On Wednesday January 10 news came
down that the Seahawks had fired both Offensive Coordinator Bevell and
Offensive Line coach Tom Cable. Not a big surprise because we all knew that the
team struggled to run the ball during the 2017. The main reason the team didn’t
make the playoffs. We will never know whether they would have stayed on if they
had beaten the Arizona Cardinals in Seattle on the last game of the season. The
Atlanta Falcons won their final game so the Seahawks won’t have made the
playoffs anyway however ten wins looks better than nine wins but changes still
likely would have happened.
There is thought that defense
coordinator Kris Richard could be gone as well. There is thought he could take
a head coaching job somewhere. He did interview for the job at Indianapolis. So
we may have more news on that front in the days ahead along with who will
replace Bevell and Cable. I am sure Pete Carroll does have an eye on who
replaces them.
Now we look at the defensive side of
the ball. They had a good season though not to what has been over the last five
or so years when they dominated the NFL. Just like grading Russell Wilson it is
hard to do a total grade for the defense. The major reason the Seahawks defense
wasn’t as good as past years primarily had to do with injuries to key players.
So I give a total grade of B on the defense though it could be lower as well.
Along with Russell the defense is what kept the Seahawks alive and have nine
wins. They did have some inconsistency especially giving up big plays on runs.
So now a break down for each position.
I start out on the defensive line.
This too is hard to evaluate because the name of some of the players are hard
to identify. We usually see them when they make big plays unless you are
talking about the key guys. First we have to talk about Cliff Avril defensive
end who was injured during the season to his neck. He was chore to the
defensive line along with fellow defensive end Michael Bennett. Right now most
people feel that Avril probably will retire because of his injury however the
announcement may not be made for a few weeks. Bennett on the other hand had a
solid season however his main news was made off of the field. Actually you
could say on the sideline when he sat during the national anthem most of the
season. Actually I got tired of it all in what the media speculated during the
season. I would have felt better not hearing anything more about it after a
couple weeks however the media has to keep it out in the forefront all the
time. Frank Clark had a solid season
being the primary replacement for Avril. He had a good season letting us know
that he is a force to recon with over his career. The tackles had a solid season as well so I
don’t see much change at either spot going into next season. If the Seahawks
make any change it will be likely to add another defensive end by free agency
or the draft; also Michael Bennett feels that he may not be back next season.
So I give a grade at defensive line a B.
Now at linebacker we had solid seasons
again by middle linebacker Bobby Wagner who was among the tops in tackles in
the NFL once again and K.J. Wright at one of the outside linebacker spots. The toughest
game was when the Seahawks were beaten badly by the LA Rams in Seattle when KJ
Wright was out with a concussion and Bobby Wagner played but was hurt as well.
Earl Thomas spoke out after the game believing that Wagner should have not
played in the game. It shows how important both those players are. I would look
to see the Seahawks go out and draft another linebacker if one is available
high in the draft. We know that these guys won’t be here forever. Though the
line and defensive backs get most of the publicity these guys are key to the
defense. I give them a grade of B plus.
Defensive backs had a tough season
especially losing Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor on the same Thursday night
game. They both ended up out for the season. Kam Chancellor’s injury is similar
to Avril’s so his career could be over as well. Earl Thomas had a solid season
after being injured at the end of 2016 season. Most likely he will be back
though it will be last year of his contract. He likely will want to be paid
higher on his next contract and whether he fits under the salary cap we will
have to see. Safety can be another spot the Seahawks will look at in the draft
this spring as well. The replacements for
Sherman and Chancellor did a solid job. There was a drop off but not as much as
we would have thought. So the grade for the defense backs is a solid B.
Now we have to see who comes in as
coaches and what other changes happen during the off-season. This will be the
most noteworthy off season we have seen in a while. General manager John
Schneider and coach Pete Carroll will look at bringing in new coaches well as
players. Some may call it rebuilding but the better term can be retooling. I am
sure they are looking to get back to the playoffs next season. We know for sure
that the off-season will be interesting. Off course it has been a good start to
it with two firings of coaches. Go Hawks!
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