Bumpus: Hiring 2 Rams coaches shows Seahawks moving in right direction
Jan 29, 2021, 11:11 AM
(Getty)
A few days after news broke that the Seahawks will be hiring Rams passing game coordinator Shane Waldron as the team’s next offensive coordinator, it was reported that Waldron will be bringing a longtime Rams offensive assistant with him to Seattle.
Related: Seahawks adding another coach from McVay’s Rams staff
NFL Media’s Mike Silver reported Thursday night than Andy Dickerson, Rams assistant offensive line coach, will be joining Waldron in Seattle as the Seahawks’ new running game coordinator. Head coach Pete Carroll’s son Brennan held that position last year but was was recently hired hired as the University of Arizona’s offensive coordinator. Dickerson has been with the Rams since they were still in St. Louis, joining then-head coach Jeff Fisher’s staff in 2012.
On Friday, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus was asked on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant about the significance of Dickerson’s reported move up north.
‘The guy he’s coming in with, Shane (Waldron), they’ve known each other since college, so there’s going to be some chemistry there,” Bumpus said. “They’re going to be able to have some candid conversations with each other. Maybe Andy will be able to hold Shane accountable when things are going wrong, when things are going well. Just (being) somebody to remind him of little cues.”
Waldron and Dickerson were teammates at Tufts University, so the two go back way further than their four seasons together with the Rams.
With Waldron moving to an offensive coordinator job from a passing game coordinator position, Dickerson being focused on the running game is something to keep in mind.
“You see this Rams offense, the shifts, the movements, the run game that’s connected to the pass game and you think, ‘Man, this is a complicated offense,’ when it really isn’t. It just looks pretty, there’s a lot of dressing going on there,” Bumpus said. “So when you add another coach who was in that Rams organization and played a part in the run game and you’ve got Shane, who was a passing coordinator, this lets me know (the Seahawks) are moving in the right direction of having a balanced attack and an offense that looks like it can do a lot of things.”
Carroll told reporters after the season he wanted the offense to be more balanced than it was in 2020, which means running the football more, especially as opposing teams shut down Seattle’s deep passing attack later in the season by playing with two-high safeties. Bumpus thinks that with Dickerson helping Waldron run the Seahawks’ offense, that balance will help in a big way, especially when it comes to quarterback Russell Wilson.
“The creativity you get out of this offense, you look at the Rams (and) you see the shifts, see the motions. Russell Wilson is going to get outside the pocket,” Bumpus said. “The Rams were one of the best teams in the league when it comes to play-action. (The Rams) had over 1,400 (passing) yards off of play-action, the Hawks had about 1,000 yards, so you gain something there.”
Bumpus also said based on how the Rams have operated on offense in recent years, Wilson will be able to operate a quicker passing attack in addition to getting outside of the pocket more.
Listen to the discussion at this link or in the player below.
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