Week 6: At Cincinnati, X's & O's

As defense gets better and better, Smith is regressing

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Over the first month of the season, Geno Smith had done a decent job of surviving, sometimes overcoming, the loss of both tackles and intermittent other injuries along the Seahawks’ offensive line.

The Seahawks had few explosive passing plays and were terrible on third downs, thanks to playing so many backups on the line, but Smith had managed to avoid any big mistakes (just one interception).

But Sunday in a 17-13 loss in Cincinnati, he played probably his worst game since becoming Seattle’s starting QB and ruined a great performance by a resurgent Seahawks defense.  It cost the Hawks a chance to gain ground on San Francisco in the division.  

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State of the team

After 3-1 start, Hawks need to become more than just survivors

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The Seahawks spent the first month of the season merely surviving — overcoming a decimated offensive line, injuries in their secondary, big passing numbers from opposing quarterbacks and poor third-down performance on both sides, among other things.

They managed to hit their bye week at 3-1, thanks to an OT win in Detroit and victories over Carolina and New York, which are a combined 1-9 after both lost yet again in Week 5.

The Seahawks used a stunningly stout run defense, some big takeaways and some great offensive coaching to make it through the first month. Now they need their offensive line and secondary to get healthy so they can fix issues that otherwise will cost them against the good teams they are about to face.

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Injury report, Schedule

Will easy stretch pass shorthanded Hawks by?

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The Seahawks are starting a stretch of very winnable games – if only they weren’t in even worse shape than some of these upcoming opponents.

Other than a pick-six and correct call on a coin flip (the main reasons they are not 0-2), pretty much everything has gone wrong for the Hawks so far.

Their defense is one of the very worst in the league, their running game is still stumbling along and their roster is torn up with injuries that give little confidence that they will turn around their weaknesses any time soon.

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State of the team

Will the defense hold the Hawks back again this year?

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We usually are more bullish on the Seahawks than most.

Examples: In 2018, many picked them to struggle (as few as four wins) after the Legion of Boom was dismantled, but we projected 11 wins and they finished with 10. Last year, as Vegas put the O/U at 5.5 wins, we predicted eight– and they finished 9-8 and made the playoffs for the 10th time in Pete Carroll’s 13 years.

This year, we are not as high on the Hawks as many seem to be. Some think they will win as many as 12 games, but those people have a lot more faith in the defense than we do.

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Contracts, NFL draft

How will Hawks make cap room for rookies and the rest?

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Upon completion of a draft that added 10 players to Seattle’s cap-strapped roster, John Schneider was asked whether he needed to make any contract-related moves to sign the rookies.

Schneider’s answer: “We’re OK right now.”

“Right now” is the operative phrase, as the Seahawks definitely will need to create about $4 million in space to sign the rookies before training camp. By the time the season starts, they also will need about $6 million for practice squad and injury moves. And they probably are budgeting about $2.5 million for Al Woods or another veteran D-lineman – which they need very much.

All told, the Hawks need about $12.5 million in added cap space.

So where do they get it?

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NFL draft

Big boys finally come in Rounds 4-5

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After ignoring their lines on the first two days, the Seahawks hit both with a vengeance on Day 3. In Rounds 4 and 5 they added two guys on each side of the ball.

So what are the odds any of these guys turn into more than emergency starters?

John Schneider had picked 40 players in Rounds 4-5 over his first 13 drafts in Seattle. Eight of them turned into full-time starters, and five have been top backups/part-time starters. So that gives these four new guys a historic 20% chance individually of becoming permanent starters –collectively, one of them is likely to become a regular starter.

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NFL draft

Hawks whiff on needs on Day 2

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The Seahawks entered this draft with four big needs – and they didn’t address any of them in the first two days:

❌ Nose tackle
❌ Defensive end
❌ Inside linebacker
❌ Center

After going for star power in Round 1, with cornerback Devon Witherspoon and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Hawks really needed to hit some of those big needs on Day 2.

Instead, they reached to add yet another rush linebacker and used a second-round pick on a running back for the second straight year. Maybe their best move was bailing from the third round and picking up an early fourth and a 2024 third from Denver (more on the Broncos below).

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NFL draft

Hawks go corner and receiver in first round, leaving DL to Day 2

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The Seahawks ignored the defensive line with both first-round picks, instead drafting a corner and receiver in the round for the first time since Pete Carroll and John Schneider arrived in 2010.

Despite fielding calls for the No. 5 pick, they took Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon — a guy they were said to love as the draft neared.

At 20, they ended up with Ohio State WR Jaxon Njigba-Smith, a guy who was often mocked to them.

The Hawks eschewed defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Tyree Wilson early and Nolan Smith and Myles Murphy late. (The Eagles ended up with Carter and Smith.)

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NFL draft

Draft day: ‘A lot of different scenarios’

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At Seattle’s pre-draft presser on April 19, John Schneider was asked whether the top of the 2023 draft was pretty predictable by now.

“You would think so, right?” he said before giving the reality. “It doesn’t feel like it, no. … You’re constantly trying to paint pictures and scenarios of what you think will happen and what other teams will do.

“There’s just a ton of different variables up there. A lot of different scenarios. A lot of different ways we can go.’’

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NFL draft

Looking at first-round options and overall strategy

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The NFL draft is two weeks away, and the Seahawks are finishing up their evaluations of players and starting to put together their final draft board.

John Schneider outlined upcoming steps on his radio show on Thursday: Scouts went over the board last week and coaches are meeting to go over it again this weekend. Next week, Schneider will hear from his medical team and let the analytics squad “pick the board apart” (he said that with a laugh). On Tuesday of draft week, Schneider and Pete Carroll will go over the board one last time.

Schneider said it’s time to “hunker down in the draft room with everybody and be able to study and continue to bounce things off each other and try to figure this thing out.”

So let’s figure it out with them.

Continue reading Looking at first-round options and overall strategy →