Three questions the Seahawks must answer this season

Untitled design - 1Credit: Photo courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks

For most teams in the NFL, if you squint a certain way, you can picture a playoff run. Or a disaster. During most of the Pete Carroll era, you could pretty much count on at least 9-10 wins and in most years, a postseason bid.

This year feels different. There may be a higher ceiling — but there’s also the danger of a lower floor. There are the obvious factors that play into the floor giving out that apply to every team, every year, so we’ll rule those out for now. A rash of injuries, especially to key players or at positions where depth is a problem (offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, for example). Seahawks kicker Jason Myers could get the yips and cost his team a couple of games. Bad luck — the ball bouncing a certain way and landing with the other team, for example, is always a threat. But the Seahawks have bigger questions this year. Here are three of them.

Can Mike Macdonald coach?

Around the Puget Sound, Macdonald seems like the greatest 0-0 coach of all-time. He’s been labeled a genius, a strong leader, a great teacher, etc. The NFL, however, has chewed up and spit out hundreds of guys that were “the next great thing.”

I am optimistic about Macdonald. I think he’s a few steps ahead of NFL offensive minds, and the Seahawks will look like a different team defensively. The Baltimore Ravens were ranked 19th in points allowed in 2021. They hired Macdonald after he’d turned around Michigan’s defense, and the Ravens jumped to third in 2022 and first last season. He seems like the right guy. But, we won’t know until we know.

Does Grubb’s offense work in the NFL?

Look, I’m a University of Washington grad, so you won’t find too many bigger fans of Grubb than me. The Huskies offense was electric last season. Grubb used shifts and motion to allow Michael Penix Jr. to find one-on-one matchups and let the receivers make plays.

Grubb diagnosed college defenses, and found holes his offenses could exploit. But, this is not Sioux Falls, Fresno State or Washington, which are the three places Grubb has called plays. This is the NFL. Time will tell if Grubb can utilize Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett like Penix, Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan at UW. Seahawks running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet are also some solid toys to provide some fun for Grubb.

Can Geno be above average?

I think we can all agree that Geno Smith is not a top-seven guy or a bottom seven guy. Anything between 8-25 is a reasonable debate. I’m going to say Geno will end up in the higher portion of that range. If he can be a 10-12-ranked kind of quarterback, the Seahawks will win 10-12 games and a be a threat in the playoffs with Macdonald’s defense. I think he gets there this year. The offense has lacked a competent playcaller during Geno’s Seahawks starts. Grubb will make better use of Seattle’s receivers, and Macdonald is the best 0-0 coach we’ve ever seen.