A pessimist's guide to the 2024 Seattle Seahawks

Even though they have won just a single playoff game over the past seven seasons, the Seattle Seahawks are still coming off back-to-back winning campaigns. They have the talent to compete in a tough NFC West, but there are still a lot of question marks on this year's roster. 

Let's take a look at some of them in our pessimist's guide to the 2024 Seahawks. 

Geno Smith is good ... but is he good enough?

No position changes an NFL team more than a quarterback. 

If you have a great one, you have a chance to compete no matter what else is happening on your roster. Without a great one, even a talented, deep roster is going to struggle to compete for a championship. The Seahawks might be more of the latter than the former with Geno Smith.

There is nothing wrong with Smith as a player. You could certainly do a lot worse than him (and many teams do). He will protect the ball (only nine interceptions in 2023), he will make some plays and he has done a great job reinventing his career after spending the bulk of it as a backup. 

The question is whether or not he is good enough to lift the Seahawks to anything more than a nine- or 10-win team. He finished 2023 with the 14th-ranked QBR in the NFL and took a big step back from what he did during the 2022 season. He will keep the Seahawks competitive. But if they want to compete for Super Bowls in the NFC they might need an upgrade sooner rather than later. 

What if Mike Macdonald is not an upgrade?

After going 25-26 over the past three seasons, the Seahawks decided to move on from longtime head coach Pete Carroll and replace him with former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. 

Given the work he did in Baltimore with the Ravens defense, there is good reason to believe that Macdonald can help turn around a Seahawks defense that has been one of the league's worst the past few years.

But while every team is always looking for the next great up-and-coming coach, the success rate with those hires tends to be more hit than miss. There is a world of difference between being a coordinator and a head coach. Even though the Seahawks dipped into mediocrity in recent years, Carroll was still a proven, successful coach. There is no guarantee Macdonald will be an upgrade. 

The offensive line remains a question mark

The offensive line has been a thorn in the side of the Seahawks for a few years now, and there is little reason to believe that is going to change this season. Especially along the interior. 

Center remains a massive question mark with no clear solution, and while they did draft Christian Haynes in the third-round, expecting a day two pick to step in and make a big impact as a rookie is asking a lot. 

The Seahawks have outstanding skill-position players at wide receiver and running back and a decent quarterback. But if you can not protect them or block for them, that can make everything unravel quickly.