Wrighster or Wrong - Seattle Seahawks Are On To Something

George Wrighster gets into how Seattle Seahawks managed to sit out of the NFC West arms race and still be in first place in the division seven weeks into the season. #fsrweekends

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're ready to check your feelings at the door. This
is am I Rice Stir or am I Rock. We're
bringing new facts and only the truth. Now, am I
Rice there or am I Rock? We need to talk
about the Seattle Seahawks now. When everybody else in the
NFC West was zigging, the Seattle Seahawks decided to zag.

(00:23):
Now that zag has Seattle in first place in Indivision,
where they were the only team not to make the
playoffs last year, and sitting it for in three de
fight Vegas, having their over under win total in the
preseason at five and a half. Now, outside of the
New York Giants and the Jets, the Seahawks have been
the biggest surprise in the NFL this year. So how

(00:45):
did that happen? Let's get into it. A few years ago,
the l A Rams decided that the salary cap was
an imaginary number and that future assets were better as
current commodities. They dealt second round picks for Sammy Watkins
and Marcus Peter, they turned three first round picks into
Brandon Cooks and Jalen Ramsey, and finally they offloaded Jared

(01:06):
Goff and their three first round picks. That year in
the draft and the next year's first rounder for Matthew
Stafford and the second and third rounder for Von Miller.
Now the strategy to mortgage their future at for a
shot at glory in the present. It paid off. Sean
McVeigh and the Rams got a Super Bowl ring. Now
we all know it's a copycat league, and even before

(01:27):
the Rams traded all their picks for Pro Bowl talent,
it was clear that the rest of the NFL was
obsessed with trying to find young, energetic coaches that either
had worked with Sean McVeigh, touched his loincloth, or could
be considered a dollar versions Dollar Store version of him.
But teams in the NFC West went beyond mimicking mcveigh's

(01:48):
coaching brand. In the league where trades are relatively rare,
the forty Niners and the Cardinals began to engage in
an arms race to keep up with the Rams. Now
in the last three years, Kyle Shann a hand in
the forty Niners, gave up picks for Trent Williams, traded
off a bunch of assets for the ability to move
up to draft trade lands, and just sent four picks

(02:09):
to Carolina Panthers. In exchange for Christian McCaffrey. And not
to be outdone, the Arizona Cardinals committed felony armed robbery
against the Houston Texas when they acquired DeAndre Hopkins, and
since then they haven't been shot about, willing and dealing
trying to show up weaknesses. They added Pro bowlers Zach Ertz,
Rodney Hudson and grabbed two more receivers in Hollywood Brown

(02:32):
and Robbie Anderson. Now, meanwhile, the rest of the NFC
West is out here putting everything on credit. The elder
Statesman Pete Carroll, who is in who is the oldest
coach in the division by twenty eight years, is holding
up two middle fingers to the millennials and their instant
gratifications by stockpiling assets for the future and still being

(02:52):
really good right now now. The Seattle Seahawks pulled the
plug on Russell Wilson's era during the off season, and
their trade with the Broncos added what might be a
franchise left tackle in two. The ninth overall picked Charles
Cross and had ten total picks in the two draft,
including Kenneth Walker, who looks like a star right now,

(03:13):
and have almost as many picks in the first five
rounds of next year's draft, seven as the other three
teams combined nine. Now in free agency, the Seahawks didn't
over extend themselves. They rewarded some of the top performers
on their team last year, like Rasha Penny, alt was
Quadre Diggs, and they improved their past rushed by stealing

(03:34):
China and Wolsu from the Chargers. And despite wide receivers
all over the league using Christian kurch contract to price
them out of a spot on their current roster, the
Seahawks stood by DK Mattcalf and gave him a long
term deal. Things like that can go a long way
to galvanizing your locker room. Now, maybe the most important

(03:54):
thing that Pete Carroll and Seattle did was given experience
starter in Geno Smith a shot at being the actual
quarterback because he can be a long term solution. He
had been a backup. They had seen him in practice,
and instead of going to go get the new Shawny object,
they were like, we're gonna give the dude here a shot. Now,
seven weeks into the season, Geno Smith is top seven

(04:16):
and completions and touchdowns and he's having the third best
season in the history of the NFL when it comes
to completion percentage. And if you think that that's because
Pete Carroll scaled back on past attempts since trading Russell
Wilson to Denver, you would absolutely be wrong. The Seahawks
are actually airing it out more. They're not just addicted

(04:38):
to the deep ball, though, and it remains to be
seen if Seattle will be able to keep up with
their early season momentum. Injuries are piling up and a
look at the remaining schedule reveals two games left against
the Super Bowl champion Rams, but they ain't looking at
hot right now, a trip to Kansas City and games
against the other two teams I mentioned earlier in this video,

(04:58):
the Giants and the Jet Now, if they can manage
to play five football the rest of the way, they'll
shock the NFC by stealing the playoff spot and potentially
be in play for first place in the NFC West
division that has sent a representative to the Super Bowl
the six side of the last ten seasons. And even
if they fall off, they'll be sitting on the most

(05:19):
draft picks, having more cap space in three than the
Rams and Cardinals combined Day in the Money, Let That
sink In