The Seattle Seahawks are getting some rest this weekend (I hope). Seattle has been a very injured bunch, especially along the offensive line, so a week off should allow most of the banged-up players to return. For instance, left tackle Charles Cross should be back in Week 6 even though right tackle Abraham Lucas still needs to sit out one more game before coming off the injured reserve list.
So the week off allows us to take stock of how the Seahawks have done so far. The team is currently 3-1 and that's probably about what many expected. How they got there might be a bit different, though, as most may have thought Seattle would beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 and then lose to the Detroit Lions in Week 2, but the opposite happened.
As far as individual players go, free agent signee Dre'Mont Jones might not have been quite as good as expected, but one player on the defensive line has been fantastic. More on that in just a minute. But let's start with the guy who might be doing the best job on the coaching staff so far.
Seattle Seahawks winner No. 1 - Andy Dickerson
While head coach Pete Carroll has been massively overlooked for year-end coaching awards like...forever, there might be no coach anywhere in the NFL who is doing the miraculous work that Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson is doing so far this year. There was even a chunk of one game - Week 4 against the New York Giants - that Dickerson didn't have any of his presumed starters getting to play their correct spots. In fact, Evan Brown was the only healthy starter and he had to be moved from center to guard as every other starter else had gotten injured.
And yet still, though Dickerson has not had either of his starting offensive tackles since Week 1 and everyone else has missed a bunch of time (except Brown), Seattle still ranks 12th in yards-per-play (5.4) and Seattle's quarterbacks (mostly Geno Smith) have been sacked just 5.1 percent of the time (sixth-least in the league). Compare what Seattle's banged up offensive line is doing compared to what the New York Giants line is doing and maybe Dickerson gets even more appreciation.
If Dickerson keeps coaching the way he is, the Seahawks are going to need to find a replacement for him. And not because he is doing a bad job, of course, but because some lucky team is going to make him their offensive coordinator. Just throwing this out there, but one potential future option is that Pete Carroll decides to retire, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron takes the HC role and Dickerson moves into the OC position.
Loser No. 1 - Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
I might need to scream this first sentence, but just to be clear: I do not think Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a bad player or a first-round bust or anything like that. But let's also be real about this: Many thought that he would be much more productive than he has been through four games. This isn't based on where he was drafted, but more about how smooth he looked in the early preseason and how Seattle's coaching staff was raving about him.
There also seems to be some theory on social media that maybe Smith-Njigba isn't producing as well as hoped to this point because Pete Carroll likes to bring rookies along slowly. That might be generally true but this is not the case with JSN. Smith-Njigba has the third most targets on Seattle's team and he is only three targets behind DK Metcalf. Therefore, Geno Smith isn't just showing some love for Metcalf and Lockett and forgetting Smith-Njigba.
The worst statistic for JSN so far in 2023 is that while he has 12 catches (third on the team), he is averaging only 5.2 yards per catch. That's atrocious. He also has picked up just two first downs on those catches. Compare that to Metcalf (14 first downs in 18 catches) and Lockett (9 first downs on 17 catches) and we further see that Smith-Njigba hasn't had an expllsive impact.
I do think Smith-Njigba is due for a really big game where he breaks off two long catch-and runs. He's got the skills to do that but he is likely still adjusting to the speed of the NFL. Smith-Njigba isn't the fastest of receivers and that might just be making his acclimation to the league that much more difficult.
Winner No. 2 - Defensive tackle Jarran Reed
Jarran Reed might be the Seattle Seahawks defensive MVP through four games. Yeah, Bobby Wagner has been excellent, of course, and Devon Witherspoon has gotten better each week, but so far Jarran Reed has proven Seattle's decision to sign him as a free agent this offseason and then make him the surprise pick to play nose guard a work of genius.
Through four games, Reed has 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 6 QB hits (which leads the team), and 16 tackles (pretty good for a nose tackle). I am in no way saying that Reed is as good as rookie Jalen Carter seems to be (Reed has more QB hits but fewer sacks and TFLs than Carter), but Reed's play is not that far off from a player many wanted Seattle to take at number 5 overall in the NFL draft.
Reed has been so good that he has become one of the players Seattle can least afford to lose. His backup, Cameron Young, has played decent in short spurts and he has the strength to be a productive player one day, but if Reed were to get hurt then the interior of Seattle's run defense would suffer greatly and the pass rush would slow.
Reed came back to the Seahawks on a two-year deal this offseason. His cap hit goes from $3,030,000 in 2023 to $5.97 million in 2024. His dead cap is only $1.5 million next year. But the way Reed is playing even his 2024 salary is an underpay for him, As long as he doesn't get injured, the Seahawks would be silly dumb to not bring Reed back again next year instead of releasing him to save cap space.
Loser No. 2 - Edge rusher Darrell Taylor
Darrell Taylor just can't seem to get over the hump of consistency. He has gone from great to terrible to good to bad during his three years playing in the NFL. This year, however, he lost his starting job before the season to Boye Mafe. While many players would use that kind of diss to play harder, Taylor doesn't seem to have taken up that challenge yet.
Taylor did get a little dinged up in Week 3, but he played 40 snaps against the New York Giants in Week 4. That is 53 percent of the snaps. In Week 2, Taylor played 70 percent of the snaps. Against the Giants when the Seahawks were getting a franchise record-tying 11 sacks along with 14 quarterback hits, Taylor had zero QB hits and zero sacks. While everyone else was having fun at the party, Taylor was in a corner of the room by himself.
But the issue with Taylor in Week 4 is the same as his issue for the rest of the year. He has no sacks or QB hits. He's been healthy enough to play but he hasn't been productive enough to warrant more playing time. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Taylor ranks 102 out of 112 edge rushers so far in 2023. The only reason he doesn't rank lower is because his coverage grade is decent yet Taylor's job isn't to play coverage.
But Taylor can go through spurts where he collects 5 or 6 sacks in five games. Maybe Taylor will be much better the rest of the season. But he still can't play the run well and if he cannot get to opposing quarterbacks then there is no real reason to play Taylor.