Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. A similar line could apply to calling plays in the NFL: everyone’s got a call until the offensive line completely breaks down and the quarterback has to either improvise or get obliterated. That was certainly the case for much of the last two seasons as Geno Smith was pummeled and pressured at a high rate compared to his competitors – especially on third down.
While he’s done a magnificent job of adjusting to the situation and avoiding sacks, Smith can only do so much and arguably only Patrick Mahomes is better at evading pressure these days. For this offense to reach its potential under new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb the offensive line – especially the pass protection – has to improve a lot.
Under Pete Carroll the offensive line was a blind spot, given seemingly little thought and resources even as it proved to be Seattle’s Achilles heel season after season. While Russell Wilson’s unique brand of ball had something to do with that, poor pass blocking has been an issue all along – even when they had the most expensive OL in the league when they won it all.
Good news – these new-look Seahawks are at least trying different things than the former regime. Watch offensive line coach Scott Huff coaching up the first-team OL unit along with Geno Smith and Ken Walker in the backfield. They look to be working on getting everyone’s timing on the same page. Apparently this wasn’t a thing during the Carroll era, per Gregg Bell.
New offensive line coach Scott Huff teaching Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker and #Seahawks’ current 1st-string linemen blocking schemes, run fits in 5th OTA.
Can’t recall seeing a Seahawks line coach teaching the starting QB and lead RB along with his blockers on the field like this pic.twitter.com/mZa4fqjbL7
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) May 30, 2024
Running the ball well is part of any healthy offense, even ones that are pass-heavy like those Grubb and Huff led during their time together at Washington. Opening up lanes for Ken Walker will help. Whether he actually uses them is another story, but we’re hopeful that this coaching staff will get Walker playing more disciplined while not throwing out his electrifying ability to flip the field, which is as good as anyone in football.
Seattle’s woeful pass protection is the real x-factor, though. If that part of the game doesn’t improve a great deal compared to the last two seasons then 9-8 is going to remain this team’s ceiling. Until we see it in a live regular season game, consider us skeptical that it’ll actually happen.
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