Seahawks off-season progress: Offensive edition

Seahawks Off-Season progress

As I sat at work listening to my co-worker panic about the Seahawks off-season progress so far, I began to panic myself. He rattled off the fact that the Seahawks have parted ways with Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Jimmy Graham, Luke Willson, Paul Richardson, Sheldon Richardson and are likely to be without Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor as well.  I felt a little sullen.  Next he mentioned how we were rumored for Ndamukong Suh, but that seems to be falling through.  What about our trades for players like CJ Smith?  Is Earl Thomas going to be gone too?  We have so few draft picks this year…the sky was definitely falling.  After hearing all of it, I thought fear not, Seahawks; There is a plan.

Yes, it is really easy to think of the doom and gloom of losing so many players that have meant so much to this franchise.  Yes, it is easy to be frustrated with smaller moves in free agency. Also with the lack of draft excitement (because Seattle has so few picks).

So what are the positives of this off-season?  Well, we have some cap space now.  That’s a good thing right?  Let’s take a short look at the roster as it stands right now.

Offense

Quarterback

Russell Wilson, Trevone Boykin and maybe Austin Davis

Chances are Seattle is going to bring Austin Davis back since he is familiar with Brian Schottenheimer’s offense.  That will be a welcome edition in quarterback meetings.  This duo probably won’t keep us in competition for the playoffs if Wilson goes down, but I am not going to worry about that doomsday at the moment.

Running back

Chris Carson, Mike Davis, JD McKissic, CJ Prosise

Carson is the big piece we need to work this season.  We had a terrible running game last year, and we have spent the off-season finding better run blockers to improve.  Carson is coming off an injury, but before the injury he showed great promise.

Mike Davis a very solid number 2 running back.  He will not set the world on fire, but he will be steady.

McKissic is a speed threat.  He is a good 3rd down back, but a little small, and that causes some issues in pass blocking.  His speed and pass catching skill set are really good for the roster though.

Prosise is a tough call.  He is currently on the roster, but he can never stay healthy.  When he is healthy, he is at the very least a perfect 3rd down back and at the very best, a highly effective starting running back.  The problem is, he never stays healthy.

Need:  Although this group wasn’t spectacular last year, they did alright with a bad offensive line.  A running back should still be added in free agency, the draft or as an un-drafted free agent.  Someone with top running talent just in case Chris Carson works out.

Fullback

Tre Madden, Jalston Fowler

Madden is more of a running back (he played running back in college) and a special teams ace.  Fowler is the blocking fullback, and capable special teams player.  He offers very little in the offense as a receiving threat.

Both are capable at fullback.  We would have something special if we could combine the two, but in either case fullback is not a need.