Seattle Seahawks 2009 Preview

How bad did injuries hit the Pacific Northwest last year?

The Seahawks were at one point so desperate for a WR with a semblance of familiarity of the Mike Holmgren offense that they were ready to start second string quarterback Seneca Wallace at one of the positions.

And fittingly, Wallace never made it into the starting lineup because he injured his calf in warm-ups.

All in all, no team in the NFL last season sustained more costly injuries than the Seahawks. As a team, the Seahawks lost more starters to injury than any other. The most notable starters on the Seahawks to miss significant time were Pro Bowlers Matt Hasselbeck, Walter Jones, and Patrick Kerney. Not to be outdone, the Seahawks lost Nate Burleson for the season, Bobby Engram for the first four weeks of the season, and Deion Branch for half the season.

Oh and Lofa Tatupu, the teams franchise player on the other side of the ball, played the entire season hurt and actually missed the Eagles game with what the team described as a "slew of injuries they could not fit on the injury report."

Ladies and gentlemen—your 2008 Seattle Seahawks!

But while it's easy to pin all the Seahawks woes on injuries, good teams do overcome them and the Seahawks were simply not a very good team last season. Defensively, they were putrid—particularly their secondary which had shined only a season prior. Marcus Trufant did have another solid season as teams would rarely throw the ball his direction, but Kelly Jennings presence on the other side could also have had a lot to do with Trufant not seeing many passes thrown his way.

Brandon Mebane and Josh Wilson were both very pleasant surprises for the Seahawks, and were far and away the two best players on that side of the ball a year ago.

Offensively, the Seahawks could never establish any continuity, and they looked nothing like the Mike Holmgren teams the league had grown to know. In 2007—the Seahawks made no question about what type of team they were as they threw the ball more than any team in the league aside from the New Orleans Saints. By doing so they earned the 8th overall passing offense that season.

But 2008 was an entirely different story with all the different starting lineups that Holmgren had to piece together. The Seahawks were only able to muster a passing offense better than three other teams in football, and their rushing attack was slightly better, registering 19th overall in the league. However, two games against the Rams inflated those numbers big time as the Seahawks were able to rush for nearly 200 yards a game against their division foes.

There were a couple of bright spots for the Hawks however, the biggest being rookie tight end John Carlson, who set franchise records at that position and was consistently the best receiving threat the Seahawks had in 2008.

Offensive lineman Ray Willis was also a pleasant surprise filling in for injured components of the Seahawks offensive line, and he was rewarded for his play with a contract extension after the season.

2009 Free Agency Additions:
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cincinnati)
CB Ken Lucas (Carolina)
DT Colin Cole (Green Bay)
FB David Kirtman (San Francisco)
FB Justin Griffith (Oakland)
TE John Owens (Detroit)

2009 Trade Acquisitions:
DT/DE Cory Redding (Detroit)

2009 Offseason Departures:
LB Julian Peterson (Traded to Detroit)
WR Bobby Engram (Kansas City)
FB Leonard Weaver (Philadelphia)
RB Maurice Morris (Detroit)
DT Rocky Bernard (NY Giants)
T Pork Chop Womack (Cleveland)
TE Will Heller (Detroit)
QB Charlie Frye (Oakland)
DT Howard Green (NY Jets)
WR Koren Robinson (Unsigned)

2009 NFL Draft:
1-4. Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest
2-49. Max Unger, C/G, Oregon
3-91. Deon Butler, WR, Penn State
6-178. Mike Teel, QB, Rutgers
7-245. Courtney Greene, S, Rutgers
7-247. Nick Reed, DE, Oregon
7-248. Cameron Morrah, TE, California

2009 Outlook:
2009 will begin the Jim Mora era, and it all hinges on the Seahawks being able to avoid costly injuries yet again to their pivota

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