First of all, how did we get here? It starts with coaching.
-2015- Dan Quinn was hired away and so Pete decided to go with an internal hire, Kris Richard.
(Made total sense. Seattle had the best defense in the league for years, and in keeping continuity with that group there was no need to look outside the org for a new DC. But then Kris Richard was told to leave because he was playing more man defense and blitzing more, essentially not doing it how Pete wanted, so he had to go. The defenses weren't terrible, they were good in fact, but no longer dominant.)
-2018- Ken Norton replaced Kris Richard because he would be Pete's "Yes Man," unlike Kris Richard.
(Norton was allowed to stick around for far too long and only retained his job because he was Pete's puppet, no other team in the league would've hired him to be DC. They became stagnant, stale, antiquated, and historically bad.)
-2022- Clint Hurtt another internal hire. They have a 3-4 alignment in their base, but 4-2-5 in nickel, and not a 3-3-5. And on the backend are playing the same defense as they did with Norton a lot of Cover 2 and Cover 3, with little shifting post snap. Not a lot of blitzing, not a lot of stunts-twists-games. It's pretty much the same defense, save for the 3-4 alignment in base. Which I expect to be abandoned in the near future as it is an utter failure.
(But the pattern and thus problem is obvious. All of the hires are made internally with Pete refusing to let go.)
Onto recent personnel, and this is where it gets spooky. They have significant investment in Pete's failed attempt to build his defense. Featuring a lot of pieces that are outright failing, bad, or at best… meh.
Here's a run down of every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rd pick in recent years, along with $$$ investments on defense.
D-LINE / EDGE
- L.J. Collier - 2019; 1st rd pick.
(The Seahawks got played like a damn fiddle in this draft, and would require an entire write up of it's own. But sticking to Collier in this blurb. He was like the 10th D-Lineman/EDGE off of the board when he was picked, and has been a huge bust.)
[Utilization: Should've been cut for cap savings before the 2022 season.]
-------
- Darrell Taylor - 2020; 2nd & 3rd rd picks.
(Moving up to take Taylor, he was supposed to be the next great Edge/Leo rusher for the Seahawks. He was bad against the run but flashed early in Seattle's old 4-3 under alignment. Shifting to a 3-4 and getting another big body on the LoS it was thought it would help mitigate Taylor's weakness. It didn't and he is worse than ever.)
[Utilization: DPR, only should be on the field on obvious passing downs. Trending toward being a bust.]
-------
- Boye Mafe - 2022; 2nd rd pick.
(Too early to tell at this point. He has flashed, but so did Darrell Taylor last year, so that doesn't mean much given this regime's consistent track record of having their young players flash early only for them to fall off a cliff in year 3. Here's hoping Mafe is an exception.)
[Utilization: Edge/Leo, exactly how he is being utilized.]
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- Uchenna Nwosu - $9.5M APY ($12.76M cap hit in 2023.)
(One of the few bright spots as it pertains to the bigger investments on the defense. For the 1st time in a long time the Seahawks appeared to have finally hit on a UFA, it has been a laundry list of failings in Free Agency for years. But Nwosu only costs $9.5M APY so he is an absolute bargain. The catch is it is only for 2 years.)
[Utilization: Edge/Leo, exactly how he is being utilized.]
-------
- Shelby Harris - $9M APY ($12.27M cap hit in 2023.)
(A piece from the RW trade. He was brought in to help to transition to a 3-4. Old and already injured, will be 32 next season, and doesn't make sense for a team that is supposedly rebuilding.)
[Utilization: 3-4 End, kick inside on passing downs.]
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- Al Woods (4.5M APY) & Brian Mone ($5.5M APY) ($10M APY combined.)
(Mone, Al Woods backup is making more money than him to be his backup. Makes sense. This is a lot of money to have tied up in NT, when you're going to be in Nickel more anyway, and thus have these guys off the field. And if they are on the field in Nickel, there goes your pass rush. Logic. Also spending this kind of money on run-stuffers and still can't stop the run is a bad look.)
[Utilization: NT.]
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- Poona Ford ($10.075M cap hit in 2022.)
(Poona was one of the best 1-Tech's in the NFL. So Seattle decided to pay him and move him to 3-Tech and spend money on Woods and Mone to fill the void Poona left. Makes sense. This season they moved him again to 3-4 end, where it requires size and length, where guys are usually around 6-5. Poona is 5-11. To no one's surprise he is struggling playing out of position.)
[Utilization: 1-Tech in a 4-3. Doesn't fit the scheme.]
LINEBACKER
- Jordyn Brooks - 2020; 1st rd pick.
(This is a major investment for this position. Drafting an inside linebacker in the 1st is saying this guy will be a perennial pro-bowler in the near future. He has been mismanaged, playing him out of position his first 2 seasons which impeded his development as a Mike, finally moving him to his natural Mike position in year 3, but now throwing him into a 3-4 which he didn't play in college and is not built to play. Still can't cover, will never be able to cover. He likes to go downhill, straightforward, and shoot his gap. Playing on his heals having to read and react is not his game which is required in a 3-4. This is why he is failing and will continue to fail.)
[Utilization: Early down 4-3 Backer that must come off the field on passing downs. He doesn't fit the Seahawks current defense. They have no choice but to continue rolling him out there, but don't expect it to get much better. He is what he is.]
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- Cody Barton - 2019; 3rd rd pick.
(They actually moved up in the 3rd round to take Barton. Swapping a 5th for a 6th with Minnesota. LBers going in the 3rd means the Seahawks thought they were drafting a starter. They were wrong. It's why he hasn't been pulled yet. They made a starter investment in him. But he is a special teamer only, and having him on the field speaks to how bad the Seahawks are at either developing, evaluating, or both as it pertains to Linebackers. Part of the disaster '19 draft where they took Collier, Blair, and Barton in the first three rounds.)
[Utilization: Special Teams. Asking anymore than that and heads need to roll both in coaching, scouting, and whoever decided he could be a starting NFL linebacker. No accountability.]
DEFENSIVE BACK
- Marquise Blair - 2019; 2nd rd pick.
(A slight of build, hard hitting safety. (Anyone not see the problem here.) Oft injured, and undisciplined. Never really developed, and is currently off of the team. His disappointing play led to trading the farm for Jamal Adams compounding things further.)
-------
- Jamal Adams - 2021; 1st & 3rd rd picks, 2022; 1st rd pick. ($17.5M APY)
(Has a lot of talent, but was miscast in the wrong defense. Pete Carroll was quoted on the record stating, "We're still trying to figure out how to use him." Over a year after trading for him. I don't know about you, but if you give up that much you better damn well know how to use him from the jump. The Seahawks are still trying to figure out how to use him. Frequently injured, but still made the highest paid safety in the league when extended due to giving up QB level draft capitol. A disaster that most front offices do not survive. It makes you question if accountability even exists at the top of the org.)
[Utilization: Could be cut pre JUN 1 for only a $3M dead money hit. Post JUN 1 would lead to cap savings. However it's very likely he will be back for 1 more year until he inevitably gets injured again. Should be a box safety in a blitz heavy 3-4, where pressure comes from everywhere. Doesn't fit the scheme.]
-------
- Quandre Diggs - $13M APY ($18.1M cap hit in 2023)
(Quandre was a good player, but his age and major injury at the end of the 2021 season makes his big contract a head-scratcher for a supposed rebuilding team. This will be a contract Seattle will come to regret as he will be 30 next season with an $18.1M cap hit. The early returns in 2022 so far have been bad to boot. The Seahawks have spent resources at Safety like it's their defensive line, or QB, insane!
It is even crazier when you realize Pete is actually good at developing DBs. He is a DB whisperer of sorts, and has developed countless DBs with late round picks. So he should be leaning in on this special power of his, while allocating all the major resources to the D-&-O-Lines, QB, etc.)
[Utilization: Diggs should be in a 2-Deep / 3-Deep scheme as he has lost speed and doesn't have the range to be a sole single high safety. It is how he is being utilized now.]
In conclusion: Pete is the architect of this dumpster fire of a defense. These are his coaches, his players, he has final say on personnel. He decides how it is run. There is no passing the buck, it stops with Pete. Scapegoating his DC's is a waste of time, so replacing Hurtt with another puppet would just be rearranging the lawn furniture.
2019: Spending 1st, 2nd, & 3rd round picks on Collier, Blair, and Barton. Only to follow it up in ->
2020: With 1st, 2nd, & 3rd spent on Brooks and Taylor. Only to then trade away ->
2021/22: Both 1sts and a 3rd for Jamal Adams is absolutely brutal. That is FOUR 1sts, TWO 2nds, and THREE 3rds for a whole lotta nuthin.
So those rubbing their hands together at the 4 early picks they have next year to fix the defense, you might want to pump the breaks. Based on Pete's recent track record on defense with early picks they could easily all get flushed.
But more importantly fans must come to grips that Pete and the defense are a packaged deal. Like how Holmgren and his offense were a packaged deal. If you want a new defense, you'll need a new HC.
In terms of fixing the defense this year, to duplicate the previous seasons after starting historically bad. Well… if they fully go back to the oldway they could improve the defense a little like in recent seasons, but the pass D will remain toothless, as the underneath softzone, featuring a bland rush will always be exploited. Teams have a literal book of Pete Carroll beaters that has spread throughout the league just to exploit his defense.
And with no Wagner or K.J. Wright in the middle I even question if it would improve that much. Brooks doesn't belong on the field on passing downs, Barton doesn't belong on the field ever. It would take a collection of all-pros to overcome this scheme at this juncture. No. The team needs a full reset on defense. A new leader that can salvage some of the pieces they have, bring in a scheme that actually makes sense, and go get the pieces he needs with the upcoming draft picks. It is time.
-2015- Dan Quinn was hired away and so Pete decided to go with an internal hire, Kris Richard.
(Made total sense. Seattle had the best defense in the league for years, and in keeping continuity with that group there was no need to look outside the org for a new DC. But then Kris Richard was told to leave because he was playing more man defense and blitzing more, essentially not doing it how Pete wanted, so he had to go. The defenses weren't terrible, they were good in fact, but no longer dominant.)
-2018- Ken Norton replaced Kris Richard because he would be Pete's "Yes Man," unlike Kris Richard.
(Norton was allowed to stick around for far too long and only retained his job because he was Pete's puppet, no other team in the league would've hired him to be DC. They became stagnant, stale, antiquated, and historically bad.)
-2022- Clint Hurtt another internal hire. They have a 3-4 alignment in their base, but 4-2-5 in nickel, and not a 3-3-5. And on the backend are playing the same defense as they did with Norton a lot of Cover 2 and Cover 3, with little shifting post snap. Not a lot of blitzing, not a lot of stunts-twists-games. It's pretty much the same defense, save for the 3-4 alignment in base. Which I expect to be abandoned in the near future as it is an utter failure.
(But the pattern and thus problem is obvious. All of the hires are made internally with Pete refusing to let go.)
Onto recent personnel, and this is where it gets spooky. They have significant investment in Pete's failed attempt to build his defense. Featuring a lot of pieces that are outright failing, bad, or at best… meh.
Here's a run down of every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rd pick in recent years, along with $$$ investments on defense.
D-LINE / EDGE
- L.J. Collier - 2019; 1st rd pick.
(The Seahawks got played like a damn fiddle in this draft, and would require an entire write up of it's own. But sticking to Collier in this blurb. He was like the 10th D-Lineman/EDGE off of the board when he was picked, and has been a huge bust.)
[Utilization: Should've been cut for cap savings before the 2022 season.]
-------
- Darrell Taylor - 2020; 2nd & 3rd rd picks.
(Moving up to take Taylor, he was supposed to be the next great Edge/Leo rusher for the Seahawks. He was bad against the run but flashed early in Seattle's old 4-3 under alignment. Shifting to a 3-4 and getting another big body on the LoS it was thought it would help mitigate Taylor's weakness. It didn't and he is worse than ever.)
[Utilization: DPR, only should be on the field on obvious passing downs. Trending toward being a bust.]
-------
- Boye Mafe - 2022; 2nd rd pick.
(Too early to tell at this point. He has flashed, but so did Darrell Taylor last year, so that doesn't mean much given this regime's consistent track record of having their young players flash early only for them to fall off a cliff in year 3. Here's hoping Mafe is an exception.)
[Utilization: Edge/Leo, exactly how he is being utilized.]
-------
- Uchenna Nwosu - $9.5M APY ($12.76M cap hit in 2023.)
(One of the few bright spots as it pertains to the bigger investments on the defense. For the 1st time in a long time the Seahawks appeared to have finally hit on a UFA, it has been a laundry list of failings in Free Agency for years. But Nwosu only costs $9.5M APY so he is an absolute bargain. The catch is it is only for 2 years.)
[Utilization: Edge/Leo, exactly how he is being utilized.]
-------
- Shelby Harris - $9M APY ($12.27M cap hit in 2023.)
(A piece from the RW trade. He was brought in to help to transition to a 3-4. Old and already injured, will be 32 next season, and doesn't make sense for a team that is supposedly rebuilding.)
[Utilization: 3-4 End, kick inside on passing downs.]
-------
- Al Woods (4.5M APY) & Brian Mone ($5.5M APY) ($10M APY combined.)
(Mone, Al Woods backup is making more money than him to be his backup. Makes sense. This is a lot of money to have tied up in NT, when you're going to be in Nickel more anyway, and thus have these guys off the field. And if they are on the field in Nickel, there goes your pass rush. Logic. Also spending this kind of money on run-stuffers and still can't stop the run is a bad look.)
[Utilization: NT.]
-------
- Poona Ford ($10.075M cap hit in 2022.)
(Poona was one of the best 1-Tech's in the NFL. So Seattle decided to pay him and move him to 3-Tech and spend money on Woods and Mone to fill the void Poona left. Makes sense. This season they moved him again to 3-4 end, where it requires size and length, where guys are usually around 6-5. Poona is 5-11. To no one's surprise he is struggling playing out of position.)
[Utilization: 1-Tech in a 4-3. Doesn't fit the scheme.]
LINEBACKER
- Jordyn Brooks - 2020; 1st rd pick.
(This is a major investment for this position. Drafting an inside linebacker in the 1st is saying this guy will be a perennial pro-bowler in the near future. He has been mismanaged, playing him out of position his first 2 seasons which impeded his development as a Mike, finally moving him to his natural Mike position in year 3, but now throwing him into a 3-4 which he didn't play in college and is not built to play. Still can't cover, will never be able to cover. He likes to go downhill, straightforward, and shoot his gap. Playing on his heals having to read and react is not his game which is required in a 3-4. This is why he is failing and will continue to fail.)
[Utilization: Early down 4-3 Backer that must come off the field on passing downs. He doesn't fit the Seahawks current defense. They have no choice but to continue rolling him out there, but don't expect it to get much better. He is what he is.]
-------
- Cody Barton - 2019; 3rd rd pick.
(They actually moved up in the 3rd round to take Barton. Swapping a 5th for a 6th with Minnesota. LBers going in the 3rd means the Seahawks thought they were drafting a starter. They were wrong. It's why he hasn't been pulled yet. They made a starter investment in him. But he is a special teamer only, and having him on the field speaks to how bad the Seahawks are at either developing, evaluating, or both as it pertains to Linebackers. Part of the disaster '19 draft where they took Collier, Blair, and Barton in the first three rounds.)
[Utilization: Special Teams. Asking anymore than that and heads need to roll both in coaching, scouting, and whoever decided he could be a starting NFL linebacker. No accountability.]
DEFENSIVE BACK
- Marquise Blair - 2019; 2nd rd pick.
(A slight of build, hard hitting safety. (Anyone not see the problem here.) Oft injured, and undisciplined. Never really developed, and is currently off of the team. His disappointing play led to trading the farm for Jamal Adams compounding things further.)
-------
- Jamal Adams - 2021; 1st & 3rd rd picks, 2022; 1st rd pick. ($17.5M APY)
(Has a lot of talent, but was miscast in the wrong defense. Pete Carroll was quoted on the record stating, "We're still trying to figure out how to use him." Over a year after trading for him. I don't know about you, but if you give up that much you better damn well know how to use him from the jump. The Seahawks are still trying to figure out how to use him. Frequently injured, but still made the highest paid safety in the league when extended due to giving up QB level draft capitol. A disaster that most front offices do not survive. It makes you question if accountability even exists at the top of the org.)
[Utilization: Could be cut pre JUN 1 for only a $3M dead money hit. Post JUN 1 would lead to cap savings. However it's very likely he will be back for 1 more year until he inevitably gets injured again. Should be a box safety in a blitz heavy 3-4, where pressure comes from everywhere. Doesn't fit the scheme.]
-------
- Quandre Diggs - $13M APY ($18.1M cap hit in 2023)
(Quandre was a good player, but his age and major injury at the end of the 2021 season makes his big contract a head-scratcher for a supposed rebuilding team. This will be a contract Seattle will come to regret as he will be 30 next season with an $18.1M cap hit. The early returns in 2022 so far have been bad to boot. The Seahawks have spent resources at Safety like it's their defensive line, or QB, insane!
It is even crazier when you realize Pete is actually good at developing DBs. He is a DB whisperer of sorts, and has developed countless DBs with late round picks. So he should be leaning in on this special power of his, while allocating all the major resources to the D-&-O-Lines, QB, etc.)
[Utilization: Diggs should be in a 2-Deep / 3-Deep scheme as he has lost speed and doesn't have the range to be a sole single high safety. It is how he is being utilized now.]
In conclusion: Pete is the architect of this dumpster fire of a defense. These are his coaches, his players, he has final say on personnel. He decides how it is run. There is no passing the buck, it stops with Pete. Scapegoating his DC's is a waste of time, so replacing Hurtt with another puppet would just be rearranging the lawn furniture.
2019: Spending 1st, 2nd, & 3rd round picks on Collier, Blair, and Barton. Only to follow it up in ->
2020: With 1st, 2nd, & 3rd spent on Brooks and Taylor. Only to then trade away ->
2021/22: Both 1sts and a 3rd for Jamal Adams is absolutely brutal. That is FOUR 1sts, TWO 2nds, and THREE 3rds for a whole lotta nuthin.
So those rubbing their hands together at the 4 early picks they have next year to fix the defense, you might want to pump the breaks. Based on Pete's recent track record on defense with early picks they could easily all get flushed.
But more importantly fans must come to grips that Pete and the defense are a packaged deal. Like how Holmgren and his offense were a packaged deal. If you want a new defense, you'll need a new HC.
In terms of fixing the defense this year, to duplicate the previous seasons after starting historically bad. Well… if they fully go back to the oldway they could improve the defense a little like in recent seasons, but the pass D will remain toothless, as the underneath softzone, featuring a bland rush will always be exploited. Teams have a literal book of Pete Carroll beaters that has spread throughout the league just to exploit his defense.
And with no Wagner or K.J. Wright in the middle I even question if it would improve that much. Brooks doesn't belong on the field on passing downs, Barton doesn't belong on the field ever. It would take a collection of all-pros to overcome this scheme at this juncture. No. The team needs a full reset on defense. A new leader that can salvage some of the pieces they have, bring in a scheme that actually makes sense, and go get the pieces he needs with the upcoming draft picks. It is time.
So how can Carroll, Hurtt, and Desai make chicken salad out of this current chicken poo?
