The Seattle Seahawks had talent on the roster last year, but in many cases, the coaching staff did not use the talent correctly. Had the coaches maximized the ability of the players they had, Pete Carroll and his staff might still have their jobs. Instead, Seattle's new leaders include Mike Macdonald and Ryan Grubb.
Macdonald has proven in the NFL that he can put his players in excellent positions to succeed. The player's personal success helped the overall success of the defense. Players such as Devon Witherspoon and Uchenna Nwosu could have extremely productive seasons in 2024.
The following three players might have career-years. One was good for the first half of 2023, but then hit a wall that his coaches could not help him get through. The other two were just underused in bad schemes.
Mafe was obviously much improved from his rookie season to his second year as almost all of his numbers at least tripled in 2023. He had 9 sacks and 16 quarterback hits as well as 9 tackles for loss. The issue was that Mafe appeared to hit a wall about halfway through the season. Before Week 11, Mafe had 7 sacks, but he only had one more game where he had a sack or a tackle for loss from Week 11 on. Both the TFLs and sacks came in the same game, too - Week 16 against the Tennessee Titans.
Seattle needs to keep Mafe from turning into the next Darrell Taylor where inconsistency becomes the norm. Mafe is clearly capable of being extremely disruptive. Part of his problems after Week 10 might be that opposing offenses adjusted to him and Seattle did not have the talent around Mafe or good enough defensive coaching for Mafe to adjust back.
In 2024, Mafe will get the best coaching of his career, and new head coach Mike Macdonald (who is also the real defensive coordinator) will find the best situations to put Mafe in for him to succeed. The edge rusher could have 13 sacks this season as well as over 50 total pressures. He has the raw skill to make that happen, and Macdonald will move Mafe around where opposing offenses cannot so easily scheme against him.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba - Seahawks wide receiver
Seattle has one of the best wide receiver trios in the league, but that is only true if JSN's production improves in 2024. Otherwise, being a top-ranked trio is only a theory. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are definitely one of the best duos, but their efficiency will increase with Smith-Njigba being better used and given more versatility in his routes from the beginning of the season.
What made Smith-Njigba's rookie season odd was that prior to his wrist injury in the preseason, he was running all manner of routes, from deep crossers to quick outs. After returning from injury, former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron apparently thought all JSN could do was run shorter routes - through the first four games, JSN had 12 catches but for only 62 yards. JSN's wrist had been hurt, not his legs, so Waldron's failure to use Smith-Njigba properly limited the offense.
This improved a bit more as the season wore on, but there was no need to limit JSN in the first place. His raw numbers finished by looking fairly pedestrian: 63 catches for 628 yards, or about 10 yards a catch. Those were probably due to the lack of consistent creativity from Waldron that the offense could have used.
Waldron is now gone, and he has been replaced by Ryan Grubb. Grubb has never coached in the NFL, but he ran a pro-style offense while at the University of Washington and that system should transpose easily to the professional level. One key of his offense was that receivers found a way to be open deep and this scheme is going to work extremely well for JSN.
Smith-Njigba has the quickness and catch ability to get closer to 80 receptions and over 900 yards. Many of his catches might be quick hitters, but he should catch a lot more passes - or at least have the opportunity - to catch passes deep down the field under the direction of Grubb.
Noah Fant - Seahawks tight end
Fant's re-signing with the Seahawks this offseason must have come with a promise that Ryan Grubb would do a better job of involving Fant in the offense. The tight end was part of the trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. Denver had a terrible offensive system when Fant played there from 2019 to 2021, but he still had much better numbers than he would have with Seattle the last two years.
Shane Waldron was clueless about how to call plays for tight ends. The entire group was underused, but Fant has the size - he is 6'4" and 250 pounds - plus the speed to be a very dangerous threat in the passing game. A Seahawks fan cannot argue that point, though, as Waldron would not give them a chance. Fant only had 32 catches in 2023 and zero touchdowns.
Fant's 43 targets were 20 fewer than his previous career low, and that also came with the Seahawks in 2022. If Fant wants to catch a lot of passes then had Waldron been retained as OC, the tight end would have probably signed elsewhere. Thankfully, Grubb was brought in.
With Washington last year, tight end Jake Westover was fourth on the Huskies in catches and yards (46 and 433, respectively) even though Washington had an excellent trio of receivers. Grubb managed to find a way to include his tight end as well. This could mirror what the Seahawks do in 2024 as well. The team has fantastic wide receivers, but Fant could get 60 catches, 700 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Involving the skilled Fant more is going to make Seattle's offense more versatile and efficient.
