One of these days, the Seahawks will be whole – or at least we can dream they will be.

For now, we have to be content with the fact that we might finally see the defense as complete as it has been in weeks. It will still be at a disadvantage against the Buffalo Bills this week, because the defense is breaking in a new middle linebacker and the secondary is meshing a new combination yet again.

Meanwhile, the offense is likely to be without DK Metcalf — and that means Ryan Grubb needs to figure out once and for all how to get the most out of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Like a lot of teams in the NFL this season, the Hawks have had trouble fielding a healthy lineup. The injuries have been especially notable on defense, where first the epidemic hit the line and then infected the secondary. The worst of it was when five top guys were out for the Monday night game in Detroit and the defense just could not stop the Lions.

The secondary managed to survive in Atlanta last weekend, which was a sign that the Seahawks are becoming pretty adaptable even as they continue to be unable to field their full defense.

Seven starters have missed games. The biggest blow has been missing Uchenna Nwosu for almost the entire season, although Derick Hall has stepped up in his absence and done a great job teaming with Boye Mafe on the edges. Byron Murphy missed three games before returning in Atlanta. Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Jerome Baker have missed two (Baker now traded). Rayshawn Jenkins and Artie Burns are both on IR, along with Nwosu.

But Woolen is back, and Tre Brown might be, too. That puts the secondary back together – with Coby Bryant now in for Jenkins at safety.

The offense has fared better on the injury front, with right tackle the only big trouble spot – fourth-string rookie Mike Jerrell started in Atlanta and will also start against Buffalo as George Fant nears his return. Ken Walker also missed two games, and Metcalf now has a sprained knee that has him doubtful this week.

The offense will have to show it can adapt as well as the defense did against the Falcons. Can Grubb actually figure out how to use Smith-Njigba?

As the Seahawks look to beat Buffalo in a big home game, let’s take a quick look at the state of the roster.

Quarterback

Despite the right tackle situation and ongoing problems on the interior, Geno Smith leads the NFL with 1,985 passing yards. He has been sacked 20 times, which is tied for third most. And he has saved himself from a bunch more by stepping up and escaping pressure. He is having a great season – his lone bad game coming against the 49ers.

Running back

Between injuries and lack of use, Walker is 30^th in the league in rushing (303 yards). His 60.6 yards per game rank 23^rd. There is no way he should be that low. He is averaging 13 carries a game and needs to get more. Of course, it does not help that the interior line is terrible – he had to bounce almost every inside run against the Falcons.

Wide receiver

Like Shane Waldron before him, Grubb has not unlocked JSN yet. He ranks 10^th in the NFL with 37 catches, but he is averaging a paltry 8.6 yards. Talk about no impact.

Metcalf has been much more explosive, ranking third in the league with 568 yards on 35 receptions. But now the Hawks might have to go without Metcalf for a game or two. Tyler Lockett has been very dependable, with 30 catches for 384 yards (12.8 average). He and JSN might have to carry the load if Metcalf misses any time.

Time for Grubb to figure out how to really use JSN.

Tight end

Noah Fant has started to come on, with 10 catches in the past two games (giving him 20 for the season). A.J. Barner also has been solid in limited chances (he scored against Detroit). Pharaoh Brown has played just 19% of the snaps and has had some bad moments (dropped passes, blocking whiffs). With Metcalf out, Fant looms large vs. Buffalo.

Offensive line

The Seahawks are near the bottom of the NFL in blocking win rates (28^th passing, 25^th running, per ESPN), but they are going to get a little better because their top two right tackles are on the way back. George Fant could be suited up against Buffalo, and Abe Lucas is expected back after the bye (his 21-day practice window started this week). This comes just as Stone Forsythe heads to IR.  

The guards have been pretty bad, which is why the Hawks are just 27^th in league rushing at 97.4 yards per game. By PFF scoring, Laken Tomlinson ranks 40thamong guards, Christian Haynes 79^th and Anthony Bradford 89th. Those latter two rankings explain why the Seahawks have not picked a full-time right guard. Maybe the return of Fant – and later Lucas – will help these guys.

The best linemen, as expected, have been Charles Cross (ranked sixth tackle by PFF) and Connor Williams (ranked 20^th center by PFF).

Defensive line

As feared, the Seahawks still struggle to stop the run. Their 146 yards allowed per game ranks fifth worst in the league. They have allowed four of their seven opponents to exceed 150 yards. They are 2-2 in those games, barely beating the Patriots in overtime and using three takeaways to offset the 155 ground yards by the Falcons.

They traded for Roy Robertson-Harris before Week 7, and he looked very good in his first game for them. If they can get rewrite game scripts in their favor early, they have enough havoc wreakers to make up for their poor run defense. Leonard Williams leads the team with 12 QB hits and also has 2.5 sacks. Jarran Reed and Dre Jones, coming off his best game in Seattle, have two sacks as well.

Edge rusher

Derick Hall has carried his strong preseason into the real games and is light years beyond what he was as a rookie, thanks to Macdonald and staff. Hall leads the team with five sacks and has 10 QB hits as well. He also ranks 10^th in the NFL in run stop win rate, per ESPN. Mafe has four sacks, including the smotherage of Kirk Cousins in Atlanta that created Hall’s touchdown.

Mike Macdonald loves these two, saying after the Atlanta game that they both could be All-Pros at some point.

Linebacker

The Hawks have not gotten any better results from this group than they did from Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks. That is why they traded Jerome Baker to Tennessee (along with a 2025 fourth-rounder) for Ernest Jones, who will supplant Tyrel Dodson in the middle as Dodson moves to the weak side. We shall see whether that helps matters any.

Rookie Tyrice Knight has been a serviceable fill-in when needed; his 22 tackles are sixth on the team.

Secondary

The Seahawks had the worst run of takeaways in franchise history (one across five games), but then they bounced out of that when Mafe and Hall got their fumble TD and Julian Love and Coby Bryant each picked off Cousins. The Hawks still have just four interceptions, which is eight off the league-leading 12 by the Vikings.

This unit is trying to recover from a run of bad injuries that has seen Jenkins and Burns go on IR, Woolen miss the past two games and Brown sit out against the Falcons.

Youngsters Nehemiah Pritchett and Josh Jobe stepped in admirably in Atlanta, but getting Woolen and Brown back is big.

A huge need is to get Devon Witherspoon in spots where he can make plays. He has one pass breakup and no takeaways. Like JSN, he simply has not had much impact on games yet (though his big block on the fumble return vs. Atlanta was fun).