Seahawks Roster Analysis: The Conclusion
By Keith Myers
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve systematically looked over the entire roster. Position by position, from pro-bowlers to those on the practice squad. The goal was to evaluate who is here, and try and get a better feel for what the Seahawks have and don’t have before the offseason really begins. The results were interesting. But before we get into that, here’s links to all the previous entries incase you missed them:
Offense: Quarterback, Line, Backs, Tight Ends, Receivers
Defense: Tackles, Ends, Linebackers, Safeties, Corners
After combing through every player on the roster, I have to say that my opinion of the roster went nowhere but down. Before I started this process, I felt that the Seahawks were a QB, a LB and few roll players (like a 3rd down pass rushing DE) away from being a Super Bowl contender. I simply just don’t feel that way anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, the Seahawks still need a serious upgrade at QB and LB, and they still need a another pass rusher. Those needs are still there. The problem is that they aren’t the only needs. Overall, the depth across the entire roster is really poor.
The Seahawks were actually rather lucky last season when it came to injuries. The 2 positions hit hardest, CB and Offensive line, were the 2 positions that had enough depth to handle the loss. The rest of the roster was ill prepared to overcome injuries.
The most obvious example was RB. There was noone on the roster to step in for Lynch when he was hurt in the Cleveland game. Forsett and Washington were completely ineffective when given playing time.
The Defensive line was paper thin. The 4 starters, Clemons, Mebane, Branch, and Bryant were all completely irreplaceable with the other players on the roster. If any of them had been hurt then entire defense would have likely fallen apart. The problem was so bad that there wasn’t even a competent pass rusher who could come in for Bryant on 3rd downs.
And that problem existed all over the roster. Safety. TE. Even linebacker was bad, which is sad since the starters were a major weakness to begin with.
The truth is that the Seahawks are just 3 or 4 players away from being a very good team capable of beating anyone in the league. But the point isn’t to be good enough to win one regular season game, the point is to be able to win a Super Bowl. So while you need a team good enough to beat any other team in the league, you also need a team that is deep enough to do so after playing 18 or 19 games.
And even if the Seahawks fill in those holes in the starting lineup, it wont be enough until they are are also deep enough to handle the long season. And they are still long way from reaching that point.