How Seahawks' New OC Can Improve Offense After Brian Schottenheimer's Tenure

The Seattle Seahawks are in the market for a new offensive coordinator partly due to the regression in yardage totals during the back end of the 2020 NFL season. 

The NFC West champion relied more on its defense than offense to finish ahead of the Los Angeles Rams for the divisional crown, but the offensive deficiencies were apparent in the wild-card round defeat to the Rams. 

Seattle is not in dire straits offensively, but there are some things it needs to improve on under its new offensive coordinator. Brian Schotteheimer was let go on January 12. 

The first change everyone will point to is finding more balance through the rushing attack, but there are a few other adjustments that have to be made to remain on top of the NFC West.  

If you take Russell Wilson's 513 rushing yards out of the equation, the Seahawks would have had the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL. 

With Wilson's numbers included, Seattle ranked just outside the top 10 in rushing yards, but it was tied for 19th in rushing scores with 15. 

Part of the inefficiency was caused by injuries to Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde in the middle of the season, but even when Carson returned, the Seahawks recorded fewer than 100 rushing yards twice and had another performance under 120 ground yards. 

Carson recorded some decent totals in his 13 appearances. He had 4.8 yards per carry and 56.8 yards per game, but there was not much support beneath him. 

The new offensive coordinator needs to work with head coach Pete Carroll to identify the right combination of running backs to achieve more success in 2021. 

The first major decision will come on Carson's status since he is a free agent. Rashaad Penny, DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer are all under contract for next season, per Spotrac. 

Regardless of if Carson comes back, or a new feature back is installed, Seattle needs to have more balance to take some pressure off Wilson.

The three highest single-season sack totals suffered by Wilson occurred in the last three seasons. 

In 2018, Wilson was taken down a career high 51 times, and in 2019, he led the league with 48 sacks taken. He suffered 47 sacks in 2020.

Only Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson were sacked more times than Wilson this season. He was the only quarterback to qualify for the postseason that ranked in the top 10 of sacks. 

As Wilson gets older, the Seahawks need to protect him more to avoid unfavorable situations throughout the season, like long third-down plays or quick drives that flip the field position in favor of opponents. 

The new offensive coordinator needs to scheme up a better system that protects Wilson. The addition of running backs and tight ends that are better in pass protection could help.

The high total of sacks could be affected by the lack of strong numbers on the ground. If the Seahawks become more effective in the run game, it could take some defensive attention away from Wilson. 

All the Seahawks have to do is look inside the NFC West to see how dominant a tight end can be in the right system.

Seattle does not have a George Kittle-type tight end on its roster, but it can make its offense more dangerous if it uses its tight ends on a more regular basis to partner DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the aerial attack. 

None of the tight ends on the Seattle roster recorded over 300 receiving yards in 2020, and that was a continuation of a dip in production at the position.

In 2019, Jacob Hollister earned the third-highest receiving total on the roster, but he only had 349 receiving yards and a trio of scoring catches.  In 2018, Nick Vannett's 269 yards were the most earned by a Seattle tight end.

Will Dissly is the best option under contract for 2021 to develop into a larger role. He had 251 yards and two touchdowns in his first full season of games played. He dealt with injuries in the previous two seasons.

If the new offensive mind can work Dissly into the passing attack more, it would force opposing defenses to change their schemes a bit to deal with a threat across the middle. 

Of course, Metcalf and Lockett will still be the top two threats inside the Seattle offense, but if Wilson can develop a strong connection with a third player, the Seahawks could put up totals similar to the first half of 2020 for an entire season. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.