Seahawks 2020 offensive line will be the same as the old version

The Seahawks appear to be making just one change to their 2020 offensive line from the 2019 version. Will this improve results though?

On Tuesday the Seahawks announced they have re-signed Mike Iupati to a one-year deal bringing back their starting left guard from 2019. This means Seattle will have four out of five of their starting offensive linemen back from 2019. Cohesion with an offensive line is a good thing, but are the Seahawks any good to begin with?

Seattle has struggled to find the right combination to its line for years. In fact, many times the Seahawks seem to succeed in spite of their line. Last year, Seattle allowed a third-worst 26.7 percent pressure rate allowed in 2.5 seconds for quarterback Russell Wilson. If Seattle had Tom Brady at quarterback, Brady would probably not make it through a full season. Wilson covers up all matters of sins.

12s saw how inept Seattle was running the ball late in the season and into the playoffs once Chris Carson was lost to injury in week 16. Marshawn Lynch had to be re-signed to try to give the Seahawks any hope of running the ball and in three games (two in the playoffs) Lynch ran for just 67 yards on 30 carries for an average of 2.23 yards a carry. Sure, Lynch scored 4 touchdowns but nearly all of them were sheer will on his part.

Carson was fourth in the NFL in yards after first contact in 2019 (734) and 9th in average yards after first contact (2.6). Carson ran for 1,230 yards last year. This means that nearly 60 percent of his rushing yards were ones he gained after first being hit. Chris Carson is a beast, but his offensive line is not.

The Seahawks are replacing right tackle and penalty-prone Germain Ifedi. But Seattle replaced him with Brandon Shell. Who, you ask? Exactly. The Seahawks currently have a crazy amount of offensive linemen on their roster. This roster, of course, will be trimmed and with it a lot of linemen. But because Seattle has so many right now makes one think they don’t like most of the players they have.

And neither should 12s. There’s The Who line that goes, “New boss, same as the old boss.” The same could be said for the Seahawks offensive line in 2020 being the same as previous editions and that isn’t good.