5 Mistakes the Seahawks Can't Repeat in 2024: Offensive Line

Charles Cross and Abe Lucas need more help and the Seahawks need more insurance behind them: Seaside Joe 1768

Most fans would probably see an article called “mistakes the Seahawks can’t repeat” and immediately think of either Pete Carroll or Geno Smith because realistically we could boil down many of Seatte’s reasons for falling short again as emanating from one or both of these men.

But for today’s article, I’d rather skip those two and focus on five mistakes that the Seahawks made this year that don’t get as much attention and if they’re addressed properly in 2024 and not repeated, it would be of huge service to Pete and Geno anyway.

Problems that are far more clear to me because they’ve been repeated—like how the team spends money, overcompensating veterans past their prime, constructing bottom to mid-tier offensive lines, questionable coaching hires who aren’t held accountable for mediocrity, and adding/starting players who lack physicality and maturity—these are issues that could be fixed with Pete and Geno still in the building…that’s what I’m more focused on as the Seahawks enter their final game of a season that is down to its last fraction of one percent to make a Super Bowl run.

Not just, “Well, if the Seahawks change out just this one person, it will fix everything!”

Look, the head coach and the quarterback of any team, either of those people are going to have a lot to do with their successes and failures. But as I wrote in November: The Seahawks don’t have a QB controversy, they have a whole team controversy!

As a staunch Carroll defender, I have to admit that he deserves the most responsibility for the Seahawks being in the position they’re in right now: Bad, Good, or In-Between, the Seattle Seahawks have been “The Pete Carroll Show” for 14 years and if he gets to go into the Hall of Fame for his wins then he must be up for impeachment for his losses.

As a Geno skeptic who isn’t convinced that Smith can elevate a team from good to great or bad to good, I have to admit that the last thing on my mind right now is whether or not the Seahawks run it back at quarterback. Whether you’re one of the many people in the media have been fixated all year on defending Geno as if they owe his agent money, or one of the many fans who’d rather see Drew Lock, I’d say there’s a little bit of truth coming from both sides and none of it matters as much as the fact that Seattle has a “Geno Smith” at way too many positions for the actual Geno Smith to ever win a Super Bowl.

The Seahawks are going to make their decisions on Pete and Geno relatively soon and I would rather wait to talk about them after we know how Seattle will proceed at head coach and quarterback; especially because the Seahawks could still make the playoffs and change the narrative on Pete and Geno leading into the offseason.

What they can’t do in the next two weeks is change my opinion on the presence of mediocrity in Seattle for at least three seasons and the general lack of talent, intimidation, effort, and dominance that the Seahawks once had eight or nine years ago.

“You’re being way too hard on the Seahawks, Joe!”

Well, SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT.

If all you want from a Seahawks writer is someone who is going to tell you that Quandre Diggs and Bobby Wagner are great players this season, there are a million Corbin Smiths blogging or tweeting about the team who are ready to put all the blame on people who don’t follow them on Twitter and to say that the Seahawks are “doing great” because they know you attract more flies with honey.

But if you want THE TRUTH so that we can talk about the Seahawks IN OUR SHARED REALITY and focus on the problems that have plagued this team for years—including players who are not performing up to expectations regardless of how much we appreciate things they’ve done in the past and want to support them—issues that will repeat again if allowed to be ignored again, then that’s what Seaside Joe is for.

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Whether Pete Carroll is the head coach or not, whether Geno Smith is the quarterback or not, I see at least 5 PROBLEMS THAT CAN’T BE REPEATED IN 2024! In the interest of cutting down these issues to shorter articles, I’ll start with the first one on my mind today: The problems at left tackle that nobody wants to talk about for some reason…

Don’t be complacent on the offensive line

I’ve never been as critical of Seattle’s investment in the offensive line as many others because ultimately we know that the first pick in the Pete Carroll era was Russell Okung; they used first round picks on James Carpenter and Germain Ifedi; they traded for Duane Brown; the Seahawks have made attempts to improve the offensive line since literally the first offseason under Pete.

We can fault scouting and development, we can even put some blame on Russell Wilson and the lack of cohesion maybe between offensive design and limiting those bad sacks that come with a quarterback of his “never let a play die” mentality.

But when the Seahawks have actually had first round picks, they’ve often focused on the offensive line: The first two top-10 picks of Pete’s tenure were used on a left tackle.

Now we get to the problem: Charles Cross has not yet played like a left tackle who was picked ninth overall two years ago.

Cross’s disappointing season has fallen under the radar because we’ve been fixated on Seattle’s atrocious defense and questionable coaching decisions.

However, the Seahawks need to be willing to admit to themselves that Cross might not be good enough to start at left tackle for 17 games next season unless he improves. Any player in the NFL—any player, I don’t care if he’s Patrick Mahomes—could be worse next year. That’s just a fact.

If Cross is worse next year, Seattle will have one of the worst left tackles in the NFL. Any team in the league could be in danger of last place and disaster if they have a bad left tackle, but especially a team that is already suffering in so many other phases of the game. The Seahawks CAN’T allow themselves to be complacent with how they address the offensive line simply because they just picked Cross in the top-10.

Someone in that front office needs to be SCREAMING FROM THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS that Charles Cross is having a disappointing season. It doesn’t mean that the Seahawks need to cut him or find a new left tackle, but it does mean that the Seahawks need to have a backup plan. Unfortunately, that plan can’t be moving Abe Lucas because Seattle ALSO needs a backup plan at right tackle.

As far as I’m concerned right now, Abe Lucas is not the starting right tackle. I would rather assume that Lucas’s knee issues will keep him from playing next year than assume that nine more months of rest will solve it. From what we’ve seen, rest doesn’t help Abe’s knee and there’s nothing reliable about the year that he’s had.

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When you call Jason Peters midseason, you know you’re either having really bad luck or you didn’t do enough to insure a critical position in football. The Seahawks had a little bit of both…they can’t make the mistake of not assuming they’ll have bad luck again in 2024.

Those are just the two tackle positions and Cross, Lucas are still more talented than Seattle’s starting interior offensive linemen. It’s not that a team can’t get the job done with Damien Lewis (FA), Evan Brown (FA), Phil Haynes (FA), it’s that the Seahawks continuously field a team with serviceable offensive linemen. With Pro Bowls announced on Wednesday, it was yet another year in which the Seahawks were not going to be represented on the offensive line…

They had 3 Pro Bowlers and 8 alternates and none of them play offensive line. Not only do the Seahawks not have Pro Bowl offensive linemen, they don’t have Pro Bowl snubs or considerations on the offensive line. Most teams have at least one or two, but Seattle’s been lacking stable, talented, healthy, reliable veterans on the offensive line for many years now.

Don’t tell me that the Seahawks offensive line is “fixed” when they don’t have a single standout player after this many investments. It’s not fixed, it’s not that good, and if Seattle brings back the same starting unit (with Anthony Bradford at right guard) then it’s easy to imagine another season in which the offense gets bullied in the trenches.

What to do?

If Charles Cross played quarterback and gave the same performances, the same effort, had the same type of first two seasons after being a first round pick, we’d probably talk about him similar to how we talk about Kenny Pickett or Mac Jones. Essentially, it would mean that at worst, the team would have to have a have a fallback plan in case he continued to be a liability.

Could patience in the players currently on the roster pay off eventually? Yes, it could. But until we KNOW that the Seahawks have the makings of a great offensive line—which we don’t know yet—then the franchise must continue to invest in the unit with the draft, free agency, and on the trade market. If it’s a problem with scouting and coaching, then that is an issue that needs to be identified and addressed now and not later.

The only way to do that is through tough conversations and accountability.

And yes, it’s almost impossible to have a backup left tackle who is better than the starting left tackle because it’s hard enough to find ONE good offensive takcle let alone three. But Seattle needs to evaluate the offensive line the same as any other unit or position: “Is it good enough?” If the answer is yes, then why is it good enough? If the answer is no, you better be doing something to make it good enough.

If the Seahawks change nothing about the offensive line in the offseason, whether that be coaching, personnel, or scouting, they could doom themselves to not being good enough. Again.

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