Calkins questions JSs roster build
Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 10:55 pm
By Matt Calkins
Seattle Times columnist
If Pete Carroll were a certain kind of man, he might be experiencing a midseason mood bump right now. The team that fired him last offseason is 4-5 after dropping five of its past six games, and the coaching change appears to have improved little.
I’m not sure Pete quite thinks like that, even if human nature suggests he might. But the blame for the Seahawks’ shortcomings over the past couple of years feels like it’s fallen off his shoulders … for now, at least.
The trouble seems to be more about the players on the roster, not who’s coaching them. And though professional athletes certainly aren’t exempt from criticism, the situation calls for a closer look at the man who constructed that roster.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider, after all, was last offseason’s survivor. There never appeared to be any serious tension between him and Carroll — something John’s “I love you, Pete!” shoutout at Carroll’s final Seahawks news conference reinforced — but the coach’s departure did give Schneider the final hammer.
This is his team. How much has he done to help?
There certainly have been some quality additions. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon was a Pro Bowler last season and finished fourth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Left tackle Charles Cross has been reliable in his first two and a half seasons, and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba just had the game of his career Sunday in an overtime loss to the Rams. But let’s look a little deeper.
One can certainly question whether Schneider had a solid linebacking plan when he signed Jerome Baker in March. Because it was just last month when he traded Baker for fellow linebacker Ernest Jones IV. Perhaps this was because Schneider simply saw a chance for an upgrade, as Jones wasn’t available before the season started. But it’s worth wondering if that initial signing worked out.
Same is (more) true of defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones. In March 2023 the Seahawks signed the 27-year-old to a three-year, $51.5 million contract, and yet … Jones has put up middling numbers, played just 24 snaps vs. the Rams and just 30 the week before against Buffalo. The production or playing time doesn’t seem commensurate with the paycheck.
The secondary outside of Witherspoon has been spotty as well. Riq Woolen’s Sunday — when he had an interception but also a costly pass-interference flag — was typical of his inconsistency. Pro Football Focus grades him as the 85th-best cornerback in the league. Julian Love, meanwhile, is graded 15th among all safeties, and though safety Rayshawn Jenkins missing three games due to injury has complicated how one might view the back end — it’s well short of exceptional.
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One could argue that Schneider has been hamstrung financially when it comes to bringing in reinforcements. However, part of that financial burden is due to a $20 million salary-cap hit the Seahawks endured when they released Jamal Adams — the ever-injured, so-so-producing safety who cost them two first-round draft picks in a trade. That falls on Schneider.
This certainly isn’t meant as a pile-on for the man who helped build Seattle into a Super Bowl team that has had winning seasons in 11 of the past 12 years. The Seahawks may not have been among the league’s elite recently, but they have remained relevant. John deserves his kudos for that.
However …
When you look at the four first-round picks they had in 2022 and 2023 — do you see any future Hall of Famers or first-team All-Pros? When you see the problems the Seahawks are having at center, can you help but wonder about them drafting waived receiver Dee Eskridge seven picks before two-time Pro Bowl center Creed Humphrey? Or when you see the offensive-line struggles, do you wonder if it was necessary to pick two running backs (Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet) in back-to-back second rounds when you could have made an addition up front? And do you maybe go back and scrutinize Seattle drafting Christian Haynes in the third round when he can’t start over right guard Anthony Bradford, who has struggled all season?
Look, my job is a whole lot easier than John Schneider’s. He does the scouting, trading, drafting, signing, negotiating and everything else millionaire GMs do. I sit back and evaluate the results.
Nobody here is suggesting Schneider is something other than an extremely capable executive. Fans owe a great deal of Seattle’s success over the past decade and a half to him.
But what we’re seeing right now? An offensive line that can’t block? A defense that can’t stop the run? A defense spiraling? That’s not entirely — or even mostly — on new coach Mike Macdonald.
Someone else put this team together. He’s the one who needs to make it better.