keasley45":1enkdxac said:
I dont see why we need a drastic roster shakeup.
If you take away the injury factor, our season failed in three areas, and those three areas contributed to systemic failure across the board.
Interior offensive line
Interior defensive line
Ability of the QB to run a timing offense.
Those are the positional areas that look like they need improvement. Of the 3, only our QB has the potential for improvement without bringing in better talent, and whether in year 11 he can change his stripes remains to be seen.
CB - came into their own this year before injuries took them out. Brown is a future star.
LB - could use someone opposite Brooks but that becomes less an issue with better Dline play. Wags is a HOFer and Brooks is a star.
DL - Poona and Woods are keepers but that's about it. We need obvious help here.
Safety - there isn't a better duo in the league.
On offense
WR - no weakness there
RB - only question is health. And anybody we sign could end up as injured as who we have. So not really a weakness
TE - Everett is a straight baller. Dissly had a couple of drops but he's solid as well
Online- in my opinion, we need a star at center. We have that and the whole line functions better. We have aging pieces in Brown, and injuries hit the line a good bit this year as well, so it's hard to say exactly what their high water mark is.
Schematically on Offense : the ball needs to be delivered on time and go to the open guy every play. It's hard to call for the complete turnover of an offense that routinely left first downs and touchdowns on the field every week. That shows that it works but just isn't being run properly ... and that starts at the QB position. Get better Interior line play, and that will help some, but whoever is behind center next year needs to be able to consistently take the plays that are there and play situational ball.
Schematically on defense :
It's all about the D line. When we don't have a pass rush, we have a group that can limit points because the scheme is solid when they aren't forced to ccover the whole field for 5 seconds every play. Get a passrush that can disrupt the opposing qbs timing and you will see drastic improvement.
Blowing up a roster with the pieces we have now would in my opinion be foolish. We need smart acquisitions in what now seem to be obvious areas of need. I think the FO went into the season hoping for better play from a no-name d-line, given the investment they made in bringing Adams on and likely mo ey they were saving to make necessary signings this year. It worked well enough before our CBS went down and was probably good enough to get us into the post season, but ultimately proved to be a gamble that didn't pay off. Every team has them every year..
I expect that's how Pete sees it. He tried to make the highly-paid franchise QB approach work, and once Russell Wilson and the recipe to stop him got figured out by the rest of the NFL, no more multi-win playoff runs. It doesn't really show up as a serious problem until the postseason, because only teams with good pass rush and smart DCs and cover guys can actually stop Russell from working his magic. Russell's normal QB Superpowers along with an average defense and average run game are good for 10 wins/season, +/-2 wins. Even with normal/good Russell this season, at most he turns 3-4 narrow L's into W's, and we're at 9-6 or even 10-5, but still on track for a quick playoff exit like last year, not making it past Divisional round.
I think Pete looks at it from the standpoint that he needs to get back to his SB-winning earlier formula:
1) Build another elite "eraser" defense, that erases ineffectiveness by the offense. That elite "eraser" defense was on full display in the 2014 NFCCG where the D had to erase 5 turnovers by the offense, and held Green Bay to FGs instead of TDs after the 1st quarter. That D played well enough to win SB49 in the following game, but depth at CB got exploited after Jeremy Lane went down with a blown knee and arm after picking off Brady.
2) Pete also wants to again have a big-time run game that keeps defenses honest and is a *threat* to move down the field and score without a single pass.
3) A roster loaded with players massively outplaying their contracts: Both the 2013 and the 2014 squads had a ton of young guys who massively outplayed their contracts, including a younger Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Kam, JR Sweezy, Alvin Bailey, Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, Darren Smith, and more. It freed up cash to pay irreplaceable talents like Cliff Avril, Lynch, Bennett.
Continuing to pay Russell elite top 5 money for non-elite performance limits the ability to build and pay a talented-enough roster. I'd expect Pete's viewpoint to be that he's tried the pay-the-QB approach with Russell long enough to know it's not working and it's time to try a different approach, so why not go back to the formula that won a Lombardi? The alternative is for Russell Wilson to change his stripes to become proficient at running a timing-based offense. I suspect there has been a "willingness" problem on Russell's part to make the needed changes for the offense that Shane Waldron has tried to bring in. I could see the Hawks giving Russell one more year, but IMO the odds are against it.
I expect a significant roster shake-up, and an effort to try to bring in a lot of promising young players who have a shot to massively outplay their contracts. This would argue for trading Wilson for several draft picks, and maybe including player(s) in the trade to even out the salary cap hit.
So I expect this offseason to bring the most roster changes in a long time for the Seahawks, and for the team to get significantly younger. Just hope they draft well.
