Ahead of the 2018 NFL season, we’re bringing you a series outlining which teams are getting too much hype and what rosters are sneakily going under the radar.
Disclaimer: I hate your favourite team, regardless of who they are. Please use this rationale if it makes you feel better after hearing about how your team aren’t half as good as they think they are.
If you’ve missed our previews, check them out here.
Seattle Seahawks
Projected Win Total: 8
Quarterbacks can help you a lot. It’s significantly tougher to build a roster around a poor quarterback because you limit your player books and only certain players can fit into those systems.
In Seattle, they don’t have that problem. Russell Wilson is a once-in-a-generation type talent and the Seahawks have cashed in on his talent once – although it should have been twice, but let’s not trigger Marshawn Lynch.
Pete Carroll was once considered the greatest thing since sliced bread, and a large part of that was because he had a quarterback that could improvise and a defensive coordinator in Gus Bradley who created a very simply Cover 3 defence with supremely-talented players called the ‘Legion of Boom’. Now, they’ve disbanded, and Gus Bradley works for the Chargers.
The Seahawks drafted poorly in recent years and now they’re in an unholy mess. At skill positions, they’ve not got a marquee running back, nor experience. They’ve got one dependable receiver in Doug Baldwin and no notable tight end following Jimmy Graham’s departure to Green Bay.
On the defensive line, Frank Clark is the only potential Pro Bowler after Michael Bennett left to win a Super Bowl with the Eagles. They do have linebacking strength in Bobby Wagner an K.J. Wright but it’s the only positional unit outside of quarterback that they’d be anywhere near top-ten.
That brings us to their biggest issue – their offensive line. Bar Duane Brown, they don’t have a player that looks even semi-functional. This effectively means they need to rely on Wilson if they want to run the ball, and it’s very easy to scheme against quarterback rushes if you can plan specifically for it.
That once-great Legion of Boom now resembles a list of misfits.
This once-proud franchise aren’t even at the rebuilding phase yet – they’re in the season that brings the need for rebuilding about and yet they’re predicted to go 8-8.
Not to mention their division contains a 49ers team on the up and a shoo-in title winner in the Los Angeles Rams. They could conceivably split games against Arizona and San Fran, but they’ll not get within ten points of LA on either occasion.
A team without an offensive line go to Denver in week one to face Von Miller. Some other out-of-division opponents they play include the Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Carolina Panthers, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings.
In this year’s draft, the selection of Rashaad Penny is questionable. His skill set translates more to a third-down back than it does a two-down runner. Jamarco Jones should help shore up the left tackle position but he was a fifth-round selection and won’t be expected to contribute straight away.