The Seahawks are going with Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator, confirming the entire structure of their offense should be dramatically different. Mike Macdonald, I think, wants to move to more of a run-oriented system.
Ryan Grubb wasn’t a disaster as Seattle’s offensie coordinator, but he’s more interested in putting the ball in the air. The Seahawks, as I recall, led the league in passing for about the first half of the season. They ended up 8th in passing but only 28th in rushing.
With this coordinator switch, they’ll be dropping a bunch in passing while leapfrogging many teams in rushing.
Klint Kubiak has limited experience. He’s 37, with one year as an OC in Minnesota, and another with the Saints. But he’s a Kubiak, which makes you think he’ll have some ability to put together a successful ground game.
Kubiak is the son of Gary Kubiak, who established himself a run game Jedi during his lengthy coaching career. Kubiak spent two years working with Peyton Manning in Denver; those seasons can be set aside as meaningless (given Manning’s playing style and limited mobility). Six of Kubiak’s last seven other offenses ranked at least 8th in rushing. Dalvin Cook and Arian Foster in particular had huge seasons under Kubiak.
Some of that coaching DNA, I think, rubbed off on Klint Kubiak. I remember being impressed in the preseason by a 16-play, 95-yard drive at San Francisco. At that time, it became apparent that there was going to be some old-school physical toughness in their offense.
The Saints came out of the gates as the most surprising team in the league, running for 180 and 190 yards in their first two games – blowouts over the Panthers and Cowboys. Later they ran for 197 yards at Carolina and for 214 against Cleveland. They ran for 143 yards against the Rams.
The Saints ended up ranking 14th in rushing. While that’s only slightly above average, it’s more impressive considering they had lesser talent on their offensive line, along with 29-year-old Alvin Kamara at tailback. Kamara is fine, but he’s not the talent he was a few years back (and his value is more as a dual-threat weapon, rather than a back to feed 20 carries per game).
The Saints ended up being one of only nine teams that ran for at least 180 yards in four different games. The Seahawks, on the other hand, were one of nine teams that didn’t have any of those games.
| GAMES WITH 180-PLUS RUSHING YARDS | |
|---|---|
| Team | No |
| Philadelphia | 8 |
| Baltimore | 8 |
| Washington | 6 |
| Arizona | 5 |
| Detroit | 4 |
| Green Bay | 4 |
| New Orleans | 4 |
| Houston | 4 |
| Tampa Bay | 4 |
| San Francisco | 3 |
| Atlanta | 3 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 |
| New England | 2 |
| Miami | 2 |
| Carolina | 2 |
| Buffalo | 2 |
| LA Chargers | 1 |
| Kansas City | 1 |
| Indianapolis | 1 |
| Denver | 1 |
| Dallas | 1 |
| Chicago | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 0 |
| Cleveland | 0 |
| Jacksonville | 0 |
| LA Rams | 0 |
| Las Vegas | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 |
| NY Giants | 0 |
| NY Jets | 0 |
| Seattle | 0 |
| Tennessee | 0 |
Seahawks will need to bolster their offensive line, of course; it was one of the worst in the league. But I’m expecting big improvement in their rushing production.
At this early stage, I’m a lot more interested in Kenneth Walker (pictured) and Zach Charbonnet than I was a month ago. Walker is an elite talent, but he’s had multiple injuries the last three years, making him look unlikely to be playing in all 17 games. Charbonnet is a more direct, physical runner; on the to-do list for the preseason will be gauging whether he might be a better fit with Kubiak’s scheme.
The passing numbers, on the other hand, probably will be declining. It’s way too early to be putting anything down in ink, but my early guess is that Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be selected a little too early. He’s a young, emerging player; I just don’t know that they’re going to use him quite as much.
—Ian Allan