Seahawks: Don’t Expect an Offensive Line Retooling
By Ben Renner
The Seahawks could use an infusion of talent along the offensive line, which struggled mightily early in the season, but Tom Cable’s group was extremely effective at the end of the year.
Pretty much everyone here at ECS has written something about the struggles of the Seahawks’ offensive line. They didn’t pass the eye test in several games, and it’s widely known that if the Seahawks had a less mobile quarterback, he would’ve left the field on a stretcher at some point. Still, Russell Wilson and company were extremely effective in the second half of the season. Wilson caught fire, throwing 25 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in the final eight games. Darrell Bevell and Pete Carroll adapted to the offensive line’s shortcomings by drawing up shorter passing routes for Doug Baldwin and the rest of the receiving corps and peppering in an occasional bomb to Tyler Lockett, which seemed to work pretty well.
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There’s no doubt that we’ll see new faces along the line next season. Russell Okung appears headed for greener pastures and the Seahawks will have to find someone to replace Gary Gilliam at at right tackle, who was awful last year. Justin Britt, J.R. Sweezy, and Patrick Lewis were serviceable last year, but they were all plagued by inconsistency during the rocky start to the Seahawks’ season.
But, offensive line coach Tom Cable is one of the best in the league, and the numbers speak for themselves, especially during the second half. The Seahawks had three running backs reach 100-plus yards throughout the year, and the running back position was mostly a mess of injuries, with both Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Rawls going down with injuries. Remember when they started a committee headed by Dujuan Harris? Yeah…
Next: Seahawks 7 Round Mock Draft
What I’m getting at is we can’t presume to know where the Seahawks will spend their draft capital or their free agent money this offseason. It’s easy to assume they will work hard to improve their offensive line, but considering how the offense finished the season, John Schneider and his brain trust could be mulling a great multitude of moves. Several mock drafts have the Seahawks taking a defensive lineman in the first round, but anything could happen. Did you predict the Max Unger for Jimmy Graham trade last offseason? Me neither.