Seahawks news for Thursday: A great coach leaves and Seattle will fall?

The Seattle Seahawks had an unexpectedly solid season in 2022. Many national pundits thought the team might win around 5 games and finish last in the NFC West. Not only did Seattle far exceed that, but the Seahawks actually made the playoffs this year. But what happens next year when the team is expected to be just as good if not better?

There are still many questions that must be answered about the team moving forward. For instance, what happens if Seattle doesn’t re-sign Geno Smith? Will they be forced to take a quarterback high in the 2023 NFL draft and start him right away? Do general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll really think bringing back Drew Lock and putting him as the temporary starter at QB might work?

But let’s assume Seattle’s rookies of 2022 continued to improve. They already have one Pro Bowler from the group (Tariq Woolen) and could make it several in the future with players like Ken Walker III, Charles cross and others. Still, one website thinks Seattle is worse next year.

Seahawks news for Thursday No. 1: CBS Sports thinks Seattle falls in 2023

Per CBS Sports, Seattle’s tougher schedule will be troublesome for the team next season. But the biggest reason the Seahawks could take a “major fall” is that they aren’t completely sure Geno Smith can be as good in the future as he was this past season. While it is true that Smith turned the ball over a bunch more in the second half of the season (12 turnovers in the last 9 games), he also didn’t have much help and was forcing some passes.

In the second half of the year, Seattle had a stretch of games where they couldn’t run the ball at all and also couldn’t stop the other team from running. Between weeks 10 through 15, Seattle ran the ball for more than 70 yards only once and that was for 90 in Week 13. Meanwhile, in that same stretch, Seattle gave up 161 yards or more rushing yards in every game. This forced Geno Smith to try to win games on his own at times. But the team’s talent overall should be better next year with another good draft class and this should help Smith be just as good.

Seahawks news for Thursday No. 2: Dave Canales leaves to join the Buccaneers

This one might hurt. Dave Canales has filled a bunch of roles for the Seahawks since 2010 and most recently has been the quarterbacks coach in Seattle. This means he is a big reason why Geno Smith played so well and Smith was being so well coached.

But on Wednesday, Canales took a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their new offensive coordinator. This is a great move for the Bucs as Canales will help whoever Tampa Bay’s new quarterback is figure out how to be a good QB. But it stinks for Seattle because the new quarterbacks coach might not be as good.