Why the Seattle Seahawks offense can be special in 2023

Seahawks OC Shane Waldron's time to shine

Speaking of comparing the Rams to the Seahawks, let's talk a little more about Shane Waldron. While he may not look or talk the part of an NFL head coach, he's been fantastic for Seattle and will be a hot head coaching candidate after this season.

Did you know that Waldron had Seattle ranked seventh in total points scored on the first drive of either half? Much like the previous disciples of the Mike Shanahan (Bill Walsh) tree, Waldron is strong at getting his team off to hot starts to each half.

In 2021, taking over a Seahawks team that was in an awkward situation post the "Let Russ Cook" 2020 debacle, Shane took a tough situation and appeared to have Russ in a solid place. The Seahawks averaged 25.75 ppg in Russ's four healthy games, going 2-2. Unfortunately, the defense gave up 25 ppg on defense, which would've been 25th in the NFL.

With a new QB in Geno Smith, and two rookie tackles, expectations were low for 2022. While it was an uneven start, Waldron figured out what he had and got the Seahawks on a serious offensive role midway through the season. The Seahawks averaged 31.1 ppg during the nine-game hot streak. This would have been 2 ppg better than the Chiefs averaged as the league's best offense and would have been the best in football since the 2020 Packers, who greatly benefited from no fans. 

The Seahawks finished the season 9th in scoring offense, even with injuries and clear disadvantages. Shane has proven to be elite when he has just decent to good talent.

After a successful offseason, Waldron has some major upgrades at his disposal. The drafting of Jaxon Smith-Njigba gives Seattle arguably the best trio of wide receivers in the NFC and a striking resemblance to what he had in 2018 for Los Angeles. Waldron has 3 TEs who all had moments in 2022, and are each in a make-or-break contract year. He had two young talented backs with the addition of Zach Charbonnet. Along with Kenneth Walker, both backs can do a lot of versatile things and should have some clear lanes with an O-line that should be better with the development of Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, and some IOL upgrades.