State of the Seattle Seahawks: 2023 Season

Welcome to the return of my Seahawks rants and the start of a yearly series where I preview the upcoming season with the current team. Sure, this is a travel blog, and talking about sports contradicts the theme. However, it is also my blog and I wanted to share my thoughts on where the team stands heading into the 2023-2024 season.

Going back to my last post, I heavily criticized the organization for many of its moves at the time and believed that it was time for a change up top, predicting that either Russel Wilson or Pete Carroll would leave. Lo and behold, despite what many Seahawks fans seemed to believe, I turned out to be right as Wilson was traded to the Broncos on March 8th, 2022. However, I was off in my opinion that keeping Wilson was the right move, as Wilson floundered in Denver, leading them to a 5-12 record. Meanwhile, unlikely hero Geno Smith led the Seahawks back into the playoffs while earning his first Pro Bowl nod. Sure, things could change. Smith could turn back into a pumpkin and Wilson could rediscover his old form with new Head Coach Sean Payton. However, for now, it seems like upper management and Jody Allen made the right decision to stick with Pete and John, a decision I disagreed with. 

Speaking of Pete Carroll and John Schneider, a large reason for their success and the renewed trust is due to their recent success in drafting. Seattle’s 2022 NFL Draft is arguably the best one Pete and John have ever had and certainly the best class of that year (Come at me Jets fans). Charles Cross, Abraham Lucas, Kenneth Walker, and Tariq Woolen all headline the class with key contributors found through it all. This was an all-time class and it was great to see Pete and John rediscover their old form. Poor drafting was the chief reason behind Seattle’s lack of true success in Wilson’s prime years and this draft helped restore faith in the franchise. This restored faith was rewarded by the new 2023 Draft Class. Once again, every pick seemed sound and logical and Seattle got value down the board, with exciting new additions such as Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith Njigba, Derrick Hall, and Zach Charbonnet sure to be key contributors. Overall, between significantly better drafting and better free agency moves, Pete and John have turned the team around quickly from the 7-10 team that lost its Franchise Quarterback.

In terms of the coaching staff, I still have my reservations. Coach Carroll recognized the fading relevance of his Seattle 3 scheme which won him the Super Bowl. It was simply too easy for the plethora of Shanahan offenses to attack the middle of the field and he needed to evolve. Therefore, he logically let go of Ken Norton Jr, brought in Sean Desai (who has now left), and promoted Clint Hurtt. All this was seemingly done for a few reasons, shifting the defense to a 3-4/multiple scheme, running more of the Fangio Cover 4 scheme that had taken over the league, and helping Jamal Adams find a home in a more creative defense. However, like many teams which began implementing this scheme, problems arose. Seattle played soft defense, giving receivers too much free space because of the off-coverage nature of the scheme. Additionally, Seattle was horrible against the run, as highlighted by Josh Jacobs’s 300+ yard performance against the team. However, they were overall better against the pass and got significantly more pressure on the quarterback, going from 34 sacks to 45 sacks. Hurtt also deserves credit for turning a 4th round pick in Coby Bryant into a capable slot corner and Tariq Woolen into a star. However, the team still sucked at defense with a defensive-minded head coach, and questions need to be asked of Carroll on how they are so bad year after year. Additionally, the weird mix between Seattle’s Cover 3 scheme and the Fangio Cover 4 led to a bad defense, and it’s fair to wonder how much of the defense is Hurts and how much is still Carroll. Seattle ran Cover 6 25% of the time last year, tied 6th in the league. This was due to a few factors. Cover 6 allows for Pete’s press zone coverage influence to be combined with the Fangio Cover 4 system while allowing Tariq Woolen to do what he does best. However, this scheme was predictable and it often left the corner opposite Woolen, Michael Jackson, in a difficult spot given his limited athleticism (which should be fixed with Devon Witherspoon). Overall, the defensive coaching staff has a lot to prove and it remains to be seen how it will be used and Jamal Adam’s role on it (that trade was still a disaster). One idea a friend of mine suggested moving Adams to linebacker alongside Jordyn Brooks in obvious passing situations, putting Julian Love back at safety, Coby Bryant in the slot, and Devon Witherspoon on the outside opposite Tariq Woolen. This would allow Adams to do what he does best, cover the intermediate part of the field and tight ends. Additionally, it would help disguise blitz packages much better with Adams closer to the line. It would be easy to imagine Adams crashing down from linebacker while Uchenna Nwosu drops back to cover a zone. Hopefully, the coaching staff can find creativity like this within them.

Regarding the defense outside Adams and the coaching staff, the secondary looks to be the second coming of the legion of boom, headlined by top 5 pick Devon Witherspoon, Pro Bowler Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, and runner-up rookie of the year Tariq Woolen. Woolen can cover the big, fast, X (AJ Brown) receivers while Witherspoon covers the shiftier receivers in the NFL such as Braydon Aiyuk, regardless of where they line up. However, the nickel back spot remains a question, with free agent signing Julian Love, unlikely starter Michael Jackson, second-year Coby Bryant, and third-year Tre Brown all vying for reps. Even Witherspoon has the versatility to play in the slot. The competition should be exciting and the secondary certainly is something to get excited about. I hope Coby Bryant wins the job despite the coaching staff talking up Michael Jackson because of Jackson’s limited athleticism which hurt the team last year.

The linebacker core on paper looks good. However, questions are there. Bobby Wagner is aging and had a poor season in 2021 with Seattle. Was his bounce back with the Rams due to extra revenge motivation or is he still that player? Devin Bush has never quite been the player he was supposed to be as a top-10 pick and struggles in run defense. Finally, Jordyn Brooks is recovering from an ACL injury and is overrated in coverage. This unit won’t hold the team back, but it won’t win them any games either.

The edge group, while lacking superstars, is encouraging and full of promise. Uchenna Nwosu burst onto the scene last year with 9.5 sacks, even if most of those came early in the year and the effects of playing too many snaps began to affect his play. Boye Mafe surprisingly got little playing time but held up well against the run when he did, something that is very much needed for this team. Somehow, Darrell Taylor lucked his way into 9.5 sacks despite playing poorly. Adding second-round pick Derrick Hall into the mix should give Seattle the options they need to play well.

By far the biggest area of concern for the team is the interior defensive line. Dre’mont Jones was a massive free-agent addition and should be a good player for the Hawks. However, beyond him are question marks galore. How will an aging Jarran Reed do in a 3-4 system? What roles do Mario Edwards and rookie Mike Morris have on the team? WHO ON THE TEAM IS PLAYING NOSE TACKLE? Relying on 4th-round rookie Cameron Young to put on weight and play seems like a bad idea. Sure, Seattle added bodies on the interior defensive line. However, it remains to be seen if this fixes both the pass rush and run defense issues. 

On offense, this team looks explosive. Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron left no real impact in his first year as offensive coordinator due to the constraints and benefits of Russel Wilson as quarterback. With Smith, the offense relied much more on the short pass game and outside zone runs, and Waldron’s Shanahan and McVay influences showed. The middle of the field continued to be underutilized (which should be fixed with Jaxon Smith-Njigba coming in), while deep shots continued to be make-or-break for the Hawks offense. Smith’s 47.1% deep completion percentage was ridiculously good and often what was what made up for the offense. While the team wasn’t as do or die on the deep ball as with Wilson, it still relied on it heavily due to Smith’s high accuracy and the skillsets of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Inside runs became significantly less frequent due to Kenneth Walker and Waldron’s preference for the outside run game. However, more balance should be restored to the run game with the addition of bruiser Zach Charbonnet. 7th-round pick Kenny McIntosh completes the room by adding the receiving threat the team desperately needed out of the backfield. Tight end continues to look loaded with Noah Fant, Will Dissly, and Colby Parkinson all serving unique roles, with Dissly being the blocking specialist. Overall, the skill positions all seem to be loaded and complimentary which should lead to a more balanced offense. The only real areas of concern are with the interior offensive line. Evan Brown and Phil Haynes do not scare anyone while Anthony Bradford and Olusegun Oluwatimi are young. Additionally, Smith was highly lucky with turnovers last year and did hit a slight slump to end the year. However, the offense still looks nasty and should be good. 

Overall, the team feels like it’s making progress for the first time since 2012. John Schneider and Pete Carroll have crushed the last 2 drafts and the last free agency. Some concerns remain on the trenches and the coaching, as well as the questions around Geno Smith. However, the team feels inspired. Pete seems to be in his element coaching young players. John is in his element building a roster from the ground up. The players seem to be having fun and competing. The last few years with Wilson felt like we were watching the same Russel Wilson vs the World movie on repeat. Now, for the first time since 2014, the team feels fun and exciting to watch. Something special is being built in Seattle, and one can finally see the foundations of a championship team form. While this is likely an 8-12 win team this year, (my prediction is 10 wins) next year we could “win the whole dang thing”, and what a sight that would be.