NFL Coaching Matters: 2022 Seattle Seahawks Offense and Coaching Staff Preview

July 27, 2022

Eli Grabanski breaks down the 2022 Seattle Seahawks' coaching staff in search of buy-lows, fantasy football sleepers, and risers based on play-calling and historical data.

After every NFL season, NFL teams take the time to evaluate not only the players but also the coaching staff and front office as well. While many teams choose to retain the same head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, a few other teams opt to go in a new direction with their coaching staff.

The Seattle Seahawks have a new defensive coordinator in 2022 but otherwise will be bringing back many of the key coaching staff members from the 2021 season. Pete Carroll will return as the Seahawks' head coach and Shane Waldron will return as the team's offensive coordinator for the 2022-23 season. The only change will be at defensive coordinator, as Ken Norton Jr. will be replaced by Clint Hurtt for the upcoming season.

This article will look at the potential impact this coaching staff will have on the players and try to pinpoint the Seahawks players' fantasy values in it.

The Baseline

To get a better understanding of the value the Seahawks coaches bring to this team, we can look at the NFL league averages in each of the past two years in a variety of statistical categories and then compare them to the averages achieved by the Seahawks coaches. Here are 'The Baseline' NFL league averages over the past couple of years:

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Defense Impact

Previous Coaching Staff

In order to get an understanding of how the Seattle Seahawks fantasy players may be impacted this year, we also need to look at a key member of the Seattle Seahawks' previous coaching staff: former defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. By doing this, we will have a better understanding of where the new regime is starting from and where the primary changes will occur.

Former Defensive Coordinator: Ken Norton Jr.

Ken Norton Jr. served as the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. Prior to being hired by the Seahawks, Norton Jr. spent 42 games as the defensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders (2015-2017). Below are some defensive statistics from Norton's time in a defensive coordinator or head coaching role.

2022 Offense

2022 Offensive Coordinator: Shane Waldron

The 2021 NFL season was Shane Waldron's first time as an offensive coordinator at any level. Prior to joining the Seattle Seahawks, Waldron served as the passing game coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams (2018-2020) and had also previously spent time with New England (2008-2009) and Washington (2016). Let's take a look at some statistics from his career as an offensive play-caller to try and get some better insight into how the offense may look in 2022.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Shane Waldron Takeaways & Expectations

Over the course of Shane Waldron's one season as an offensive play-caller, his offense averaged 29.12 passing attempts per game - which is well-below average. Given the Seahawks traded away their longtime franchise quarterback, Russell Wilson, this past offseason, it seems unlikely that the team suddenly starts throwing more in 2022.

But besides passing, it is also important to look at the rushing usage of Waldron's quarterbacks during his time as an offensive play-caller. In his one season as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, Waldron's quarterbacks averaged 3.06 carries, 13.24 rushing yards, and 0.18 rushing touchdowns per game.

These rushing numbers are slightly below the NFL league averages during the 2021 season. While it's only one season, so far Waldron's offense hasn't utilized the quarterback position as much as other teams. Whoever wins the starting quarterback job between Geno Smith and Drew Lock will have virtually zero shot of finishing as a top-20 fantasy quarterback in 2022. Clearly, the Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback should not be drafted in any non-2QB league format.

Looking at the running back position, Shane Waldron has been a bit of a mixed bag for his tailbacks. In his one season as an offensive coordinator, his running back room averaged 20.35 carries, 101.35 rushing yards, and 0.88 rushing touchdowns per game.

The carries number is a little below the 2021 NFL league averages, but on the flip side, the rushing yards and rushing touchdowns are above-average relative to the 2021 NFL league averages for running backs. Overall, these pure totals on the ground are pretty solid, but we also have to consider how the volume is being distributed - did Waldron roll with a bell-cow or a running back by committee approach in 2021?

Looking at last year's data of the season carries totals, it appears that for the most part, Waldron rolled with more of a running back by committee approach on the ground in 2021. It is important to note that Rashaad Penny did have an insane late-season stretch from weeks 14 to 18 where he totaled 92 carries (18.4 per game), 671 rushing yards (134.2 per game), and six rushing touchdowns (1.2 per game), so Waldron doesn't seem completely opposed to a bell-cow approach on the ground if he has one back that is head and shoulders better than the rest. But in 2022, that might not be the case as the Seahawks will have two talented running backs - Penny and second-round pick Kenneth Walker III. Because of this, we should expect more of a running back by committee/dynamic duo attack for the Seahawks backs in 2022.

The last aspect we should look at regarding Shane Waldron's running back room is how much he has traditionally utilized them as pass-catchers. Over the course of his 17-game career, Waldron's running back room has averaged just 3.94 targets per game.

While it's only one season, this is still one of the worst marks in the league among active play-callers. This is a little frustrating to see from a fantasy perspective since it means that the Seattle Seahawks lead back is likely limited to an RB2 ceiling if this receiving usage continues into 2022.

Looking at the wide receiver position, Waldron's offense has led to his wide receivers averaging 11.24 receptions on 18.18 targets for 153.59 receiving yards and 1.47 receiving touchdowns.

From a pure volume perspective, the wide receiver usage was a little below average in 2021. From a fantasy perspective, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf managed to still be solid performers last year because of their efficiency - particularly in the red zone (1.47 wide receiver touchdowns per game). That will be more difficult to count on in 2022 with the dropoff in talent at quarterback, and it's likely that Lockett and Metcalf have a down year for the upcoming season.

Lastly, we need to look at Shane Waldron's tight end room from 2021. During his one season as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, Waldron's tight end room averaged 4.35 receptions on 5.71 targets for 43.65 receiving yards and 0.29 receiving touchdowns per game.

These numbers are a little below the NFL league averages in 2021. Based on this information, it seems unlikely that Noah Fant has a breakout season in this offense and should be viewed as more of a TE2/streamer for the 2022 season.

Fantasy Relevant Players: Geno Smith, Drew Lock, Jacob Eason, Rashaad Penny, Ken Walker III, Chris Carson, DeeJay Dallas, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Freddie Swain, Dee Eskridge, Marquise Goodwin, Will Dissly, and Noah Fant

2022 Defense

2022 Head Coach: Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll has been the Seattle Seahawks head coach since 2010. Prior to being the Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll had served as a defensive coordinator (1990-1993) and head coach (1994) of the New York Jets, as a defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers (1995-1996), and as the head coach of the New England Patriots (1997-1999) at the NFL level. Given his defensive background, let's take a look at some defensive statistics from Carroll's time serving in a defensive coordinator or head coaching role.

2022 Defensive Coordinator: Clint Hurtt

Other Notable Assistants

Special Teams Coordinator: Larry Izzo - Larry Izzo was the Seahawks' interim special teams coordinator in 2020, but the 'interim' label was removed in 2021 as he became the official special teams coordinator of the Seahawks. Izzo has previously been a special teams coordinator for the Houston Texans (2016-2017) and has served as an assistant special teams coordinator for the New York Giants (2011-2015) and Seattle Seahawks (2018-2020) in the past as well. Izzo also played linebacker in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins (1996-2000), New England Patriots (2001-2008), and New York Jets (2009).

QB Coach: Dave Canales - The Seattle Seahawks will have a new quarterbacks coach in 2022 as they go from Austin Davis to Dave Canales. Canales has been with the Seahawks organization since 2010 and has served as the team's quarterbacks coach in the past (2018-2019).

RB Coach: Chad Morton - Chad Morton has been with the Seattle Seahawks since 2014 and served as the team's running backs coach since 2017. He also played running back at the NFL level for the New Orleans Saints (2000), New York Jets (2001-2002), Washington Redskins (2003-2004), and New York Giants (2005-2006).

WR Coach: Sanjay Lal - The Seattle Seahawks will have a new wide receivers coach in 2022, as they go from Nate Carroll to Sanjay Lal. Sanjay Lal has been coaching football since 1996 at a variety of levels. At the NFL level, Lal previously served as a wide receivers coach for the Oakland Raiders (2009-2011), New York Jets (2012-2014), Buffalo Bills (2015-2016), Indianapolis Colts (2017), Dallas Cowboys (2018-2019), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2021).

TE Coach: Pat McPherson - Pat McPherson has been the Seattle Seahawks tight ends coach since 2010. Prior to joining the Seahawks, he spent his entire coaching career with the Denver Broncos, working as a defensive assistant (1998), offensive assistant (1999-2002), quarterbacks coach (2003-2006), and tight ends coach (2007-2008).

OL Coach: Andy Dickerson - Mike Solari is gone and Andy Dickerson will replace him as the Seahawks' new offensive line coach. Dickerson previously served as the Seahawks' run game coordinator in 2021 and also was a longtime assistant offensive line coach with the Los Angeles Rams (2012-2020).

DL Coach: Clint Hurtt got promoted to defensive coordinator but the team did not hire an official defensive line coach to replace him in this role. So it seems likely that Hurtt continues to lead this group with assistant defensive line coach Aaron Curry assisting.

LB Coach: John Glenn - John Glenn has been with the Seattle Seahawks since 2012 and served in a variety of roles prior to being promoted to linebackers coach in 2018.

DB Coach: Karl Scott - The Seattle Seahawks will have a new defensive backs coach in 2022 as they go from Deshawn Shead to Karl Scott. During the 2021 season, Scott worked as a defensive backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings. He also coached in a variety of roles on the defensive side of the ball at the college level from 2007 to 2020.

Enjoy this series? Be sure to check out all of the other 'Coaching Matters' team previews!

AFC North: Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts

AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders

AFC East: Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets

NFC North: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings

NFC South: Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West: San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals

Follow Eli Grabanski on Twitter: @3li_handles

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