Three biggest worries about Seahawks in 2018
By Lee Vowell
There is still this offensive line issue…
The Seahawks extended left tackle Duane Brown this offseason. This was a good move as it keeps Seattle best player at that position in Seattle for several seasons. And Brown was good enough to make the Pro Bowl last year after coming over to Seattle from Houston.
Justin Britt had a bit of a down year in 2017 with a grade from Pro Football Focus of 65.3. This after 2016 when he was a top-ten center and graded at 81.2 The question about Britt is did he regress to his mean or was 2017 simply an outlier in a blossoming career at center?
Either way, Brown and Britt are the two offensive linemen Seattle has some confidence can be good. Other than that, there are lots of questions.
Ethan Pocic may become a very good offensive lineman. He is good athleticism. But in his rookie year last season he was often beat by stronger players. Can he actually get to the level where he is a long-term answer at left guard? The potential might be there. But that is all it is right now: Potential.
D.J. Fluker is a massive person. He is a good run blocker. Not great, but good. But he hasn’t shown he can pass block very well yet in his career.
And the issue with that is he will be working the same side of the line as right tackle Germain Ifedi. Ifedi easily led offensive linemen in penalties in 2017. The good thing this preseason is Ifedi did not have any official flags thrown his way. The bad thing was he was still mostly awful.
Next. 5 questions about the Broncos as they face the Seahawks. dark
Week one against the Broncos might completely expose Ifedi and Fluker. Russell Wilson might find a way to escape once again and create chaos. But he could also be constantly running for his life again. Hopefully it will not be a season-long trend.