The Seahawks are handing the reins of their offense to Brian Schotteheimer, but he looks like an underwhelming hire. He’s spent nine years as an NFL coordinator, with modest success.
All of those seasons came with the Jets and Rams. He never had overwhelming talent. But at some point he has to pick up some portion of the blame. Sean McVay, after all, took on a Los Angeles offense with seemingly modest talent and was able to elevate them from last to first in scoring.
However you want to slice it, Schottenheimer has had nine offense. The 2008 Jets ranked 9th in scoring. Four of his offenses ranked in the teens, and the remaining four ranked lower than 20th. He’s spent the last two seasons as a quarterbacks coach in Indianapolis.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER OFFENSES | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Win | Pt/G | Rk | Pts |
2006 | New York Jets | 10-6 | 19.8 | 18 | 316 |
2007 | New York Jets | 4-12 | 16.8 | 25 | 268 |
2008 | New York Jets | 9-7 | 25.3 | 9 | 405 |
2009 | New York Jets | 9-7 | 21.8 | 17 | 348 |
2010 | New York Jets | 11-5 | 22.9 | 13 | 367 |
2011 | New York Jets | 8-8 | 23.6 | 13 | 377 |
2012 | St. Louis Rams | 7-8-1 | 18.7 | 25 | 299 |
2013 | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | 21.8 | 21 | 348 |
2014 | St. Louis Rams | 6-10 | 20.3 | 21 | 324 |
With New York, Schottenheimer had three offenses that ranked in the top 10 in rushing. But two thirds of his offenses finished with below-average rushing numbers. (That’s using standard scoring).
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER / RUSHING | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Points | Rk |
2006 | New York Jets | 491 | 1,738 | 3.5 | 15 | 263.8 | 17 |
2007 | New York Jets | 446 | 1,701 | 3.8 | 6 | 206.1 | 26 |
2008 | New York Jets | 422 | 2,004 | 4.7 | 20 | 320.4 | 8 |
2009 | New York Jets | 607 | 2,756 | 4.5 | 21 | 401.6 | 1 |
2010 | New York Jets | 534 | 2,374 | 4.4 | 14 | 321.4 | 7 |
2011 | New York Jets | 443 | 1,692 | 3.8 | 14 | 253.2 | 18 |
2012 | St. Louis Rams | 410 | 1,714 | 4.2 | 5 | 201.4 | 27 |
2013 | St. Louis Rams | 426 | 1,752 | 4.1 | 10 | 235.2 | 20 |
2014 | St. Louis Rams | 395 | 1,635 | 4.1 | 11 | 229.5 | 21 |
Schottenheimer’s offenses haven’t tended to put up big passing numbers. He’s never had a team rank in the top dozen in overall production (using standard scoring). And five of his nine teams have ranked in the bottom 10.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER / PASSING | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Points | Rk |
2006 | New York Jets | 64% | 3,352 | 17 | 16 | 437.2 | 19 |
2007 | New York Jets | 61% | 3,330 | 15 | 19 | 423.0 | 24 |
2008 | New York Jets | 66% | 3,516 | 22 | 23 | 483.6 | 14 |
2009 | New York Jets | 53% | 2,596 | 12 | 21 | 331.6 | 31 |
2010 | New York Jets | 55% | 3,420 | 20 | 14 | 462.0 | 25 |
2011 | New York Jets | 57% | 3,542 | 26 | 18 | 510.2 | 17 |
2012 | St. Louis Rams | 60% | 3,783 | 22 | 14 | 510.3 | 19 |
2013 | St. Louis Rams | 59% | 3,360 | 22 | 11 | 468.0 | 27 |
2014 | St. Louis Rams | 63% | 3,400 | 20 | 16 | 460.0 | 23 |
No Schottenheimer quarterback has ever ranked in the top dozen in per-game production (standard scoring), but none of those guys were of the caliber of Russell Wilson. All but one of his offenses, at least, featured either Brett Favre or a quarterback chosen in the first round.
But I’m not a big Russell Wilson fan this year. I’ve got him #2 among quarterbacks, but not a player I’m looking to select.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER, QUARTERBACKS | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | St | Pass | TDP | Int | Run | TDR | Pts | Rk |
2006 | Chad Pennington, NYJ | 16 | 210 | 1.06 | 1.00 | 7 | .00 | 15.4 | 22 |
2007 | Chad Pennington, NYJ | 8 | 198 | 1.25 | 1.13 | 4 | .13 | 16.2 | 17 |
2007 | Kellen Clemens, NYJ | 8 | 178 | .63 | 1.00 | 14 | .13 | 13.6 | 25 |
2008 | Brett Favre, NYJ | 16 | 217 | 1.38 | 1.38 | 3 | .06 | 17.1 | 15 |
2009 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 15 | 163 | .80 | 1.33 | 7 | .20 | 13.5 | 28 |
2010 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 16 | 206 | 1.06 | .81 | 7 | .19 | 16.4 | 23 |
2011 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 16 | 217 | 1.63 | 1.13 | 6 | .38 | 20.3 | 13 |
2012 | Sam Bradford, St.L. | 16 | 231 | 1.31 | .81 | 8 | .06 | 18.5 | 19 |
2013 | Sam Bradford, St.L. | 7 | 241 | 2.00 | .57 | 4 | .00 | 20.8 | -- |
2013 | Kellen Clemens, St.L. | 9 | 184 | .89 | .78 | 7 | .00 | 13.7 | 33 |
2014 | Austin Davis, St.L. | 8 | 226 | 1.50 | 1.00 | 5 | .00 | 17.8 | 25 |
2014 | Shaun Hill, St.L. | 8 | 207 | 1.00 | .88 | 1 | .13 | 15.2 | 31 |
Some are optimistic about Rashaad Penny in Seattle, but note that Schottenheimer in nine years has produced only one top-15 running backs – Thomas Jones 10 years ago.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER, TOP-80 RUNNING BACKS | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Rec | Run | Total | TD | Points | Rk |
2006 | Leon Washington, NYJ | 270 | 650 | 920 | 4 | 116.0 | 35 |
2006 | Kevan Barlow, NYJ | 21 | 370 | 391 | 6 | 75.1 | 47 |
2006 | Cedric Houston, NYJ | 43 | 374 | 417 | 5 | 71.7 | 48 |
2007 | Thomas Jones, NYJ | 217 | 1,119 | 1,336 | 2 | 145.6 | 22 |
2007 | Leon Washington, NYJ | 213 | 353 | 566 | 6 | 94.6 | 44 |
2008 | Thomas Jones, NYJ | 207 | 1,312 | 1,519 | 15 | 241.9 | 5 |
2008 | Leon Washington, NYJ | 355 | 448 | 803 | 9 | 136.3 | 28 |
2009 | Shonn Greene, NYJ | 0 | 540 | 540 | 2 | 66.0 | 56 |
2009 | Leon Washington, NYJ | 131 | 331 | 462 | 0 | 46.2 | 71 |
2010 | LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ | 368 | 914 | 1,282 | 6 | 164.2 | 17 |
2010 | Shonn Greene, NYJ | 120 | 766 | 886 | 2 | 100.6 | 37 |
2010 | Joe McKnight, NYJ | 20 | 189 | 209 | 0 | 20.9 | 85 |
2011 | Shonn Greene, NYJ | 211 | 1,054 | 1,265 | 6 | 162.5 | 18 |
2011 | LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ | 449 | 280 | 729 | 3 | 90.9 | 40 |
2011 | Joe McKnight, NYJ | 139 | 134 | 273 | 1 | 33.3 | 82 |
2012 | Steven Jackson, St.L. | 321 | 1,042 | 1,363 | 4 | 162.3 | 16 |
2012 | Daryl Richardson, St.L. | 163 | 475 | 638 | 0 | 65.8 | 49 |
2013 | Zac Stacy, St.L. | 141 | 973 | 1,114 | 8 | 159.4 | 18 |
2013 | Benny Cunningham, St.L. | 59 | 261 | 320 | 1 | 40.0 | 68 |
2013 | Daryl Richardson, St.L. | 121 | 215 | 336 | 0 | 33.6 | 79 |
2014 | Tre Mason, St.L. | 148 | 765 | 913 | 5 | 121.3 | 25 |
2014 | Benny Cunningham, St.L. | 352 | 246 | 598 | 4 | 83.8 | 42 |
2014 | Zac Stacy, St.L. | 152 | 293 | 445 | 1 | 50.5 | 69 |
Schottenheimer hasn’t had a lot of luck with wide receivers. He’s never had one who’s finished a season with top-15 numbers.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER, TOP-80 WIDE RECEIVERS | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Rec | Avg | Run | TD | Points | Rk |
2006 | Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ | 82 | 961 | 11.7 | 25 | 6 | 134.6 | 23 |
2006 | Laveranues Coles, NYJ | 91 | 1,098 | 12.1 | 14 | 6 | 147.2 | 16 |
2007 | Laveranues Coles, NYJ | 55 | 646 | 11.7 | 0 | 6 | 100.6 | 39 |
2007 | Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ | 82 | 1,130 | 13.8 | 38 | 2 | 128.8 | 26 |
2008 | Chansi Stuckey, NYJ | 32 | 359 | 11.2 | 1 | 3 | 54.0 | 78 |
2008 | Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ | 71 | 858 | 12.1 | 8 | 5 | 118.6 | 30 |
2008 | Laveranues Coles, NYJ | 70 | 850 | 12.1 | 9 | 7 | 127.9 | 24 |
2009 | Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ | 57 | 821 | 14.4 | 0 | 4 | 106.1 | 34 |
2010 | Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ | 41 | 433 | 10.6 | -3 | 2 | 55.0 | 78 |
2010 | Santonio Holmes, NYJ | 52 | 746 | 14.3 | 17 | 6 | 112.3 | 33 |
2010 | Braylon Edwards, NYJ | 53 | 904 | 17.1 | 4 | 7 | 134.8 | 21 |
2011 | Plaxico Burress, NYJ | 45 | 612 | 13.6 | 0 | 8 | 109.2 | 36 |
2011 | Santonio Holmes, NYJ | 51 | 654 | 12.8 | 27 | 8 | 116.1 | 30 |
2012 | Danny Amendola, St.L. | 63 | 666 | 10.6 | 8 | 3 | 87.4 | 54 |
2012 | Chris Givens, St.L. | 42 | 698 | 16.6 | 12 | 3 | 91.0 | 52 |
2012 | Brandon Gibson, St.L. | 51 | 691 | 13.5 | 0 | 5 | 99.1 | 45 |
2013 | Chris Givens, St.L. | 34 | 569 | 16.7 | 8 | 0 | 57.7 | 79 |
2013 | Austin Pettis, St.L. | 38 | 399 | 10.5 | 0 | 4 | 63.9 | 69 |
2013 | Tavon Austin, St.L. | 40 | 418 | 10.5 | 151 | 6 | 92.9 | 50 |
2014 | Tavon Austin, St.L. | 31 | 242 | 7.8 | 224 | 3 | 64.6 | 74 |
2014 | Kenny Britt, St.L. | 48 | 748 | 15.6 | 14 | 3 | 94.2 | 51 |
Schottenheimer has tended to do best with tight ends. In all nine of his seasons, he’s had a top-20 player at the position. Just two seasons, however, with somebody in the top dozen (Dustin Keller ranked 9th in both 2010 and 2011.) But I will take this as an indication that in a 12-team league with everyone drafting two tight ends, Ed Dickson should be chosen.
BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER, TOP-40 TIGHT ENDS | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Pts | Points | Rk |
2006 | Chris Baker, NYJ | 31 | 300 | 9.7 | 4 | 24 | 54.0 | 18 |
2007 | Chris Baker, NYJ | 41 | 409 | 10.0 | 3 | 18 | 58.9 | 18 |
2008 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 48 | 535 | 11.1 | 3 | 18 | 71.5 | 14 |
2009 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 45 | 522 | 11.6 | 2 | 14 | 66.2 | 20 |
2010 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 55 | 687 | 12.5 | 5 | 30 | 98.7 | 9 |
2011 | Dustin Keller, NYJ | 65 | 815 | 12.5 | 5 | 30 | 111.5 | 9 |
2012 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 42 | 519 | 12.4 | 4 | 26 | 77.9 | 19 |
2013 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 32 | 258 | 8.1 | 4 | 24 | 49.8 | 35 |
2013 | Jared Cook, St.L. | 51 | 671 | 13.2 | 5 | 30 | 97.1 | 11 |
2014 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 27 | 259 | 9.6 | 5 | 30 | 55.9 | 23 |
2014 | Jared Cook, St.L. | 52 | 634 | 12.2 | 3 | 18 | 81.4 | 15 |
Overall, however, I am cool on Schottenheimer and Seattle’s offense in general.
—Ian Allan