The Seattle Seahawks underperformed this season for two reasons, and both relate to the postseason. Last year, Seattle made a surprising run to the postseason as they finished 9-8. The team seemingly added talent in the 2023 NFL draft and in free agency but Seattle once again finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Plus, Seattle only needed to win their final two games to clinch a postseason spot and they couldn't.
Now, Seattle has let Pete Carroll go as head coach and the team is searching for a new one. Carroll was hampered by possibly being a bit too lenient on players, but also not fixing the run defense. The next head coach can't be worse at run defense, surely.
But the players that follow were also reasons for the Seahawks seasons not meeting expectations as the players didn't. Three are capable of being much better in 2024 and beyond. But we will start with a player likely not capable of being very good.
Seattle Seahawks right guard Phil Haynes was a mess
Phil Haynes finally got his chance to be a full-time starter at guard for the Seahawks this season. After three years of mostly being a backup when he was healthy enough to play, Haynes did not have real competition before the season to start. Sure, Haynes rotated in 2022 with Gabe Jackson and Haynes was better than Jackson for most of the year, but Jackson was released last offseason which meant right guard should belong to Haynes.
Seattle did take Anthony Bradford in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft, but Bradford was not expected to supplant Haynes right away. Seattle re-signed Haynes last offseason to a one-year deal so if Bradford was going to take Haynes spot that was supposed to happen in 2024. But Haynes reverted back to his pre-2022 form in terms of not staying healthy.
Haynes only played in eight games this year. This marked the third season out of Haynes' five years with Seattle that he failed to reach double-digits in games played during the course of a season. But even when Haynes did play this year, he was not good. He allowed 5 sacks in 299 pass block snaps and had six penalities as well. Haynes will be a free agent again this offseason and very likely will not return to Seattle and he might be lucky to catch on anywhere in the NFL.
Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen faltered in year two
Mr. Woolen, where did you go in 2023? That is something many 12s might be asking of a player who was good enough to make the Pro Bowl in his rookie year of 2022 and be tied for the league-lead in interceptions with 6. Woolen's season almost seemed doomed before it began. The cornerback was injured in a freak accident in minicamp where he appeared to step funny and hurt his knee. This required minor surgery and Woolen missed a bunch of training camp and the entire preseason.
Maybe the expectations that after playing just one season in the NFL Woolen would be able to pick up where he left off the season before after missing so much practice were foolish. But then, Woolen started the season well enough by allowing just 7 receiving yards on 2 catches in the Seahawks' first two games. By Week 4, the proverbial wheels had started to fall off for Woolen.
In Week 4 and 6 combined (Seattle had a bye week in Week 5), Woolen allowed 12 of the 17 passes thrown his way to be completed. He allowed 2 touchdown passes against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6 and was a big reason Seattle lost a close game. Woolen had been a solid and aggressive tackler in 2022, but he appeared afraid to hit ball carriers hard for most of 2023 and whiffed on 20 percent of his tackle attempts.
If Woolen can manage to get close to his 2022 level moving forward, whoever the new Seahawks defensive coordinator is in 2024 and beyond could have two very good cornerbacks (Woolen and Devon Witherspoon) to build the backend of the defense around. But if Woolen continues to play as he did this season, he could have a difficult time of ever being a starter again.
Seattle edge rusher Derick Hall was so bad in his rookie year
I am definitely not one to give up on a player so easily. Plus, being a rookie in the NFL is tough and a player can take a year or two to acclimate to the speed and power of the league. But that usually happens after a player has done something to show they are worthy of holding down a roster spot moving forward. In 2023, Derick Hall wasn't just bad, but brutally awful.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Hall was the second-worst edge rushers in the NFL. He was the worst in terms of run support. The problem was that run defense was supposed to be something that Hall could help the Seahawks with immediately. He was supposed to have the strength and size entering the league to have an impact there. Hall was supposed to just be a little raw in terms of pass rush skill.
But for most of the season, Hall looked completely lost, at times appearing to have never played organized football before. He lined up oddly, did not react well to what offenses were doing, and was just a warm body to have on the field while the rest of the defense underperformed as well. Hall should have taken the year off not because he was hurt but because he needed to learn how to be an NFL player.
In his rookie season, Hall had zero sacks, just 4 quarterback hits, 10 run stops, and made no other recordable impact. My hope is that after a year of learning to be a pro, Hall will have a breakout second season. But that might be like going from 0 to 60 in two seconds. Hall might not ever be productive or at least not until 2025.
Seahawks right tackle Abraham Lucas's future is a real concern
In the 2022 NFL draft, the Seahawks chose two players who might form the bookends of the offensive line for most of the next decade. Charles Cross was taken in the first round and Cross has been pretty solid, if not yet great. Abraham Lucas was chosen in round three. He might have gone earlier in the draft but he seemed much more of a pure right tackle and most NFL teams place a premium on left tackles as that is the blindside of most quarterbacks (most QBs are right-handed).
Last season, Lucas appeared to be the equal of Cross, and that was a good thing. But this season, things changed. Cross was graded as the 37th-best offensive tackle in the league, according to Pro Football Focus - again, not great but not horrible, either - but Lucas would have been 69th had Lucas been healthy enough to meet the minimum number of snaps to be graded as a starter.
And that is the bigger concern: The health of Lucas. He has been bothered by a knee since college, it appears, and the issue was called "chronic" by Pete Carroll. Lucas has already had surgery this offseason in hopes of making his knee healthier, but as there was seemingly no direct impact that originally caused the injury but something that Lucas has just been dealing with means the Seahawks might have to deal with a right tackle capable of goodness but who cannot be counted on to play the majority of games year-in and year-out.
Lucas only managed to appear in six games this season. There is no guarantee he will consistently play in as many as that moving forward. The Seahawks might be forced to find Lucas' replacement sooner than later.