Huard: Why Seahawks could see improvement with screen passes
Jun 9, 2023, 3:19 PM
Kenneth Walker III of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball on Sept. 25, 2022. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Seahawks had one of the top offenses in football last year, and with the majority of that side of the ball returning in 2023, there’s plenty of reason to believe that unit could be even better this upcoming season.
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When star receiver Tyler Lockett was asked about where the Seahawks’ offense can improve, he pointed to a specific type of play that hasn’t exactly been a strength of the team’s in recent years.
“The biggest thing that we could be way better at that I help us out is just the screen game. I think we were last in the screen game,” Lockett told reporters this week. “… I think if we can be able to get (better there), it does wonders. The biggest thing for us is knowing how to be able to be better at it, to know how to catch it, how to be able to get up field, trusting that the (blockers are) gonna be there, everybody being able to do their part. And I think if we can get better at that, then it makes the offensive game better, it makes the run game better, the explosive game better, the short game better. But if we don’t have the screen game, then we kind of become limited.”
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard was a fan of Lockett’s comments, and dove into them and the Seahawks’ screen game during Wednesday’s Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports.
“That’s good news. I mean honestly, if that’s the component of your offense that you need to refine and fine tune, I think you can do it,” Huard said. “A screen game is like an amazing changeup for a pitcher in baseball. It’s like (Mariners pitcher) Logan Gilbert’s splitter. It’s these guys that continue to work and manipulate. It’s not their fastball, it’s not their go-to, but man, is it effective if you can get it going. And it’s not just your running back screen game, it’s your receiver screen game, it’s your tight end screen game – Noah Fant and (Colby) Parkinson, those guys all more than capable. And it should improve with continuity.”
Quarterback Geno Smith is back after a Pro Bowl campaign, as are the Seahawks two top receivers (Lockett and DK Metcalf), their top three tight ends (Fant, Parkinson and Will Dissly) along with the team’s two top backs from last year (Kenneth Walker III and DeeJay Dallas). The majority of the starting offensive line is back, too, as is offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Seattle also added receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to the mix in
“The teams that have continuity that have a quarterback that have a system that have a play-caller, right?” Huard said. “And, again, a baseball analogy, just like pitch sequencing. You’ve got to have continuity to be able to do that, you’ve got to have trust to be able to do that. And now in the third year in the system with Shane Waldron for many of these guys, including the most important guy, your quarterback, that screen game should improve. It could be a very good changeup.”
