Seahawks offense works to improve third-down conversions as part of identity to ‘score points’

RENTON, Wash. – The easy assumption as the Seattle Seahawks entered the first year of the post-Russell Wilson era in 2022 was that they would turn the clock back to becoming a replica of the Ground Chuck years.

The conventional wisdom held that since Pete Carroll no longer had to worry about “Letting Russ Cook” – and all the debate that followed each game the last few years Wilson played in Seattle about whether he had – the Seahawks might never throw a pass again.

Funny thing about that.

Among the many surprises of the 2022 season is that little about the offense seemed to change in terms of overall approach.

Sure, the Seahawks ran it when they could, with Rashaad Penny on pace for a 1,200-yard season before being sidelined in Week Five, and Kenneth Walker III taking over and rushing for 1,050 yards of his own, becoming only the second Seattle rookie to top the 1,000-yard mark (the first was Curt Warner in 1983, the first season of the Chuck Knox era).

But when the dust settled, the Seahawks threw it more than half of the rest of the teams in the NFL, ranking 13th overall in pass-run percentage, throwing it on 59.35% of plays.

And that was essentially the same as the last full season (not interrupted by injury) of Wilson’s Seattle career in 2020 when he threw a career-high 558 passes. That year, the Seahawks threw it 59.59% of plays, 14th in the NFL.

While Walker returns for his second season and will be complemented by second-round pick Zach Charbonnet of UCLA, there’s reason to think the Seahawks could air it out even more in 2023.

That’s because Seattle appears to have finally added the kind of true third receiver it has lacked for years in first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, taken 20th overall out of Ohio State.

He joins a star-studded receiving duo of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf – who each topped the 1,000-yard mark again in 2022, which for Lockett was the fourth straight season, tying Steve Largent’s team record – as well as a tight end corps that was among the most productive in the league.

So, Smith was asked during training camp, what will be the Seahawks’ offensive identity this season, anyway?

“Our identity is to score points,” Smith said. “That’s our main identity, is to score points.”

Seattle did that pretty well in 2022, ranking ninth in points scored with 24 per game, commensurate with its ranking of 13th overall in yards per game at 351.2 and averaging 5.7 per play, not far off the team record of 5.89 in 2014, when the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl.

That came by ranking in the top 10 in both yards per pass (6.4, 10th) and rushing (4.8, seventh).

Smith said he’s hoping for a similar balance this season.

“You have to have somewhere to start and something that you can lean on and fall back on when times get hard,” Smith said. “For us, being that we’re so well-rounded, it could be our pass game or our run game.

“I think it makes it that much more difficult for the defense to scheme up or try to figure it out. For us, we have to be multiple and do whatever it takes to win whether that’s passing or running.”

But it also didn’t take Smith long to pinpoint things Seattle needs to do better this season: Convert on third downs and in the red zone.

While the Seahawks finished in the top half of the NFL in most key statistical categories, they were just 20th in third-down conversion percentage at 38.32%.

Seattle was even worse in the red zone (scoring when reaching the 20), getting touchdowns on just 48.28% of red-zone opportunities, which ranked just 27th. Third-down issues were especially costly in a few tight losses, notably converting just 1 of 9 in defeats to Tampa Bay and New Orleans.

Putting a finger on exactly why – given the team’s obvious rushing and receiving star power – isn’t easy.

But one obvious place to start is getting better on third-and-short.

Via Pro Football Reference, Seattle had 57 plays of third down and 1-3 yards last year and converted on 33 (to cite one team that did it better, the NFC champion Eagles converted 44 of 67 such plays in 2022).

“I think we could’ve been better on third down,” Smith said. “We started out good but tailed off at the end. Red zone specifically, inside the 10-yard line not scoring touchdowns and making field goals.

“That’s something that we are implementing this year. I feel that I have to be better as well as the offense, so we can do a better job at getting touchdowns; and overall, 2 minutes is where the games are won. It’s the NFL, a lot of close games and we have to win it in 2 minutes. We are working on those things now and looking forward to opportunities to prove it.”

Injury update

The Seahawks’ injury report for Thursday was similar to Wednesday with a couple of exceptions. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who is expected to play Sunday after recovering from an ACL injury suffered on Jan. 1, got a rest day, while guard Damien Lewis sat out with a shoulder injury.

The Seahawks added running back Kenneth Walker III to the report as limited with a groin injury. Walker missed time earlier during training camp with a groin injury but has been back to practice the last few weeks. It’s unclear if the injury is new or significant.

OLB Boye Mafe (illness) also sat out as did two players who were also out Wednesday — Jamal Adams (knee) and running back Kenny McIntosh (knee/hamstring).

And along with Walker, linebacker Derick Hall (shoulder) and cornerback Devon Witherspoon (hamstring) were also listed as limited.

Everyone else was a full participant, including receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, linebacker Darrell Taylor and defensive end Mike Morris.

Assistant Clint Hurtt said he couldn’t say yet if Witherspoon will play Sunday against the Rams. The team’s first pick in the 2023 draft taken fifth overall, Witherspoon returned to practice this week after missing all three preseason games with a hamstring injury.