The Seahawks should be applauded for not settling. Coach Mike Macdonald inherited a talented roster from Pete Carroll and could have easily gone a second season without shaking up the personnel.
Oftentimes, first-year coaches who are hired by established GMs are told to make their draft picks and signings look good. That initially appeared to be the case with GM John Schneider hiring Macdonald last year, a successful defensive coordinator in Baltimore brought in to help the talented but underperforming defense.
But Macdonald didn’t waste time tweaking the defense, cutting starters and pushing for trades early into his first season. Then came the bold and drastic decisions in the offseason to trade quarterback Geno Smith and star wide receiver DK Metcalf.
Keeping Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba together looks great on paper, but it didn’t make much financial sense to retain a disgruntled receiver looking for a pay raise while knowing that the emerging young wideout will soon cash in after a breakout Year 2. The Seahawks gained cap-space flexibility, a few draft picks and paved the way for JSN to be a superstar after shipping Metcalf to Pittsburgh.
Swapping in Sam Darnold for Smith has also paid off, with the former playing better than his lone season in Minnesota and the latter struggling in his Las Vegas reunion with Carroll. All these correct decisions from Schneider and Macdonald were on full display for Monday night’s late game, with the Seahawks cruising against the Texans, TK–X. Seattle improved to 5–2 and are in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC West, along with the 49ers and Rams.
Seattle hasn’t played the Rams yet and fell to the 49ers at home during the season opener. Maybe it’s safer to wait a few weeks before saying the Seahawks were right about their offseason decisions, but it’s difficult to not shower them with praise with how well Smith-Njigba has played with his new quarterback and play-caller. Moving on from Ryan Grubb and hiring Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator is another swift, bold decision that has paid off for Macdonald.
It’s time to start referring to Smith-Njigba as a top-five receiver and an elite route runner. Seattle likely had no concerns of Smith-Njigba thriving as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver and playing more on the outside. This team should be laughing at the critics who called them foolish for signing Darnold and ditching Smith and Metcalf. I was one of those foolish pundits and I waited until after 400 words to call myself out. That’s how embarrassed I am about my terrible NFC West offseason report cards.
A few weeks ago, I had my reservations about this Macdonald–led defense because they’re missing a game-changing edge rusher and have struggled in the secondary, especially in the Week 5 loss against Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. But Macdonald made his adjustments and this defense has played up to its potential in the back-to-back victories over the Jaguars and Texans. Trevor Lawrence failed to get anything going against this defense and that was the same case with C.J. Stroud, who was lucky to get a defensive touchdown from Will Anderson Jr. on Monday night.
As for another example as to why the Seahawks were right to shake things up, this team appears ready to make a lengthy postseason run. They’re still unproven, but they have a complete team good enough to compete with any of the top teams in the NFC. With Smith, the Seahawks were a fringe wild-card team at best and often struggled to keep pace with the 49ers and the Rams in the division.
They have a legitimate shot of winning the division this season. But let’s hold off on that one until Seattle plays Los Angeles in Week 11. Darnold could always revert to his skittish ways, and he had his moments vs. the Texans, like fumbling in the end zone and throwing an interception to Derek Stingley Jr. to give Houston new life in the fourth quarter. However, let’s not forget how good Darnold performed in the shootout against Tampa Bay. Darnold’s highs are worth the trouble and his lows aren’t as bad as what Smith has done the past few seasons.
This team is far from perfect, but they have a chance to win it all. It would require more special defensive game plans from Macdonald and more elite performances from Darnold, which might be asking a lot from a team still searching for consistency with all these moving parts. But it’s certainly possible and that was likely never going to happen with the core group that surrounded Smith and Metcalf.
For right now, the Seahawks deserve credit for taking chances when most teams would have settled with the type of talent Seattle had last year. By not settling for mediocrity, Macdonald should be praised for having the courage to shake things up, as should Schneider for putting ego aside and allowing his coach to tweak the roster as he sees fit.
How far those tweaks can take Seattle remains to be seen. For now, they’re helping the team keep pace with the NFC’s best.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Seahawks’ Overhauled Roster Makes Them One of NFL’s Most Dangerous Teams.