The Seattle Seahawks are likely mostly finished with free agency. Maybe Bobby Wagner returns at linebacker or maybe Seattle signs a wide receiver, but the splashiest of the deals are likely done. Now Seattle can turn its attention to the 2023 NFL draft where Seattle has 9 picks.
The Seahawks should be expected to be better in 2023 because of adding talent in the draft, having a successful free agency period, and having their rookies from 2022 have a year of experience. But some things from 2022 still need to be fixed.
Like every NFL team, Seattle tries out different things to see if they will work. Some of the moves are cost-effective moves while others are giving coaches or players a chance to prove themselves that maybe they hadn’t gotten before. Here are four experiments for Seattle that need to go well in 2023.
Experiment No. 1: Michael Jackson – Seahawks cornerback
Michael Jackson is an odd player. He will get beat a few times and then make a play on a deep pass you had no expectation of him knocking down. He doesn’t have a long history in the NFL so he was a bit of an unknown when he ended up getting a lot of snaps for the Seahawks in 2022. His raw statistics from last season are a bit all over the place, too.
Jackson had 12 passes defended, an interception, 75 tackles, and two fumble recoveries. Those aren’t bad. Also not bad is Jackson’s 75.1 quarterback rating allowed when targeted and his 7.4 percent missed tackle rate. But Jackson was also really inconsistent. His two fumble recoveries came in Week 1. Three of his passes defended came in one game, Week 8 versus the New York Giants.
Jackson isn’t a bad player. He is worthy of keeping on the roster as a backup cornerback. But a team trying to rebuild its defense and get back to being a defense that is really good needs to find a better cornerback opposite Tariq Woolen than Jackson. Jackson doesn’t instill fear in opposing quarterbacks and for Seattle’s defense to be great once again, quarterbacks need to be afraid to throw the ball. Seattle should draft a cornerback fairly high in the 2023 draft.
Experiment 2: Jamal Adams – Seahawks safety
Jamal Adams has been used in many ways since he joined Seattle in 2020. Part of the issue with him not being overly productive with the Seahawks, however, is no matter which scheme Seattle might have seen Adams used for, he hasn’t been available enough to know if the design would work. Adams has missed 25 of a possible 50 games for Seattle.
In 2020, it seemed like Adams was used more as a heat-seeking missile edge rusher than a true strong safety. He got 9.5 sacks that season but his pass coverage wasn’t so good. In 2021, Adams was used more as a true safety as he blitzed about half the time and ended up with 0 sacks. Maybe teams were scheming better for Adams’ pass rushes or Seattle’s overall defensive design didn’t get the best use out of Adams.
In 2022, it appeared in the first quarter of Week 1 that Adams was going to be more like 2020 than 2021 and he got some pressure on Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson. But in the second quarter, he hurt his leg and was lost for the rest of the season. We don’t know what 2022 would have been like for Adams had he stayed healthy, but then Adams seems to get injured every season so we don’t know how good he ever could have been in a Seahawks uniform.
In free agency this offseason, Seattle signed former Giants safety Julian Love. Love is very much a strong safety, much like Adams. Seattle has a good free safety in Quandre Diggs, so it seems like Love, who signed a two-year deal, could replace Adams. If so, Adams needs to be released with a post-June 1st designation and save Seattle a little money for next offseason.
Experiment 3: Jordyn Brooks – Seahawks linebacker
Jordyn Brooks is many things. He is a very good tackler and he hits hard. He can cover sideline-to-sideline with ease with speed and athleticism. But what Brooks is not is a replacement for Bobby Wagner and that is seemingly what he was drafted to do in 2020: Replace Wagner.
Brooks has some of the same attributes. He doesn’t miss many tackles, but he also isn’t good in coverage. Wagner didn’t really chase down quarterbacks much in Seattle because he wasn’t asked to. The same goes for Brooks as he doesn’t supply much in quarterback pressure and has just 2 sacks in three seasons and just 6 quarterback hits.
But Seattle doesn’t really ask Brooks to sack quarterbacks. What they ask him to do is be great against the run and clean up tackles and hopefully penetrate the line of scrimmage to take down running backs. Brooks, however, when given the chance to shine as the leader of the defense in 2022 (after Wagner was released and left in free agency) simply did not shine. He had 10 tackles for loss in 2021 when Wagner was still around but just 3 in 2022 when Wagner was no longer in Seattle.
Brooks, unfortunately, got injured in Week 17 of 2022 and he might not be ready near the start of the 2023 season. He hasn’t been a player that has struggled with injuries in his career so the ACL injury he suffered in 2022 seems like a one-off. But prior to the injury, Brooks had not proved himself a player capable of doing anything other than racking up tackles. He seems replaceable for a defense that needs to be more aggressive and create more turnovers.
Experiment 4: Clint Hurtt – Seahawks defensive coordinator
There is little doubt that Clint Hurtt has been a well-respected coach in the NFL for several years. He worked his way up through the Seahawks’ system and was named defensive coordinator last offseason. The issue last year was that while Hurtt may have had a solid plan heading into the season, once Jamal Adams got hurt in Week 1, the plan went out the window.
Worse, Hurtt not only failed to adjust to the loss of the one player that the defense seemingly was going to scheme around but Adams was replaced with Josh Jones. Jones might have some speed, but he isn’t good in coverage and can’t tackle. Ryan Neal was still on the roster and when he had replaced Adams in previous seasons, he was really good. Not replacing Adams with Neal immediately was a huge mistake.
The Seahawks’ defense was good for a stretch of about four games near the midpoint of the season and not horrible at the end, but the rest of the year the defense was just plain bad (25th in the NFL in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed). The inconsistency of the defense might partly be due to the inexperience of Hurtt as a coordinator. No matter what, though, the defense must be better in 2023. Seattle has improved its defensive line with the signings of Dre’Mont Jones and Jarran Reed so there is no excuse for the talent not being better this season.
One should assume that in a second year on a job, the person does better than in the first year because they have more experience. Hurtt probably has the ability to be a good DC in the NFL. But he needs to prove it in the coming season or he might need to step down before 2024.