Seahawks midseason grades: Some studs and some duds
By Lee Vowell
Special teams
What was considered one of Seattle’s main strengths heading into the season hasn’t exactly been bad but the special teams group certainly hasn’t been as good as hoped. Punter Michael Dickson still leads the NFL in punts downed inside the opponent 20 (20 of them) but he also leads the NFL in punts (43). But Dickson is 18th in net-yards-per-punt (40.8) and 13th in yards-per-punt (47.0).
Worse, kicker Jason Myers is 32nd in field goal accuracy (63.6) and has made 7 of 11 after not missing any field goals last year. Myers is just 2 for 4 on kicks between 40 and 49 yards and NFL kickers need to make these nearly perfectly. And even more worrisome, Myers’ touchback percentage on kickoffs has plummeted to just 28.9 percent (his previous career-low was in 2020 at 571 percent).
Thankfully, the Seahawks kick return coverage has been phenomenal and is second in the league allowing just 18.2 yards a return.
Also on a positive note, punt returner Freddie Swain is fourth in punt returns with a 9.5 yards-per-return average.
DeeJay Dallas is just 19th in kick returns, however (21.3). Dallas has had a couple of returns longer than 35 yards but in later games in the year it will be interesting to see if Seattle puts D.J. Reed back deep.
Grade: C