Brock and Salk had an interesting conversation recently about the Seahawks and how close they are to contending for another Super Bowl. My takeaway (I tend to agree with Salk here) is that the Seahawks are short on stars. There are a lot of good players on this team, but not necessarily a lot of GREAT players. So, I decided to quickly do a comparison between the 2018/2019 Seahawks against the 2013 Super Bowl Champs.
Offensive (and Special Teams) Stars
Now
- Russell Wilson – QB
- Chris Carson – RB
- Doug Baldwin – WR
- Tyler Lockett – WR
- Duane Brown – LT
- Michael Dickson – P
Then
- Russell Wilson – QB
- Marshawn Lynch – RB
- Golden Tate – WR
- Doug Baldwin – WR
- Russell Okung – LT
- Max Unger – C
- Jon Ryan – P
Right there, you’d have to say pretty comparable. Beastmode is better than Carson, the receivers are pretty close to the same, and 2018 Russell is better than 2013 Russell. Where we start to see some breakaway is on the other side of the ball.
Defensive Stars
Now
- Frank Clark – DE
- Jarran Reed – DT
- Bobby Wagner – LB
- (K.J. Wright – LB)
Then
- Cliff Avril – DE
- Michael Bennett – DT
- Bobby Wagner – LB
- K.J. Wright – LB
- Earl Thomas – FS
- Kam Chancellor – SS
- Richard Sherman – CB
I’d say the Seahawks have a good start here, but I’d also say the combo of Bennett & Avril were better than the combo of Clark & Reed. Now, there’s obviously still room for both of the younger guys to grow, so in theory they could be even more dominant than they were in 2018, but as it stands right now that’s where we’re at. 2018 Bobby is better than 2013 Bobby, and while 2018 K.J. is better than 2013 K.J., the 2018 version was also injury prone, and is far from a lock to be re-signed to this team in 2019.
Then, there’s the secondary. The 2013 Seahawks not only had 3 superstars in the secondary, they had 3 ALL TIMERS. The 2018/2019 Seahawks don’t have anything CLOSE, and that’s ultimately their biggest hole to overcome (I won’t say “fill”, because I think we’re pretty much stuck with the guys we’ve got, which means we have to compensate in other ways defensively and as a team as a whole).
So, digging down further, let’s list the players who are just good starters/role players.
Now
- Mike Davis – RB
- Rashaad Penny – RB
- All our Tight Ends
- Justin Britt – C
- Both starting Guards
- Poona Ford – DT
- Mychal Kendricks – LB
- Justin Coleman – CB
- Tre Flowers – CB
- Shaq Griffin – CB
- Bradley McDougald – SS
Then
- All our Tight Ends
- Sidney Rice – WR
- Steven Hauschka – K
- Chris Clemons – DE
- Tony McDaniel – DT
- Clinton McDonald – DT
- Brandon Mebane – DT
- Bruce Irvin – LB
- Byron Maxwell – CB
- Walter Thurmond – CB
- Jeremy Lane – CB
I think our running back room now is stronger than it was then (but it didn’t matter in 2013 when Beastmode was all you needed). I think our offensive line as a whole is better now than it was then, even though the 2013 version was more top-heavy (Sweezy in 2018 is MUCH better than Sweezy in 2013, for instance; Fluker is better than Carpenter; and I would argue Ifedi is on par with Giacomini). I think both tight end rooms are a wash. But, as you can see, while the Seahawks of today have a so-so secondary, the BACKUPS in 2013 were on par with what we have now (and, I would argue, probably a little better). And, the other big difference is up front. Look at all the beef we had on the D-Line in 2013 compared to today! It’s no contest!
Also, not for nothing, but a few of those guys I listed might not be back in 2019, which is yet more work for the Seahawks to do this offseason.
As you can see, the talent disparity is pretty big. I wouldn’t say it’s insurmountable, but you have to wonder where we’re going to pick up the slack. With 4 draft picks and a bunch of our own stars we need to extend, it’s not like we have unlimited resources.
The good news is, the Seahawks of 2019 don’t need to beat the Seahawks of 2013. I would argue the 2013 Seahawks were one of the most talented teams of all time (especially on defense); we won’t see anyone like that in the NFL in 2019. We just have to get past the Rams and the rest of the NFC, then let the chips fall where they may.
It would HELP if we could develop a couple of those good starters into superstars, but this draft and free agency period will be pretty big. No whiffing, lest we middle our way to another Wild Card finish.