What Do The Seattle Seahawks Need In The Offseason?

The NFL Scouting Combine has started and that means we’ll get a sneak peak at the top 300 draft prospects hoping to improve their standings and land with an NFL team in the upcoming draft. It also means that the 12^th man can finally move on from the post Super Bowl depression. Well, I don’t know, maybe it’s still early. But at least we’re making progress, right?

Let’s start evaluating the talent and address the needs of the Seattle Seahawks. Which by my standard is definitely at the Tight end and Defensive line positions.

Defensively the team struggled mightily in the Super Bowl, only sacking Tom Brady a single time. Granted, Michael Bennett was a beast on defense, they still labored to get to Brady off the edge. Irvin had the lone sack and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him reprise his role as a lead edge guy this next season. I know they love him as an outside linebacker; I just think he’s far too valuable to simply dismiss as a full-time pass rusher.

Brandon Mebane is as good as they get at stopping the run up the middle and taking on multiple blockers, but he is getting up there in age and we may need to get some fresh legs in there at some point. If Jordan Phillips from Oklahoma drops down enough in the first round, he could be a great addition to strengthen the size of the D-Line. Speaking of size, he’s 334lbs and stands at 6’6”. Enough to help continue the dominating run defense. He’ll take up all kinds of space.

A good plan B could be drafting Vic Beasley out of Clemson. He has a serious motor and is a freak athlete much to the tune of Bruce Irvin. Mix him in a rotation with other talented edge rushers and you have a potent threat that every quarterback has to account for.

In the loss to the Patriots, the Tight end position had zero catches. That’s not helpful, especially when the Seahawks run a lot of play action roll outs with Cooper Helfet and Luke Willson running with Russell Wilson. Given the speed of Luke Willson, they should establish easy separation. The obvious issue is that Zach Miller has been injured and they’ve had to step up, which to their credit had solid years. But there’s still consistency to consider at the position.

One option would be to wait for the 8^th year Pro-Bowler and put faith in his health, and once again watch multiple tight end sets with Helfet and Willson. The other would be to add to the mix and get a potential first-stringer late in the first round. Create a healthy competition.

One of the top prospects is Maxx Williams from Minnesota. His frame is very similar to that of Zach Miller and has incredible hands. He’s been noted as more of a pass tight end and will need improvement on blocking especially with a run-first offense. But he makes plays down the field and has the acceleration and speed to do it. Of course it all depends on whether he drops down to pick 31.

A good plan B would be securing a more solid blocking tight end. Perhaps Clive Walford from Miami? He has considerable size at 6’4” and 258lbs and is considered an exceptional blocker who can push linebackers off the line and make space for running lanes. He has playmaking ability, just not a down the field type of threat. His route running and hands will need to see improvement as well.

There are also a ton of other options out there. We all know John Schneider and Peter Carroll will essentially pick who they have rated the highest on their list at pick 31, we just have to see how the previous 30 picks play out before they get their moment to shine.