Bumpus: Shane Waldron could bring much-needed ‘deception’ to Seahawks
Jan 27, 2021, 9:07 AM | Updated: 12:09 pm
Michael Bumpus thinks Seahawks QB Russell Wilson will roll out of the pocket more in 2021. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks reportedly have their next offensive coordinator, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday night that Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Shane Waldron will be moving north on the West Coast and coming to Seattle.
Related: Seahawks to hire Shane Waldron from the Rams as next OC
Waldron, 41, has been with the Rams since 2017 and the team’s passing game coordinator since 2018. Seattle was in the market for a new offensive coordinator after the Seahawks and Brian Schottenheimer decided to part ways due to “philosophical differences.” Schottenheimer spent three years with Seattle, but the offense dramatically declined over the second half of the 2020 season after a red-hot start.
Like many when the news broke, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus said his first reaction to Schefter’s report was, “Who is this guy?”
“And to me, that was good,” he told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant Wednesday morning. “We’re not going to recycle (the same guys who have play-calling experience), we’re going to step outside the box and get somebody new.”
When Bumpus looked up Waldron online, he saw that he has an intriguing coaching background as he’s coached in high school, college and the NFL. And in the NFL, he’s worked for two of the better head coaches in the league in the Rams’ Sean McVay and New England’s Bill Belichick, who many consider the greatest coach in NFL history.
Bumpus said Waldron’s ties to McVay are what really stand out.
“It seems like everyone’s on the McVay run right now. They’re just grabbing guys off his coaching tree, and that’s what happens when you have success, that’s what happens when you do things that other teams haven’t done,” he said.
Since McVay took over as head coach in Los Angeles in 2017, the Rams have been among the most successful teams in the NFL, making the playoffs three times and earning a Super Bowl berth. Their offense was a big part of that, and with the Seahawks seeing that group up close twice a year, Bumpus said it wasn’t surprising that head coach Pete Carroll would be a bit envious of what the Rams are accomplishing on that side of the ball.
“They saw what that Rams’ offense was doing and were like, ‘Look, we need some of that in our offense,'” Bumpus said. “And I’m OK with that because that means the ball is going to get out of (quarterback Russell Wilson’s) hands quicker, it means they’re going to be deceptive on offense, find ways to get their playmakers the ball and not just line up and you know what’s coming.”
Wilson and Carroll had slightly different remarks when it came to the future of the Seahawks’ offense in postseason press conferences. Wilson said he wanted to play with better pace and tempo while Carroll thinks Seattle should run the ball more going forward to balance the offense better. Bumpus said that Waldron will have the ability to “marry” the run and pass and that Waldron’s lack of play-calling experience shouldn’t worry anyone.
“He’s listened to play calls, he’s in the room preparing for games,” he said.
Asked specifically about what he likes about the Rams’ offense, Bumpus said it’s their play-action passing game.
“They’re beautiful,” he said of those packages. “… They have a lot of things that look the same.”
Bumpus said part of what makes the Rams dangerous on offense is that they regularly run different plays out of the same looks, and that they have multiple plays for the same down-and-distance situations.
“We’re going to set you up for three quarters by showing you this zone, and then we’re going to (do) something (different) off of that and have something else for you. That’s what I like about this offense,” he said. “They’re going to be deceptive, they’re going to get Russell outside the pocket.”
Rams quarterback Jared Goff regularly rolls out of the pocket on play-action bootlegs, but he isn’t as mobile or as effective passing on the run as Wilson is. Bumpus said there’s an easy way to imagine what Seattle’s offense might look like starting next season.
“Insert Russell Wilson into the Rams’ offense and you tell me what you think,” he said. “I think it’s one of the best offenses in the league.”
You can listen to Bumpus discussing Waldron with Danny and Gallant in the podcast at this link or in the player below.
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