Tag: Leonard Williams

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wants to see ‘shocking effort’ from his players

Recently we got to hear more about his core philosophy at Washington’s Be A Pro Coaching Clinic.

Little by little, we are getting to know Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald more. Recently we got to hear more about his core philosophy as a coach at Washington’s Be A Pro Coaching Clinic. For one thing, Macdonald says he wants to see “shocking effort” from his players.

What does that mean exactly? Here’s how Macdonald explained it earlier this month, per John Boye at Seahawks.com.

“Well you’ve got to be in great shape, you’ve got to have guys who love each other and want to play for one another—you can’t be selfish. What you’re asking them to do is be incredibly clear, and in order to do that, you have to build confidence. And when you build confidence, guess what happens? They communicate, because they know what the hell they’re doing… We’re talking pre-snap alerts, post-snap alerts, we’re communicating, everybody knows exactly what we’re doing, we’re flying around, we’re leveraging the ball, then you have, and then it starts to look like shocking effort. But it doesn’t just happen overnight.”

Macdonald seems to have had a positive affect on his roster so far – Leonard Williams for one claims the team is locked in on a different level since his arrival. While we expect a modest improvement in 2023, most head coaches don’t see a big leap with their teams until Year 2 in the NFL. If they make the right picks in the draft later this week we could see Seattle emerge as a true contender in 2025.

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Leonard Williams on why he re-signed with the Seahawks

Leonard Williams on why he re-signed with the Seahawks

One of the first orders of business for the Seattle Seahawks was to make sure defensive lineman Leonard Williams stayed in the Emerald City. The Seahawks spent a hefty price in a second round pick when they traded for Williams from the New York Giants, especially for a player on the final year of his contract. Re-signing him was a priority to make sure the trade was worth the risk.

Fortunately, general manager John Schneider was able to pull it off and kept Williams in Seattle. Recently, Williams spoke with the media to explain why he felt he wanted to stay with the Seahawks, instead of test the free agent waters.

The video of Williams can be seen in the link in the Tweet below.

Keeping Williams in the fold was a strong first move to fixing the atrocious run defense. Williams played great for the Seahawks, and made as much of an impact as he could. Now, the onus falls once more on Schneider and new head coach Mike Macdonald for finishing the job on the defensive line.

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Why Mike Macdonald removed old Seahawks murals from team facility

Why Mike Macdonald removed old Seahawks murals from team facility

As I have written multiple times in regards to new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, it is the dawn of a new era in Seattle. This could not possibly be more evident than it is right now with the recent redecoration reports.

Macdonald has removed iconic murals from the team facility, images of some of the greatest moments in Seahawks history – specifically ones created in the past 14 years. Moments such as:

  • The BeastQuake
  • Richard Sherman’s tip
  • Russell Wilson being emotional after the win over the Packers in the NFC Championship game
  • Kam Chancellor forcing a fumble of Calvin Johnson Jr.
  • Hoisting the Lombardi Trophy

Why are these iconic moments gone? Why are the walls at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center left bare? Why are all remnants of the Pete Carroll era seemingly… erased?

Two words: new legacy. Macdonald is sending a clear message to his new team, he wants them to forge a new way forward. Create new moments and memories, something to define this new era. In the words of Star Wars villain Kylo Ren, “let the past die.”

Such a move is certainly far more than curious. Dave “Softy” Mahler mentioned on Twitter how it is hard to imagine other teams, such as the Green Bay Packers or the loathsome Steelers or 49ers erasing their histories, especially their Golden Years. Yes, make no mistake, the Carroll era was the height (so far?) of the Seahawks franchise.

But perhaps there might be some mad genius to this unusual method. Perhaps Macdonald’s new tactic can help inspire his young team to push themselves to new heights. To feel a sense of freedom of not being trapped by the past.

So far, it has not seemed to ruffle feathers. Macdonald’s new players seem to sing nothing but his praises. Julian Love, Uchenna Nwosu, Leonard Williams, Devon Witherspoon and Charles Cross have all been effusive in their enthusiasm for their new coach.

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Leonard Williams says the Seahawks are ‘locked in on a different level’

Given his experience we may see Williams in a leadership role this coming season.

Yesterday several Seahawks players spoke with the media at the VMAC as the offseason program continues.

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams was one. He says there’s a sense of urgency right now and everyone is locked in on a different level under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.

Given his experience we may see Williams in a leadership role this coming season. In the absence of Bobby Wagner he is arguably the most-logical candidate to become the team’s new defensive captain.

At the very least we know Williams can lead by example. While he’s only made one Pro Bowl team in his career he has been performing at a high level for 10 seasons now. After the trade from the Giants Williams was Seattle’s best and most conistent defender down the stretch last year. He finished with four sacks, 11 quarterback hits and nine tackles for a loss in just 10 games with the Seahawks.

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Every move the Seahawks have made so far this offseason

Every move the Seattle Seahawks have made in the 2024 offseason

Next week the offseason will culminate in the 2024 NFL draft, so let’s take a moment today to review what the team has done so far.

It’s been an eventful offseason for the Seattle Seahawks and their fans to say the least. It began with a thrilling one-point win over the division rival Arizona Cardinals, followed immediately by a short-lived but silly controversy over cigar smoking in the locker room. Since then the team has changed head coaches, totally remade the back end of their defense and brought in another backup quarterback via trade.

Next week the offseason will culminate in the 2024 NFL draft, which is the main event of the non-football season calendar. Let’s take a moment today to review what the team has done so far. Here are all 32 of their major moves this offseason.

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ESPN: Texas DT Byron Murphy II won’t slip past Seahawks at 16

Here’s what Matt Miller at ESPN had to say about Seattle’s plans.

As the 2024 NFL draft approaches we should (in theory) learn more about what each team has planned thanks to hard journalism. Today we got our first glimmer at what the Seahawks might have in mind for Round 1.

Here’s what Matt Miller at ESPN had to say about Seattle’s plans.

“The hiring of Mike Macdonald as coach has shifted how we view the Seahawks’ needs, but one constant has been defensive tackle. The Seahawks re-signed Leonard Williams in free agency, but sources with the team reiterated to me this week No. 16 is the floor for Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Murphy’s first-step quickness and power are ideal in the 3-technique position and would boost the interior pass-rush skills of this defense.”

On the surface it makes sense, given what we now know about the relative value of interior linemen compared to other defensive positions. However, fans also have to take all reportage about the draft with a big dose of salt. Remember two years ago the team’s sources had all the beat reporters believing they would target Desmond Ridder in Round 2.

Teams don’t have any incentive to share their actual plans, but Murphy is a great prospect and builds up a unit that will need an infusion pretty soon. Dre’Mont Jones and the backups are pretty young, but both Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed will be over 30 when next season starts. Picking Murphy helps keep this iDL unit going strong for the long run.

We wouldn’t have any problem with Murphy as the pick, so long as they aren’t passing on Washington QB Michael Penix to get him.

Just two weeks to go!

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Let’s review the changes to the starting lineup.

The Seattle Seahawks have made some major shakeups to their roster over the last six weeks or so. This is when we’ve really felt the Pete Carroll era ending and the begining of a new chapter for the organization.

Let’s review the changes to the starting lineup.

Offense

On this side of the ball things are much the same as when the 2023 season ended, with the exception of the offensive line. At left tackle and right tackle Charles Cross and Abe Lucas are still penned in, respectively. However, the rest of the line is in the middle of a total makeover. For now there are no true left guards on the roster and only a couple of unproven options at center and right guard. We did our best to fill in those spots while the work to build out the roster is still ongoing.

Defense

It’s a different story on defense, where a ton of changes have taken place on the back end. At safety Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams are out, and Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins will replace them – K’Von Wallace can fill in as the third safety if that’s something head coach Mike Macdonald wants to continue. Linebacker has been totally turned over as well, with Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks getting replaced by Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker in free agency.

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Special teams

With DeeJay Dallas out of the picture the Seahawks needed somebody to step up and take over the kickoff and punt returner roles. For now, we can assume Laviska Shenault and Dee Eskridge will both be involved in the new kickoff rules, which should see teams employing two KRs at a time. At punt returner, our best guess was Cody White – who’s expendable and has some experience doing it in college.

Here are our full projections for the starting lineup after free agency.

Noah Fant named PFF’s favorite free agent move for Seahawks

According to Pro Football Focus, the deal with Fant was the best move that Seattle has made in free agency so far.

By and large, the Seahawks decided to let their key free agents walk out the door this year. Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, Damien Lewis, Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson will all be suiting up for different NFL teams in 2024. Seattle made two exceptions to the rule, though. For one thing, they managed to re-sign star defensive end Leonard Williams to a big three-year, $64.5 million contract. They also re-signed tight end Noah Fant to a two-year, $21 million deal.

According to Pro Football Focus, the deal with Fant was the best move that Seattle has made in free agency so far, per Brad Spielberger at PFF:

“Fant should take on an even larger role in Seattle’s offense with the team moving on from both Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson this offseason, and his abilities after the catch were on display in 2023 when he was called upon. Improved pass protection for Geno Smith should hopefully enable him to work through his progressions and find Fant more frequently going forward.”

Last season Fant’s targets actually dropped from 63 to 43, and he was almost completely shut out in the red zone. He was targeted only twice all year inside the 20 and did not score any touchdowns. This criminal misuse of the athletic Fant is one of many reasons why moving on from offensive coordinator Shaen Waldron was the right call.

There was a case to move on from Fant and net what would have likely been a decent comp pick. However, it doesn’t take much imagination to see Fant dominating in Ryan Grubb’s offense. Keeping him in the fold and letting Grubb set him loose should give the Seahawks their first legitimate receiving weapon at this position since Jimmy Graham.

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The truth is Seattle let Brooks walk and Bobby Wagner too.

You can’t always take what an NFL executive says at face value. Seahawks fans should have had that lesson permanently seared into their minds two years ago when the organization convinced everyone that they would be drafting Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder. Thankfully, it was an elaborate smokescreen. Seattle passed on Ridder and put together a magnificent draft class.

We may have another example of this from general manager John Schneider’s comments last week about inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks leaving in free agency. Brooks signed a three-year, max $30 million deal with Miami, which was very much in Seattle’s price-range to match if they really wanted to keep him. However, when Schneider was asked about what happened he claims it was a matter of timing.

Supposedly, the team had prioritized signing Leonard Williams first. While they were working on those negotiations, the Dolphins moved quicker than they could to sign Brooks, per Mike Dugar at the Athletic.

“Really, it was the timing of it. We were working on Leonard (Williams.) Leonard’s deal took a while… they had a deal on the table and we just couldn’t move as quickly as they did. They had lost out on a couple of guys that day so they were moving quickly… We had prioritized Leonard ahead of the linebacker position at that point.”

While it’s right to put Williams’ contract first the idea that the Seahawks literally didn’t have the time to speak with Brooks before he signed with the Dolphins is absurd. Schneider’s other comments later in his answer are far more revealing, especially saying “you have to take the emotion out of it” twice. That says everything you need to know. The truth is Seattle let Brooks walk and Bobby Wagner too.

Since then the team has signed two free agent linebackers to replace Brooks and Wagner: Tyrel Dodson of the Bills and Jerome Baker from the Dolphins are both coming in on one-year deals. Our best guess is that they’re not done here yet, though. Fans should expect an off-ball linebacker to be on the menu in the 2024 NFL draft. Michigan’s Junior Colson is a popular candidate given his connections with head coach Mike Macdonald, but this is considered a thin class of linebackers overall.

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