National Football League

Four Offseason Areas the Seahawks Need to Address

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:24 p.m. ET

Fansided, Shaquira Speaks/FanSided via 12th Man Rising

Despite sustained success over the last few season, the Seattle Seahawks have some areas on the roster that must be addressed.

The Seahawks headed into the offseason a little earlier than expected after a loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome. Despite being one of the most consistent teams in the NFC and the NFL as a whole, there are currently some areas that they are lacking in. Hopefully, this offseason Seattle can fill those holes.

Here are the top 4 needs that the team must fill before the 2017 season:

That Offensive Line

Getting to the offensive line is the first thing that the Seahawks really need to look at and fix.

The Seahawks’ line allowed 111 quarterback hits, fourth-most in the NFL, while also surrendering 42 sacks (sixth-most).

They need a guy in there that has the experience and knows what he is doing. They are going to have to spend some more money. Seattle spent less money on this unit than any other team in the league this season and it showed, heavily.

According to spoctrac.com, the Seahawks front office spent $6,259,177 of their 2016 cap dollars on their nine player O-line, which was 4.18 percent of their 2016 cap. The average dollar amount spent by all 32 teams was $22,659,628.

In order to protect Russell Wilson, they can not have anymore cheap add-ons. They specifically need to focus on the OT position because Justin Britt and Germain Infedi are fine in my opinion. It’s the edges that Wilson needs to be shielded from.

Dion Dawkins from Temple would be a great acquisition to the team.

Depth at Safety

When safety Earl Thomas went down with a broken leg, the team was shocked and thrown into a frizz. Who was going to replace him and still have the Legion of Boom be considered a threat? Who was going to have quarterbacks re-thinking of throwing it down the middle? Steven Terrell’s number was called.

Although he held his own sometimes, he was repeatedly beat and juked out of his cleats numerous times. One of those times was against Devonta Freeman, check out this play.

The Seahawks have downplayed the impact of Thomas’ absence, of course, but the results without him are jaw-dropping.

With Thomas, teams had 391 dropbacks and attempted 42 passes of at least 20 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Teams had a 61.6 passer rating on those deep targets and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Without Thomas, teams are more effective by just about every measure: Offenses have attempted 32 passes of at least 20 yards in 202 dropbacks. They’ve thrown four touchdowns, just one interception and have a passer rating of 112.

A safety for the Seahawks can’t give up post or seam routes — which are where the most vulnerable spots in their cover-three defense are; deep down the middle of the field.

Jan 14, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback DeShawn Shead (35) is is carted off the field after an apparent injury against the Atlanta Falcons during the third quarter in the NFC Divisional playoff at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

In Need of a Cornerback

The Seahawks are in need of a No. 2 cornerback alongside Richard Sherman. DeShawn Shead had a decent year, but sadly he went out this season with a torn ACL, so 2017 is up in the air.

Finding a true No. 2 cornerback to go opposite Sherman would bring the “Legion of Boom” to another level. Jeremy Lane usually plays the slot, and the Seahawks normally keep Sherman tied to one side of the field which allows quarterbacks to toy with CB2.

Players like Marlon Humphrey from Alabama or Adoree’ Jackson from USC.

Quaterbacks would have nowhere to go.

An exceptional defensive tackle

Having Tony McDaniel, Jarran Reed and Ahtyba Rubin are great at the DT position but there is no doubt that they could use a better pressure cooker up the middle.

The Seahawks would definitely benefit from adding a pass-rushing defensive tackle, one that pairs well with Reed on the interior. They definitely want to make sure that they are getting as much pressure as possible on quarterbacks like Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan and Tom Brady as possible, which is key in the NFL.

There is absolutely no rush to getting this guy but they could go after a stud in this year’s draft. Players like Jonathan Allen from Alabama (who will hopefully be there by the time they pick) or Chris Wormley from Michigan.