The Seattle Seahawks have reportedly hired a new head coach. Mike Macdonald, now formerly defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, will be coming to Seattle to replace Pete Carroll, according to multiple reports. Now that Seattle has their man, Macdonald has to begin fixing things.
At least he does not have to do so immediately Macdonald's contract pays him for six years. If Seattle isn't perfect in 2024 under first-year head coach Macdonald, that is OK. Much improvement would be nice, though.
Also, to be noted is that Seattle will be going from the NFL oldest head coach (Pete Carroll) to the league's youngest (Macdonald). Macdonald is just 36 years old. Let's hope by the time he is 50, the Seahawks have at least four more Super Bowl victories.
Seattle Seahawks DL issues
There are a couple of issues that Macdonald will have with the Seahawks defensive line that he did not have in Baltimore. At least, that is the fact right now. The biggest difference is that Seattle does not have the kind of young talent that the Ravens had. Most specifically, Baltimore had a player such as Justin Madubuike while Seattle had to trade for Leonard Williams just to have a player close to Madubuike's ability.
Williams might leave in free agency as Macdonald is coming to a team with very little cap room. So while Williams might be of the same talent level (or maybe even slightly higher) as Madubuike, Macdonald won't likely have Williams or Madubuike. Unless, of course, Seattle creates enough room to sign both Williams and Madubuike and that is a dream that won't come true.
The #Seahawks are giving Mike Macdonald a six-year deal, per sources. Locking in their young new head coach for the long haul. https://t.co/R1erW8nJvI
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 31, 2024
Instead, Macdonald will get a defensive line that includes Jarran Reed, Dre'Mont Jones, Cam Young, among others. Jones underperformed last year but maybe Macdonald can get him to be at his best. Reed was good in pass rush but not against the run. Macdonald has a lot to fix, but he has proven he can make those changes.
Getting the most out of the young defensive talent
Seattle has a couple of units in the defense that need a lot of work. Defensive line is one, of course, but so is linebacker and safety. The concern with the linebacker group is that Seattle currently has no proven linebackers on the roster in 2024. Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, and Devin Bush are all free agents. Seattle's tight cap space might make re-signing Brooks difficult while Wagner might not return due to age and price tag.
Another problem area is at safety. Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams were not good in 2023 and they add up to more than $50 million in cap hits. They probably could both be released. That would leave the Seahawks extremely shallow on the back end of the defense except for one player. That is Julian Love who will only be 26 years old in Week 1 of 2024.
That last part is key, however. Seattle has quite a bit of young talent on defense. Love is just one player, but cornerback Devon Witherspoon is only 23 and edge rusher Boye Mafe is 25. Cornerback Riq Woolen had an off-year in 2023 but was good in 2022 and Woolen is just 24.
Macdonald will not inherit a defense with the overall talent the Ravens had this season, but Seattle is also not without talent. In fact, most of the talent the Seahawks do have is young. This would not have been lost on Macdonald. He does not want to come to Seattle and fail. He likely saw the roster and who was under contract and thought, "Yeah, I can win with that."
Fixing third down offense and defense
The last grave concern might not be completely under the control of Macdonald. At the same time, Macdonald will have a huge say over the defense, obviously, the biggest decision he will probably have immediately is who to hire as offensive coordinator. That OC will have to address Seattle's awful third-down offense over the last few years. The problem was not caused by quarterback Geno Smith either but by the plays and approach that former OC Shane Waldron had in any third-down situation.
Seattle was 23rd in third-down conversions this season converting only 36.2 percent. The Seahawks were 20th in 2022 at only 37.8 percent. It also did not matter if the Seahawks had the ball third-and-short or third-and-long. Seattle simply could not convert. (And I am not even addressing red-zone offense which was also terrible - 28th in 2022 and 25th in 2023.)
Macdonald will at least have a lot more input on what his defense does on third down. Sure, he will hire a defensive coordinator who understands what he needs, but there is no way Macdonald is going to be very hands-off in his coaching approach. The Baltimore Ravens were 7th defensively in third-down conversions in 2023 and second in red-zone percentage for a reason: Macdonald knows well what he is doing.
One key is that the Ravens also had good coverage linebackers. That is something that clearly was taught better in Baltimore than in Seattle. Even fixing that problem alone should make the Seahawks' defense better. Seattle might not have a top-ten defense next year, but it certainly will be a lot better than it has been recently.