance of the running game. I suspect we’re about to see huge seasons for Metcalf and Ken Walker.

Aden Durde sounds assured and competent — not to mention stylish and charismatic because he has a British accent. He hasn’t spoken much to the media but Leslie Frazier’s Yoda-like presence is reassuring to assist a new, inexperienced staff. No longer will the Head Coach be relying on an old buddy answering to a nickname that is slang for ‘potato’ or ‘home run’ (the first one felt more apt as time went on).

Then there’s Mike Macdonald. He just seems to be on top of his brief. There will undoubtedly be growing pains. I’m convinced the Seahawks will lose at least one game this year through inexperience of the staff, or blow a game they should win. I’m ready and prepared for it (and you probably should be too).

Yet he also seems brilliantly different to Carroll. Those present at camp have noted a vastly different and more intense, serious approach. He speaks about deception, always looking for ways to find an edge. The slogans and platitudes are a thing of the past. He gives the impression that if a problem emerges during the season he won’t be left promising a change of fortune, or be suggesting they’re close to identifying a fix. He might, you know, actually do something about it.

None of this is to diminish what the early Carroll years achieved. Those days couldn’t last forever though. Eventually you have to embrace change.

There was no greater example of the need for something different than Seattle’s problematic defense. It was bad for too long with no hint of a switch in fortunes. Now, there’s reason to believe they can revamp a defense that has persistently ranked near the bottom of the NFL into an actual force. Macdonald inherited the 28th best defense in the league per DVOA in Baltimore. They then ranked 8th and 1st in his two years as defensive coordinator. Will history repeat as he tries to improve Seattle’s 28th ranked defense from 2023?

While I’m sure the debate over Geno Smith’s long term suitability will dominant a lot of the online discourse this season, the Seahawks only need to be more consistent and manage situations better than the last two years to give themselves a legit chance to make sweeping improvements to an offense loaded with weapons.

Really good teams often have a player or a vital unit that other teams wish they had. With Murphy joining Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed at defensive tackle and with Johnathan Hankins supporting as a big-bodied nose, this is a quartet to envy. When Uchenna Nwosu returns, the Seahawks will have deep supporting talent rushing the edge.

Macdonald helped develop Justin Madubuike into a game-changer, while getting career years out of Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy. Giving him the D-line tools he has in Seattle is exciting — particularly in a year where Aaron Donald and Arik Armstead left the NFC West, weakening rival teams in this exact area.

Then there’s the schedule. The first two weeks are kind, even if nothing should be taken for granted. If nothing else, they are two winnable opportunities. Stern tests await against Miami, Detroit, San Francisco, Buffalo and LA — but the Seahawks also get the Giants and Vikings at home, they get the Packers in Seattle rather than Lambeau, I’m not convinced the Falcons and Bears are going to be as good as some people think, nor the Jets for that matter.

None of this means the Seahawks are primed for a Super Bowl run. A dose of realism is required. Mere playoff qualification as a wildcard is very plausible and if they get there, winning a post-season game for the first time since 2019 should be seen as a big success.

That would create a degree of momentum and allow the Seahawks to attack the next off-season with a more serious challenge in mind — armed with the kind of experience the coaches currently don’t possess.

I think a bit more than this outlook can be hoped for, if not expected. I think they can compete for the NFC West title. I even think, as with the Packers a year ago, they can make some waves in the playoffs.

Yet it’s just good to be thinking this way again, rather than gearing up for more of the same. Another year where the defense inevitably collapses. Where the coaches talk of physical play when the product on the field defines finesse. Where the tackling stinks. Where answers are not forthcoming to problems, coaches appear out of their depth and you wonder how much longer we have to watch the 49ers and Rams embarrass the Seahawks, particularly at Lumen Field.

Ah yes, Lumen Field. The place that once had a reputation for being such a problem for opponents. The long travel and an arse-kicking often combined for an inevitable loss the following week for teams making the trek to NFL’s Alaska. Yet as pointed out this week, the Seahawks were just 17-16 at home since 2019 with fans in the stadium and 19-15 on the road. How can that possibly be?

It speaks to how easy the Seahawks had become to play against. Those records also point out how they’d become so middle of the road, with little sign of breaking out and regaining true contender status. Who wants to stay locked in a prison of mediocrity, with only short-lived visitation rights for genuine excitement?

Time to set the tone this weekend and recapture home-field advantage. Time for the team to re-engage fans so they don’t sell half their tickets to travelling Niners or Steelers. Time to make Lumen Field a fortress once again, reinvigorated with a new era of Seahawks football — played in stylish throwback jersey’s that feel destined to become Seattle’s staple again in the near future.

Change was necessary and ownership delivered. John Schneider got Carroll’s replacement right and had a good off-season and draft. The staff appear to have things heading in the right direction and now the team can show us what they’ve been working on.

I think we’ll see more points than ever. I think we’ll see more pressure than ever. I think we’ll see these things called ‘turnovers’ return to the defense. It won’t all be great and there will be issues to discuss too. But I suspect the overall product will be a clear net positive.

I don’t think they could ask for a better week one opponent this weekend. Denver will start a rookie quarterback playing his first NFL game. They lack elite weapons or a difference-making pass-rusher. The Seahawks have had weeks to cook-up a confuse-fest for Bo Nix and you have to feel they’ll have opportunities to score on offense, piling on the pressure and pushing the Broncos to step out of a conservative game-plan for their new starter under center.

I won’t insult you with a ‘no game is easy’ cliché. The Seahawks should win at home on Sunday, unless it proves to be the contest they chuck away due to inexperience — which is probably their biggest enemy this weekend. Even then, they are more talented and better placed to attack — on both sides of the ball.

Bring on the new era. Some of us have been waiting a long time for this.

If you missed my latest conversation with Puck Sports, check it out here.

Don’t forget immediately after the game we’ll be doing our post-game live stream on YouTube. I’ll post the embed video on the blog or you can subscribe to my YouTube channel (@robstatonfootball) for notifications.