5 Questions for Seahawks Fans: Post-free agency, pre-draft
Polling Seahawks fans on offense, defense, and Super Bowl contention: Seaside Joe 1846
There has been a lot of talk about the Seahawks offensive line and whether or not they did too much “sitting out” in free agency as it relates to center and guard. Which I don’t blame any fans for and I’ve helped fan the flames by writing about it here, here, here, and here, at least.
But then as I look as Seattle’s depth chart on Thursday, it occurs to me that the 10 offensive line players currently signed to the roster (Cross, Lucas, Bradford, Oluwatimi, Anchrum, Fant, Harris, Curtis, O’Neal, Forsythe) could in reality end up as 10 who make the 53-man roster. Or at least, eight or nine of them will in addition to the two or three they could add in the draft and free agency or potentially a post-camp trade.
If that happens, I’m not that worried about the Seahawks offensive line if only because whether they like it or not—they never “like it” actually—NFL teams are constantly faced with the unfortunate circumstance that is: When injuries force teams to start combinations of offensive lines that they didn’t plan for in March.
Who knows this as well as the Seattle Seahawks?
Last season, the Seahawks only had Abe Lucas for 26% of the snaps. They had to sign Jason Peters (21%) and survive with Stone Forsythe (48%) and Jake Curhan (28%). Evan Brown led the offense with 91% of the snaps, followed by Damien Lewis at 89%, Charles Cross at 80%, and Anthony Bradford at 63%.
Almost all teams are forced to adjust and push into their offensive line depth, so the fact that the Seahawks may end up starting a unit like this: Cross-Tremayne Anchrum-Nick Harris-Bradford-Lucas…
Or this: Cross-Harris-Olu Oluwatimi-Bradford-Lucas
Or this: Cross-Anchrum-Olu-Lucas-Fant
Or even this: Fant-Anchrum-Harris-Fant-Forsythe
As frightening as that sounds, it is a fact of the game. And as much as the Seahawks would like to have big-body upgrades so that players like Anchrum and Forsythe and maybe even Bradford are guaranteed to be the backups, usually these situations are not as bad as they feel like they one be as long as it is only for a short period of time. The Seahawks didn’t have a good offensive line in 2023, they had an injury to their best offensive lineman for most of the season, and Cross missed more than we were comfortable with, but they also almost made the playoffs.
It wasn’t a very fun season to watch, but it was one that Pete Carroll almost survived.
I do not think that the Seahawks are done adding big bodies to the roster though. I would not expect Anchrum, Harris, Bradford, and Oluwatimi to definitely comprise the three starting iOL positions and the top backup behind them when Seattle goes into training camp. Whether that first guard/center pick comes early or early on day three, the competition will heat up after the draft and then again during the summer wave of free agency and then final roster cuts in September.
Even Bradford and Oluwatimi, two players supposedly well-liked, were fourth and fifth round picks. Lucas was a third round pick.
The offensive line will continue to change, as will our opinions of the individuals, as we get closer to the regular season. But I would NOT blame you for saying that is your biggest concern on offense. I just don’t know that it’s the only candidate to hold that title, which is why we’re doing another quick round of polls for Seahawks fans.
A community member recently told me he really likes the surveys and polls and to keep doing them more often, so let’s try a quick one out today since Seattle is through almost two weeks of free agency and almost one month away from the draft.
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What is the biggest concern on offense?
Some standard notes about polls, especially today’s polls:
-I definitely did not give ALL of the possible answers, so your answer might not be one of the options. (I have a limit of 5 answers available to me with these Substack polls) If you don’t see your answer, try to give your most-likely answer with the five options available. You can also add your answer in the comments if you’re a Regular Joe:
-Poll answers can be interpreted differently based on the person answering. I can try my best to explain why I put an option, but ultimately you may go with your gut if you’re wondering, “Well, does he mean this or that?” or “Don’t those two options go hand-in-hand?” They might!
-You may feel like “I don’t know” or “I’m indifferent” or “Maybe” and that’s a perfectly acceptable answer, it just may not have fit in these particular polls.
Is the biggest concern on the offensive line the guards and centers?
You might feel like the Seahawks will never win a Super Bowl with Geno Smith at quarterback and that Sam Howell is an uninspiring development project. Some fans will feel that way, some won’t. If you do feel that way, you may think that none of the other positions matter that much while the QBs are who they are because the position is that important.
You might also feel like the Seahawks could win playoff games with Geno Smith if they did an amazing job of setting him up for success: Offensive line, offensive coordinator, weapons, run game.
The tackle positions are separated here from the iOL positions because people tend to argue that tackles are more important than guards and centers. Is that always true? Is that true anymore? Is that true? Teams paid guards in free agency like they’re almost or just as important. It could depend on your offense.
I didn’t put Ryan Grubb as a concern here because I don’t feel like we have any reasons yet to be optimistic or concerned until we see ethe Seahawks play football with the new coaches.
What is the biggest concern on defense?
The Seahawks biggest change on defense, other than hiring Mike Macdonald, is going with Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson as the new linebackers. Then there is the secondary, where Rayshawn Jenkins and Julian Love will step into starting roles for Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, plus the team also signed safety K’Von Wallace. At corner, is Seattle doing good enough with non-Devon Witherspoon options like Riq Woolen, Mike Jackson, Tre Brown, Artie Burns? I’m not sure where Macdonald plans to play Coby Bryant.
The Seahawks are also paying $21 million per year to Leonard Williams, $17 million per year to Dre’Mont Jones, and now they’ve added 31-year-old Johnathan Hankins to a group that has 31-year-old Jarran Reed. Is that too expensive and too old? Or is it what Seattle really needed the most, for Macdonald to “build a wall” on the front of the defense?
Can the Seahawks finally stop the run now? Will a focus on stopping the run take away from the ability to rush the passer?
Your biggest concern might be something else though.
The first year of John/Mike
The John Schneider era truly started in January, and shortly later he picked Mike Macdonald as his running mate.
The two have made the moves they’ve made, both with the coaching staff and their free agency decisions: Losses, gains, and retentions. How do you feel about it?
Share this with other Seahawks fans if you think they’d be interested in the poll or Seaside Joe.
Are the Seahawks contenders?
I like to peruse the depth chart as often as possible. Maybe do that and then answer this question.
It’s important to note how good you think the rest of the NFC West and the NFC is going to be next season. What the conference lacks in elite quarterbacks, do they make up for it with other parts of the game? Unfortunately, the best team in the NFC last season is also one of Seattle’s rivals and the favorites to win the division. If not the 49ers, most will pick the Rams.
How about ‘next year’?
REGARDLESS of what you think will happen in 2024, I’m sure that most fans believe that the Seahawks could become a Super Bowl contender by the 2025 season. So let’s just put 2024 on the side for a minute and we can call it a “not-damaging campaign”, is that fair?
Let’s say that the Seahawks come out of the other side in 2025 with a chance to go from good to great: What do you think will be the next step to go from good-to-SUPER BOWL CONTENDING?
Is it getting an elite quarterback in the draft, trade, or free agency (which never happens)? Is it just giving John Schneider another offseason to do his work? Is it that Macdonald is the next Sean McVay and he just needs one more year to build the defense in his vision? Is it that the Seahawks make a big move, a la the 49ers trading for players like Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey? Or is it seeing Abe Lucas and Charles Cross ascend to the next level of OT play and Seattle keeps building in the middle of the trenches until being a top-5 team on both sides of the line?
Send me your answers and I’ll share the results next week!
The all new coaching staff is the only reason some of these polls are hard. If Seattle's defense had shown up against the Steelers & Cowboys last season, Seahawks would have finished 11-6. To take this further, if Seattle's offense had shown up against the Bengals & Rams (2nd time) then their 11-6 turns into 13-4. This is a really talented team that could and should have been way better last year.
But since we have a whole new coaching staff, I have to wonder how many growing pains there will be on both offense & defense this season. Assuming we have another good draft, I honestly think Seattle has the talent to win the division. But the growing pains that come with a new coaching staff might cause us to finish 9-8 for the 3rd straight year in a row. Which I'm okay with as long as I see progress during the season.
In a perfect world, this coaching staff is able to be great right away and we win 11 or 12 games with the players buying in.
We are a run game away from a dominating offense, and since Macdonald is a defensive guru, that automatically makes our defense average. Put the two together and you have a Super Bowl team.
In two years we will dominate the league and win our second Super Bowl in a row. Geno will want to get paid at that point, but the dynasty should hold together for at least three years. My vision is cloudy past that point. Please deposit another quarter for my next prediction.