Tag Archives: Mike Macdonald

Week 2: At New England

Hawks are 2-0 with work to do, but odds and schedule favor them

3 Comments

“I think the past two weeks we’ve really shown how close of a team we are when battling adversity. I know we are only going to get stronger and play better throughout the season.’’ – DK Metcalf

As we expected, the Seahawks are off to a 2-0 start following wins over seemingly lesser teams. As we also expected, the Hawks have serious flaws up front to work out if they are going to be any better than the nine wins we predicted for this season.

On the bright side, they have made the playoffs all six previous times they have started 2-0 over the last 25 years, per Gregg Bell. And there is plenty of time to fix an offensive line that has had some major struggles in both games and a defensive front that allowed 185 rushing yards to the Patriots in Week 2.

Continue reading Hawks are 2-0 with work to do, but odds and schedule favor them →
Contracts

Smith is paid as the NFL sees him, so he needs to change minds in 2024

Leave a comment

Mike Macdonald seems open to keeping Geno Smith as Seattle’s starting quarterback beyond 2024. But the Seahawks are not considering an extension at this point, John Schneider recently said in response to a report that Smith’s agent has asked for a new deal.

Smith still needs to prove he is worth a raise and extension.

Continue reading Smith is paid as the NFL sees him, so he needs to change minds in 2024 →
Trades

Hawks traded Taylor a year too late; Metcalf only 2019-20 pick left

Leave a comment

Michael Jackson and Darrell Taylor always seemed destined to move on before Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks ever played a real game, so it was no surprise the backup defenders were traded on consecutive days this week.

Taylor’s departure, which really comes a year too late, marks the end of John Schneider’s 2020 draft class – none of whom made it to a second contract in Seattle as Taylor’s $3.1 million returns to the Hawks’ salary cap.

Continue reading Hawks traded Taylor a year too late; Metcalf only 2019-20 pick left →
Contracts, The roster

If Geno plays well, could he stick around for a ‘few years’?

Leave a comment

Everyone keeps wanting to kick Geno Smith to the curb, replacing him with a draft pick or Sam Howell — or anybody really.

But it sure seems like he is growing on new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald. Not enough to get a new contract yet, as Smith reportedly would like, but it sounds as though the door could be open to a new deal after the season – if Smith plays worth it.

During camp, Macdonald hinted that Smith could indeed be in Seattle beyond 2025.

“I think that relationship is blossoming,’’ Macdonald told SI’s Albert Breer. “We’re not there yet; it’s still six months in or whatever. But we’re looking forward to seeing where it evolves over the next few years.’’

Continue reading If Geno plays well, could he stick around for a ‘few years’? →
Preseason, The roster

Howell, O-line still have work to do, but Mike Mac’s defense looks good

Leave a comment

Well, August is here and the first preseason game is in the books, which means our three-month break from football is over and it’s time to start paying attention again.

One thing that seems clear is John Schneider and Mike Macdonald have made the Seahawks better over those past three months.

While Macdonald has been building what looks to be a much tighter, more disciplined defense, Schneider’s addition of center Connor Williams answered the last big question on offense. If Williams is healthy and plays like he did in Miami – and if Ryan Grubb can call an NFL game — the offense should be more consistent than it was in 2023.

If that happens, the Hawks could be better than the nine-win team we peg them for. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Instead let’s look at the roster by position after the 16-3 win over the Chargers in the preseason opener.

Continue reading Howell, O-line still have work to do, but Mike Mac’s defense looks good →
NFL draft, The roster

Yes, the Hawks look more like a playoff team now

Leave a comment

A Seattle Times headline asked: With roster shuffling mostly done, are Seahawks closer to being a playoff team?

The answer to that question is “yes” – because John Schneider found an innovative new coach, improved the defensive line and secondary and seems to have made the offensive line and linebacker spots better, too.

Schneider hit what we consider to be home runs with the hiring of Mike Macdonald as coach, the re-signing of Leonard Williams and the drafting of Byron Murphy II in the first round. Macdonald wanted to “build a wall” — and those two guys should help do it.

In the draft, the Hawks also focused on adding blockers – three linemen and a tight end. And they added a much-needed linebacker and Auburn’s starting cornerbacks as well.

Here’s a positional rundown after the draft (RB not mentioned as nothing to note there).

Continue reading Yes, the Hawks look more like a playoff team now →
Coaches, State of the team

Players: Macdonald and ‘right coaches’ bring ‘urgency’

Leave a comment

Amid the hullabaloo by some overly nostalgic fans about Mike Macdonald’s rearranging of the VMAC, his players seem to get it. They know Pete Carroll’s missing hoop and the temporarily blank walls are a metaphor for a clean slate, a new beginning.

They also know the expectations are much higher now and being delivered in a more defined, exacting way than Carroll and his staff were doing over the last few years.

It’s all as it should be, and the smart ones – players and fans – understand that. The players who don’t won’t be around very long. And that’s as it should be, too.

The core leaders of this defense – Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu and Julian Love – sound bought in.

Continue reading Players: Macdonald and ‘right coaches’ bring ‘urgency’ →
Coaches, Free agency, The roster

Macdonald: ‘We want to set the standard in Seattle’

Leave a comment

In Pete Carroll’s last
season in Seattle, his
platitudes and vague
descriptors about what needed to be fixed on the defense had worn super thin and it was so obvious that he really had no idea how he was going to fix the weakest part of his team after years of failing.

That’s why it is so refreshing to hear Mike Macdonald
quietly but confidently talk about how elite his defense is going to be. He outlines it so clearly that you can just see it happening — and not taking long either.

Whether he is talking about how expectations lead to Super Bowl wins, about his motto of Chasing Edges or about “building a wall up the middle” of his defense, he sounds assured that all of these things will happen.

His resume supports his words, which is why he evokes such confidence from so much of the fan base – a huge turnaround from the last couple years of the fading Carroll era.

Here are some of the encouraging things Macdonald said at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando this week, as reported by Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic and John Boyle of Seahawks.com.

Continue reading Macdonald: ‘We want to set the standard in Seattle’ →
Free agency, The roster

The roster so far: ‘So much work still to do’

1 Comment

“We’re trying to obviously get big up front and get really strong down the middle of our defense and then try to build from there.” – John Schneider on Seattle Sports 710

The Seahawks entered the offseason needing to fill six positions before they got to the draft. They have gone 5 for 6, re-signing Leonard Williams and Noah Fant, trading for Sam Howell and swapping out their linebackers and safeties.

Player for player, they made these swaps:

They also retained Michael Jackson, Darrell Taylor, Artie Burns, Jon Rhattigan and Myles Adams (ERFA). They brought back former UDFA George Fant, who will start at right tackle if Abe Lucas can’t and will play sixth man/super tight end and swing tackle if Lucas is healthy. They also added another backup guard, Tremayne Anchrum Jr.

They still have no left guard as John Schneider notably continues to avoid spending any money on interior linemen, but they otherwise have addressed all of their needs.

As Mike Macdonald told NFL Network at the league meetings in Orlando, “We have a plan in place, but you’re just trying to do your best day by day and stack days. And now we look back five or six weeks, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress. But there’s just so much work still to do.”

Continue reading The roster so far: ‘So much work still to do’ →
The roster, Trades

Is Howell a trade for Hasselbeck — or for Whitehurst?

Leave a comment

As fans across social media debate the Sam Howell trade, perhaps the best way to frame the discussion is thus: Did the Seahawks just trade for Matt Hasselbeck or did they trade for Charlie Whitehurst?

In other words, did they add a potential franchise passer or a second-tier backup? Or maybe something in between?

A few weeks ago, we set the table for the transition from holdover quarterback Geno Smith to a new QB who becomes Mike Macdonald’s guy. In that post, we retraced how Mike Holmgren landed Hasselbeck in Year 3 (2001) and how John Schneider took a swing on Whitehurst in his first year (2010), missed and didn’t get his QB until Year 3 either.

Hasselbeck turned into a franchise savior while Whitehurst was merely Clipboard Jesus. Which might Howell be?

Continue reading Is Howell a trade for Hasselbeck — or for Whitehurst? →