Seattle Seahawks: 3 Bold predictions for Week 1 vs. Bengals
By Samuel Teets
1. Offseason additions account for four sacks
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Seattle’s pass rush has been completely revamped this offseason. After the team failed to reach a long-term deal with Frank Clark, the organization traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs. Seattle then proceeded to sign Ezekiel Ansah, draft L.J. Collier and trade for Jadeveon Clowney. Ansah, who was recovering from surgery, should be available for Week 1.
Seattle’s defensive line depth chart looks drastically different now than it did this time a year ago. With Jarran Reed suspended, the entire front four is are new as starters. Of the four, only Poona Ford was on Seattle’s roster last season, but he didn’t gain traction and playing time until last in the season. Al Woods, who played in Indianapolis last year, is starting alongside Ford on the interior until Reed returns in Week 7.
Clowney is the big grab for Seattle. With Ansah coming off of a year limited by and ultimately lost to injury, Clowney is viewed as the team’s replacement for Clark. Over the last two seasons, Clowney has 18.5 sacks and he’s looking to put on a show this year to secure a massive contract next offseason.
It’s a tossup as to how well Ansah will play. In seven games last season, he looked drained and like a shell of his former self. However, Ansah also dealt with a significant injury in 2016 and battled back from it to record 12 sacks in 2017. If he can have a similar comeback this year, that would be huge for Seattle.
The last significant addition is Collier. Carroll has tried to get first-round picks involved during their rookie seasons, inserting many of them as starters. However, we saw how that approach didn’t work with Penny last season, and there’s no reason to push Collier into the lineup over a veteran like Ansah.
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It’s unclear right now if Collier will even be ready for Week 1 due to a high-ankle sprain. If Collier isn’t feeling perfectly healthy, the Seahawks should exercise caution and pushback his first NFL action until Week 2. When he is ready to play, expect that Collier will rotate into the lineup but won’t be featured as a main pass rusher.