Seahawks offense must stink based on an NFL.com ranking

NFL.com released a list of who they think have the best offenses in the NFL heading into 2018. The Seahawks are not in the top five. Or top ten. Or even top 14. But is the article wrong? Or is Seattle truly not that good on offense this coming year?

The Seattle Seahawks lost some productive offenses pieces this offseason. Gone are Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham. Luke Willson is also out. NFL.com must think these players leaving makes Seattle’s offense pretty mediocre.

NFL.com ranked it’s top ten offenses (with a few honorable mentions at the end) in an article by Chris Wesseling. The article grades each offensive group of the top ten teams. For instance, the top ranked team – the New Orleans Saints – got an A- for quarterback, an A+ for backfield, a B+ for receivers and an A- for offensive line.

One NFC West team made the top ten. The Los Angeles Rams were 8th overall. And the next best team in the division, according to NFL.com, was the San Francisco 49ers who received an honorable mention. A team that received no mention? Your Seattle Seahawks.

Seahawks grades

NFL.com didn’t bother to rank Seattle’s offensive position groups, so I will take a shot at it.

Quarterback: A- (Russell Wilson, Austin Davis, Alex McGough, Stephen Morris)

Wilson scored every one of his team’s offensive touchdowns in 2017 and still gets a bad rap by some. He does more in Seattle’s offense than nearly any other quarterback could because of his legs. Is he the best quarterback in the league? No. But he is top seven.

Backup is still an issue as Davis would not be a long-term answer. McGough and Morris would still be far too raw to be a starter for more than one game.

Backfield: C+ (Rashaad Penny, Chris Carson, J.D. McKissic, Mike Davis, C.J. Prosise)

I am giving this group a slightly better than average grade based only on the fact that Carson, Davis and Prosise have not proven they can be healthy for long stretches. Carson, though, was very good in limited time early in 2018.

Penny is capable of being great. If Carson can stay healthy and Penny play close to what is expected, this grade could be a B+ or higher.

Receiving corps: B- (Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Jaron Brown, Marcus Johnson, Amara Darboh, David Moore, Nick Vannett, Ed Dickson, Will Dissly)

I am giving this group a higher grade than the running backs because of Baldwin. Lockett has shown moments of great potential. But Brown and the others have to prove how good they are still.

Offensive line: C (Duane Brown, D.J. Fluker, Justin Britt, Ethan Pocic, Germain Ifedi, George Fant, Isaiah Battle, Jamarco Jones, Jordan Roos, Rees Odhiambo)

A C, really? I think this group with new offensive line coach Mike Solari might actually be average or better. The Seahawks want to get back to running the football more and Fluker should help them do that. Brown and Britt are solid professionals. Pocic with another year of weight-lifting should be much better. Ifedi can’t be worse with penalties, right?

So maybe NFL.com is right. Maybe Seattle isn’t a top ten offense. But the potential is there for them to be.

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