— It’s become apparent recently that Russell Wilson’s drop-backs are extremely deep. I’m not sure if he’s always done this or if it’s a recent thing. It might just be more noticeable at the moment, I haven’t had time to check. Look at this example though:

3rd and 7 play (still on 2nd drive), protection is great and would like to see Russ hit Lockett here but Russ is behind Britt so doesn't see pic.twitter.com/yGdwo6UwGs — Ben Baldwin (@guga31bb) September 26, 2017

In the video above it’s a 3rd and 7 from Seattle’s 14 yard line. Wilson is in the shotgun but still takes a five-step drop. He settles on his own four-yard line. This all means he has to throw at least a 17-yard completion to get a first down. The three receivers all run beyond the 21-yard line so Wilson is actually needing to throw a +20-yard pass to convert a routine third down.

That’s a strange circumstance to begin with — but let’s take it a step further.

Wilson’s deep drop from a shotgun formation actually gives the defensive end a better angle to the quarterback. Instead of needing to get around the edge to beat the tackle, it’s pretty much a diagonal line to the QB. If Wilson sits in the pocket the tackle can play inside-out and guide the rusher out of the play if he isn’t able to stone him at the point.

Instead, you’re creating a much bigger area of space for the tackle to try and defend. Look at the pressure Germain Ifedi gives up in the video above. You can clearly see Ifedi is wary of the large amount of space he has to try and cover. He engages the defender and lets him run outside. Usually this would be fine, he’s playing inside-out. Yet Wilson is still moving and nearly scrambles directly into the path of the pass rusher.

Ifedi doesn’t even engage until he’s dropped back to the five yard line. Seattle is basically shifting the pocket backwards by a good 9-10 yards. Even then the quarterback isn’t settling. In the video Wilson seems to have a good 3-4 seconds after completing his drop to assess the field and make a decision — and still scrambles. It’s harder for the O-line to defend their quarterback and it’s harder for Wilson to make a completion because he has to launch the ball downfield.

Focusing strictly on the O-line — with the QB dropping back so deep you’re asking a tackle to mirror a player who is 40-50lbs lighter and likely one of the best athletes in the NFL (as most DE’s are) while giving said player a better angle and much more space to work with.

No wonder they’re trying to develop freaky athletic ex-basketball players to play tackle. This is no job for a 320lbs behemoth who specialises in run blocking.

We’ve always talked about how difficult Wilson is to block for. His scrambling nature and ability to improvise often means a linemen has to take a best guess on where he’s going to be. It’s much harder to create a basic pocket if Wilson is moving around and he has a tendency to sack himself on occasions. Wilson holds onto the ball for a long time too — so sustaining blocks is much more important than it would be for a pure pocket passer.

His height also creates a dilemma because he needs passing lanes. Cut-blocks are one way to achieve this. There’s been a lot of talk this week about a Shaun O’Hara tweet criticising Seattle’s O-line for a perceived ‘quintuple whiff’ when attempting a collective cut block:

Some bad football in 1st Half of #SEAvsTEN game. Never 👀this before 👉🏻5 whiffed cuts & a fumbled snap Tough Times for @Seahawks OFFENSE pic.twitter.com/e3eBJD7j7R — Shaun O'Hara (@ShaunOHara60) September 25, 2017

It seems pretty clear what Seattle is trying to do here. Get the D-line on the ground or off-balance to allow Wilson a quick-pass opportunity. The fumbled snap never gives Wilson the chance to get his pass away but this was likely designed to be a quick throw, not one of his long developing throws. If you actually look at the point where he collects the football — he has huge throwing lanes and a big chunk of space at the second level. This was chided as a huge gaffe by the O-line but really, the big mistake was probably the fumbled snap.

Execution and small details like a fumbled snap might be why Seattle’s offense appears so discombobulated at the moment. They’ve always been a ‘controlled chaos’ unit in the Wilson era. It suited them — with Marshawn Lynch getting yards in a way only he can and Wilson doing his Fran Tarkenton act.

Without Lynch and with Wilson being quite streaky to start the year, it’s not a big surprise that Seattle’s offensive form has fluctuated.

The encouraging thing is we’ve seen them right the ship before and the defense is playing well enough to think this team can get back on track.

— Is there a way for Seattle to beter utilise their D-line? At the moment Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett and Sheldon Richardson are absorbing a lot of snaps. Against the Titans, Bennett played 88% of the defensive snaps, Avril 73% and Richardson 70%.

Only six players had more defensive snaps (Sherman, Chancellor, Wagner, Wright, Thomas and Lane).

The trio are also seemingly playing a lot of early downs and needing to provide the kind of aggressive run defense Seattle craves.

It’d be nice to see these three in particular given an opportunity to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. They clearly get that opportunity in certain scenarios — but it’s usually after some hard graft in the trenches vs the run.

Richardson, for example, might be Seattle’s best interior run defender. Which is great and incredibly useful. Yet he was brought here to try and be that vital missing interior rusher.

It seems, from the outside, that Seattle isn’t entirely trusting of Jarran Reed, Naz Jones and Garrison Smith to handle the run-D duties. If true that’s a shame because it’d be great to see Sheldon Richardson used predominantly as an attack dog on passing downs, finding ways to crash the pocket and be a playmaker.

Richardson might just be too important as a run defender at the moment. Unfortunately, you have to wonder if it’s impacting his ability to be the explosive pass rusher we know he can be.

— Here’s your daily reminder that the Seahawks aren’t the only team with O-line issues:

Bruce Arians lays the blame on the offensive line after Carson Palmer takes six sacks https://t.co/t0Ysm42nLQ — ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 26, 2017

“We only have seven guys out there, so they’re the only ones that can play,” Arians said. Arians said Carson Palmer was finding open receivers but getting hit before he could get the ball to them. “We had guys open at times and just didn’t get them because we couldn’t throw the ball,” Arians said. Palmer was sacked six times, and Cardinals right tackle Jared Veldheer particularly struggled to block Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, who had three of those sacks. If the Cardinals don’t block better, it’s going to be a long season for Palmer.

— The 2018 quarterback class is going to be as good as advertised. This week I only watched Josh Rosen and Josh Allen. Rosen is a fantastic passer with great potential and looks like a top-five pick. His poise, accuracy, ability to adjust throwing speeds and consistency are extremely appealing. He looks really good this season playing without a particularly good supporting cast at UCLA. Allen has a lot of kinks to iron out and had some ugly throws against Hawaii (including a wasted pick six opportunity). His throw to win the game in overtime, however, flashed his physical potential. It was a difficult throw to make but his placement and velocity were spot on.

Allen probably shouldn’t go before Sam Darnold and Rosen (and maybe Lamar Jackson too) but someone will take him in round one to work with and develop. The top-10 could be loaded with quarterbacks in 2018 if they all declare.

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