Is the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom really that good anymore?

The Seahawks are not the team they used to be. Not on paper anyway. The Legion of Boom has suffered losses. Where does the unit compare to the previous editions of the LOB?

The Seahawks still have Earl Thomas at least. And Shaquill Griffin might turn out to be very good. Possibly Kam Chancellor will be back. Plus, Bradley McDougald is pretty decent. But we 12s know what is missing.

Richard Sherman is now a member of the San Francisco 49ers. Like him or not personally, he was a great cornerback and could take away half the field. He might still do that, only with an NFC West rival.

Another positive for the Seahawks is that Byron Maxwell returns. He has always been better in Seattle than with other teams. When he came back midway through 2017, he was excellent. And he will switch back to his previous position of right corner while Griffin plays left. This should make Maxwell even more effective in 2018.

And Justin Coleman was fantastic all year long in the slot. His excellence last year provides hope that the secondary will possibly be even better this year.

2011 Seahawks LOB

In 2011, Sherman was a rookie and not yet great. But this was the season when the Legion of Boom started to become the LOB. Brandon Browner started at one corner and was a Pro Bowl player. Chancellor and Thomas also made the Pro Bowl. And both were young enough to have their best years ahead.

Seattle finished sixth in the league in quarterback rating against at 74.7.

2018 comparison: Griffin isn’t as good as Sherman became but he is as good as Sherman was in 2011. Maxwell isn’t as good as Browner was in 2011, but might be better overall. Thomas is still great, of course. And there is a chance Chancellor returns. We should not forget that.

Better version: 2011

2012-2015 Seahawks LOB

I am not going to go into these years because the Seahawks secondary was clearly better than it will be in 2018. Seattle led the league in points allowed all these years. In 2015 the LOB will to fifth in passer rating allowed, but some of this is due to Kam Chancellor holding out and missing the first two games.

2017 Seahawks LOB

This is where the comparison gets a little interesting. Basically, halfway through the year Seattle had to learn to play without Sherman and Chancellor due to both getting injured. The first game after both players got hurt Seattle lost to the Atlanta Falcons. And while the Falcons seemingly picked up first downs on nearly 100% of their third downs, the secondary still didn’t give up a ton of yards – 195. This game was played almost entirely without Griffin too as he got hurt on the second play of the game.

In the second half of 2017, Seattle’s secondary gave up 20 yards a game more than in the first half of the season. Some of this might be that Seattle had a much more difficult time stopping the run in previous years. But it also is because the secondary, even the rebuilt one without Sherman and Chancellor, was pretty decent.

One cannot underappreciate the job that Pete Carroll does in coaching the secondary. Because let’s be honest, he is really the secondary coach and maybe one of the best ever at doing so.

All of this is to say that while a secondary that starts Thomas, McDougald, Griffin, Maxwell and Griffin may not be the LOB of 2012-2015, it isn’t that far off either. Thomas may be disgruntled but he will play when the real games start. And who knows? Maybe Chancellor comes back after all.

Next: Seahawks offense won't be all run in 2018

Better version: I expect the 2018 version to be even better than 2017. Now if the Seattle can muster some kind of pass rush, the secondary will look even more improved.