The Seahawks the last couple of years appeared to be an 11-win team stuck in a nine-win team's body. While he deserves credit for what he built, what was holding them back were some old-fashioned tendencies by former head coach Pete Carroll. His unforgivable preference to punt on fourth and short in his own territory and refusal to disguise coverages were among his worst sins. Since Carroll's dismissal, Seattle has gone in a different direction, hiring a couple of the most forward-thinking and cutting edge playcallers in the sport today.
Head coach Mike Macdonald was widely regarded as both the best defensive playcaller in the league last year and the best head coach candidate in the cycle. Macdonald's scheme should get the Seahawks defense back to a respectable level right away.
Meanwhile on offense Macdonald's key hire was stealing offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb away from Alabama. All due respect to former OC Shane Waldron, Grubb is at another level when it comes to playcalling. Just watch veteran quarterback Geno Smith talking about how innovative Grubb's playbook is and you can see the enthusiasm shining in his eyes.
Very exciting stuff.
The greatest improvements on this side of things will have to come in the red zone, where Seattle struggled badly the last two seasons. The Seahawks only scored a touchdown on 48.15% of their trips inside the 20 last year, which was the seventh-worst percentage in the league. In 2022 their numbers were almost identical at 48.28%, ranking sixth-worst.
Throwing out the shotgun runs at the goal line will be part of it, but Grubb will have to prove he can scheme up an entire proper red zone package. If he does literally nothing else, Seattle's offense should be in the top-10 this year at worst.
