Ian Hartitz identifies three points of need for the Seattle Seahawks going into the NFL Draft and the 2025 season.

The Seahawks started the 2024 season 3-0 and later ripped off four consecutive Ws following their bye week. The problem was they won just three games otherwise, sadly failing to make the playoffs despite racking up double-digit wins for the first time since 2020.

While 10-7 might seem like a solid enough year for a team that wasn't exactly entering the season with Super Bowl aspirations, the reality that nobody has more active cash spending ahead of the 2025 season makes this a bit of a "win or else" campaign for Geno Smith and the team's key parties.

Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 10-7 (9.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 22.1 (18th)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.044 (20th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.126 (25th)
  • Points per game allowed: 21.6 (11th)
  • Leading passer: Geno Smith (4,320 pass yards, 21 TD, 15 INT)
  • Leading rusher: Kenneth Walker (153 carries, 573 yards, 7 TD)
  • Leading receiver: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (100 receptions, 1,130 yards, 6 TD)

Biggest surprise: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

The 2023 NFL Draft's 20th overall pick had a rookie season to forget after totaling just 63 catches for 628 yards despite not missing any game action. Whether you want to blame an August wrist fracture, Shane Waldron, or simply JSN adjusting to the professional game: It was tough to be too optimistic ahead of 2024.

And then a funny thing happened: Smith-Njigba started balling out! One of just 10 players to catch triple-digit passes, the Ohio State product also racked up 1,130 yards while emerging as the team's go-to pass-game target.

More downfield opportunities helped—JSN's average target depth increased from 6.4 to 9.2–as did more trust from Geno Smith in general. Overall, Smith-Njigba caught just 3 of 12 contested targets in 2023 (25%) before snagging 12 of 26 contested opportunities in 2024 (46.2%).

While the rising third-year talent still has some work to do as a passer, he's suddenly back on the sort of high-end career trajectory that many were hoping for after he became the first WR off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft. So for that: Hell, yeah!

Biggest disappointment: QB Geno Smith

The offensive line would have perhaps been the better choice here considering the role it played in making life extra tough for Smith and Kenneth Walker alike. We'll get to them shortly.

That said: There were still too many back-breaking mistakes from the veteran QB throughout the season:

  • Smith's 18 turnover-worthy plays were tied with Jameis Winston for the sixth-highest mark in the league.
  • Only Baker Mayfield (16) and Kirk Cousins (16) threw more INTs than Jeremiah Smith's cousin (15).
  • Nobody threw more red Red Zone INTs than Smith (4).
  • Only Caleb Williams and C.J. Stroud lost more yardage from sacks than Smith.

Finishing 17th in EPA per dropback (+0.075) and fourth in completion percentage over expected (+5.6%), Smith was far from bad in 2024; it's just the handful of head-scratching decisions that unfortunately helped define the disappointing season.

Key injuries

The Seahawks are tentatively believed to not be dealing with any long-term injuries from the 2024 season. The one possible exception is RB Kenneth Walker (high-ankle sprain), but it'd make sense if that issue has more than enough time to heal throughout the offseason.

What Are The Biggest Needs of the Seahawks Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Offensive Line

This group was horrendous last season…

  • PFF's reigning 31st-ranked unit
  • 30th in rush yards before contact per carry
  • 29th in pressure rate allowed

… and that makes sense because the front office has largely ignored them for the better part of the last decade:

  • 29th in 2025 dollars devoted to the O-line
  • Seattle has used *one* top-50 pick on the offensive line over the last eight drafts combined

Starting C Connor Williams retiring during the middle of last season sums up all you need to know about this group. LT Charles Cross deserves credit for earning PFF's 10th-best grade among 87 qualified players at the position, but otherwise? Let's add some actual resources to this group for once and see what happens.

Team Need No. 2: Pass Catcher

This won't necessarily be a major need, although it's possible the team turns to its WR and TE rooms in order to achieve some level of salary cap relief ahead of next season.

  • WR DK Metcalf: It doesn't make a lot of sense to ditch Metcalf without a re-negotiated contract, as the team would eat $13.9 million in dead money despite saving $18 million with a post-June 1 cut or trade. Still, this hasn't stopped some soft trade rumors from being floated around the interwebs, and obviously the decision to part ways with the team's gargantuan outside WR would leave a big hole on the offense.
  • WR Tyler Lockett: Similar to Metcalf: The Seahawks would save quite a bit of money by releasing Lockett ($17 million!), although there would still be a decent bit of dead money left behind ($13.9 million). Of course, the difference in future upside between Lockett (33 next September) and Metcalf (28 next December) is clear, making the longtime Seahawks veteran the more likely party to depart.
  • TE Noah Fant: Perhaps Seattle is more than fine with Fant holding down TE1 duties, although they could save $8.9 million against the cap with a release at any point in time. This would include $4.5 million in dead money, but maybe the team is comfortable moving forward with AJ Barner as their TE1.

Could all three parties simply return and make this a moot point? Sure, but at a minimum it seems especially likely that Lockett is out of the picture, so it might be time to take a look at some replacement options in free agency and/or the draft.

Team Need No. 3: Linebacker

The Seahawks are one of just seven teams with under $5 million devoted to their LB room ahead of 2025. While this is a schematic choice for some, it seems unlikely that's true for Mike Macdonald, whose former employer has the league's highest-paid player at the position in Roquan Smith.

Throw in the loss of longtime stud and future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner prior to the 2024 season as well as newfound free agent Ernest Jones, and it's clear the Seahawks are overdue for a reset at the position. After all: This defense didn't have a single LB ranked inside PFF's top-45 players at the position in 2024.