With NFL free agency about a week away, I thought it would be a good time to do some tea leaf reading with each of the main Seattle free agents that are set to hit the market. Historically, under the Pete Carroll and John Schneider regime, Seattle has preferred to reward their own players as opposed to bringing in high profile types via the free agency route. The 2013 signings of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett happened when the market quieted down and they came to them on short team friendly deals.

The one year that was an exception was 2011 when they spent big bringing in Sidney Rice, Robert Gallery, and Zach Miller. They where still a building team then, and they had plenty of cap space to be aggressive. This year Seattle will have more cap space available to them than they have had since 2011, and it is quite possible that they will be as aggressive as they back in that year. Both Pete Carroll and John Schneider have stressed the importance of improving the team’s pass rush, and Russell Wilson made a rare outward plead for adding more “stars” to both sides of the ball.

With all that said, I would expect Seattle to retain a few key veterans while looking to add from outside. The following is a list of the biggest key names with reasons for and against re-signing.

Defensive End Jadeveon Clowney.

Reason For: Clowney is a rare athlete at defensive end. His unique length and strength and speed creates constant disruption against the pass and run, and he is still young enough that his best football could be in front of him. For any great pass rush to happen, a defense needs at least one player that can be a true disruptor and that is his game. He is also one of the very best edge defenders against the run and Seattle plays in a division with teams that love to run the ball. It’s a tough argument to make that allowing your best defensive linemen to leave will help improve you biggest need, which is improving the pass rush. By all accounts, Clowney was a great locker room guy in 2019 and can be a cornerstone leader of the defense moving forward.

Reason Against: For as talented as Clowney is, he has rarely played a full healthy season, and as the saying goes, your best ability is availability. Signing Clowney to a contract North of $20 million will make it more difficult to add more quality to the defensive line through free agency, and Seattle most likely needs to add multiple players.

Return Probability:  So so. On the surface, the arguments for keeping Clowney outweigh the arguments against it. However, his healthy history coupled with his likely asking price is a concern. If Seattle pays him a salary that is annually more than $20 million a year but he only plays 10 to 12 games a season for the next few years, that might not be a great investment. That’s probably why we are seeing reports floating out there that Seattle would love to keep him but not at a cost greater than $18 to $20 million. Therefor, I give it about a 50 percent chance he returns. He could find his market colder than expected, or a team ponies up beyond where Seattle is willing to go. We shall see.

Defensive Tackle Jarran Reed

Reasons For: While he isn’t a superstar player in this league, Reed is a well rounded interior defender who is strong against the run and is a capable pass rusher, and those kind of players are hard to find. The team loves him and he is considered a leader on the defensive line. At age 27, like Clowney, there is still likely better ball in front of him. While he had a down statistical year, Pro Football Focus still rates him within the top 50 free agents set to hit the market and well ahead of other defensive tackles that had better 2019 stats. He is a home grown talent and rewarding him shows others on the team that it is still Seattle’s preference to reward their own.

Reasons Against: Under Carroll and Schneider, Seattle has historically found great value on the free agent market at defensive tackle with the like of Alan Branch, Tony McDaniel, Kevin Williams, Ahtyba Rubin, and Al Woods, and there appears to be a lot of depth on the market this year with the 2016 defensive tackle class starring at free agency. Seattle could find a similar enough player on the market without paying as much, and they might even be able to sign a couple to further build back depth.

Return Probability: Decent. From the team’s perspective, I think they would love to keep him. Reed wants big money, but with the free agency class this year, I think there could be enough good young interior players entering the market that it could drive costs down a bit. This is why I think Seattle might reach a deal with Reed once he tests the market. It could be short term, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the club and the player come to an agreement on a longer deal once they have felt the market a bit.

Defensive Lineman Quinton Jefferson

Reasons For: Outside of Clowney, Q Jeff might have been Seattle’s most productive defensive lineman in 2019. His ability to play multiple positions is valuable to Seattle’s 4-3 hybrid scheme, like a poor man’s version of Michael Bennett in year’s past. His interior pass rush win rate was top twenty in the league last year according to Pro Football Focus. Like Reed and Clowney, John Schneider has outwardly expressed a desire to see him return. Rewarding him also shows others on the team that Seattle values their own, and prefers keeping them over adding from outside.

Reasons Against: Like Clowney, Q Jeff hasn’t had a great history of staying healthy through a full season. Seattle has two similar players already on their roster in first round pick LJ Collier, and former third round pick Rasheem Green, and retaining Q Jeff might hamper their development. Q Jeff might be a better fit as a defensive end for a team that runs a 3-4 defense than a team the mainly runs a 4-3 like Seattle, and could easily get a better offer than what Seattle is willing to go towards.

Return Probability: A mild chance. I like Q Jeff a lot. I love that he is a sell made player, and a family man. I love that he is versatile and therefore, he is valuable. However, I see at least two other players on the roster who can grown into his role, and I think he is likely to find a hotter market and is likely be priced out of Seattle’s range. I think team’s the run 3-4 defenses are going to look intently at this guy, and I could see New England really valuing him. It all depends on how far Seattle is willing to go to pay him. He could have a hotter market than Reed.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks

Reasons For: He is one of the more athletic coverage linebackers in the league, and Seattle needs to add speed to the defense and not lose any. Kendricks is also a very capable blitzer. Pete Carroll has consistently raved about his play and clearly values his athletic traits. He can play all three linebacker spots reasonably well.

Reasons Against: For as well as he moves in coverage, he is not always the best tackler, and missed way too many tackles in 2019. He is also an older player who has been injury prone over his two seasons in Seattle. Seattle has three young linebackers who could vie for his roster spot.

Return Probability: Iffy. I think Carroll would like to see him back, but GM John Schneider pumped the breaks a bit during his Scouting Combine press conference. Seattle is going to be aggressive this off-season in fixing its pass rush and that is likely to get expensive with veteran contracts. Something has to give and Seattle has enough younger players behind him that they can justify not spending here. I think he more likely returns if they decide to cut KJ Wright to save a few, and I don’t think they do that.

Offensive Tackle Germaine Ifedi

Reasons For: He has improved his game enough with each year as a starter that he has become a serviceable starter in the league after a very rough early start to his career. Carroll has expressed a desire to keep as much of his offensive line together as they can for continuity purposes. He is a young player who can continue to grow and get better.

Reasons Against: He was a Tom Cable guy and might not be an ideal fit at right tackle to what current offensive line coach Mike Solari would prefer. He might not be an ideal fit for what improviser Russell Wilson needs at tackle and might be a better fit on a team with a taller quarterback who can get the ball out quicker. One of the main reasons for all the false starts is his lack of quickness going against speed rushers. This year’s draft class offers numerous athletic offensive tackle prospects and Seattle could find a cheaper replacement through the draft.

Return Probability: Slim. If Seattle was serious about keeping him around long term, they would have picked up his fifth year option off of his first round rookie contract last year. While they probably viewed him as a better option at right tackle than George Fant, they likely haven’t seen him as a long term building block on the offensive line. It feels like he’s likely not a great fit for a short scrambling quarterback and needs to be in a system with a tall passer who gets the ball out quicker. I think he moves on.

Offensive Tackle/Tight End George Fant

Reasons For: He is a versatile player that is athletic enough to play blocking tight end in the run game and he played well enough at left tackle in place of injured starter Duane Brown that the team could see him as an eventual replacement at left tackle down the road. He could be adequate replace for Germaine Ifedi at right tackle.

Reasons Against: Seattle may not view him as a great option at right tackle because he was a raw athletic coming out of college who had more of a basketball background than a football one, and only really learned enough football skills to play comfortably on the left side of the line.

Return Probability: Not great. The way I see it, if Seattle would have thought he was decent competition at right tackle for Germaine Ifedi, we would have seen him there, and we never saw him there. I think he wants to be a left tackle not just because it’s a position that pays more but it’s where he is most comfortable. While there is good draft prospects this year for left tackle, a team might decide that they have seen enough positive play on tape that they might offer decent enough money for them to bring him in. The Jets are already reportedly interested and I think there will be other suitors.

Offensive Guard Mike Iupati

Reasons For: He fits the profile of what Seattle prefers at guard with line coach Mike Solari, and he is a proven capable starter. He is an older player who understands the system well. Carroll expressed a heavy interest in keeping the line together as much as possible and if they lose Ifedi, losing Iupati means having to replace 3/5’s of the line, and that’s not a great recipe for continuity.

Reasons Against: Seattle has younger players behind him in Phil Haynes and Jamarco Jones who each have shown enough promise to warrant giving them a chance to be the starter. This is a good enough draft class at offensive line that could find solutions there, as well.

Return Probability. Good. Carroll has expressed an interest in keeping as much of the line together as they can, and Iupati is enough on the older side of football where he probably isn’t going to find a great market, especially with a good offensive line draft class around the corner. Seattle could bring him back on another inexpensive one year deal, and open up competition between him and Haynes or Jones. He might feel that his chances are still good enough to hold off the young pups for another year.

Running Back Marshawn Lynch

Reasons For: With Chris Carson coming back from a major hip injury and Rashaad Penny likely not going to be ready at the start of the regular season, Seattle needs a reliable option to mix in and be a capable starter if called upon. While his days as a featured back are probably over, Marshawn’s physical running style would be a good mix with Carson, and he would be a solid short yardage back. Marshawn’s ability to inspire other players has value.

Reasons Against: With Carson set to become a free agent in 2021 and Penny coming back from a major knee injury, Seattle might prefer to draft a player that could become a future starter rather than use valuable salary cap space on an aging veteran. Marshawn might decide that retirement suits him in 2020.

Return Probability: So so. There is solid reasons for Marshawn to return. It doesn’t appear that he has slowed down much, and he is a proven veteran. His physical style lends well with how Seattle likes to run, and it can have a positive effect on others. Even if Seattle drafts or signs a younger player, they still might decide to add Marshawn into the mix, if Marshawn still wants to play. That’s the big “if” for me. Does Marshawn want to play a full season? Does he want to be involved with off-season workouts and training camp? He was not a big fan of those during his first go around in Seattle.

Tight End Luke Willson

Reasons For: He is a solid blocking tight end, and should Seattle lose George Fant in free agency, he could have a niche on running downs. He is a great locker room guy, and team player. With Will Dissly’s injury history and Greg Olsen’s age, Seattle might want as much quality depth as they can get with their tight ends, and Willson is a proven vet.

Reasons Against: Seattle invests heavily in free agency to rebuild the defensive line, and they find a cheaper solution to add tight end depth through the draft.  George Fant returns to Seattle and the need for Willson or another tight end isn’t as high.

Return Probability: Goo. Willson might have more value in Seattle than on other rosters. He is a journeyman player that probably won’t see a big market, and John Schneider has already stated that the team wants him back.

In Conclusion

As I type all this up, I realize that it’s difficult to project who stays and who goes. These are just the tea leaves that I am seeing. Clowney could well be the player Seattle will aggressively look to bring back, even at the cost of keeping other key players. Ideally, they would want to keep Clowney, Reed, and Jefferson, and add another veteran speed rusher, but that could prove too expensive, and something might give. That could force them to look for value at defensive tackle like they have done in years past.

Rumors of how much Clowney is asking for and what the team is willing to spend is likely posturing on both sides. Both sides probably want to reach a deal, but all it takes is one team on the market to throw more money at Clowney than Seattle wants to spend for it not to materialize. That’s probably why we are hearing rumors of Seattle being interested in trading for Jaguar pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue. It’s probably Plan B.

With the other players, I think both the offensive tackles are propably out-y, and the jury is out on many others. Seattle will be in wait and see mode until they resolve the defensive line issues.

Once we get closer to free agency, I will compile a list of players that I think Seattle will likely target, especially for their defensive line.

Go Hawks.

Let Russell cook with this guy.

Ah yes. March is upon us, and with it, Spring shall be springing, and thus, so shall the 2020 NFL off-season. Like the yellow forsythia in bloom that ushers in the sweet smells of Spring, so does the NFL Scouting Combine Indianapolis usher in free agency, the draft, and other means for teams to build their programs before live practices begin in the Summer.

It is no small coincidence that the rookie combine happens just a couple weeks before free agency. The combine is the universal information gathering tool that lets all 32 teams know more accurately just what type of draft eligible players are coming out of college. What coaches and scouts see on tape only provides so much information about a player. How the player moves through agility drills, how high they jump, how much they lift, how fast they run, and how long they measure all provide valuable information on how their skills will likely translate in the pros. Once the league gathers this information, the teams with then know more properly how to approach free agency, trades, and then the draft in another month.

For the Seattle Seahawks, it has been the widely held belief that their biggest task this off-season is to fix their defense which ranked 26th in the league last year, and chiefly in that, fix their pass rush that collected only 28 sacks for the season. They also could be looking to replace their starting right tackle and left guard on the offensive line, and they might need to add a running back and additional help at receiver. In short, they have a busy off-season starring at them.

So, with that, let’s break down what all happened in Indianapolis last week, and where it all likely will lead us.

The Head Coach and General Manager Speak

Pete Carroll and John Schneider both held press conferences that shined some useful light on how they see their roster, how they see this draft class, and which of their own free agents they would like to see back with the club this Fall. Both Carroll and Schneider were quick to address the obvious need to improving the pass rush.

Both figure heads also noted the strong desire to see defensive end Jadeveon Clowney return. None of this is unexpected news. What was a bit more interesting to me was hearing Schneider mention fairly strongly the desire to see defensive tackle Jarran Reed back. “We definitely want him back, absolutely. Great guy. Great locker room guy.”

Schneider also noted that they would like to keep defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson and tight end Luke Willson. He were more vague about other veteran pending free agents including offensive tackles Germaine Ifedi and George Fant, and running back Marshawn Lynch.

My reading of the tea leaves on this is that they think they have three reliable vets that they build with on the defensive line, if they can somehow retain Clowney, Reed, and Jefferson, and they are looking for a pure outside speed rusher to add to that mix. Carroll was on the 710 ESPN the following day with John Clayton specifically stating the need to find another rush end, and that they have at least a half dozen veterans in mind that they would like to target in free agency. Whether or not they can keep all three and add to that with another quality vet is another matter that we will touch more on later.

Another thing that I found interesting was, when pressed about how he thought the secondary played last year, GM John Schneider basically confessed to wanting to see better play on the field. When you couple that with Carroll saying that improving the pass rush doesn’t just come with adding to the defensive line but also improving coverage, you begin to formulate a pretty clear idea that they are going to be looking at corners, nickels, and possibly more safeties again this year. It wouldn’t surprise me if they draft a corner higher this year than they have historically, but more on that also later.

The other thing I found pretty standout is that when asked about the receivers in this draft class, John Schneider wasn’t just glowing, he was gushing about the level of talent. My simple reading into this is that the “Let Russell Cook” crowd on Seahawks Twitter should rest comfortable feeling that Seattle is probably going to walk out of this draft with another legit weapon for Russ, maybe even two. To make all this more clear on the level of talent we are talking about, the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has graded 27 receivers in this class with a third around grade or better. That’s almost an entire round of talent, and if that holds true, this year could be a historic draft class for the position.

So, let’s break down the positions and what it means for the Seahawks this year.

Multiple Quarterback Talents Appear To Be There

On the surface this means little for the Seahawks. They have locked Russell Wilson into a deal for four more years. Furthermore, the fanciful idea of drafting a talented quarterback high and then trading one of the two players for gobs of high draft picks isn’t really there because Wilson’s deal has a “no trade” clause. If Seattle drafts a quarterback out of this class, it will likely be in the late rounds, and he will be a developmental player that might be able to compete for the backup spot.

How this helps Seattle is simple. There are five quarterbacks thought to be first round talents, and that means a better likelihood of a really talented player falling to Seattle if all are drafted before their first pick. There is a good chance that this could happen.

There Is Serious Talent At Running Back And Seattle Might Draft One High.. Again

A big contingent of Seahawks Twitter is not going to like that subheading. Much of modern football analytics has devalued the position, but here is the thing, as I see it.

Seattle is a running football team, as is the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and the San Francisco 49ers (All playoff teams last season). Seattle also has major questions about the health and durance of lead back Chris Carson, and even more concern over the health of his potential heir apparent in Rashaad Penny. Penny might not even make it back from his knee injury until halfway through the regular season.

For all the talk of Seattle needing to add pass rush, I think the under talked about thing starring at them is the need for another running back, and one that can be a capable every down starter. It’s entirely possible that Seattle looks to free agency and that includes bringing back Marshawn Lynch (who I think they should bring back anyway). However, should the defensive line rebuild prove spendy (very likely), they might not be able to afford to spend much on the market for a runner.

So, here is goes..

If Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor is sitting there at 27 when Seattle is picking, I think Seahawk Twitter might need to brace themselves. Taylor has FREAKISH athletic talent to go along with size, and he openly stated how much he wants to play for Seattle and play with Russell Wilson. Jonathan Taylor has Saquon Barkley like talent, there is every chance he will be long gone before Seattle picks, but I’m just saying, if he is there, I don’t know how Pete Carroll passes on him.

Alternatively, there are a few other backs with size and explosive traits that Seattle loves to acquire but this does not appear to be a deep draft for them. If Seattle wants Cam Akers or AJ Dillon, they might have to use one of their second day picks on them. This is probably another reason why it is likely that they will try to trade back. They probably want to get as many picks as they can in the 40 to 100 range to fill holes and running back is likely to be one of them.

This Is A Ridiculously Talented Wide Receiver Class

Let. Russell. Cook.

I am all for that, and I am all for Seattle grabbing not just one of these talents, but at least two. I don’t know about you, but I spent the majority of the 2019 season in almost a constant state of fear each game about Tyler Lockett getting injured. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the DK Metcalf story, but beyond Metcalf (and for a blimp on the radar of Josh Gordon), there wasn’t much on the roster beyond these two as pass catchers. In fact, the third leading receiver was fourth string tight end Jacob Hollister.

Get Russell one of these guys, at the very least. For all the fans that are begging for more pre-snap motions, and other advancements to the passing attack, Russell needs more. This is what this draft truly has to offer for Seattle. Some of these guys will be long gone before Seattle drafts, but some will be there when they pick first, and some might even been there when they pick twice in the second round. Just get him one of these guys.

A few names to keep in mind that fit Seattle’s tendencies in targeting faster more athletic receivers include Baylor’s Denzel Mims, TCU’s Jalen Reagor, Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool, and LSU’s Justin Jefferson. It wouldn’t shock me of one of these guys is a Seahawk this Fall. There’s many others that would also be welcome additions, but those guys above all strike me a Seahawk players.

Tight Ends Are Not Nearly As Talented

This doesn’t appear to be a great tight end class, and this is probably another reason why the team acted quickly to sign former Panther Greg Olsen once he hit the market, and why Schneider volunteered that they want Willson back.

Offensive Linemen Are Explosive And Plentiful In This Draft

I see why John Schneider and Pete Carroll have been a bit mum on the returns of Germaine Ifedi this year. The other great news coming out of this combine is that wide receiver is not the only exciting position group. There are multiple offensive tackles the meet Seattle’s threshold for arm length and athleticism.

In fact, this a rare class that seems to have more athleticism, in general, on the offensive line than the defensive line. I think it is entirely possible that Seattle could take one of these tackles with their first pick to play right tackle and then transition to left once Duane Brown has decided to call it a career. A few of these guys tested so incredibly explosive that, with the combination of their enormous size, there is no way that they even make it to Seattle’s first pick, but a few players to keep in mind for Seattle later on are as follows; Ezra Cleveland of Boise State, Austin Jackson of USC, Matt Peart of UConn, Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson both out of Georgia. There are a number of others, as well. I think it is a pretty strong possibility that Seattle’s next starting right tackle comes out of this class.

There’s also some pretty interesting guard and center options that could appeal Seattle, especially if Mike Iupati doesn’t return, or if Justin Britt becomes a salary cap casualty. It’s entirely possible that Seattle could come out of this draft with two quality starters on the offensive line, if the draft lands right for them.

Pass Rush Is Lacking In This Class

If Pete Carroll came into this combine hoping for solutions to add to the speed rush portion of his defensive line, this combine might have added a few more wrinkles to his face. There wasn’t much to offer. It was thought to be a weak defensive line class before the draft, and these performances confirmed it. There was no participant that had Seattle’s requirements of length that showed the athleticism and quickness to likely play rush end for them.

Seattle has a very defined profile in what they look for to play rush end. His defense is predicated on having a rush end that has at least 33 inch arms, and they need to run the 10 yard split exercise in the 1.5s of seconds. Every rush leo that they are acquired over the years has these two traits from Chris Clemons to Jadeveon Clowney and all in between.

Nobody ran the 10 yard split under 1.6 during this combine. Now there were a few players thought to be higher end talents that chose not to run these drills (saving them for their on personal pro days), but even if a few of them did manage a 1.5 10 yard split, because of the dearth of edge rush talent, it’s probably pretty unlikely that they last to where Seattle picks in round one.

Here’s the other bit of unfortunate news out of this. Jadeveon Clowney’s price tag probably just shot way up after these guys ran, and so did a lot of other veteran edge rushers that are set to go on the free agent market. If Seattle is going to go the veteran free agent method of improving the pass rush, it could get really expensive. If they go that route, there could be a surprise cut on the horizon of a popular player or two.

They might have to look towards trading for someone on an existing contract that is more cap reasonable, but because of the dearth of talent, the asking price from the team looking to maybe trade will also surely also go up. Does Seattle really want to trade their first round pick to Denver for 30 year old Von Miller and miss out on drafting a premier offensive lineman or receiver?

On the slightly more positive side, this class seems to have some interesting options at defensive tackle should they lose Jarran Reed in free agency, but if Seattle wants one of them, they might have to use their first pick because there aren’t a bunch of options and they might not last deep into round two. A few of these guys probably won’t even make it to where Seattle picks, but Justin Madubuike of Texas A&M tested really well and Raekwon Davis of Alabama has interesting length the Carroll seems to like inside.

There Are A Few Interesting Linebackers Out There

It’s debatable how in need Seattle is at linebacker. There are some feelings out there that Seattle could cut KJ Wright if they decide to spend big money reshaping the defensive line. They would save about $10 million if they cut him, and they could find a cheap replace in this draft class with LSU’s Patrick Queen, Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray or Mississippi State’s Willie Gay Jr who are all highly athletic football players, and maybe one of these guys will be there with the first pick. However, cutting KJ seems to  potentially create a further need and then you have to spend a high pick replacing him if you don’t trust that Cody Barton is ready to take over.

Personally, I think Barton was drafted to take over the WILL spot for Wright eventually, and if they move on from Wright early, it will be Barton’s job to lose. I also think Barton more naturally fits the WILL spot than the SAM one he was thrust into starting at, and if Seattle does draft a linebacker, it will be a guy the plays more naturally at the SAM. That’s probably maybe why they met with Wisconsin’s Zack Baun. Baun could easily be the plan if they are looking to get cheaper at linebacker in the base defense, and he’s a perfect SAM. The thing is, again, you’re looking probably burning a high pick.

I’m not against drafting one of these guys. They are all good players. I’m just not sure how much the need is there. Free agency will likely shed more light on this area.

If Seattle Wants To Add A Outside Cornerback, They Might Draft One Early

The highest that Seattle has ever drafted a corner under Pete Carroll is in the middle of round three in 2017 when they took Shaquill Griffin. Richard Sherman, Byron Maxwell, Tre Flowers have all been later round picks. Under Carroll, Seattle is very stringent on length at outside corner. They all play with at least 32 inch arms.

There is only a small handful of what looks like quality outside corners in this class that have that requisite arm length, and one of them is likely going in the top ten of the draft. Interestingly enough, Seattle met with Alabama corner Trevon Diggs, and Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall. If Seattle likes Diggs, they are probably going to have to draft him with their first pick, if he is still there. If Hall is a guy that they really like, they probably will have to take him in round two.

Alternatively, because Justin Coleman played nickel corner for them really well with sub 32 inch arms, they could consider drafting a pure nickel corner at some point during day two or three. There appears to be more better options for them there in this draft than at outside corner.

It will be interesting to see what they do. I have no idea what they are thinking. All I know is that when I fall back on the words of Schneider and Carroll during their press conferences, it seems like there is room to consider them drafting the position early this year for once. I’m considering it a real possibility, especially if there is a serious run of offensive tackles and receivers in front of where they pick first, and if Diggs is still there.

It’s also worth noting the there is a few really interesting safeties in this class in Grant Delpit, Kyle Dugger, and Jeremy Chinn. Dugger has been described as a definite Seahawk safety and plays a style similar to Kam Chancellor. On paper, it seems like Seattle is a bit overloaded at safety, but should they decide to draft Dugger early because he is the best player on their board, they might perhaps consider shifting Marquize Blair to nickel where I think he has played some corner in the past in college.

I wouldn’t be totally shocked if, one way or another, Seattle addresses their secondary with an early pick again this year. We shall see.

So What Does This All Mean For The Seahawks Now?

Judging by how this scouting combine went, it seems like Seattle is sitting in bit of a tough spot looking to fix their defensive line through the draft. It’s unfortunate because they desperately need speed and it’s never fun to hit the free agent market with desperation in the air. I think there is now a legitimate chance that they could loose Jadeveon Clowney, and I think they are probably wisely preparing for that.

I wouldn’t be shocked if they try to lure in Everson Griffin who played for Pete Carroll years ago at USC, and I also wouldn’t be surprised if they might look to bring back Bruce Irvin, and probably pursue Dante Fowler. I think that there is a more decent chance that Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson return as the primary inside rushers. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there is a trade or two in the works to really solidify this unit.

If they can reshape the defensive line with a few veteran moves, this draft really does shape up nicely for Seattle to land impact players on the offensive side of the ball. For as much as Carroll loves to run the ball, he loves to acquire special pass catching talent, and this draft class is loaded. If they don’t spend big on the offensive line, there are players to replace the likes of Ifedi and Iupati through this draft class. There’s also probably going to be a few running backs that will appeal to Seattle and it won’t be a surprise if one is taken relatively early.

There is also some interesting options at linebacker and in the secondary and possibly defensive tackle.

If I had a lay an educated guess on how this will go down, I would expect to see Seattle make a few splashy free agent moves or a trade to fix the defensive line, and then if they still have their first round pick, I would expect them to move down a bit in the draft (like they always do), and I would expect them to target receiver, offensive line, secondary, and probably running back. If they can get four or five picks between 40 and 100, they might well be able to get some really interesting players to contribute this year.

That’s my best educated guess, anyhow.

It’s going to be fun to see how it all shakes out. I could, of course, be wrong on a lot of this. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Go Hawks.

The best chin in American football is now a Seahawk (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

A few weeks ago, superstar Seattle Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson volunteered in an interview that he wanted his team to be aggressive this off-season in acquiring ‘superstars.” He mentioned adding to the pass rush (with Jadeveon Clowney) and some to the offense. This was a fairly uncharacteristic volunteer by Russell, as he is more regularly a “stay in you lane” sort of player, but it was also understandable. Seattle played a lot of football in 2019 against arguably stronger rosters and they relied on a lot of Russell magic to sneak out wins. Rarely did a game feel comfortable, and by the end of the season as they headed into the playoffs, even the most optimistic fan probably felt a bit spent.

On Tuesday February 18th, 2020, the Seattle Seahawks reached a one year $7 million deal with 34 year old veteran tight end Greg Olsen that included a $5.5 guaranteed portion. Those $5.5 million in guarantees tell me that they see this addition as more than an aging veteran coming in to be a role player and role model for the younger fellas on the roster. They likely see Olsen as a major piece to the puzzle towards building a Super Bowl contender in 2020.

The one year deal also probably signals that they haven’t given up on the upside of their younger tight ends in Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister, and this is probably even more encouraging than the addition of this crafty veteran. While Seattle is poised to have a big off-season in acquiring veteran talent to help their pass rush and possibly fill a few other positions, the ultimate goal of any franchise to to build a solid foundation off of younger players.

Despite his back to back seasons of being lost to injury, Dissly, in particular looks, to have the talent of being a foundational piece in the future, and Hollister impressed in 2019 when he was thrust into duty as a pass catcher. The addition of Olsen not only buys time for Dissly to properly mend coming back from his achilles injury, it also exposes these two younger talents to one of the most rock solid veteran players in the entire league. From this standpoint, this signing also makes a lot of sense.

As fun as this move is, it does not come without some risk. There is a reason why such a talent found himself available on the market. Olsen has missed 18 games over the past three seasons, for an average of over 5 games a season (on the more positive side of that, though, he only missed two games last year). He will be 35 years old when they start playing live ball this Fall. Will Dissly has yet to prove that he can stay healthy for a full season. It isn’t unfathomable to think that Jacob Hollister could still find himself the starter again at some point in the season.

What Seattle is betting on is that Olsen will stay fairly healthy, and Dissly will eventually come back strong, and that Hollister will take the next step forward. If health is relatively positive at this position, Seattle is going to have a really interesting three headed monster here. All three are solid pass catchers for Russell Wilson.

This is just move number one for adding “stars” to the team. With over $50 million in available cap space, I would look at the bulk of the remaining moves to be improving the pass rush. It could start with retaining Jadeveon Clowney and or Jarran Reed, or it could mean bringing in multiple players from outside via free agency and or trade. It looks like there could be A LOT of options available on the market. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Seattle attacks it.

If they lose Clowney in free agency, would they consider trading for Kansas City’s superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones? These are the type of splash moves I think we could ultimately end up seeing to fulfill Russell’s stated wishes this year.

And I can’t wait for it.

Go Hawks!

In the end, sometimes you just can’t stop greatness

I gotta admit it; I thought the San Francisco 49ers were going to win this game. It wasn’t just during the course of the game, either. I woke up Sunday morning feeling that way. The 2019 San Francisco 49ers were built to defeat the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs, and I think they would have had Jimmy Garoppolo hit Emmanuel Sanders with that deep pass during the final minutes of the game. Instead, we have this 31-20 Chiefs victory that isn’t, in any fashion, a true indication about just how close this game actually was.

This is my Seahawk fan breakdown of the match.

The Good

This game literally came down to the play of Jimmy Garoppolo, and when San Francisco needed big plays from him to win it, he failed. From the Seattle perspective, this is what you want to see. On top of a potential Super Bow hangover, there will be a cloud existing over this team in the former of a question mark as to whether Jimmy G is the long term answer at the most important position on their roster.

It’s pretty clear that head coach Kyle Shanahan leaned into their run game down the stretch into their post season, their schedule will be tougher next year, their roster may not be as deep, and their innovative run game will be more scouted out. Will Jimmy G have the confidence that they need from him to pull out close games with his arm, or will he be more prone to wilting under pressure? This will likely be the big story-line heading into their off-season now.  This is good news for the other teams in the NFC West.

The biggest thing emotionally for me heading into this match was that I did not want to see Richard Sherman win a Super Bowl in a 49er uniform. Call me petty on this, but I just did not want that. There is too much iconic history of Sherman in Seattle, and as a life long Seahawk fan, I did not want to see that shared with their most despised division rival. This is not to be taken that I am Anti Richard Sherman. I still love the guy, and would root for him to win another Super Bowl on a team that wasn’t a division rival, but not in that uniform ever. Just cannot do it.

It was awesome to witness Andy Reid finally win a Super Bowl and to have a generation of Kansas City Chief fans get to experience the special euphoria of Super Bowl victory. Oh, yeah, another thing, that Patrick Mahomes kid is pretty easy to root for.

The Bad

The San Francisco 49ers feel like a team that is likely here to stay for a while. They have a talented young roster, and a brilliant young head coach, and a quarterback who still has room to grow. Seattle might top them in 2020, or maybe the Rams will, but if I were to step back, and objectively look at their roster, they feel like a team that should remain a major pain in the division for the next few years. Seattle has a lot of work to do to figure out how to beat them, especially that run game.

With the Kansas City Chiefs winning, this will likely stoke the flames of the Fire Pete crowd on Seahawks Twitter who want to see Seattle become more of a passing team. A San Francisco victory would have dampened those flames considerably. I am all for “letting Russell cook” more, but to think Pete Carroll is suddenly going to become Andy Reid just isn’t dealing with reality, and to think that Jody Allen is ever going to fire him while he continually produces playoff teams is silly talk. How about we find a happy medium with this, and give Russell a few more weapons to where they can open things up a bit more on first downs, and call this thing good? Good? Great. Moving on.

The Ugly

I didn’t get to see the halftime show because I had to watch my toddler, but I heard it was pretty “pole dance-y.” Whatever. I’m fine to have missed it.

Moving Forward

As much as I would like to believe that this was the 49ers’ window, I think it is more likely that their window is just now opening. Seattle has got to figure out how to more properly beat them. With Russell Wilson, they have the quarterback to do it, as we have seen him do it, and we just seen Patrick Mahomes do it similarly with his legs and his deep ball, but Seattle needs to figure it out on defense. Kyle Shanahan’s play calling it just too good.

I think Seattle’s main off-season agenda has got to be fixing their defense in a way that can counter San Francisco’s explosive running game and to get Jimmy Garoppolo passing on third and longs. It feels like speed needs to be vastly improved on all three levels of their defense for that to happen, and it will be a major chore to get it done.

Seattle must figure out how to properly rush with four players while stopping the run. That probably means enough size up front combined with speed on the edges, and another play-maker or two on the defense either in the secondary or linebacker. They will have at least $60 million in cap space to do this defensive renovation. They also need to probably add another weapon or two on the offense to “let Russell cook.”

John Schneider, you have lots of work to do over these next few months. I’m going to be excited to see how you get it done.

Go Hawks!

How excited are we to see this guy playing in the Super Bowl in this uniform? (Getty Images)

If you are a Seahawk Twelve like me, you might be having a difficult time deciding who to root for during this coming Super Bowl game. On the surface you don’t want to see the San Francisco 49ers for a multitude of reasons, but peeling back the layers, a Chief victory could open the floodgates for perhaps a more disturbing trend to effect the Seahawks moving forward. Thus, you could be sipping your AM coffee in some despair, either way.

This is my conflicted Seahawk fans guide that will help you decide for yourself. Hopefully once I get to the last sentence of it, I will have made my own decision.

Rooting for the Chiefs. 

The pros for this are pretty simple for me. Allow me to list the main ones.

Patrick Mahomes is an amazing football talent, and he seems like a really likable guy. For all the talk of Lamar Jackson being the new young quarterback that is going to revolutionize the way the position is played in the league, the simple truth is that no quarterback presently can compare to the talent that Mahomes possesses, not even our beloved Russell Wilson. He has an incredibly strong arm, size to see over the pocket, he can throw accurately from all kinds of crazy angles, and he has the athleticism to beat you with his legs. Oh, yeah, one other thing; he reads defense well.

I have been watching football for a long time, and I have seen a lot of dynamic play. There is no other quarterback that I can compare him with, at best I would have to combine about a half dozen players, and I don’t think that would completely describe him. When I look at Mahomes play, it makes me think of a young Michael Jordan in the NBA and how it felt when he was on the verge of taking that league over for years to come. It’s hard not to root for greatness when you see it blossoming before your eyes.

On the flip side of Mahomes sits Andy Reid for me. Personally, I think Reid is a fantastic football coach who is like fine wine; he just seems to get better over time. He has been a head coach in this league for two decades now, and he remains one of the most (if not the most) innovative offensive minds in the game. It is criminal to me that he has not won a title yet as a head coach, and like Mahomes, he seems like a really nice guy that you want to see finally win one. It would be an awesome story to see a dedicated old soldier of the game finally get his reward.

Thirdly, and perhaps the most import pro for a Chiefs victory is the reward for the long suffering Kansas City Chiefs fans. This team has not been to the Super Bowl since 1970, and I was three months old when they won it. So, I literally have no memory of the Chiefs doing anything significant in this league, like ever.

What I do have memories of is the years that my favorite team shared the same division with them in the AFC West, and how hard it was for Seattle to ever win in Kansas City. I remember the feeling that, while I should hate this club and their dedicated fans with the annoying tomahawk chop (painfully outdated these days), a bigger part of me was impressed by their devotion and traditionally making their home town Chiefs a difficult team to beat. Beating the Chiefs on their field, in front of those fans, always felt like a major accomplishment, and because of their decades of devotion, it would be nice to see them finally be rewarded another trophy after a half century of NFL football.

Rooting for the 49ers

On the surface, I almost want to puke in my mouth typing reasons why I would want to root for this team. They are the Seattle Seahawks’ main rival in the NFC West, and since Seattle entered into the division in 2001, the Seahawks have largely dominated them 24 to 13 in overall victories.

Yet to hear the average 49er fan talk (or whine), you, as a Seahawk fan, have to likely endure them bringing up their five Super Bowl victories from 1982 through 1995. This sucks for you because your team was largely mediocre to bad during that time, and overall, you only have one Super Bowl victory in your team’s history. While you have enjoyed your team’s overall success over theirs, deep down, it burns you some that they can continually gloat about their past filled with multiple titles. The only solace that you can ever take in that is knowing the gloating about the past is an incredibly loser thing to do, and a 49er win this Sunday washes even that away.

Another reason to not wish for a 49er win is that Richard Sherman would be validated for his bad behavior in his last couple seasons in Seattle. This perhaps sits a little deeper with me than the whole rivalry with San Francisco fans.

I loved Richard Sherman as a Seattle Seahawk. I thought he represented all the ideals (at least in my mind) about what made the Seattle region cool. He was intelligent, and talented. He was confident, and brash, and he was unashamed. Essentially, Number 25 was rock and roll. He was both Gary Payton and Kurt Cobain. His leap into the cheering crowd at Century Link Field after “The Tip” was so Seattle Grunge that I almost had an out of body experience watching it on my television set in my living room in 2014.

I loved Richard Sherman, and it absolutely broke my heart when I started to witness the ways he in which broke away from the ranks of my team. His infamous sideline rants when the going got tough for the LOB were hard to watch, as was his rant against the Seattle offensive coaching staff when during a regular season game they decided to pass at the one yard line. The way in which he treated members of the Seattle media when they asked harder questions during his press conferences came across painfully childish during that stretch, but perhaps worst, was the strong inference that he was the main anonymous team source in the Sports Illustrated article that came out in 2017 which centered on some deep seeded animosity within the Seattle locker room against star quarterback and ultra nice guy Russell Wilson.

For all these reasons, I was ready for a Richard Sherman breakup, and I continue to think that it was the right thing to do for the team. So, deep down, I just don’t want to see Richard validated on any level.

However, peeling back the layers, if I am to be honest, I can see one strong reason why, as a Seahawk fan, I should root for the 49ers over the Chiefs. Simply put, the 2019 San Francisco 49ers are in the Super Bowl playing a style of football that Pete Carroll loves. They are a dedicated running team that is backed by efficient quarterback play, and they have an outstanding defense. This is very much in the Pete Carroll philosophy of being a perfectly balanced team. The defense compliments the offense and vice versa, and a 49er win definitely validates Pete Carroll as a head coach.

To go further with this is that a 49er win over the Chiefs would put a major dent into the armor of the disturbing movement on Seahawks Twitter that wants to see Pete Carroll fired. First of all, let me say that I don’t believe this movement represents the majority of Seattle Seahawk fans, but they do seem to be a pretty loud minority that is led by a few analytic types who are deeply in love with the passing game. In short, they believe that Pete Carroll is holding Russell Wilson back even though Wilson is coming off of his best statistical year as a passer.

I have written this before, and I will be happy to write it again. I think firing Pete Carroll would more likely be a massive mistake for this franchise than it would to ever be the right decision. What he is able to do as a culture builder and what he is able to get out of his players is ridiculously rare, and his marriage to Russell Wilson is ideal. You want Russell Wilson in an offense that runs so that Russell Wilson can play to all of his strengths as a quarterback. He is not Tom Brady or Drew Brees, and he is certainly not Patrick Mahomes. Because the dude is 5-11, he needs a run game to build off of so that defenses are forced to play him honest. Don’t let anyone tell you different otherwise. They will be wrong.

So, because that loud minority on Seahawks Twitter has gotten so much attention lately by the local media (and even some national writers, for the shame of it), I really wouldn’t mind seeing this San Francisco 49er club get their sixth title. Yes, it would be egg on my face as a Seahawk fan. I would also have to endure Richard Sherman being right to some extent, and I would have to endure 49er fans now gloating about the present instead of loser-ly living in their past, but I would get to walk around with the knowledge that those who will continue existing in the Fire Pete crowd of Twitter will be doing it with a very thin argument, and I think that will be worth it, ultimately.

So where do I ultimately land?

Well, I would say that the way I closed out the argument for a 49er victory, I should be rooting for the 49ers. In my mind, it makes almost too much compelling sense, and the fact that Seattle played this team tough in two rival games in 2019 is still validating. Literally, a 49er win means that Seattle would have come one inch away from sweeping the Super Bowl champs in the regular season. It is something to feel decent about.

However, the truth of the matter is that bad rivalry blood is thicker than water, and that often means that it needs to defy plain logic. So, I just can’t do it, for better or worse.

Thus, I’m going to pull for the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the San Francisco 49ers. I am going to root for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid to get their first Super Bowl victory as a quarterback and a head coach, and I am going to root for Chiefs fans to get their first Super Bowl win in fifty years.

I am also going to root for 49er fans to continue living in the past, and for their team to experience a Super Bowl hangover in 2020. I am also going to root for the 49er GM to make some hard decisions about their salary cap situation and how to hang onto their cheap talent that will suddenly get expensive to keep.

Maybe, just maybe, they will have to cut Richard Sherman to keep defensive lineman Arik Armstead, and maybe, just maybe, that will allow Seattle and Sherman to make some amends to each other, and Sherm can rightly return to the PNW (where he belongs) and wear the 25 once more in Seahawk blue. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, and if we learned anything from Marshawn Lynch this year, we learned that.

I can dream about that last part, anyways. It never hurts to dream.

I love you Richard, but go Chiefs.

Get bigger and badder on the defensive line and add more speed off of the edges. Go Hawks.

A few days ago, I wrote a piece on this blog about things that what I thought the Seahawks would likely do this off-season. It was a bit extensive, and you review it here, but essentially I stated that I felt there would be a number of changes to the defense and they would try to surround Russell Wilson with more weapons on the offense.  None of this was far reaching stuff. Most GMs for most teams that fall short of the Super Bowl probably want to improve their team somewhat similarly. The distinction with Seattle, however, is that for the first time since 2011, they will have significant salary cap space to be more aggressive in free agency, and they have ten draft picks to play with.

For this piece, I want to spell out my own wish list for these Seahawks. It’s not a crazy wish list. I’m not going to ask for Jody Allen to fire Pete Carroll and pull the next brilliant offensive minded head coach with a chiselled chin and piercing blue eyes out of thin air to lead the team. I’m also not asking them to sign Jadeveon Clowney and then add Kansas City superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones, Rams’ sack master Dante Fowler,  Tennessee right tackle Jack Conklin all in free agency, and then trade for Odell Beckham Junior.

I believe I have put forth a fairly realistic wish list of the things I would like this team to do that will help put them over the top in 2020 and set them up for future years in the Russell Wilson era. So, here it is.

Lean Into Russell Wilson More

It’s been a frustrating week of Seahawk football following their loss to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs. Apparently, there has been a civil war brewing on Seahawk Twitter about firing Pete Carroll that has spilled into the airwaves of the Seattle sports radio station that I listen to daily.

I will be honest. I don’t Twitter. I probably should to promote this blog, but the truth is that I’ve been both lazy and apprehensive of joining (I’m a Gen X slacker who is also a Libra, which means I take a double long time to make a decision and act). Perhaps this year I will, but either way, here is my definitive position on the whole Fire Pete Carroll thingy.

I believe that it is inaccurate to say that Pete Carroll is holding Russell Wilson back. I am no football expert, but from my observation, I would say that the offensive coordinator change from Darrell Bevell to Brian Schottenheimer has helped Russell Wilson’s game considerably. I think Schottenheimer has cleaned up A LOT of Wilson’s game in terms of mechanics, footwork, and pre-snap reads. I think the level of play from Wilson over the last two years to his previous six years has been largely a night and day difference in the positive, and I don’t think there can be much dispute in that.

Let us all remember that it wasn’t that long ago that there was a Trade Russell Wilson civil war brewing on Seahawks Twitter, as well. After the team went 9-7 and Seattle missed the playoffs, many fans felt Wilson had regressed considerably enough that the team was better off to deal him while they still could. I thought that was ridiculous then, and I think the Fire Pete Carroll thing is equally ridiculous now.

Pete Carroll has built and maintained a winning culture in Seattle. This team just won eleven games and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs, and they came close to beating the Packers in Green Bay.  In my opinion, they did this with a significant talent deficiency, and it wasn’t just about Wilson’s magic. Carroll coached up marginal talent.

Therefor, I think it would be a horrendous idea to fire Pete Carroll now. They just finished the second year of a major rebuild and they are heading into a critical third year of that project.

It would be like divorcing your spouse because they aren’t as on the surface interesting as other spouses in other marriages you see around you, even though generally you’ve gotten along well, and are doing well raising the kids and paying off the house. Two years later, you could easily be sitting alone in your living room in your soiled underwear watching something adult on your screen with a half empty bottle of scotch in front of you, while your spouse and their new partner are taking your kids to Disney Land and are buying a Tesla together. Call me conservative, but I just think it is best to hang onto what you have and trying to make it work even better.

What Pete Carroll can do better is to lean into the skills of Russell Wilson even more, from time to time. They can start out games more aggressively on occasion, and test the defense with the passing on first downs more. I would also like to see even more motions and misdirection plays to utilize Russell abilities to throw on the run.  They can also vary the tempo of the offense in the first half of games to keep the opposing defenses on edge.

They don’t need wholesale changes on the offense, they just need to continue adding more wrinkles and layers for their star quarterback. This is a perfectly reasonable request heading into year three of Brian Schottenheimer’s play-calling, and it’s not about passing more than running. It’s just about mixing things up a bit more.

Be Aggressive In Fixing The Defensive Line

Seattle failed to improve their defense in 2019 from 2018. In fact, many ways, it got much worse. They were a horrible tackling team, and they were a bad pass rushing team. I think they were merely so so in coverage.

Part of this is probably on coaches, but I think a much larger portion is on talent. It might have been better for Seattle in the long term that they traded Frank Clark to Kansas City for two high draft picks, but it clearly made 2019 a harder season defensively. I think it all mostly starts and stops in the trenches.

Seattle must vastly improve it’s pass rushing situation, and the situation in general on the defensive line for it to truly get back into championship contention. A more charged pass rush would allow the team to play more aggressively on offense. A more charged pass rush would probably also help Seattle be more aggressive in coverage. But none of this matters if they can not stop the run. All of this can be fixed by fixing the defensive line.

When I look at this 2019 defensive line of the Seattle Seahawks, outside of Jadeveon Clowney, I don’t see anything special. I see a few players that, at best, are kind of jack of all trades – master of none types. I also see some others that are kind of in between types, almost playing without a true position.

The years when Seattle had a strong defensive line, they had multiple players that were special in their own ways. Red Bryant was a massive left end at 6-4 and 320 pounds who able to take away the left side of the field on early run downs, and that was a huge advantage for Seattle. Michael Bennett had special versatility to play as a pass rushing defensive tackle and end at a high level. Cliff Avril had special ability to convert speed to power as a pass rushing end. Brandon Mebane had special ability to play nose tackle with strength and leverage. Frank Clark add special speed and strength and athleticism off the edge. Tony McDaniel had special length and toughness inside. The list can go on.

Jarran Reed is a perfect example of a player that is a jack of all trades master of none type. Pro Football Focus has listed him as the 49th best player heading into free agency. They noted that he is good at a lot of things but not special at anything, and they land on him being a quality player in a defensive line rotation. In four years of watching Reed, I think that this is a really fair take. I like him a lot as a player, but he just doesn’t feel like a guy you want to over spend on. He doesn’t offer special size, or twitch inside. He is a good leader, and a tough guy, and a guy that you probably want back at the right cost, but he is probably not a building block.

I want Seattle to acquire building block players on the defensive line in 2020. In my opinion, it all starts with Jadeveon Clowney, and his rare ability to disrupt. If I were to look at what Seattle traditionally has had on it’s defensive line during the height of it’s defensive prowess under Carroll, I would ask general manager John Schneider go add special size and special speed to Clowney’s disruption, if he is kept.

We will get into free agency later when it is apparent who will be available, but if I were to give an example of what I would like to see on this team in 2020, it would be Jadeveon Clowney playing one end spot and a speed rusher like Dante Fowler playing the other end, and then a massive body wrecking the interior like defensive tackle DJ Reader from Houston. If they can acquire that and convince Jarran Reed to come back on a reasonable deal, I am liking Seattle’s defensive line a whole heck of a lot better, and I am guessing Bobby Wagner is going to like it, as well.

Earl Thomas once was asked about the importance of the play of Brandon Mebane a few years back. I remember him saying something to the effect that the players on the back end appreciated him and that the success of their defense all started with his play between the guard and center, that the whole defense started there. I just really want to see Seattle get back to that.

Get Better Defensive Coaching.

I would like to see some improvement to the coaching staff on the defensive side. I am not necessarily calling for the firing of coordinator Ken Norton Jr, but I am asking for more help, and if their is a better coordinator available, I think Seattle should go get him.

In my previous piece about Seattle’s 2020 off-season, I suggested that they might be interested in bringing back former defensive coordinator Kris Richard. Personally, I think it would probably be a wise idea, but I think that there are a lot of moving parts that would need to happen. Firstly, I think there would have to be strong interest on both sides. Would Richard want to come back to the place that left him go two years ago? Would Carroll be able to suck up whatever pride he had and admit that maybe letting Richard go was a mistake?

Also, there are probably going to be some ruffled Seahawk feathers to consider. Would Ken Norton Jr and Kris Richard be able to coexist on a coaching staff together? Would Richard only come back if he was the coordinator again? Would Norton be willing to take a demotion and just coach the linebackers again? If Norton is fired, how would that sit with star veteran linebackers Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright who love the guy?

These are the things Carroll would have to weigh, but that facts are the facts. The 2019 Seattle Seahawks were a horrible tackling team, and considering that the defensive coordinator is a former pro bowl linebacker and a former linebacker coach, this feels inexcusable to me, to be honest. There is no reason for this team to have been so terrible at tackling, and it was a problem at all three levels of the defense.

Now perhaps part of the issue was that the defensive line was so underwhelming that players behind them over shot plays in an effort to over compensate. Perhaps getting back to bigger bodies at defensive tackle solves a lot of this issue. Maybe it was simple alignment issues, but either way, I just wonder if Ken Norton Junior is a better position coach than a coordinator, and he just had too much on his plate to hone in on the fundamentals that have usually always been a hallmark of a Pete Carroll defense.

I’m a patient Twelve, but I think I have seen enough here. So I am guessing that probably most Twelves have, as well. Any move from Norton might be just the thing to rejuvenate this tired fan base. There is a standard on the defensive side of the ball that has been set in Seattle under Pete Carroll that needs to be kept and fans will not tolerate seeing the defense have the same issues in 2020. These are the things Pete Carroll must also weigh.

One other thought I had was perhaps Carroll bringing in a well regarded former player onto the staff. Would Kam Chancellor like to come on board to coach up the DBs? Would Cliff Avril like to assist with the defensive line? Both of these guys weren’t just great players because of their physical skill sets. They were great players because they were great students of the game.

There’s probably many other considerations in coaching out there that haven’t crossed my mind yet, but it just feels to me that this is another aspect of the team that desperately needs to be improved on. I’m ready for change here, anyway.

Give Russell Wilson More Weapons

The Fire Pete Twitter crowd wants to see Russell take over the offense more? I got news for them, it won’t happen until Russell has more weapons. Schottenhiemer was happy to dial things up more with Russell when they had DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Will Dissly on the field with Chris Carson against the Steelers. That was then, but after Dissly went down a few weeks later in Cleveland, you could sense the reigns about to be pulled back.

Here is the reality that I think the Fire Pete Twitter crowd needs to here and read: Russell Wilson is a really good quarterback but probably needs more talent around him to really get over the hump. The reason why Pete probably likes to dial back is because Russell’s style needs to be supported by a run game to be effective. He is not Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady. He can’t just drop back and air it out all over the place because he is SIX INCHES SHORTER THAN THE AVERAGE LINEMAN IN FRONT OF HIM.

There, glad I got that out.

And that is not to say that he isn’t elite in his own way. (of course he is). I’m just saying he needs to be surrounded by more talent, just like most other quarterbacks in the league. I honestly think that if a relatively healthy Doug Baldwin had been on this roster in 2019, that may have been the difference between Seattle playing on the road in the first round and getting a first round bye and then hosting a playoff game in the following week.

Give Russell the same trio of receivers that Jared Goff has in LA, and we probably aren’t hearing squat all from the Fire Pete crowd these days. That team that won the Super Bowl in 2013-14 had Golden Tate, Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin and Percy Harvin on that roster. Yeah they lost Rice and Harvin to injuries throughout most of the season, but the point it that they went into 2013 loaded.

DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are nice pieces. Will Dissly looks like a nice player if he can ever stay healthy. Go get Russell another receiver that can push those other two guys and can consistently test the defenses in eleven personnel. This coming draft is loaded at receiver. I know they got needs elsewhere, but go get one of those guys, and while you’re at it, go grab a tight end that can challenge Dissly.

Be cutthroat about giving Russell more weapons. 2019 was what it was because this team did not have enough. It’s that simple.

Firing Pete Carroll isn’t about anything about building around Russell. Giving Russell more legit targets for defenses to deal with is. Go Hawks.

Get Better Pass Blocking On The Offensive Line

This is the annual wish for these Seahawks under Pete Carroll. For me, it isn’t even that the line was that terrible, at times in most games they actually looked fairly decent, and yes, I agree with the notion that Russell Wilson often invites sacks by the way he hangs onto the ball chasing the big play, but I also have to acknowledge that they can improve on personnel in front of him.

Mainly, I don’t think Germaine Ifedi is a great right tackle for Russell Wilson. That isn’t to say that he is the terrible player that a lot of Seattle fans make him out to be. I actually think he has improved as a player considerably, and is now a decent player. I just think that for a short quarterback who needs to move around to see things and extend plays, Ifedi feels more like a guard playing tackle. I think he false starts often because he needs to get an early jump on a quicker defender because he is not greatly athletic. I also think he sits in his stance in ways that tell defenders that the play is either going to be a run or pass due to his lack of athleticism. Because of all this, I am happy to move on.

I would actually rather see them convince George Fant to stay and take over at right tackle, or draft a player that was athletic enough to play left tackle in college that can transition to right tackle in Seattle. Many other teams have done this in the league with success. I would like to see Seattle use that same approach, and with a lot of junior tackles declaring for this coming draft, this feels like a year where Seattle could get a good one early, even if they do their standard trade back (which they likely will).

I would also like to see them to give Phil Haynes a shot at winning the left guard spot. In his brief appearance in the Packers game, he looked pretty good in pass protection, and was blocking for Wilson when Wilson started to do his second half magic. That small sample size showed me that Haynes might have something that is starting caliber. They can bring back Mike Iupati, but let the competition be an open one in camp.

Lastly here, I would like to see the club work out a deal for Justin Britt to stick around on a restructured deal in 2020 that will offer cap relief to address other weaknesses on the team. If this doesn’t happen, he is probably going to get cut, and that is just another hole on the offensive line that they will need to sort through. I’m not sure that they want to go into 2020 with a rookie center and potentially a rookie right tackle starting.

Fix The Strength and Conditioning Situation

I am saving this one for last, and I think it might be the most important. This team lost far too much talent on the field due to torn pectoral muscles, core injuries, neck stingers, sprained ankles, hamstrings, achilles injuries, knee injuries, hip injuries, and broken limbs. It was freakish.

The Seattle Seahawks have to get better at their strength and conditioning. This one year under Ivan Lewis was disastrously bad. I suspect there were players playing through stuff that wasn’t even being listed. It just seemed obvious.

If there is one coaching change that I would have Pete Carroll make to this staff, it would actually be at this spot here, and as stated above, I definitely want to see some changes to the defensive staff. Seattle simply can not go into the 2020 season with these same results or worse and expect to win the division.

They can’t. So please fix.

Closing Thoughts

This isn’t a big wish list. This is not an unreasonable wish list. There are other things that I could add. I could ask for more competition at cornerback (I probably should ask for more competition at cornerback). I could ask for maybe more speed at linebacker, but I just see other more pressing needs, and paths to regaining control of the NFC West.

The most important thing for me is for the team to entirely fix the defensive line. Getting Clowney back would be a great start but they need a lot more. The good news is that I think Pete Carroll and John Schneider know this and they will be better equipped in cap space than in years past to handle this task. They will also have a bunch of draft picks top play with.

Fix the defense by fixing the defensive line and possibly some changes to coaches and scheme, and be bold about it.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget about Russ on the other side and what his needs and wants might be. Otherwise, the Fire Pete crowd will surely let you hear about it.

Go Hawks.

Expect this wild Seattle Seahawk ride to settle down in 2020. Go Hawks!

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks were a fun team to watch, and yet, they were also an exhausting team to watch. It has taken me a few full days after the divisional round loss to Green Bay to properly draw an analogy to this club.

For me, they were most like an exhilarating carnival ride which, at various points, you questioned your own sanity while riding it, but you had fun screaming throughout the experience, and then once you had gotten off the ride, you made the instant decision that you never needed to go on it again.. ever.

I loved these 2019 Seahawks, but I don’t need to feel the constant barrage of nail biting close finishes again. In 2020, I just want to see them bury inferior opponents instead of playing down to them, and save the close matches for the teams that are better match up against them. I suspect the coaches and the players want that, as well, and because of that, I suspect some major changes to occur, especially on the defense.

After watching Pete Carroll’s season ending press conference, I think I have a pretty decent sense of what directions this team will likely go on to improve upon their 2019 campaign. Here is a breakdown of the moves that I think will likely be made.

They will address their strength and conditioning program

The first thing Coach Carroll brought up when asked about his disappointments to how their 2019 season played out was the crazy amount of injuries that occurred. I expected him to instantly start talking about the lack of pass rush, but I think truth be told, injuries played a big part of that, and in other areas of the team, as well.

In terms of pass rush, Ziggy Ansah could never stay healthy enough, Jadeveon Clowney played with a core injury during the second half of the season that will require surgery, and Jarran Reed played on a twisted ankle through the end of the season. Those were probably the top three guys that Carroll was most counting on for sacks, and they weren’t playing healthy enough.

Then going throughout the roster, they lost starting tight end Will Dissly to an Achilles injury, they lost starting running back Chris Carson to a broken hip, they lost starting center Justin Britt to a knee injury, and they lost the promising talents of running back Rashaad Penny to a knee injury. They also lost linebacker Mychal Kendricks to a knee injury late in the season, but he also missed games with a hamstring issue. Left tackle Duane Brown played through a pectoral injury and missed games with a knee injury. Starting corner Shaquill Griffin missed games with a hamstring injury. Good lord, it’s amazing that this team, as battered as they were, managed eleven wins.

First year strength coach Ivan Lewis has got to be on the hot seat. He was Carroll’s strength coach for a while at USC but left to follow Steve Sarkisian to Washington, and back down to USC. Dedicated Twelves have noted on social media that injuries have followed Lewis whenever he has gone over the last decade as a strength coach. Perhaps Carroll has seen enough and is ready to reboot the strength program yet again.

Some scheme changes and perhaps the coaching staff will occur on the defense

Carroll expressly noted that there will be some changes on the defense through all levels, including scheme. He noted that they may need to go back to how they have done things in the past. He noted that they gave up too many explosive plays, that had troubles defending the perimeters of the field, and they couldn’t get their pass rush going with four linemen. He didn’t shed light on the question of whether there will be changes to the coaching staff, other than to say “nothing to talk about, no.”

In my own parsing of Pete talk, I think that latter bit means there could likely to be some coaching changes. Here is what I think might happen.

When I pair that with his comment about going back to what they had done in the past, I can not help but look at the fact his former defensive coordinator Kris Richard is presently available for hire after the coaching turnover in Dallas. I don’t know if that would mean firing Ken Norton Jr to bring him back, or creating a situation where they are both on the staff and maybe making one the assistant head coach, but I will say this about Richard; Seattle’s defense was significantly better when he was calling the plays from 2015-2017 than when Ken Norton Jr was doing it in 2018 and 2019. Part of that is probably personnel, but I also think part of that was coaching, and in 2018, Richard was highly credited for turning the Dallas defense around when it took over the secondary there.

Personally, I would welcome this move if it happens, and say what you will about Richard as a coordinator, but under his playcalling, Seattle was never as generic and soft in coverage, and he had a clear ability to develop talent in the secondary. With Carroll being an ex defensive back coach that he is, it feels to me like a reunion with Richard could be around the corner, but we shall see soon enough.

Even if they do not bring Richard back into the fold, at the very least, I would suspect seeing this defense return to the more traditional Pete Carroll single high safety cover one and cover three looks that they had when Earl Thomas was here now that they have Quandre Diggs playing the position. This would allow the corners to play more aggressive and it could help on their containment issues on the perimeter.

Seattle will be aggressive in improving their pass rush

Even more frustrating than seeing how vulnerable Seattle’s defense was to perimeter plays was watching Seattle struggle to put pressure on the quarterback. This was by far the most frustrating thing to watch all year for me. Far too often it felt like Jadeveon Clowney was putting on the one man show. They could never get any consistency going, and because so many bodies were in and out of the line up, either through injuries or suspensions, they really never had much of a chance.

It hurt having Jarran Reed suspended for the first six games of the season and then get an injured ankle once he got back, it hurt getting LJ Collier injured through his training camp development stage, and it hurt never really having Ziggy Ansah fully healthy. When Seattle traded Frank Clark to Kansas City, these were three players that they were likely banking on to contribute in a big way before they traded for Jadeveon Clowney.

I shutter to think what this defense would have looked like in 2019 had they not made the Clowney trade with Houston. They likely would have rolled out the start of the season with Quinton Jefferson, Rasheem Green, Poona Ford and Al Woods as the starters, and a bag of potato chips as reserves.

I suspect Seattle will be aggressive in their efforts to retain Jadeveon Clowney, and according to Pete Carroll, Clowney wants to be in Seattle. However, Clowney has also stated that he wants to play for a Super Bowl contender. With Russell Wilson at quarterback, that should almost annually mean Seattle being that kind of contender, but Clowney might well require assures from Seattle that he will not be the one man show that he was in 2019 moving forward. He’s going to want and likely demand help.

Therefor, I anticipate Seattle being aggressive this off season adding pass rush help through either free agency, trades, or draft, and possibly all three. They will have north of $60 million to work with. I think it is entirely possible that they sign both Clowney and defensive tackle Jarran Reed, and add a top level veteran speed rusher to compliment them. They might even add a couple.

I think Seattle also needs to define what LJ Collier is and use him accordingly. Carroll indicated that they want to use him more pass rushing inside and out in 2020, but if they bring Clowney back, that likely means Collier will continue being a bench player factoring into the rotation. If they bring Clowney back, and I am Collier, I’m lobbying heavily to being an interior pass rusher, especially if they do not retain Jarran Reed. That might be his best opportunity to flourish as a player because the little that we saw of him, it looks like he does not have the athleticism to be a great edge rusher.

I think we also need to see Rasheem Green take another advancement forward. He had a decent sophomore season. He led the team in sacks (albeit, onky 4 sacks, but at least it is progress from his rookie year). Part of me is still wondering what is true role is with this team. Physically, he looks like a Bennett type more than an Avril, but he seemed more effective rushing from the outside than from in. If they lose Clowney in free agency, there is a chance that he could inherit the five technique spot, but let’s be real, he is nowhere near the disrupting force Clowney is. If Seattle signs Clowney, I think perhaps Green’s best pathway towards taking the next step as a player is to work even more on his quickness off the edge and being a complimentary speed rusher. He has the athleticism, he just needs even more quickness.

Then there is always the draft. It’s not expected to be a deep draft for pass rushers, but that doesn’t mean that Seattle will not look there as well. In 2015, it was not expected to be a great edge rush draft class, yet Seattle was able to find Frank Clark at the end of round two. The one thing that Seattle generally does well is finding quality edge rushers that others weren’t ranking that highly, and that includes Bruce Irvin in 2012.

There are many ways Seattle could go to fix the pass rush. They just need to have a plan, and then smartly execute it. It will be interesting to see what they do.

They want to keep continuity on the offensive line

For all the Germain Ifedi haters out there, Carroll expressly stated that he does not want to see a lot turnover on the offensive line. He also mentioned that he would like to see rookie Phillip Haynes compete for a starting job, presumably at left guard, and that could possibly mean they would move on from Mike Iupati.

It will be interesting to see how they handle this whole offensive line situation. Reading the tea leaves is a bit difficult. Can they afford to pay Justin Britt over $10 million after his salary escalates to that amount this Spring, if they want to dip heavily into the free agent market to fix the defensive line? Is Joey Hunt an sufficient cheaper replacement for Britt? Or could they trust Ethan Pocic to take over at center and stay healthy? What do they do with their young tackles in Ifedi and George Fant? These are a lot of questions they need to address in their quest towards maintaining continuity.

It is worth noting that Seahawk reporters mentioned that George Fant wants to go somewhere were he can be a starter at left tackle. If Seattle wants to keep him, they could entice him to take over for Ifedi at right tackle and then whenever Duane Brown is ready to call it a career at left tackle, he takes over. He might bite on that if he wants to remain a part of the club, but if he truly wants left tackle money, Seattle might have to pony up. There is pretty good tape of him playing left tackle in place of Duane Brown over the course of some recent games, and there is a dearth of quality left tackles in the league. General managers with left tackle needs are going to see that. It actually might be cheaper for Seattle to keep Ifedi over Fant.

One path to maintaining as much continuity as they can on the offensive line would be to get Justin Britt to agree to a restructured contract that will offer 2020 cap relief and add an extra year into 2021, and then convince Mike Iupati to come back for another year in 2020 on a cheap veteran deal. The more I think about it the more these sort of moves make sense for the club. Britt probably wouldn’t have a great free agent market coming off an injury and a draft around the corner that features some good college centers. I don’t think Iupati will either with his age and injury history. Their best value might be in Seattle.

This scenario all boils down to the issue at right tackle, and what to do with Fant and/or Ifedi. If I were to look hard into my crystal ball, I think there is a decent chance that somewhere within day one and day two of the coming draft we hear a name called that will be Seattle’s right tackle in 2020. That’s just my hunch. We will see.

Seattle will continue look to add playmakers on the offense

Pete Carroll is always looking for explosive playmakers on the offense. Whether it is trading for Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin, or Jimmy Graham, or it is drafting Golden Tate, Paul Richardson, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, or Rashaad Penny, or signing free agents like Sidney Rice, Carroll is always looking for athletes that can produce explosive plays. He loves special athletes, and he doesn’t rest on his laurels with what he already has. Expect Seattle to continue this trend.

While the team has special talents at receiver in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, the 2020 draft class is expected to be a particularly deep one at receiver. The safe bet is that Seattle is going to tap into that class at some point.

Additionally, with Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny coming back from serious injuries, I think this team probably will also want to add more talent at running back. I know this irks some fans when this happens, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Seattle spends another relatively high pick on a running back in this coming draft. There is some pretty talented ones coming out of college, and currently, they have four picks out of the first one hundred. With a little maneuvering, they could end up with five. If they do that, I full suspect that they will target a running back.

Marshawn Lynch doesn’t come back to the team to play another season

This is just a gut feeling I have led by things Pete said in his presser, but it feels to me that once he goes back home and rests on it, Marshawn is going to be content with the way he came back to Seattle, fired up the Twelves, inspired younger players on this roster, and maybe made some amends to the club in which his achieved his greatest success. He will have gone out in style, and with the potential of his number being hung up in the stadium where Beastquake happened. In my opinion, this is as it should be.

But maybe I am wrong, and he will surprise me, and decide to come back to the club, and be a part of a rotation with Carson and Penny and Homer. I can see him loving Carson’s style and wanting to compliment it, but I can also see him simply wanting to move onto the rest of his life being an iconic cult hero of a generation that he is, and looking back fondly at his time in Seattle.

I fricking love the #### out of Marshawn Lynch, though, and would gladly welcome him back with open arms any time he chooses. Go Hawks.

A big name on this roster will likely get cut

This is the cold nature of the NFL in the salary cap era, and with teams looking to improve their weaknesses, it’s just the reality. The Seattle Seahawks are no exception.

The safest bet candidate in getting cut is veteran tight end Ed Dickson (although he really isn’t much of a big name, and hardly factored with the club). His release would save a couple million off the salary cap. We already discussed the potential of center Justin Britt becoming a cap casualty.  A couple other bigger names I think can be thrown out are linebacker KJ Wright, and safety Bradley McDougald.

With KJ Wright, this is a hard notion to digest. I love KJ Wright. I think this team needs more KJ Wrights on this roster. He is a solid player, and he is a highly intelligent player. He just does things right, and he also possesses a great team first mentality. He also just had a great statistical year. He is also incredibly tight with Bobby Wagner, and they have a tremendous chemistry. There is a whole long list of reasons why this team should not move on from KJ Wright.

However, the cold hard facts are that this team has major holes on the defensive line and two key players in that position group that are up for free agency. With Cody Barton on this roster, they have a player that can probably take over for KJ Wright, and play well. They don’t have a player to take over for Clowney, and they probably don’t have a player to take over for Jarran Reed, and they still have to add more to the pass rush than those two players. Quality veteran defensive linemen are expensive. The simply math suggests that KJ Wright could easily become a cap casualty if the Seahawks are to be aggressive in fixing their pass rush through free agency and trades.

The last person to suggest is Bradley McDougald, who like KJ, had a great year. Ideally, he is a guy that you want to keep around. He plays the game the way you want a strong safety to play it, and he plays it well. He’s both good in coverage and against the run, and he is a smart player. Ideally, I think Coach Carroll would want to hang onto him, but they also drafted Marquise Blair with a high round pick, and frankly, Blair has a lot more physical upside than McDougald, and with his rookie contract, he’s also a lot cheaper. Should Seattle elect to bring back former defensive coordinator Kris Richard, Blair would be the perfect project for Richard to take on as a young upcoming talent.

Personally, I hope most of these moves don’t happen. However, it was also really hard to watch this Seattle defense not getting nearly enough quality pressure on quarterbacks as they have in years past. So, I am also almost to the point of suggesting that whatever Seattle can do to fix their pass rush, they should do it.

We shall see.

Lastly, the Seahawks will be a proper championship contender in 2020

I repeat. The Seahawks will be a proper championship contender in 2020. It won’t be easy because they will be playing in arguably the toughest division in football, but I think Seattle will have the clearest path to winning the NFC West. For one, they have the best quarterback in the division, and for another, they still have the best head coach (Sorry Pete Carroll haters on the social media webs, but it is true).

Pete Carroll is going to fix this defense. Book it. Whether it’s changes on the staff, acquiring better talent, adjusting scheme, getting younger players to further step up, or any combination of the above, or all of the above, Pete Carroll will fix this defense in 2020. It will be his mission.

I also think they will continue to surround Russell Wilson with more talent, offensively. If they see playmaking talent in front of them, they will grab it. They always do, and with Russell going into this third year in this system, expect him to master it even more.

It is totally fine to doubt any of this optimism that I have, but here is something else to consider when looking at Seattle’s chances of winning back the West; for the first time in in a long time, Seattle will have significantly more cap space than San Francisco and Los Angeles to work with, and they will have roughly ten draft picks to play with. They will be a player in free agency and trades in a way their divisional rivals likely won’t.

Expect a huge off season to take place over the next few months, and enjoy the news as it unfolds on your sports tickers. I know I will.

Go Hawks.

Russell’s heroic effort that fell short (Getty Images)

Before the 2019 season, I predicted that the Seattle Seahawks would return to the playoffs. Looking at the schedule, I saw the potential for about eleven wins, if things landed right, and a chance to go further in the playoffs than they did in 2018. Well, this isn’t the ending that we all wanted as Twelves, but it really did play out the way it felt it would (at least the way I felt it would).

Seattle limped into Green Bay without two starters on their offensive line, their top three running backs, their starting tight end, their number three receiver, a starting linebacker, and a couple key defensive linemen. Simply put, they were an undermanned team playing on the road against a more rested and healthier team. Yet, it’s impressive that they rallied being down 21-3 in the first half to make it a 28-23 finish.With Russell Wilson as their quarterback, you also knew that they would do this. This has been what they do all season long.

I know the impulse to blame coaches and players during a tough loss, I will share some thoughts on that, but I would much rather recognize the impressive fight Seattle showed in an incredibly tough place to win on the road, especially in January during the playoffs. With five minutes left to go in the game, the 2019 Seattle Seahawks made a stadium full of Packer fans clench their seats. This was not the embarrassing loss that the number one seeded Raven team in the AFC was dealt the day before. Nah, this was a loss I could much more easily take as a fan, and like most of Seattle’s games this year, this one came down to the wire, and I am proud of them for that. They put it all out there on the field in this one.

Let’s break it down.

The Good

Russell Wilson was nearly the hero of the game. Under constant duress in the first half, he found his rhythm in the second half both as a runner and a passer. Considering the duress he was under and the lack of a run game that the offense was able to establish with their backs, he might have played his best game of the year getting this team to rally. This was a performance that was deserving of a victory, but alas, he fell short.

Tyler Lockett had a huge game catching the ball, and DK Metcalf and Jacob Hollister also made their share of plays.

Rookie running back Travis Homer had a terrific side line catch and run on an improvised play with Russell Wilson. I’m excited about his potential as a third down back next year.

Marshawn Lynch scored twice on inspired rushing plays near the goal line. I hope this wasn’t the last game we see of Marshawn in a Seattle uniform.

Safety Bradley McDougald had a sensational game against the run and pass, and was an inspired leader on the defense.

Jadeveon Clowney was a game wrecker at times against the run and pass, getting tackle for losses, presssures, and a sack.

Shaquem Griffin got a key third down sack against Aaron Rodgers that gave Seattle a chance to win it in the end.

On a general note, there was great fight with this team, especially defensively. They were determined to not make it easy on the Packers, and while they gave up big plays, they also hit and tackled hard as the game wore on. They didn’t wilt, and the Green Bay players will be feeling it heading into their match against the 49ers.

The Bad

I’m not going to spend a lot of time ripping on this team. They were undermanned on both sides of the ball heading into this match. They needed to play a perfect game against Aaron Rodgers and a rested Packer team, and they struggled often at times.

There were multiple passes dropped that needed to be caught to extend drives. There were coverages that needed to be tighter. There were pressures that needed to happen faster. There were tackles that needed to be made. There was also a number of really young players on the field that were thrust into challenging situations. It’s tough to win against the Packers in Green Bay when things like this happen.

I also think that there were times that the players weren’t put in great positions to do what they do best, and that falls into the hands of the coaches. Why was Jadeveon Clowney playing pass coverage when he got that weird face mask call instead of rushing the pass when he is clearly the team’s best pass rusher? Why was KJ Wright hugging the A Gap of the offensive line on third and long only to drop into coverage, instead of being off ball on third down ready of Jimmy Graham’s crossing pattern? Why was Ugo Amadi on Devante Adams on third and long instead of Shaquill Griffin? Why was Russell Wilson taking deep shots so early against this defense before they even established the run to make play action more effective? I wasn’t super thrilled about seeing any of these things, honestly, but I’m not a coach, and they know significantly more about football that I do.

The Ugly

I hate blaming a loss on the officials. It’s just such a loser thing to do. However, allow me to list the things that appeared at least slightly questionable in all things officiating.

On the very first play of the game, Poona Ford was blatantly held in front of Aaron Rodgers for all to see, and there was no call. WTF?

Aaron Jones appeared potentially short on the one yard line as it was called a touchdown, but it was ruled there wasn’t enough to overturn.

Kevin King hit Tyler Lockett in the head with his helmet and wasn’t called for a personal foul.

Jimmy Graham appeared to be short on the third down conversation that iced the game for the Packers, and yet again, they decided there wasn’t enough to overturn.

I’m not going to say that the refs threw this game for Seattle, but they certainly weren’t doing much to help. The no call hold on Poona Ford was really egregious.

I will also say that if I hear another Green Bay Packer fan complain about the Fail Mary play in Seattle from back in 2012, I will find where they live, and I will leave a poop on their doorstep. I don’t know who’s poop I will leave, the size, or the texture, but when they step out in the morning, there will be a poop waiting for them with a sign that reads “this is for you, Green Bay Pooper fan. Go Hawks.”

Moving Forward

I’m excited about this Seahawk team in 2020, and I am damn proud of the way they battled through 2019. They built off of their 2018 campaign and improved in many ways, and they were largely a fun team to watch. There is a decent young nucleus of talent forming on this roster with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner leading the way.

With the new additions this year, I think DK Metcalf feels like an absolute superstar in the making. I think Jacob Hollister is an interesting pass catching talent at tight end, and defensively, I am intrigued about Marquise Blair and Cody Barton, and how they all might grow throughout the off season program, and factor as potential starters.

Yes, these Seattle Seahawks fell short of where I wanted them to go this year, but they were also one inch away from winning the division away from the San Francisco 49ers, and they Aaron Rodgers a legitimate scare in Green Bay. They did this with a roster that was largely overachieving their talent. If they can hang onto Jadeveon Clowney on the defense and add another dynamic pass rusher to compliment him, if they can shore up some lesser issues on the offensive line, and get Russell Wilson one more legitimate pass catching threat, there is every reason to believe that they can properly be contending for a title in 2020.

I have said this before many times, and I am happy to say it again. With Russell Wilson at quarterback, and Pete Carroll as the head coach, Seattle should be a contending team every year.

As the days follow, I will write more about what I think the off season plans will likely be for Seattle. I think pass rush is going to be the big theme to the off-season. With the potential of nearly $70 million in cap space, Seattle is in a unique position to spend more in free agency than in recent years, if it so chooses, and it just so happens to look like this year there is going to be a number of quality pass rushers potentially hitting the market.

Seattle would be wise to look long and hard at this Packer team that just beat them, and note how they spent to bring in free agent pass rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith who each collected two sacks apiece on Russell Wilson in this game. They were huge factors against Seattle in this game and they are a big reason why Green Bay is now playing in the NFC Championship Game. I would expect Seattle to follow a similar model, and they have shown in years past that when they target a major need, they almost always act aggressively.

That’s probably why I am most excited about this team moving forward in 2020. They were close in 2019, Now they just need to make the few moves needed in 2020 to help put them over the top again. I think they can do it, and I sense the special around the corner.

At least this is the way I see it.

Go Hawks.

Well, Twelves, here we are. Our beloved Seattle Seahawks have made it to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. This is great news on a few levels.

Firstly, it shows that with a 11-5 record and a wildcard win, this young team has made progress from it’s 10-6 campaign in 2018. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it has done it with even more younger players stepping up. On the road against the Eagles last weekend, rookies DK Metcalf (WR), Cody Barton (LB), and Ugo Amadi (DB) are all credited by head coach Pete Carroll as being positive factors for the team (Metcalf was sensational). Lastly, this team is continually showing it can win on the road, and is now 8-1 in it’s campaign.

Because of all this, there is legitimate reason for optimism the Seattle can actually travel into Green Bay and pull off an upset against these 13-3 Packers. Skeptics will point to the fact that Seattle rarely pulled off a convincing win all season, and allowed a forty year old backup QB move the ball on them in Philadelphia. These same skeptics should equally note that Green Bay hasn’t exactly racked up convincing wins in 2019, either, and were even blown out a few times.

The objective football observer should probably look at both of these clubs and expect a close game. Green Bay has the clear advantage by having a first round bye to rest up, and playing at home. Yet, Seattle has shown all season long that it is a strong road team, having even beaten the powerful San Francisco 49ers on their home turf (a team that Green Bay badly lost to). Also, there are things that both of these clubs like to do that play into the supposed weaknesses of the other. Both teams will likely have to play their best ball to beat the other. For this perspective, this should be another fun game to watch.

So, let’s break it down some.

What to expect when Seattle has the ball

The Green Bay Packers are a really good pass rushing team, and they will look to pressure Russell Wilson a lot. They have a great edge rushing duo in Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith (the Smith Brothers?). Their defense is set up to play against Wilson really well in some regards, but they are not a good run stopping team, and they can get beaten over the top on deep passes.

It does not take rocket science to predict what Seattle probably wants to do in this match. Pete Carroll even stated earlier this week that they want to get Marshawn Lynch more involved. This translates to Seattle wanting to run the ball more and to take play action shots down field as the game progresses.

We know that Seattle will run when Marshawn is on the field, what is perhaps more critical for Seattle is to get Travis Homer positively involved in the run game. Many Seahawk fan cringe reading that as the Eagles stuffed Homer early and often in the wildcard game last week, but it is important to note that the Eagles have one of the top run defenses in the league and they sold out against it in the rematch. I doubt Green Bay is going to do the same, and therefor, Seattle will probably have more opportunities. If they can get Homer going, that will could have the Green Bay defenders on their heals a bit more, as Homer is also a pass catching weapon out of the backfield.

If Seattle can establish the run with Lynch and Homer, this will open up Russell Wilson’s signature play action game. I would expect DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and tight end Jacob Hollister to be big factors if Seattle is successfully starts to dial up this signature portion of their offensive attack.

What Seattle might not want to go is to attack this defense with the short passing game early. Green Bay has good edge defenders, they can spy on Wilson, and they have good enough corners that can sit in the short zones waiting for Wilson to throw their way. This is what the Cardinals did well against Wilson in December and the Packers should look towards doing the same.

If Seattle wins this game, it will likely be because of their ability to run against the Packer defense, and to beat them with play action passes. Russell Wilson on the move looking down field is not what the Packer defenders want to see a lot of.

What to expect when Green Bay has the ball

This is not the old Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers when they were overly QB centric. They now have balance running the ball with Aaron Jones, and they are committed to that balance. Furthermore, Jones is an hugely underrated back that has Christian McCaffery like abilities to run and catch. He is a legitimate threat against the Seattle defense.

What the Packers are likely to do is to get Jones going against this Seattle defense the way the Rams got Todd Gurley going back in December. They will look to get Seattle biting on misdirection plays and to get the ball to Jones out in space against soft coverage if Seattle plays with the “bend don’t break” approach that they have done throughout the season.

What Green Bay doesn’t have that the Rams did, however, is a lot of talent at wide receiver. It is possible that Seattle could play a little more aggressively in coverage knowing that outside of Davante Adams, the Packer receivers aren’t very threatening, and that could work in their favor of slowing down Jones a bit, as they play a little bit more down hill against the run.

Also expect Aaron Rodgers to play a lot of his same pre-snap trickery trying to get Seattle’s aggressive pass rushers to jump off-sides, and to use quick snaps to take advantage of Seattle’s substitutions. Rodgers will do whatever he can to draw penalties from Seattle, so it is critical that the Seattle defense stays hyper aware and is discipline throughout. They can’t be so aggressive as to jump off-sides, and they need to be smart with their substitutions.

If Seattle wins this game it will probably be because their defense was ready for Rodgers, they played discipline, and they tackled really well against Jones. If they don’t handle Jones well in space, and if they commit numerous penalties, the Seattle offense will need a perfect game in Green Bay for Seattle to pull off the upset, and that is not an easy thing to do in January in that stadium, with that crowd behind the Packers.

Prediction 

The reasonable mind would likely place a safe bet on the Packers winning this match. They have had more rest and preparation than Seattle, and they are playing at home with one of the very best fan bases in the league supporting them. They also have Aaron Rodgers, who is still one of best quarterbacks in the league. In all these regards, Green Bay feels like the safe bet.

Yet there are things about Green Bay as a team that match favorably with what Seattle likes to do. They aren’t statistically a great team at stopping the run and defending deep passes. They lost badly to the Chargers and 49ers that are built somewhat like Seattle, and Seattle has a better quarterback in Russell Wilson than those two teams have. From this perspective, Green Bay feels beatable.

So, I am going to go with the upset in this match. This is a total homer Twelve thing for me to do, I am well aware of it, but I picked Seattle a lot this season, I might as well stay true to the Blue.

I say Seahawks 27-24 in this one. Wilson leads a fourth quarter come from behinder that will stun the Green Bay fans, leaving them hating everything Seattle even more than they already do.. which is A LOT.

.. And if the Vikings can somehow pull off the upset against the 49ers, Seattle will actually host the NFC championship game next weekend. Imagine that.

So skol Vikings and go Hawks!

This is why Seattle paid Russell Wilson all that cheddar. Cha’ ching. (Getty Images)

Down to the wire.

This could easily be the theme of the 2019 Seattle Seahawks. They are incredibly resilient, and, at times, incredibly fortunate. They are marvelously talented at certain spots, and wildly undermanned at others. They are three parts wondrous, frustrating, and oddly inspiring.

And because they have Russell Wilson as their quarterback, and Pete Carroll as their head coach, they will be almost always in their matches even if it doesn’t look pretty, and don’t ever expect it to look pretty. Just erase that expectation out of your mind, and enjoy them for what they are.

Much will be made about the 17-9 final score mimicking the same final score against these Philadelphia Eagles roughly over a month ago. It’s wildly rare for this to ever happen. I don’t think it has ever happened, in fact.

But this is the 2019 Seattle Seahawks, and they own a 26th ranked defense has had problems rushing the passer and stopping the run all year, and yet, somehow, has been near tops in the league in creating turnovers. How does a defense even do that? The only way that I can even answer that is that a wildly weird one does.

Yeah, this is the 2019 Seattle Seahawks, and on a day in which they were down to only two healthy starters on their offensive line, and couldn’t run against the Eagles monstrous defensive line led by Fletcher Cox, Seattle found a way to win by putting the ball into the hands of their best player, quarterback Russell Wilson, and he delivered.

Here is my breakdown.

The Good

Seattle needed an MVP level performance by Russell Wilson to win against this defense. They weren’t going to be able to run on it. Under pressure much of the time, Wilson delivered one of his signature magical efforts. He threw darts that are hard to make under pressure. He was especially a monster on play action. Someone asked me why Seattle was continuing to run Travis Homer inside for near negative yards, well I think we can now see why. Russell Wilson killed the Eagles with play action. On top of that, he was Seattle’s leading rusher. This is why Seattle paid him the big dollars. I repeat. This is why Seattle paid him the big dollars.

Rookie receiver DK Metcalf had an equally amazing game. In fact, he broke a franchise record for receiving yardage during a playoff game.  If this dude stays healthy throughout his career, he is going to be an absolute  beast to defend. His size and speed is incredibly rare, and the Eagle corners simply could not compete with it. I had a feeling that Seattle could exploit them. DK Metcalf broke into their homes, ate all their food, and made them do the dishes.

Defensively, rookie linebacker Cody Barton had his best game in his young career, and he picked a heck of a time to step up his game. He was a force against the run, and pass, and he even got in on a early sack on Carson Wentz. This is a big positive for the Seahawks moving forward, in my opinion.

Jadeveon Clowney took the game over on the defensive line. A lot of others earned sacks, but Clowney was the constant disrupting force, and he reminded us once again why Seattle might be wise to spend the top dollars to hang onto him. His talent is also incredibly rare.

Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson also had a great game disrupting the passing game and gathering two sacks. For all the talk of Seattle needing to extend Clowney and Jarran Reed, I kinda think Q Jeff has more than made a case for himself as to why Seattle should look to lock him up. Honestly, I think I might take him over Reed if I had to choose between the two, and I like Reed a lot as a player. Great game from Number 99 in this one.

Safety Bradly McDougald had a beast of a game leading the team in tackles, and getting a sack.

DK Metcalf wasn’t the only receiver to step up. David Moore also made a couple critical catch and runs, and Tyler Lockett was his usual effective self.

Marshawn Lynch’s vintage Beastmode touchdown run nearly brought tears to my eyes. Just beautiful thing watching him will himself to a score, and inspiring.

Finally, for being an incredibly undermanned unit, I thought the offensive line did a pretty serviceable job pass protecting Russell Wilson, and holding a considerably more talented Eagle defensive line to only one sack. They couldn’t open holes in the run game, but they gave Wilson time to make the deep throws. Bravo.

The Bad

For all the good in this game, there were still too many times when Seattle simply could still not get out of the way of itself, especially on offense. With an undermanned  offensive line, it did not help when Germaine Ifedi and tight end Jacob Hollister created false starts. Ifedi has been a false start nightmare all season long. I would love for him to play a clean game against the Packers. Seattle needs this from him.

For as good as the defense was in this match, they allowed a forty year old backup quarterback to drive on them after they knocked Carson Wentz out of the game. Detractors are probably going to point to this fact this week.

Tre Flowers was beat twice in coverage and drew pass interference plays both times. He has been enjoying a solid year, but this may not have been his best game.

The Ugly

I don’t like to root for injury. I felt bad about Carson Wentz being knocked out of the game with the helmet hit Clowney put on him as he was chasing him down. I don’t believe it was anything intentional by Clowney, and you want him to make the quarterback feel his hit, but you don’t ever want to see another head injury in this game. I feel for Philly fans on this one.

Moving forward

Does Seattle have enough to beat the Packers in Green Bay next week?

If they can get Duane Brown and Mike Iupati back on the left side on the offensive line, I think so. They will need put continue putting the ball into the hands of their best player, Russell Wilson, and allow him the chance to win it. Additionally, Seattle’s defense must play similarly to the effort they played with against the Eagles, and maybe even better.

Regardless of what might lay ahead next weekend and beyond, this was great playoff win against these Eagles. A great, gritty, tough win.

This is what I really think this team is. They are not the most talented team. Their warts are big, especially on their defense, but their heart is big, as is their will. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Bobby Wagner, and KJ Wright are all holdovers from those Super Bowl teams, and they are players that can will this team to do things beyond what their talent suggests. So can Jadeveon Clowney.

I’m proud of this team. Damn proud.

Can they beat the Packers next Sunday?

I say heck yeah they can. It just might not be pretty, and if they do, bet on it coming down to the wire.

Go Hawks!