Expert betting against Seahawks offense, but bullish on Mike Macdonald's defense

The Seattle Seahawks made wholesale changes after last season’s 10-7 mark. Head coach Mike Macdonald flipped his roster to try and take the next step and bring Seattle back to the playoffs.

Gone are quarterback Geno Smith and wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders where he will be reunited with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Metcalf was dished to the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Lockett was given his walking papers.

The Seahawks did not leave the cupboard bare very long. During free agency they brought in quarterback Sam Darnold and wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdez-Scantling.

The firepower coming in is not enough to make CBS Sports analyst R.J. White gung ho on the Seahawks repeating with 10 wins or improving on last season’s record. White refers to the players brought in a “castoffs”.

“Their primary acquisitions at those positions were cast-offs from other teams, with Sam Darnold faiIing to get a big deal after playing like a darkhorse MVP candidate with the Vikings for much of the year, while Cooper Kupp said goodbye to the only team he’d ever known after the Rams brought in Davante Adams at receiver,” White said.

White does not appear to give Darnold his flowers for the season had last year. He believes he is nothing more than a journeyman quarterback who had superior talent and coaching around him.

“The offense has to rank as one of the units with the most questions in all of football heading into the season,” White said. “Darnold is coming off a great year but he had six seasons of mediocre play prior to linking up with Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota, and without that offensive mind or Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to throw to, there’s every chance Darnold turns back into a replacement-level starter.”

While White is a bear when it comes to the Seahawks productivity on offense this season, he is as bullish on the defense. In free agency, the Seahawks brought in defensive tackle Demarcus Lawrence from the Dallas Cowboys. They also drafted safety Nick Emmanwori in the second round of this season’s draft.

This makes a good defense from last season even better.

The Seahawks will apply a lot of pressure on the quarterback and should be able to stop the run with their veteran defensive front. Returning are Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and last season’s first-round selection Byron Murphy.

The secondary will be anchored by Julian Love, Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon. Last season the defense was 11th in scoring and sixth in net passing yards allowed per attempt. The addition of Emmanwori should make this secondary even stronger.

“Any optimism has to start on the defensive side of the ball, where the Seahawks finished fifth in points allowed per drive while giving up 300 net passing yards just once all year,” White said. “There’s a lot of talent on the unit up front and on the back end, and the man calling the shots delivered a top-three scoring defense in each of his two years as Ravens defensive coordinator.”

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