The Seahawks were not that far away from being in the Super Bowl for the 2019 season. To get to the big game next season, these three players must be good.
We know that the Seahawks did not make the Super Bowl this season, but they were just two wins away from doing so. One of those was in the divisional round where Seattle suffered a close loss and if they had gotten the ball back might have won. My point is, Seattle is this close to getting back to the Super Bowl.
But like every team, they need a few breaks to get to the big game and also have some players who were support guys to become impact players. These players do not have to be stars. No one is going to become the next Russell Wilson on this current Seahawks team because Wilson is already on the team.
But Seattle could use help at several position groups. Both the offensive and defensive lines need a youthful injection of talent. Cornerback is still a concern, too, except for Shaquill Griffin. And Wilson still needs a really good option at third wideout.
If all goes well for Seattle in 2020, they will be back in the playoffs and make a deep run. But if they have health issues again and struggle to find the answers to the problems of the previous paragraph, the Seahawks will struggle to make the playoffs.
So who needs to step up next year for Seattle? At least these three players.
Phil Haynes
Phil Haynes was drafted last year by the Seahawks because he is a strong run-blocker. He is nearly perfectly built for a Seattle offense that likes to run the ball. But like a lot of offensive linemen that Seattle takes in any given draft, Haynes did not play much his rookie season. Possibly offensive line coach Mike Solari wanted to season Haynes for a year before he really gave him a chance to start.
Haynes played in just two games in 2019 and those were the playoff games. Against the Eagles in the Wild Card round, Haynes had one special teams snap. But against the Packers in the divisional round, Haynes was forced to play because of injuries to other guys. Haynes played 42 offensive snaps, which was 69 percent of the Seahawks offensive plays.
Pro Football Focus game Haynes a grade of 64.3 for the game. Sure, it is a really small sample size but had Haynes played the entire season at that level he would have been tied for the 30th highest graded guard in the league.
Seattle will most likely have at least one open spot at guard in 2020 as Mike Iupati is a free agent. D.J. Fluker has a year left on his contract but wasn’t great this season. Jamarco Jones could be given a chance to start at guard as well, but Haynes has every right to think he should be the starter for years to come with the Seahawks.
Rasheem Green
Rasheem Green led the Seahawks in sacks this season with the sad number of 4. This ranked 97th in the league. Seattle had issues getting to the opposing quarterback for a multitude of reasons and with a better scheme, Green might have had more sacks. Green will be just 23 years old when the 2020 season starts so he is still learning how to use his quickness in the NFL.
Overall, Green’s numbers were (again, a bit sadly since the defensive line was not overly productive this year) a bit better than a lot of his linemates. He was in on 27 tackles, forced three fumbles, had five quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. Definitely not numbers that will blow you away.
But Seattle also might have seen enough from Green to try to get him even more playing time next year. The Seahawks like to stay young and Green fits that mold, obviously. Seattle seemed to see more potential in him than other teams when they drafted him in the third round of the 2018 draft.
Now if only Green can get a little closer to the potential that the Seahawks saw in him and build off whatever confidence he gained in 2019, Green could get up to 8 sacks next year. That would be just good enough to make the Seahawks a little scarier when chasing down quarterbacks.
Tre Flowers
After a rookie season where Tre Flowers looked like he could blossom into one of the very good to great Seahawks cornerbacks, and this while still learning the position, Flowers took a step back this season. Flowers has a huge issue with not getting his head around on deep passes and either giving up the completion or picking up a penalty.
Flowers was called for 10 total penalties this year. One was declined. Two took place in the playoffs. His 7 regular season penalties was third-most among cornerbacks in the league. 7 of Flowers’ penalties were for pass interference and 5 of them took place at the worst time, the fourth quarter.
Still, Flowers had three interceptions and at times is the perfect Seattle corner, which means tall and physical. He can tackle well and has some speed. Flowers can be a very good player in the NFL. If he can forget about 2019 and try to get back to the basics of 2018, he will be better in 2020.
If the Seahawks are going to get back to the Super Bowl in the next year or three, it will be because Flowers got better, formed a dynamic duo with Shaquill Griffin and kept offenses from moving downfield with deep throws. Let’s hope that all happens.