NFL 2024: Seattle Seahawks Breakout Season
The Seattle Seahawks were in no man's land this season. They started the 2023-24 season with low playoff hopes because everyone following football knew that as long as Matthew Stafford stayed healthy the Rams would finish higher than the Seahawks in the standings. Seahawks fans began to question former head coach Pete Carroll’s philosophy of playing elite defense and running the football because the team hadn’t excelled in either of those categories in a while. Their former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was also being criticized for the lack of creativity with the plays being run. Another problem with the Seahawks was their abysmal offensive line play. The Seahawks were ranked as a bottom-five offensive line, making it almost impossible to put good drives together consistently. Now you may be wondering how a team dealing with all these issues just a couple of months ago could be a serious breakout candidate team. Let me tell you why.
For starters, the Seahawks have brought in a completely new coaching staff. They fired Pete Carroll and Shane Waldron and replaced them both with two potential superstars. The new regime of the Seahawks started by hiring Mike Macdonald from the Baltimore Ravens as the new head coach. Macdonald was given the nickname “boy genius” because of his ability to scheme up defenses in creative and effective ways. In two years as the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, Macdonald led their defensive unit to the third and first overall defense in the NFL. With the amount of talent the Seahawks have defensively, Macdonald should be able to instantly get this unit back into the top ten like they were during the legion of boom days. Their second hire was bringing in Ryan Grubb from the University of Washington. The Seahawks' new offensive coordinator was a big piece in getting Washington to the College National Championship game. Grubb’s offense had the number one college receiver in terms of yards with Rome Odunze and it had the number one quarterback in passing yards with Michael Penix Jr. Both players would have had good numbers regardless of who was calling the plays but the fact that they both lead college football in their positions is a reflection on Grubb. I know that preseason football isn’t everything but in the one series the starters played, the offense scored in less than seven total plays and looked smooth.
The offensive line group undoubtedly improved this offseason. The signing of Connor Williams was huge because of how elite he is when healthy. Williams has a PFF grade of 86.5 which puts him in the top 10 for centers in the NFL. The combination of an elite offensive coordinator and a dominant center can boost the play of a team's offensive line tremendously. The Seahawks lack depth on the offensive line but as long as they can stay in the league average for injuries, I expect them to be a top-20 unit instead of a bottom-five unit.
The amount of talent on the Seahawks was never the issue, it was always the coaching, offensive line, and the utilization of their best players. The Niners have been dealing with injuries and contract disputes all summer. Star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams have been non-participants in training camp because they want new contracts. Plus, Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played in the preseason because of a calf injury. On the Los Angeles Rams side of things, they lost their best player Aaron Donald to retirement and now they will be heading into the season with one of the youngest defensive units in the league. The Rams are also one Stafford injury away from picking in the top five of next year's NFL Draft. The Rams and Niners are full of issues right now in training camp meanwhile the news out of Seahawks training camp is nothing but positive. If healthy, the Seahawks will make the playoffs and could win the NFC West.
