With Seattle Seahawks training camp just over a week away and the season opener just under two months away, there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding what this team will look like.
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During Pete Carroll’s 14 seasons, we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. For the most part, this was a very competitive team that only got better as the season went on. Recently, however, we started to see miscommunication and struggles on third down become issues that plagued the team throughout the season.
Now that Seattle has parted ways with Pete Carroll and entered the Mike McDonald era, what are the biggest questions that remain about how this team will look? Let’s take a look at what NFL insiders told us at Seattle Sports about those question marks.
1. Can Mike Macdonald get the Seattle Seahawks defense back on track?
The Seahawks were a top-five defense from 2013 to 2016. In 2017, they dropped to 11th, and in 2018, they dropped to 16th. Since then, they’ve been stuck somewhere in the bottom 10 of the NFL, with last year being their worst, at 30th.
What can Mike Macdonald do to make Seattle’s defense one of the most feared units in the league again? Well, if his resume as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator is any indication of what he can accomplish here, I hope so. When Macdonald took over as the Ravens’ DC in 2022, they were coming off a season where they ranked 25th in overall defense and gave up a league-high 4,742 passing yards. In his first season as DC, they finished ninth in overall defense and gave up 3,947 passing yards.
Macdonald has also earned a reputation for getting the most out of players like pass rushers Kyle Van Noy and Jadaveon Clowney and former practice squad safety Geno Stone. How does he do it? The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen joined Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy last month and analyzed the similarities between Macdonald and another NFC West coach.
“What Sean McVay did when he became the head coach of the Rams is he didn’t use a lot of different formations,” Nguyen said. “He only used three or four basic formations, and from those formations he could run all of his plays, all of his play actions, all of his screens. Then you just add some eye candy to it with different movements and position changes and things like that. Macdonald doesn’t use a lot of different defensive fronts, but from those fronts he can apply the pressure he wants, and then you can add different layers to it by changing that player here or there. And again, it just presents a different type of presentation to the offense that they have to be prepared for.”
Macdonald’s defense looks complex to the quarterback facing him, but he says he presents it in a clear manner so players can master it and simplify it for themselves. “Clear” was a common word used to describe Macdonald’s communication style and defense by players throughout the offseason. It remains to be seen how it plays out on the field, but it’s a refreshing term to hear after one too many seasons of players pointing to communication issues as the primary culprit for defensive breakdowns.
2. How will new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb utilize the wide receivers and develop JSN?
Ryan Grubb led one of the most potent offenses in college football last season as the UW Huskies’ offensive coordinator, helping to showcase a trio of receivers who were all selected in the first three rounds of the NFL draft in April. Now, he’s working with one of the most talented trios of receivers in the NFL.
Who will be the primary target of Grubb’s attack? The Ringer’s Danny Kelly joined Bump and Stacy last week and gave his answer to that question.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaxon Smith-Njigba had more volume and better stats than Tyler Lockett this year,” Kelly said. “We don’t know exactly what this offense will look like under Ryan Grubb, but I could see Smith-Njigba being a big target on the short and intermediate plays. Get him open early and give him opportunities to run after the catch.”
“We joke about it, but Lockett is no longer a yard-after-the-catch creator at this point. He’s more of a catch-and-drop player. I think he could be more of a… not necessarily a role player, but play his role as a deep threat player who can still take over a defense and make some big third-down catches. Overall, volume-wise, I could see JSN really starting to emerge as the No. 2 guy.”
JSN has received rave reviews for his performance following the Seahawks’ offseason activities, but it appears there will be a lot to learn in this new system for the second-year player. Lockett, who is entering his 10th season with Seattle, described Grubb’s offense to reporters in May and made it clear that it is complex, even for someone with his level of experience.
“The level of work that we all have to do to learn the offense, the different things that we can do on the line of scrimmage,” Lockett said. “I mean, it’s super, super not only sophisticated but detail-oriented. So I think we really have to be able to study the playbook and understand the different types of positions because any one of us can be at any position at any time. That’s the cool thing about the offense, but that’s also the hard part because it means everybody has to learn every position and you can’t get stuck knowing just one position.”
3. Is the offensive line improved?
The Seahawks’ offensive line struggled in 2023, and that was evident both in the lack of a rushing attack and in quarterback Geno Smith’s regression from his 2022 Pro Bowl season. It didn’t help that they had to really address their depth due to injuries, but changes still needed to be made.
The Seahawks parted ways with center Evan Brown and point guard Damien Lewis, and added tackle George Fant, center Nick Harris and point guards Laken Tomlinson and Tremayne Anchrum. They also added UConn point guard Christian Haynes, Utah point guard Sataoa Laumea and Findlay tackle Michael Jerrell in the draft.
They certainly added depth, but did they improve? Well, not according to Pro Football Focus. The Seahawks’ offensive line was ranked 30th heading into the 2023 season and dropped them one spot to 31st. on the way to this season. One former NFL offensive lineman, however, thinks they’ll at least show a little more consistency. NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger joined Brock and Salk from Seattle Sports in June and gave his thoughts on the revamped unit.
“Anthony Bradford is a huge guy inside,” Baldinger said. “I don’t know if he’s going to be a good guy at right guard. Laken Tomlinson has always been a healthy guy. Whether he’s in Detroit, San Francisco or the Jets, he goes out there and plays. He’s not a Pro Bowl player by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s a consistent player. You know what you’re going to get. Tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas are in their third year right now. They should be pretty good up front right now. I think they’re a little small in the middle, which I don’t always get excited about, but they should be pretty athletic and pretty consistent up front.”
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It may not be the most resounding endorsement, but having someone with some durability (Tomlinson) and a solid backup option if Abe Lucas misses more time with knee pain (George Fant) seems like an upgrade. The right guard position should be a fun competition to watch in training camp. You have last year’s fourth-round pick Bradford, who missed OTAs due to injury, this year’s third-round pick Haynes, who many football analysts love, and McClendon Curtis, who was signed off the Raiders’ practice squad and took starting reps in OTAs. It’s most likely a battle between Bradford and Haynes, but Brock Huard has noted multiple times on Brock and Salk how much the team loves Curtis and his versatility.
Geno Smith spoke about his excitement for the offensive line they assembled during OTAs.
“I think they’re going to be the best in the world,” Smith said. “That’s the way I look at it. I think we have the right players. I think we have the right coaches. It all comes down to having the right mindset.”
More information about the Seattle Seahawks
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• Bump: The best thing about the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie class
• Does Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf have another speed?
• Why this is a make-or-break year for Seahawks CB Tre Brown
• Big Ray: What stands out about the Seattle Seahawks’ new offensive line coach