What Bump hopes OC Grubb brings to Seahawks’ WRs from UW

When new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb takes over the play-calling duties for the Seattle Seahawks this season, he’ll have the luxury of a talented wide receiver trio in DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

That’s a familiar dynamic for Grubb.

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Grubb spent the past two seasons as UW Huskies offensive coordinator, overseeing a high-flying passing attack that featured arguably the best receiving trio in the nation. Star wideouts Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan put up big numbers in Grubb’s offense at UW and were each top-100 picks in this past weekend’s NFL Draft.

Given the success Grubb had with the Huskies’ trio of NFL-bound receivers, how might that translate to the offense he runs with the Seahawks? During Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Wednesday, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus discussed which route concepts he’s most excited to see Seattle receivers run this fall.

“The more and more I think about this wideout group and what Ryan Grubb likes to do, the more excited I get,” Bumpus said. “There were a bunch of switch routes that were run at the University of Washington. Switch routes are (when) the outside receiver replaces the inside receiver and they switch the routes, and they’re simply just running go routes but they’re overlapping and getting vertical. Those types of routes got Rome Odunze open a lot.”

Bumpus said he also wants to see mesh concepts be a staple of the Seahawks’ passing attack.

“If Ryan Grubb does what he did at the University of Washington, you’ll see a lot of mesh concepts,” Bumpus said. “(That’s when) the inside guys run across the field about five to six yards in front and behind the linebackers and create a mesh concept, and the outside guys typically run vertical. One runs a dig, one runs a post … and you outflank the flat defenders. So just routes like that – routes that allow these guys to have great mesh points, to switch on the outside and make the defense have to hold guys accountable across several parts in the zone.

“Or even if they’re running man-to-man (defense), that’s better, because DK’s gonna get loose, (Smith-Njigba) is gonna get loose, Tyler Lockett is going to get loose. So the mesh concepts and the switch routes, the possibilities you have with those concepts are going to be awesome. Grubb did a lot of that with the University of Washington. I hope he brings that here to the Seahawks.”

Listen to the full conversation from Wednesday’s Bump and Stacy in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Bump and Stacy airs live from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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