The Seattle Seahawks have both the benefit and misfortune of playing in a wide open NFC West. An argument can be made for all four teams either winning the division or finishing in last place. All it will take is one major flaw to sink any team's ship.
For Seattle, the lack of interior offensive line talent and completely remade offensive structure could be a tough barrier for this team to overcome. For the San Francisco 49ers, in the eyes of The Athletic's Matt Barrows, the team's defensive cleansing could lead to some gaping holes in the passing game.
Barrows has no idea who is going to emerge as the starting safety, and he notes that 49ers aren't exactly picking between Ronnie Lott and Ed Reed at the position anyway. The injuries that ruined San Francisco's 2024 season seem to once again be impacting this group in 2025.
Seahawks could take advantage of poor 49ers secondary depth
Ji'Ayir Brown is currently dealing with offseason ankle surgery, while impressive fourth-round rookie Malik Mustapha is trying to work through a knee injury. Throw in injuries to veteran special teamer George Odum and rookie Marques Sigle, and you have a secondary led by Richie Grant and Jason Pinnock.
Talanoa Hufanga (Broncos), Charvarius Ward (Colts), and Tashaun Gipson (unsigned) have all departed the 49ers in the offseason. Throw in more depth losses like Rock Ya-Sin (Lions) and Isaac Yiadom (Saints), and you have a recipe for a thin secondary Seattle should not have much trouble exploiting.
While new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh built the New York Jets into one of the league's best defenses, safety was a weak point for him throughout his tenure with the club. Saleh also had the benefit of Sauce Gardner, DJ Reed, and Michael Carter II in his secondary, which he does not have in San Francisco.
Seattle has the horses needed to exploit this mismatch. Cooper Kupp appears to have more left in the tank than the Los Angeles Rams believe, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is ready to take a star turn as the unquestioned top dog in this offense, and veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling still has the speed needed to stretch a defense.
It might take a while for San Francisco to figure out exactly what is going on with their new secondary, leaving Seattle in a perfect position to attack a defense consisting of either injured starters or healthy, yet subpar backups.