Three Seahawks that need to take the next step in 2020
By Lee Vowell
L.J. Collier
Why don’t I have a better photo of L.J. Collier in action above? Well, as far as the Seahawks are concerned, there isn’t anything to choose from. Seattle is cursed when it comes to their first picks in drafts since 2015. Maybe Germain Ifedi (2016) played a bunch of games, but he wasn’t really good. Malik McDowell (2017) never played in the NFL. Rashaad Penny (2018) has been hurt a bunch, though he has shown promise when not.
The scary thing is that L.J. Collier could be worse in production than Penny or Ifedi. Missing on a first-round pick hurts a team long-term. A bad pick hurts a team’s cap space and affects the team’s depth. A defensive lineman, a good one at least, should be able to enter his rookie season and make some kind of impact. There isn’t a huge learning curve for linemen, they just need their physical ability to be decent.
Collier was so bad in 2019 that he was a healthy scratch in both playoff games meaning that he did not even grow enough during the season to warrant playing. This is a very bad sign. In 11 games, Collier had just three tackles. That’s atrocious. Yet worse, there wasn’t anything Collier did that might incline one to think he will be better in 2020.
Seattle has, of course, a huge need with the pass rush. Collier was drafted to help with that and be a bit like Michael Bennett in his versatility. Even if he can be a lot more next year like what Seattle thought he would be when they drafted him in 2019, great. If not, Seattle is going to be hurting for several seasons.