Are coaches to blame for Seahawks OL?

Should Seahawks Huff, Huff, Pass?

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Rusty: I read an article a while back that talked about coaching differences between college and the pros. The premise was that most coaching positions (like WR, RB, LB, CB, etc) were pretty similar between the two levels, but that OL coaching was a BIG difference. Do you think that might be a major factor in the Seahawks OL doing so poorly as a group? Is coach Huff having problems or is it all on the players?

Here’s what Brock Huard said in the article you’re referencing:

“Being able to create and dominate a double team like you do at the college level (with the) Joe Moore Award-winning O-line at UW – that doesn’t happen at this level,” Huard said. “… When I call a third-and-1 down there, just anticipating some level of movement so Ken can hit it enough and use all his power to get you a foot and a half? Nope, not at this level. Not against these grown men. I mean, it’s just a really different game. So there’s gonna be a lot of time spent on that group, because right now that is the one group that has just been such a challenge.”

Far be it from me to disagree with Huard about the differences between coaching the Huskies and coaching the Seahawks. But I also don’t think that Huard’s implying that a half-season worth of struggles is enough reason to question the abilities of Ryan Grubb and Scott Huff at the NFL level.

In fact, Huard praised the Seahawks for hiring Grubb and Huff back in February, specifically noting their history of coaching offensive linemen as a plus:

“Huard is a big fan of the Seahawks making Grubb their OC because of his background as an offensive line guy, something that is reinforced by a report by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg that former UW Huskies O-line coach Scott Huff is also expected to be hired by Seattle.

“There’s just not a lot of them in college football, in pro football,” Huard said. “There’s gonna be one calling a game tomorrow in (the Super Bowl in Kansas City Chiefs head coach) Andy Reid that has that background, he’s at the very top of the game. But I love that. Ryan Grubb has coached offensive line.”

And he even said that Grubb should have no problem making the jump:

“Huard added that Grubb shouldn’t have the same difficulty going from the college game to the NFL that other offensive coaches may have because he has a pro-style system, and “obviously the record the last few years (at Washington) speaks for itself.”

So where is Brock Huard at with this now? Nine months ago, he said that the coaches had a leg up because of their background with offensive linemen, and now it sounds like he’s saying that their OL background is the reason that fans should have patience with Grubb and Huff through these struggles.

We all contradict ourselves from time to time but one thing that I’ve consistently said all year: Let’s save judgment for later. Going from Waldron to Grubb is no small change. New schemes often “pop” in year two.

We are living in a world where there’s not just an overreaction to everything, but also an immediate overreaction to the most recent thing that happened.

“Everything that happened yesterday means nothing today” - Carolyn, season 44 of Survivor

For example:

• Last week, John Schneider “needs to be fired for not drafting good OL”

• This week, “Olu Oluwatimi should be in the Ring of Honor”

Is Scott Huff overwhelmed with his new job? I have no idea. It seems like an overwhelming job no matter who you are. But a good GM/HC would have conviction with these coaching hires and know that barring a really dramatic reason to fire somebody, there’s no reason to fire anybody after one season. That’s how a franchise becomes poison to any potential good hires in the future.

And yes, IF the Seahawks have a bottom-5 offensive line that seems like a dramatic reason, right? But the Seahawks have had offensive line problems for the last decade…now Huff is to be blamed for that? Seems doubtful.

It’s starting to feel like a coach has to be a career masochist to take a job in the NFL because day one it’s the hot seat.

Eduardo: Is there anything that can be done for the running game at this point? It's clear our O-line is deplorable, but has Grubb still yet to exhaust Plan C, D or F? It looks like Charbonnet and K9 have lost all faith in running inside, as K9 seems to want to bounce out every play he gets even with some daylight between the tackles. I keep hearing K9 is amazing, but I have a feeling the there are yards to be had there, even with this offensive line, that a guy like Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley would find a way to pick up.

Barkley and Henry are great examples of running backs that Kenneth Walker can look to for inspiration because they were not always treated like “the best in the world”. Henry had a couple of years in Tennessee where he got to sit behind DeMarco Murray and work on his game; Barkley is re-joining the conversation as an elite NFL player after five seasons in which he was left in the “Oh, he had so much potential” pile.

Walker probably is leaving some yards on field, as you say:

• +2 RYOE (rushing yards over expectation) ranks 28th

• -8.7 EPA (expected points added) is 25th

• 3.2 yards after contact per run is 21st

(The NFL’s explanation of RYOE)

Walker is also a player who was once doubted at Wake Forest for being “good, not great” in a bad scheme for running backs, transferred to Michigan State’s good scheme for backs, and then led the country in rushing yards.

Grubb is Walker’s fourth different offense in the last five years. He’s averaging only 1.8 yards BEFORE contact, which ranks 44th in the NFL. (Zach Charbonnet is averaging 1.4 yards before contact, tied for last out of 50 players.) He’s also on pace to double his career-high for receptions so he’s also proven that he can still add a new club to his bag.

Of course it is possible that Walker just doesn’t fulfill his promise as an elite running back and maybe he doesn’t have the ceiling of someone like Jahmyr Gibbs. Or maybe he does and we’re giving other backs too much credit because they have better stats since they’ve had 15 more opportunities to run untouched through lanes created by Penei Sewell and Trent Williams.

It’s not an easy call but luckily the Seahawks don’t have to make any moves here.

• Walker is signed through 2025

• Charbonnet is signed through 2026

Let the rest of the season play out and see if Seattle’s run game doesn’t seem improved by Week 18. If not, changes will be made but it would still be surprising if Walker was identified as the main suspect just because we already know that the 5 offensive linemen are being watched even closer.

William T Newman: What would it take for you to believe the Seahawks next year should be playoff contenders based off something done this season?

The Seahawks have been “playoff contenders” for the last 25 years. They’re “playoff contenders” right now in the sense that Seattle isn’t actually worse than a few teams that will go to the playoffs. However, the Seahawks have only been “Super Bowl contenders” probably 5-7 times in franchise history.

To become Super Bowl contenders, which is what we actually want, the Seahawks should accept how far away they are from that and hopefully Seattle makes some bold moves in the offseason.

You’re asking about what to look for during the season though and within that timeframe I don’t think it matters except to say that the Seahawks worst case scenario is:

• Finish 9-8

• Miss the playoffs

• Convince themselves that they’re “pretty close” and bring back mostly the same team in 2025

We’ve seen that team every year! Same goes for making the playoffs and losing at home to a wild card team and then after the game Mike Macdonald says, “Our guys fought our tails off; it was tied in the second quarter!”

If the Seahawks look mostly the same in Week 18 of this season and Week 1 of next season, that would concern me more than if Seattle lost 5 of the last 7.

Grant: This defense looks headed in the right direction after two solid games in a row against my least favorite teams. Is Ernest Jones the difference maker, or did some schematic change coincide with his acquisition? MM suggested the run game struggles where mostly due to mistakes at the second level, but did something else happen other than just inserting new personnel (Jones, Knight, Bryant) into the same roles?

Mike Macdonald isn’t likely to change any schemes in the middle of the season, but it did feel like he was dialing up more of the “glitch blitz” plays he was known for in Baltimore and this did stand out to me:

• Seahawks blitzed San Francisco 40% of the time, which is 15% higher than their season-average of 25%

The Arizona Cardinals are 5th in rushing yards, 2nd in yards per carry, and 3rd in yards before contact per run. James Conner and Kyler Murray will test this run defense a lot in the next three weeks.

Whatever the Seahawks are with Ernest Jones and Tyrice Knight, I would not say there’s been enough time and enough variance in opponents for anyone to judge.

Paul G: Leaving his contract aside, what is your assessment of Geno Smith as a quarterback?

That he’s 34 years and 41 days old.

Local media is so overloaded with writers fixated on Geno Smith that I’ve got nothing to add. Also because the topic and the debate today is exactly the same as it was 28 months ago, 24 months ago, 18 months ago, 12 months ago, 6 months ago, and six days ago, nobody’s actually had anything to add to the conversation in the last two years so it’s insanity to keep doing this to each other.

Seaside Joe 2089