The Seahawks are in good shape to be successful in 2019. But just how successful they are will depend on how they fix three needs.
The Seahawks are in the midst of a three day mandatory minicamp. Seattle looks really good right now, just like almost every other team when teams aren’t smashing into each other in full contact drills. But Seattle does have a good roster and could go deep in the playoffs in 2019. But they have three needs they still must address.
2018, of course, was a better year than a lot of people expected in Seattle. The team went 10-6 and made the playoffs and with a better offensive game plan against the Cowboys in the Wild Card game, the Seahawks might have made a push to get far in the postseason. Still, going 10-6 with all the losses Seattle suffered in the offseason of 2018 was excellent.
Seattle, though, has had several personnel losses this offseason too. Doug Baldwin won’t play anymore due to numerous injuries sustained in 2018 alone. Frank Clark was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Productive running back Mike Davis left in free agent. As did nickelback Justin Coleman who had locked down the position the last two seasons.
To be as good in 2019, or better, than the Seahawks were in 2018, Seattle must learn to overcome some key losses just as they did last year. But Seattle did replace some departing players with talented ones, like Clark being replaced by Ziggy Ansah. Seattle still has questions to be answered before they will have a successful season and here are three of those questions.
Who will play slot corner?
As I said before, Justin Coleman did an excellent job of not having slot corner be an issue for the Seahawks the last two seasons. He was very good in coverage. In return for being so productive with Seattle, Coleman translated his play into a huge payday with the Detroit Lions. Good for him. He deserved it.
But now Seattle is left without a proven cornerback in the middle. Last year, Akeem King played the slot a bit and did decently. But saying a few snaps at slot will mean King can take over where Coleman left off is a big jump.
Seattle signed Jamar Taylor as a free agent this offseason. While he isn’t a Pro Bowl-type player, he does have seven seasons of experience in the NFL. And coach Pete Carroll knows a thing or two about coaching players in the secondary. He should improve Taylor, if Taylor even makes the roster.
It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Lano Hill slide from safety into the corner slot. He has the physicality and size to be a deterrent for slot receivers. Plus, Seattle is beginning to get backlogged at safety as they already have Bradley McDougald, Tedric Thompson and drafted Marquise Blair in the second round this year. Hill, if he wants to stay on the team, needs to go somewhere.
Which young pass rusher will be effective?
Losing Frank Clark will hurt. No matter if Ansah comes in and gets 10 sacks, Clark was a young player with still lots of potential. He could be missed both short- and long-term. Ansah was signed to just a one-year deal so if he does do fantastically in Seattle in 2019, there is no guarantee he will be back.
The Seahawks do have several young players who could develop into solid pass rushers and Seattle needs at least two of them to do so. In the 2019 NFL draft, Seattle took L.J. Collier out of Texas Christian. Collier has the size of Michael Bennett and could become the same kind of player.
But Collier didn’t have huge sack numbers in college. He hasn’t proven he can be great in the NFL, and long-term Seattle will need Collier to be near-great. Spending a first round pick on an edge rusher means that edge rusher needs to be good one day.
Seattle drafted Rasheem Green and Jacob Martin in 2018. Green hasn’t shown much yet, but he was a third round choice so Seattle must have seen something from him they can develop. Martin wasn’t expected to do as much as Green, and while he didn’t put up big numbers last year he did show some explosiveness which is promising.
Seattle might also move Nazair Jones out wide. Jones has had an injury riddled couple of seasons but if healthy has the athletic ability to help Seattle’s pass rush.
Who is going to step up behind Tyler Lockett for Russell Wilson to throw to?
12s all know that Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett had a perfect passer rating when Wilson targeted Lockett in 2018. Even then, Lockett wasn’t Wilson’s most trusted receiver when Doug Baldwin was on the field. Baldwin was still Wilson’s number one choice when throwing a pass. Now, Lockett will be. But which receiver will be reliable after Lockett?
The Seahawks drafted three receivers this year. D.K. Metcalf, Gary Jennings and John Ursua. Metcalf, of course, gets the most publicity because of his incredible combine and physique. Jennings worked out of the slot in college and Seattle needs to replace Baldwin there. But rookie receivers do not usually do that well in the NFL. A lot of great receivers aren’t truly great until year two or three.
Seattle still has Jaron Brown on the roster. While he did catch five touchdown passes on just 14 receptions, just having 14 catches and 19 targets means Wilson might think Brown doesn’t get open enough to consistently throw to.
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The same could be said for David Moore. Moore has spurts of being productive last season but he also had a game where he went zero catches on five targets. That can’t happen if you want to be the second best receiver on your team.
We can’t forget about the tight ends, though. It remains to be seen how healthy Will Dissly is after having surgery on his patellar tendon last year. Rookie Dissly was brilliant in Seattle’s first four games of 2018 but patellar injuries can sometime take more than a year to totally recover from. Ed Dickson and Nick Vannett might also be viable options for Wilson. But unless your name is Jimmy Graham, Wilson is much more likely to throw to a wideout than a tight end.