God, I’m glad this week is over and I can stop thinking about the Seahawks for a minute.

I’ve talked about our pending free agents, I’ve ranked all the holes the Seahawks need to fill in 2019 if we want to see a legitimate division champion, and I talked about all the holes we filled in 2018 that saw our team go from being projected as an 8-8 nothing to a top notch wild card team. So, this post is really just trying to bring all that together into a consensus What The Seahawks Need To Do In 2019.

To be honest, you could run this same offense back and I wouldn’t be mad. Keeping continuity on the offensive line would be of utmost importance. There’s really nothing much I’d change except maybe try to upgrade around the fringe. Your 3rd/4th running back, your 3rd/4th/5th wide receivers. Your 2nd quarterback, and so on. But, overall, I’m happy with the product I saw on the field, second Dallas game notwithstanding.

I think the bulk of the improvements need to come on the defensive end, with a nod to special teams.

As I’ve been harping on forever now, the run defense has to get better. It just has to. It’s my new “The O-Line Has To Get Better”, because it was seriously THAT BAD in 2018. I don’t know how Pete Carroll hasn’t been on the warpath about that since September (as only he can be on a warpath, anyway), because at no point has it been remotely okay. This week, the Seahawks fired pretty much everyone in the Strength & Conditioning squad of coaches which is pretty damning. I wonder if that has anything to do with this defect.

But, more than anything, the Seahawks just need more studs on the defensive side of the ball. Right now, there’s Bobby Wagner, Frank Clark, and Jarran Reed. That’s it. Tre Flowers and Shaquill Griffin are young and at this point it’s unknown whether they’ll be studs or just nice role players. Ideally, we’d be able to find another stud at safety, to go along with another stud pass rusher and maybe even a stud linebacker. I’m sorry, but I can’t get behind a mediocre Seahawks defense; it’s never going to feel right.

To go along with that, the Seahawks need to upgrade their depth to help out with Special Teams. It feels like I’ve been saying that every year since 2014 ended, but 2018 was the real nadir. I mean, when you have a weapon like an All Pro rookie punter, you’ve got to have some talented guys on coverage to get down there and make a play! I want SPEED! And, again, maybe firing the Strength & Conditioning guys plays a part in this. It’s not the firing of the Special Teams Coordinator – which is what I was calling for after that 49ers defeat – but it’s a start I suppose. That dude should be on thin fucking ice, though, I’ll tell you that.

Right now, the Seahawks are slated to draft 4 times in the 2019 NFL Draft. They will receive no compensatory picks. So, as it stands at the moment, we’re looing at:

• Round 1 (21st overall)
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5

We’re down a 2nd rounder thanks to Jeremy Lane the Duane Brown trade. We’re down a 6th rounder thanks to a mind-boggling trade for Brett Hundley (who, you guessed it, played zero snaps in 2018 before becoming a free agent). We’re down a 7th rounder thanks to Shalom Luani, who is a safety we received from the Raiders who made 7 tackles this year. Neat.

Obviously, you know that’s not going to fly. The odds of the Seahawks staying and picking at 21 are 0.00%. I mean, MAYBE if their top player on the draft board fell to them, but that seems remote at best. Odds are, they trade that first rounder multiple times, to fill out the draft the way they like it. If I had to guess, I’d figure they maybe select twice in the second round, while picking up a couple 7th’s, a 6th, and maybe an extra 4th or 5th. Here’s hoping there’s a quarterback sitting at 21 that some needy team REALLY wants!

Without re-hashing all the needs again, I just want to see this team continue to build the way they’re capable of building. They had a fabulous 2018 Draft; another one in that area of quality would REALLY put us back on the map, just as teams like the Rams are going to find it harder and harder to hold on to their stars in a cash-strapped cap situation.

It wouldn’t shock me – assuming luck is on our side – to see that teeter-totter tilt toward our direction in 2019. If things go right this offseason, and the Rams come down to Earth a little bit (after what I’m expecting to be a deep playoff run this year), it’s certainly well within range to say the Seahawks could be NFC West Champs in 2019.