The Seattle Seahawk's Front Office Makes Mistakes

Seattle Times columnist Matt Calkins recently wrote a piece where he argued that the Seahawks offensive line struggles can't be blamed on the front office. In his words, "It’s easy to criticize the five guys out there protecting Wilson. But it’s hard to criticize the brass that put them out there." He thesis is that all of the front office's moves have been right and we, as  fans, wouldn't want to undo them if we could. So, their strategy of investing in the defense to build them into a historically awesome unit and paying key offensive skill players is not to blame. I disagree. The front office does share a large part of the blame for the awful mess that is the Seattle Seahawk's offensive line.

Since coming to Seattle in 2010 Pete Carroll and John Schneider have done a wonderful job of building and maintaining a championship caliber team. The proof is in their four straight playoff appearances, four straight league leading scoring defenses, and two trips to the Super Bowl. It is hard to criticize such a successful pair. However, they do deserve criticism for their terrible handling of the offensive line.

The front office has been unable to draft and cultivate offensive line talent. At times the front office's treatment and strategy around the o-line has felt downright neglectful. The draft is a good example. Since 2010 the Seahawks have drafted 12 offensive linemen and J.R. Sweezy. Take a look to see all these "legendary" men in Table 1. If we throw out the 2016 class because they are so new and still unknown quantities, these draft picks have produced five NFL starters (Glowinski, Britt, Sweezy, Carpenter, and Okung) and none of them are that good. The best of the bunch is probably Russell Okung, Pete Carroll's first ever draft pick, but that isn't saying much. During his time in Seattle Okung struggled to stay healthy and on the playing field. When he was playing he had moments of greatness, but also plenty of moments of bone headedness. The GM and Head Coach thought so little of Okung they didn't bother to resign him and instead let him bounce off to Denver. With Carroll and Schneider in charge the Seahawks have been unable to consistently use the draft to find competent offensive linemen. It has been a weakness for the team.

Table 1

The front office's neglect of the offensive line can also be seen in their decisions of which players to retain. They have let Breno Giacomini, James Carpenter, and Russell Okung walk during free agency rather than pay them. Like Matt Calkins says they used the money to sign their big time defensive play makers to longer term deals. I won't question their strategy here. Keeping Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, and Richard Sherman gives the Seahawks three players that are arguably the best in the league at key defensive positions. They also used that money to bring in guys like Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett. Again I don't question those moves. These players are the heart and soul of the defense that has propelled all the success the Seahawks have had. However, making smart decisions to sign star defenders doesn't excuse dumb decisions that were made to try and free up the money to pay those defensive guys.

This may seem like blasphemy to many, but Doug Baldwin is only a good receiver not a great one. He is a good route runner with good hands, but he isn't stellar. While the number two receiver, Jermaine Kearse, is mediocre at best. Fans wouldn't have liked it, but money could have been saved and used on a guard or tackle by letting those two receivers walk during free agency. Take a look at Table 2 for a comparison to Jermaine Kearse to three other comparable wide receivers. All three of these guys are putting up number just as good as Kearse for less money. The front office chose to reward their WR rather than pay a tackle or guard. The front office made a strategic decision here and over the last two seasons it has proved itself to be the wrong one.

Table 2

Another big mistake that Carroll and Schneider made is trading Max Unger to the Saints for Jimmy Graham. At the time the trade was made the Seahawks biggest need was a talented receiver. Getting a frequently Pro Bowl TE seemed like just the perfect fix to many including the GM and Head Coach. To other though the trade looked to be fixing one problem at receiver by creating a bigger one on the offensive line. Based on the evidence of who they started in 2015, the Seahawks coaches appeared to think they could turn any old big guy into an NFL quality center, so giving up Max Unger wouldn't be a big lose. To keep from reliving the results of the trade too much let's just say Jimmy Graham hasn't provided the level of production in the passing game that the Seahawks were hoping for. Instead he spends lots of time blocking or running around not having the ball thrown to him because Russell Wilson is scrambling away from oncoming pass rushers. The Jimmy Graham trade resulted in a fail and the thinking behind it was flawed.

It is often said that the key to success in football starts with winning the battle of the line. Whoever is able to gain the upper hand in the trenches will prevail more often than not. Seattle has done an excellent job identifying and developing defensive line talent. Their defensive tackles and ends have been able to consistently bring pressure on opposing RB and QB and disrupt the opponents offense at the point of attack. The big boys on the defensive side of the ball are so good at their jobs that Seattle brings an extra man on a blitz very infrequently, which enables the pass defense to shut down aerial attacks. Unfortunately the offensive side of the line is just plain terrible. The scouting and coaching genius that feeds the defensive line doesn't work for the offensive line. The offensive line has been a weakness throughout Carroll's tenure with the team, but rather than hold steady as mediocre they have continued to decline every year. Now in 2016 they are probably the worst o-line unit in the NFL. The fault for this horrendous line lines at the feet of the front office and coaching staff.

Sources: Pro Football Reference, Over the Cap