What if the Seahawks had traded Lynch for Forte?

Seahawks O-line would make a difference – but enough?

I’m sure by now you’re grumbling about the difference in the offensive lines. Nope, I didn’t forget about that. The excellent site footballoutsiders.com ranks offensive lines on their run-blocking ability. The rankings are based on things like short-yardage success, how often runs are stuffed, all kinds of things that are dependent on the line blocking.

It may surprise you the Hawks didn’t have a big edge over the Bears in 2011. Seattle ranked 19th, Chicago 24th. Things improved drastically the next year, though. The Hawks ranked fourth in the league, while the Bruins were 16th. The trend continued over Lynch’s career: in 2013 the teams were ranked 9th and 20th. In 2014 they ranked 4th and 15th; 2015 saw the rankings close a bit at 4th and 7th. In every season, Seattle had the more effective line.

Don’t worry, I’ve dragged you through enough math already. I’m not going to make any further adjustments. I’ll just say it’s likely that Forte would have been even more productive as a runner in Seattle than he was in Chicago. Still, I’m glad Lynch didn’t get his wish. I think the Seahawks would have been just fine with Forte, but…there’s only one Beastmode.