Season #1 of Mike McDonald Seahawk football incoming. I loved Pete Carroll and his energy, he also seemed to be able to connect with his players getting the most of them in the process. However, his coaching became stale. I thank him for everything! He brought us our first Super Bowl and almost a second one (don’t remind me). When they announced the hiring of McDonald I was ecstatic. After seeing the Ravens defense become one of the best in the league and getting a ton of production out of his guys I was excited. I mean multiple guys had career years and got paid because of his coaching and scheme. Well, he now inherits a defense including Woolen, Witherspoon, Love, Williams, Murphy, Reed, Mafe, Nwosu and others. Could it be Legion of Boom 2.0? I hope so! I mean the depth of the defensive backs and finally defensive line is amazing. I don’t know if we have every had depth like this on the defensive line with the exception of our Super Bowl run. Also, we struggled in finding productive DT’s to act as anchors and stuff the run. Well cue Williams and Murphy after Reed had a great last season. Tons and tons of excitement for this upcoming season. Of some concern for me is our linebackers. I understand Wagner was aging and it was time to go in a different direction but man I loved that dude. Great pro, leader, teammate, and overall person. So now we’ve brought in a few guys that seem to be underrated. Excited to see what Dodson can do, he’s someone who got thrust into the starting position after an injury and excelled. Let’s hope we found a diamond in the rough and he thrives in McDonald’s system. Been hearing Tyrice Knight our 4th round pick has been flying around the field and damn he’s fast. With a clean slate of all new players at linebacker I hope they excel but I am worried about depth. Another positive is that Aden Durde our Defensive coordinator was with Cowboys last season acting as their D line coach and seemed to get the most out of his guys. It also makes me happy that McDonald decided to keep play calling duties until he’s confident enough in Durde to hand him the reins. What has me excited about Durde is that he came from Dan Quinn’s staff in which he got to coach Micah Parsons. Coaching that level talent and being able to bring his own defensive angle from the Dan Quinn tree should make this defense even more dynamic.
Let’s transition to the offensive side of the ball. Ryan Grubb was an offensive genius at UW in college, and I’m really hoping that translates to the pros. With the amount of weapons we have in DK, Lockett, Smith-Ngiba, Walker, Charbonnet, and Fant there’s really no excuses to not be productive. On a positive our offensive line seems to be coming together. Wow, what a sight. Another problem with the Pete Carroll era was that we seemed to be just throwing guys out there and making it work on the offensive line. Well with no Marshawn, that got old real quick. I really like the signing of Connor Williams. It shows they are willing to be aggressive to find upgrades and compete now. I think bringing in Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach to steady the ship as McDonald works through his first year as a head coach was a great call. He brings a ton of experience and will be someone to lean on when needed. The concern I have is that Leslie Frazier is a defensive minded guy, Mike McDonald is a defensive minded guy, and Ryan Grubb is an offensive minded guy. Meaning they are putting a lot of faith in Grubb to make the transition from college to pros because he’s basically on an island running the show. I may get some slack for this but in my opinion our weak link on offense is Geno Smith. Now I’m in no way saying he’s bad, I mean there’s been relatively no drop in play since Wilson left, Smith has exceeded all expectations. But I’m saying a lot rides on his level of play. Our defense should be good enough to keep us in games and our receivers are athletic enough that he can take some chances on throws but what can’t happen is him turning the ball over. Geno’s job needs to be playing smart and taking what the defense gives him. If turnovers become a problem it’s going to cost us some games. Overall though I’m extremely excited for the upcoming season! I think the defense has the potential to be a top 5 unit in the league. I think assuming Grubb’s scheme excels and Geno limits turnovers then we have a chance to win the NFC West. Maybe I’m being biased and too optimistic but I think the 49ers have now had two chances at a Super Bowl and as a Hawks fan I’m all too familiar with the pressure of being on top. Everyone is going to be gunning for the Niners and it’s hard to sustain that level of success. Season predictions below! Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Go Hawks!!!
Week 1: Sept. 8 vs. Denver WIN
Week 2: Sept. 15 at New England WIN
Week 3: Sept. 22 vs. Miami LOSS
Week 4: Sept. 30 at Detroit (MNF) LOSS
Week 5: Oct. 6 vs. N.Y. Giants WIN
Week 6: Oct. 10 vs. San Francisco (TNF) LOSS
Week 7: Oct. 20 at Atlanta WIN
Week 8: Oct. 27 vs. Buffalo WIN
Week 9: Nov. 3 vs. L.A. Rams LOSS
Week 10: BYE
Week 11: Nov. 17 at San Francisco WIN
Week 12: Nov. 24 vs. Arizona WIN
Week 13: Dec. 1 at N.Y. Jets LOSS
Week 14: Dec. 8 at Arizona WIN
Week 15: Dec. 15 vs. Green Bay (SNF) LOSS
Week 16: Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota WIN
Week 17: Dec. 26 at Chicago (TNF) WIN
Week 18: Jan. 4 or 5 at L.A. Rams WIN
Final Record Prediction: 11-6
Vegas over/under 7.5! Go bet some money because that’s a joke…
