Tag Archives: Klint Kubiak

Trades

Hawks ‘in the market’ for O-line help — what about Saints’ Ruiz?

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With the trade deadline days away, moves are being made and chatter is picking up – so let’s connect some possible dots around the Seahawks.

One of the big ones that emerged today was Saints guard Cesar Ruiz to Seattle – a move that conceivably would help the Hawks at right guard.

The Seahawks are “in the market” for an offensive lineman, per Jordan Schultz. And ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported: “Teams I’ve spoken to are under the impression that guard Cesar Ruiz might be available at the right price.”

Scuttlebutt is that “the right price” would be a third-round pick. That surely is too steep for John Schneider, but what if it came down to a 5 or 6 by next Tuesday’s deadline? Or what if it was a pick swap – maybe the Hawks give up a 3 and get back a 5? Ruiz is signed for two more years, so they would have a chance to get value out of such a deal.

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#HOUvsSEA, X's & O's

Hawks are winning with play action, not giving up on run game

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“We need to improve on our run game. It’s pretty cut and dry.” – Mike Macdonald

The Seahawks have the NFL’s No. 5 scoring offense (27.7 ppg), the No. 10 offense by EPA and the No. 4 offense by DVOA – all without any consistent running attack.

There are two schools of thought about the Seahawks’ struggling running game – and both have their merits.

The first is what Mike Macdonald said on his radio show Monday: The running game is not good enough. The second is that the threat of the running game via play action has enabled the passing game to thrive and it’s a fair sacrifice to make.

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#NOvsSEA

Can Kubiak and Co. keep it going now?

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A year ago at this time, Klint Kubiak had turned the Saints into the surprise of the NFL – leading an offense that had scored 91 points in the first two games.

He did not have nearly the same fortuitous start with his Seattle crew, but the Seahawks finally seemed to find their stride in the second half at Pittsburgh. Now, as Kubiak’s old team comes to town, we will see whether they can put together a full game.

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#SEAvsPIT, X's & O's

The real offense needs to show up in Pittsburgh

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One of the most head-scratching things about the Seahawks’ loss to the 49ers in Week 1 was Klint Kubiak veering away from the formations we saw so much in the preseason, which had enabled a strong running game.

It led to a lot of failed early downs, which led to too many third-down failures and resulted in just 13 points off a 38-22 deficit in time of possession. While Kubiak kept his run-pass balance to a good ratio (26-23), he ran a lot of 11 personnel and the fewest play-action snaps in the league in Week 1 (just two). And Sam Darnold’s reads continually led to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so the Hawks had a very one-dimensional offense.

They cannot do any of that in Week 2 at Pittsburgh if they are going to avoid an 0-2 start, a hole that typically means just an 11% chance of making the playoffs.

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#SFvsSEA, X's & O's

What happened to Kubiak’s offense?

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The Seahawks promised a new offense under Klint Kubiak — one focused on running the ball and misdirecting defenses to create a much more productive unit than Mike Macdonald’s team had with Ryan Grubb last season.

It all looked good in the preseason as the Hawks ran the ball with gusto. But that all disappeared in the 17-13 opening loss to the 49ers as Kubiak’s offense looked a lot more like Grubb’s than the one that was promised this year.

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Preseason

‘Our style of football’: Can Kubiak’s offense hit the ground running?

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“It was our style of football” – Sam Darnold after a 268-yard rushing game in a 33-16 win over Kansas City

When Klint Kubiak arrived in New Orleans last year, he created a surprising early-season juggernaut that probably would have continued in similar style if the Saints’ top offensive players had not started dropping like flies.

That surely is one of the things that drew Mike Macdonald to Kubiak, who is from one of the NFL’s legacy coaching trees.

The Saints scored 91 points and ran for 370 yards in the first two games of 2024. He now has brought his versatile scheme and run-first philosophy to Macdonald’s Seahawks – and the preseason returns forecast a similar explosion for Seattle out of the gate in three weeks.

Seattle’s 33-16 win over Kansas City on Friday showed the very best of Kubiak’s offense. The Hawks followed up a 170-yard rushing performance against Las Vegas with 268 yards vs. the Chiefs.

As Sam Darnold said after his Seahawks debut, “It was our style of football.”

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Coaches, Franchise history, State of the team

Hawks are setting up for another 2012-13 run

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We haven’t seen Sam Darnold and the starting skill players in action yet – that apparently will happen a bit this week against the Chiefs – but the first preseason game showed everything we need to know about what this Seattle offense is trying to do.

If it succeeds, as we expect it to, the Seahawks should be well poised to repeat their 2011-13 ascent and come away with a Super Bowl trophy in Mike Macdonald’s third year (like Pete Carroll did in his fourth year).

Let’s run through the similarities that make us think this is how it is going to go.

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Schedule

Vegas has no clue on the Seahawks, who will win at least 11

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While we were enjoying a much-deserved getaway to Cabo, the NFL schedule came out and Vegas decided the Seahawks are going to win just seven games next season. What that means is there is a lot of money to be won by going against the oddsmakers right now – because there is no way the Hawks are going to be under double digits in wins.

Vegas had already released the over/under at 7.5 wins. Then the odds men added game spreads once the schedule was released, and those added up to seven wins, which would be the under. We’d bet big money on the over – the easiest money you might ever find in Vegas.

We project at least 11 wins from a team with a top-five defense, a pro offense with a veteran staff and skill players, and a softer schedule than the one that produced 10 wins in 2024.

Let’s take a look at the schedule and explain why Vegas is gonna get its ass kicked on pro-Seattle bets.

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Coaches, NFL draft

What are the odds Milroe becomes a star in Seattle?

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The biggest question in the wake of the Seahawks’ highly praised draft is not whether Grey Zabel will become a standout guard or whether Nick Emmanwori will help the defense become elite.

Zabel and Emmanwori were stellar picks who almost everyone expects to become big contributors as rookies.

There certainly are other questions (from us, at least) about this class: Will Elijah Arroyo be able to unlock his physical skills in the NFL? Will Tory Horton also stay healthy and not become a later-round Paul Richardson? Will Rylie Mills (ACL) become what Aden Durde thinks he will?

All valid questions. But the very biggest is this: Will Jalen Milroe develop into Mike Macdonald’s version of Lamar Jackson? If so, how long might it take for that to happen?

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Coaches, Free agency, The roster

Kubiak ties to Darnold & MVS countered losses of Geno & Metcalf

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Relationships make the NFL go round – and that was never more obvious than in all of the Seahawks’ dealings over the past week.

The franchise’s relationship with DK Metcalf soured to the point that he simply wanted to go play elsewhere. John Schneider said he could not work it out with Metcalf, so he traded him to Pittsburgh.

Then Geno Smith forced a trade when he and his agent refused to respond to Seattle’s fair contract offer – $40 million in 2025, per Brady Henderson. Whether Smith intended it or not, he got a reunion with his favorite coach, Pete Carroll, back in the NFL with the Raiders.

That might have left the Seahawks in a bind if not for Mike Macdonald’s preemptive move to hire Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator. Kubiak’s previous relationship with Sam Darnold made it easy for the Hawks to quickly replace Smith with Darnold.

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