4 Seattle Seahawks players who must get more reps after the bye

The Seattle Seahawks are 4-5 and sliding. The team began the season 3-0, but that seems like several years ago. Seattle needs to make some immediate changes to get better.

If things don't improve, the Seahawks' 2024 season could be basically over in two weeks. Seattle begins their second half by playing two NFC West rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. Losses there, and Seattle should start looking fully ahead to 2025.

Some changes head coach Mike Macdonald and his coaching staff should make to help the team is getting the four players below more snaps. In most cases, the player in front of them on the depth chart simply is not doing their job well. In one case, a completely different unit is to blame.

For Seattle Seahawks who need more snaps beginning in Week 11

Right guard Christian Haynes

There is certainly no guarantee that Haynes would make the right guard spot immediately better if he were to take over a bunch of the reps that Anthony Bradford has been getting, but Haynes also likely could not do worse. Bradford leads all guards in penalties and sacks. The fact that the team keeps playing him and not giving Haynes - or anyone else - a chance at right guard is ridiculous.

Haynes was even a healthy scratch in Week 9 versus the Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, Bradford allowed four more quarterback pressures and committed two more penalties. Haynes must simply be atrocious in practice for Seattle to think he has no chance of being better than Bradford. 12s have already been told Bradford will start in Week 11, but at some point, a change must be made.

Running back Kenny McIntosh

Playing McIntosh more is not meant as a slight to Kenneth Walker III or Zach Charbonnet but more an indictment of the Seahawks' offensive line. Walker has been able to get more yards on his own than he has based on the blocking in front of him. He has averaged 2.1 yards per rush after first contact and 1.9 yards before first contact. Literally, more than half the yards Walker has rushing this season are ones he has to create on his own.

Charbonnet only averages 3.5 yards per carry, but 2.0 of those come before first contact meaning that once Charbonnet is hit, he doesn't do much else. Seattle has to rely on more explosive backs to get any running game going because the offensive line isn't helping push the defensive line backward.

McIntosh is not a grinder like Charbonnet is, but he does have greater explosive bursts. He doesn't need to get 10 carries a game, but so far in 2024, he has only rushed four times. He needs to get the ball four times a game for the rest of the season.

Cornerback Josh Jobe

Jobe was recently signed to the active roster, and he needs to be the starter at one cornerback spot for the rest of 2024. He will replace Tre Brown, who has struggled with an injury but was terrible before that. Through Week 6, Brown had a quarterback rating allowed when targeted of an awful 136.6. He had just one pass defended but gave up two touchdown passes.

Jobe needs to cut back on his penalties, as he has been flagged four times in the last three games, but he also has allowed only seven of the 16 passes thrown his way to be completed. His quarterback rating allowed is just 46.1. He went undrafted in 2022 and has not been with the Seahawks long, but maybe he found the right home in Mike Macdonald's scheme. Jobe could be the new version of D.J. Reed.

Defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris

As bad as Seattle's run defense has been and as inconsistent as the pass rush has been, the defensive line has not been the main problem. Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed have been pretty good. Johnathan Hankins has not been, though. The free agent signee is graded by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the 11th-worst interior run defender in the NFL, and that is out of 120 players.

Robertson-Harris is a recent acquisition who has played well for the Seahawks in the last three games. He doesn't supply much in terms of pass rush, but he does have four run stuffs in 48 run-defense snaps. Seattle will still rotate Hankins and Robertson-Harris, but Robertson-Harris needs to get the vast majority of the reps.

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