Aside from one horrific half against the Rams in Week 1, these Seahawks have had a splendid 2023 season so far. Heading into their early bye week Seattle is 3-1 despite having to weather a rash of minor injuries to some key players, especially their young offensive line. The team has weathered the storm and if they can avoid major injuries to foundational pieces like Geno Smith and Bobby Wagner they should be in the thick of the playoff race.
Now comes the bad news. As good as these Seahawks look, they have to be held to a higher standard than most teams. Why? Because they happen to share a division with the most talented team in the NFL – one that’s managed to start the year 4-0 despite starting a meme at quarterback.
Buy Seahawks TicketsYes, the 49ers remain the team to beat – not only in the NFC West – but right now arguably the entire league. San Francisco is in the No. 1 spot in our most recent power rankings. With a win over the fourth-ranked Cowboys on Sunday night they can prove they are the heaviest heavyweight in the conference this year. They’re getting tougher to beat by the minute, too.
Today two trades took place around the NFL that illustrate a key point as to how the Seahawks can catch up. Two contenders – one in each conference – added pieces at positions they are both already loaded at.
First of all, the Dolphins sent some Day 3 picks to the Bears for embattled wide receiver Chase Claypool.
Dolphins trading for Bears WR Chase Claypool (via @rapsheet and @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/z8uO2HuDGR
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2023
Claypool joins what’s already a ludicrous receiver corps, including Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and some damn-decent backups, as well. So, why do the Dolphins need another receiver? They don’t. The point is they’ve reinforced their roster where it is strongest – something we have emphasized that all long-term contenders do. It’s how the Eagles turned their defensive line into a decade-long nightmare for their opponents and how the Ravens secondary has seemingly dominated the AFC for even longer.
The Niners are not strangers to this concept, of course. That’s why even though their defensive line is the best in the NFL outside of Philly they added another piece today by trading for Randy Gregory.
Plot twist! The #Broncos are trading veteran OLB Randy Gregory to the #49ers, per sources.
Denver never formally released Gregory, who now gets a fresh start with a contender in San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/cswa2oKRIM
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 6, 2023
This is one of those moves that makes division rivals sigh. Or, as we put it when the 49ers signed Javon Hargrave during the offseason:
good signing, good job pic.twitter.com/3rt4fYzUf1
— The Seahawks Wire (@TheSeahawksWire) March 13, 2023
And so Gregory joins an already lethal pass rush rotation that includes Hargrave, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead and Drake Jackson.
On paper the Seahawks have closed the talent gap with the 49ers a good bit over the last two offseasons. We’ll have to wait until they face them on the field to see just how much.
However, there’s a good chance Seattle will have to add another key piece (or two, or three) before they actually can surpass San Francisco’s overall level of talent. As was the case with Miami and the Niners, their best options might make already-strong positions groups even stronger.
For the Seahawks, that primarily means wide receivers, cornerbacks, edge rushers and offensive tackles. They might also want to consider what seemingly only the Packers and the Cowboys have figured out and get another potential franchise quarterback before they need one, not after. Green Bay got Aaron Rodgers while they still had Brett Favre, then Jordan Love while they still had Rodgers. Meanwhile, Dallas added Dak Prescott just in time to catch Tony Romo on his way out – then added Trey Lance for pennies on the dollar a couple months ago (no front office has a perfect track record – not even the Niners).
It’s never a bad time to reinforce your team’s strengths, but the next big landmark will be the trade deadline. In our recent projections for Seattle’s next four games we have them winning the first three – which would make them 6-1 going into the trade deadline. Even if we’re wrong about the Cleveland game – a distinct possibility given how potent their defense is – and the Seahawks are 5-2 they should still be buyers at the deadline.
Given where they are right now compared to the competition, getting a third quarterback, a fifth receiver, a fourth tackle or a god knows what number corner probably won’t move the needle much. To catch up with the Niners in either this year or the next they’re going to need to have a reliably disruptive pass rush.
Right now they’re on a good path – having dominated both the Panthers and the Giants’ offensive lines with an aggressive gameplan. After racking up the numbers in those two games they now lead the NFL in both sacks and total pressures. Time will tell if that’s sustainable, but one way to make sure is to add another pass rusher – even with Boye Mafe, Uchenna Nwosu, Darrell Taylor, Mario Edwards and Jarran Reed all currently excelling in this area.
It’s a long season and defensive performance tends to be inconsistent from week to week and month to month. Bottom line, they can’t bank on playing poor and beat up offensive lines all year and need more firepower up-front. The fate of the season may depend on Pete Carroll and John Schneider’s ability to trade for another multiple pass rusher at the end of the month.
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