Which Seahawks Players and Personnel Deserve Biggest Share of Blame For Failed 2021 Season?
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After a fitting fourth quarter meltdown against the Bears on Sunday, the Seahawks have officially been eliminated from postseason contention in 2021. As such, the conversation revolving around them has fully shifted towards the future and the significant changes that may or may not come in the months ahead.
There is a chasmic divide in opinions amongst fans on whether or not a rebuild should occur, as well as what it would even entail or consist of. Part of the issue is determining who—or what—is to blame for this disastrous season, and whether moving on would yield the results being widely theorized.
Ultimately, there is no one culprit in Seattle's recent struggles. There is fault to be distributed throughout the organization from top to bottom—for some more than others, of course. Let's go one-by-one with each of the Seahawks' most prominent figures and analyze the role they've played in this bewildering year.
Pete Carroll
Naturally, the failures and successes of a team are going to reflect on the head coach; and for the first time in his 12-year tenure in Seattle, Carroll is legitimately on the hot seat. Whether that actually leads to his departure or not remains up in the air, though the results—or lack thereof—are undeniable: just three playoff wins since 2014 with several rosters that screamed "Super Bowl or bust," including this year's, which has tallied the most losses in a season (10) by any Carroll-led Seahawks team.
In addition to some of the more common issues taken with Carroll over the course of his coaching career, such as poor clock management and ultra-conservative decision-making, his unwillingness to give young players an extended audition over veterans nearing free agency as this lost season comes to a close won't do the organization any favors moving forward. Time that could have been spent collecting data on potentially valuable future assets before heading into a highly important offseason has instead been wasted chasing an unattainable goal.
Carroll is the captain and his ship is sitting on the ocean floor of the Pacific right now. When it comes to pointing the finger at any esteemed member of the Seahawks' organization, it starts with him.
Blame: Very high
Russell Wilson
Whether it's fair or not to put this kind of a responsibility on one player's shoulders, the fact of the matter is: Wilson's play, both good and bad, significantly moves the needle for the Seahawks. They live and die by his sword and will go as far as he can possibly take them. So when he's not playing to the best of his capabilities, the team tends to suffer as a whole. Unfortunately, that's been the case too often in 2021.
Prior to sustaining a fracture and ruptured tendon in the middle finger of his throwing hand in Week 5, Wilson and Seattle's offense were inconsistent at best. They showed flashes of a high-powered unit befitting of the superstar quarterback and the talent around him, but failed to put together a full four quarters at any given point in time.
That said, the offense was nowhere near as bad as it became upon Wilson's return from the injury. By his own admission, he was less than 100 percent after taking just four weeks off for surgery and rehab and it showed. The Seahawks were shut out by the Packers in Wilson's first game back, then dropped their next two games to the Cardinals and Washington with no considerable offensive production to speak of. Wilson's EPA per dropback during that time was a putrid -25.9, ranking 38th out of 40 qualified passers.
Even in hindsight, the decision to rush Wilson back is understandable and something the Seahawks would likely do 10 times out of 10 if they had the chance to go back in time. But there's no way around it: his second-half struggles played a major role in sealing the team's fate over the final stretch of the year.
Blame: Very high
John Schneider
Putting most of their eggs in the 2020 basket proved costly for Schneider and the Seahawks. Doing so resulted in having just three selections in the 2021 NFL Draft—a number the general manager was unwilling to increase due to the scouting uncertainties caused by the COVID-impacted college season last year. Tack on one of the league's least favorable salary cap situations and Schneider had his work cut out for him, to which he responded with some unique and uncharacteristic solutions, such as the usage of voidable years in several of the contracts he wound up dishing out.
Unfortunately, injuries have made Seattle's 2021 draft class a wash, and the free agent class, aside from Gerald Everett and Al Woods, hasn't been all that better. Failing to address both the center and cornerback positions in significant ways came back to bite the Seahawks in the end, though Schneider's ability to retool the latter group prior to Week 1 should be applauded, especially his acquisition of Sidney Jones. Nevertheless, the botched signings of Kerry Hyder, Carlos Dunlap, Benson Mayowa, Aldon Smith and Ahkello Witherspoon, along with the handling of 2019 first-round pick L.J. Collier, are a bad look.
Blame: High
Shane Waldron
In the unlikely event the Seahawks decide to run it back with the aforementioned "three horsemen," then Waldron may end up being scapegoated for this year's misgivings. While his offense has improved in certain areas over the course of the season, particularly in the run game, it's fallen well short of what Seattle had in mind when it brought Waldron aboard.
Part of that is Wilson's injury, of course, so it's hard to gauge just how much is on the play-caller. Plus, there's only so much an offensive coordinator can do with Wilson's particular skillset. Waldron may realistically be the least of the team's issues right now, but the Seahawks are unlikely to exit this season feeling anything less than uninspired by his efforts.
Blame: Medium
Ken Norton Jr.
This may raise a few eyebrows, but contrary to popular belief, Norton has been solid in 2021. The defense's early-season struggles in the passing game may be chalked up to personnel issues rather than schematic ones, which falls more on Schneider and Carroll than Norton. Once Seattle's cornerback play improved, the defense found better success as a whole.
Still, the Seahawks have allowed the second-most yards per game (385.5) while playing the most minutes of any team in the league (35:11 per game), though some of that reflects the offense's inability to possess the ball for long periods of time. Aside from those more negative marks, however, they're currently tied-seventh in scoring (20.5 points per game), tied-first in rushing defense (3.7 yards per carry), ninth in third down success rate (73.3 percent) and 16th in pass rush success rate (61.6 percent).
Norton's unit isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but given the injuries and shaky personnel decisions it's had to endure, it's been a lot better than most give it credit for.
Blame: Low-to-medium
