That Was Then

The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the best teams in the NFL in recent years. They've reached the playoffs the last four years, won the Super Bowl in 2013, and were a play away from repeating that feat in 2014. They have a combination of youth and talent to sustain that success for a while. They have a terrific defense. They have a unique and talented franchise quarterback. They are building a stable of versatile pass catchers. They have to replace a brilliant runner but like the receiver position they have a stable of talented backs. One might emerge (a healthy Thomas Rawls) or they could produce as a group. They also have a strong front office and coaching staff. The Seahawks have just about everything. The one thing that they don't have is consistency on the offensive line. Appearances can often be deceiving but it appears that the Seahawks have sacrificed the offensive line for the sake of consistency everywhere else. If that is in fact the case the most important person on the team might be offensive line coach, and assistant head coach, Tom Cable. He's charged with the incredible task of piecing together a new starting five on the offensive line just about every year.

Super Bowl XLVIII starting offensive line

LT  Russell Okung
LG James Carpenter
 C   Max Unger
RG J.R. Sweezy
RT  Breno Giacomini

Super Bowl XLIX starting offensive line

LT  Russell Okung
LG James Carpenter
 C   Max Unger
RG J.R. Sweezy
RT  Justin Britt

The consistency on the Seahawks offensive line ended when Malcolm Butler intercepted that Russell Wilson pass in the end zone. It's a common trend in the NFL to see players from successful teams poached by other teams in free agency. The Seahawks have done a tremendous job of keeping their talented core players but they've done it at the expense of keeping their offensive line together. There just isn't enough money under the salary cap to keep everyone. The Seahawks have made their priorities quite clear. Russell Okung now plays for the Denver Broncos. James Carpenter plays for the New York Jets. As does Breno Giacomini. J.R. Sweezy plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Max Unger was the best player on both Super Bowl lines. He was starting to collect annual Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. The Seahawks thought so highly of Unger that they traded him a few weeks after Butler's interception for a superstar tight end, Jimmy Graham, that has yet to prove that he even fits into the offense. Unger was a young, talented, cornerstone player but the Seahawks clearly saw him as replaceable. The poaching and the trading that started after the 2014 season left Tom Cable scrambling to piece together a new starting line.

2015 Seahawks offensive line

LT  Russell Okung
LG Justin Britt
 C   Patrick Lewis
RG J.R. Sweezy
RT  Gary Gilliam

Drew Nowak received the first shot at replacing Unger. He started seven games but was replaced by Lewis. If Russell Wilson was less Russell Wilson and more Tom Brady he might have been killed last season. Wilson is the perfect quarterback to play behind a line that doesn't provide a lot of time. Perhaps Wilson's unique abilities is the reason that the Seahawks appear to place such a low priority on the offensive line. It's either brilliant or it's going to get their unique quarterback killed.

In their preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs the Seahawks trotted out this starting offensive line.

LT   Bradley Sowell
LG  Mark Glowinski
 C   Justin Britt
RG Germain Ifedi
RT  Garry Gilliam

The turnover from the Seahawks last Super Bowl appearance is now complete. Only Britt remains and he's at an entirely new position. J'Marcus Webb has been starting at right tackle in training camp but he's dealing with a knee injury and couldn't play against the Chiefs. Webb has been with six teams since the Chicago Bears selected him in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Sowell has had a similar NFL career. He's been with four teams since he was undrafted in 2012. Glowinski was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. Britt was a second round pick in 2014. Ifedi was their first round pick last spring. Gilliam was undrafted in 2014. It's not like the Seahawks have avoided the offensive line in the draft. Okung, Carpenter, and Ifedi were all first round picks. Unger and Britt were second round picks. They've selected an offensive linemen in the fourth round or earlier ten times in the last ten years. They just haven't hit on all of those picks. At least not at the same rate that they have hit on just about every other position. The Seahawks overall drafting has been excellent. Their recent success is evident of that. They just haven't had the same success picking linemen that they have picking other positions. It happens. Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green had a shaky eye when it came to judging defensive talent but he was dynamite when it came to the offensive side of the ball. You just do what you can and make it work. And the Seahawks have made it work.

Every NFL team sees turnover on their roster. Even the good teams. There just isn't enough money to pay everyone these days. The proper blend of well-paid stars and talented players on rookie contracts is a must for success. The Seattle Seahawks are unique in that their turnover is concentrated in one position group. They are forced to field a new corner opposite Richard Sherman nearly every year but the rest of the secondary is so good that no one notices. And, coaches Kris Richard and Peter Carroll always have that corner newbie ready to play. The offensive line is such an important position group that it's truly remarkable that the Seahawks can make this unusual strategy work. They have the right quarterback for this strategy and the overall talent on the roster seems to counter it. The good news is that their interior offensive linemen (Glowinski, Britt, and Ifedi) are a real nice start to building a line that comes close to matching the rest of the team in talent. That would be scary.