POLL Who is going to win the NFC West?

[Southieinnc]

Most of that stuff isn't exactly asking for a lot. RW never really had any sort of significant injury at all until last season, his 5th. I have no expectation that the line will be completely injury free because hardly any line in the league will do that. Lacy being good will definitely help, but Rawls and Prosise are both very capable and bring different skills to the table. Now if they ALL (the RBs) get injured like last year, then the team could be in trouble. If the OL can just be decent or even slightly below average, this offense is going to be pretty good again.

Rose colored glasses?
Seattle O-line is ranked 32nd in the league.
Think of the last place team in each of the other 7 divisions. They are all better than Seattle.

32. Seattle Seahawks
Even with the addition of Luke Joeckel, there’s little reason to think this won’t yet again be the worst offensive line in the NFL. They finished dead last a season ago in snap-adjusted run-blocking grade and snap-adjusted pass-blocking grade. Getting PFF’s lowest-graded left tackle, George Fant, out of the starting lineup should help, but it won’t fix the unit overnight.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Rose colored glasses?
Seattle O-line is ranked 32nd in the league.
Think of the last place team in each of the other 7 divisions. They are all better than Seattle.

32. Seattle Seahawks
Even with the addition of Luke Joeckel, there’s little reason to think this won’t yet again be the worst offensive line in the NFL. They finished dead last a season ago in snap-adjusted run-blocking grade and snap-adjusted pass-blocking grade. Getting PFF’s lowest-graded left tackle, George Fant, out of the starting lineup should help, but it won’t fix the unit overnight.

The OL doesn't need to be great, in 2013 the OL was ranked 27th and the team did fine.The line just has to be good enough to allow the offense to function and that is something that is realistic to hope for.

 

[Southieinnc]

The OL doesn't need to be great, in 2013 the OL was ranked 27th and the team did fine.The line just has to be good enough to allow the offense to function and that is something that is realistic to hope for.

Seattle is a good team/organization. Not trying to dash any hopes, I was defending my stance that Seattle will take the division and not go deep into the playoffs.
I am a Russell fan. I'd like to see them get him an O-line!

 

[JMR]

Rose colored glasses?
Seattle O-line is ranked 32nd in the league.
Think of the last place team in each of the other 7 divisions. They are all better than Seattle.

32. Seattle Seahawks
Even with the addition of Luke Joeckel, there’s little reason to think this won’t yet again be the worst offensive line in the NFL. They finished dead last a season ago in snap-adjusted run-blocking grade and snap-adjusted pass-blocking grade. Getting PFF’s lowest-graded left tackle, George Fant, out of the starting lineup should help, but it won’t fix the unit overnight.

I did acknowledge that there's a decent chance the line won't improve. But when 4 of 5 starters return, all of which were relatively inexperienced last year, I don't think it's crazy to think they could be a bit better. Fant added 20 pounds (I'm sure some if it's blubber but some is muscle too) in the off-season and now has actually played football before coming into this year as the starting LT. He'll have Joeckel right next to him, who was a top 3 draft pick 4 years ago. Britt played at a pro bowl level by most subjective accounts at C last year -- had never played there before -- and now for the first time in his career he is playing the same position 2 years in a row. Glowinski was LG last year as a 2nd year player and now moves to the other side, where he played in college. Ifedi was a 1st rounder last year playing out of position at RG, now moving back to his natural RT spot. I'm not saying this is a slam dunk, but they reset this thing last year and it happened to be a perfect storm with a hobbled RW and every single RB getting hurt. The unit just needs to be "good enough" like it was in 2015, and there isn't an impossible path to get there IMO.

 

[Southieinnc]

I did acknowledge that there's a decent chance the line won't improve. But when 4 of 5 starters return, all of which were relatively inexperienced last year, I don't think it's crazy to think they could be a bit better. Fant added 20 pounds (I'm sure some if it's blubber but some is muscle too) in the off-season and now has actually played football before coming into this year as the starting LT. He'll have Joeckel right next to him, who was a top 3 draft pick 4 years ago. Britt played at a pro bowl level by most subjective accounts at C last year -- had never played there before -- and now for the first time in his career he is playing the same position 2 years in a row. Glowinski was LG last year as a 2nd year player and now moves to the other side, where he played in college. Ifedi was a 1st rounder last year playing out of position at RG, now moving back to his natural RT spot. I'm not saying this is a slam dunk, but they reset this thing last year and it happened to be a perfect storm with a hobbled RW and every single RB getting hurt. The unit just needs to be "good enough" like it was in 2015, and there isn't an impossible path to get there IMO.

It will not take much improvement to get out of 32nd.....

 

[NWPATSFAN]

The OL doesn't need to be great, in 2013 the OL was ranked 27th and the team did fine.The line just has to be good enough to allow the offense to function and that is something that is realistic to hope for.

Total different team in 13. Healthy RW, Lynch and Tate. Teams were still trying to figure out RW. Russ had his 2nd best year rushing. Plus that dominant D. Hard to compare.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

Seattle is a good team/organization. Not trying to dash any hopes, I was defending my stance that Seattle will take the division and not go deep into the playoffs.
I am a Russell fan. I'd like to see them get him an O-line!

I think it's pretty simple. If the o-line improves Seattle has a very good shot at getting back to the SB. If it still sucks and ranks dead last, probably another 2nd round and out.

 

[JMR]

It will not take much improvement to get out of 32nd.....

Sure, but I am not going to call jumping from 32 all the way up to 29 an improvement. The line returns 4 players who started last year, and it has 2 1st rounders, 1 2nd rounder, and a 4th rounder. The 2 primary backups are a 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder. That is decent talent in terms of draft stock and certainly plenty enough for Tom Cable to do something with. Maybe they'll whiff on these guys, but I also see a chance to approach average at some point this season with this group. And compared to what we've seen the last couple years, average would be a windfall.

 

[Clayton]

Usually the teams with the worst olines in the league are the ones who are starting rookie Tackles or having injured tackles being replaced with players who should be playing Guard or backups. There are enough olines in the league that get banged up that you can't really predict which teams will have terrible olines.