Three reasons Seahawks may not reach potential in 2020
By Lee Vowell
Offensive line cohesion
The Seahawks have made a ton of changes to the players in front of Russell Wilson. Left tackle Duane Brown remains the same, thankfully. Maybe so does left guard Mike Iupati, if he stays healthy. But from center to the right side, it will all be different.
Center is likely B.J. Finney who was solid in limited time with the Steelers in the last four years. But in those seasons, Finney has started a total of 13 games. How consistently good he will be is an open question.
Right guard is likely Damien Lewis who, if he does start in week one, would have never played a preseason or regular season game as a pro. He will likely be overwhelmed at times simply from lack of experience and that could be bad for Wilson.
Right tackle will probably be Brandon Shell who was OK last year with the Jets but isn’t that much better, if any, than Germain Ifedi who started the last four years for Seattle in the same position. At least Ifedi stayed healthy. Shell has missed seven games in the last three years. Ifedi missed one.
All this said, even if all the assumed Seahawks offensive line starters stay healthy this year, most of the group will have never played together. Unlike most any other group on a football team, an offensive line needs to build cohesion for years, not just one season. Lack of communication could get Wilson hit and hurt.