Are the Seahawks operating out of shotgun too often?

Nov 6, 2024, 2:55 PM | Updated: 2:59 pm

Seattle Seahawks Geno Smith Los Angeles Rams 2024...

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith looks to pass against the Rams on Sunday. (Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

(Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

BY CAMERON VAN TIL

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks’ offense has been strikingly unbalanced and inconsistent this season.

Why Macdonald feels Seahawks are ready to turn corner

Geno Smith leads the NFL in passing yardage, but the Seahawks have struggled mightily on the ground, ranking 27th in rushing yards per game. And despite sitting at 14th in points per game, Seattle has sputtered to a slew of slow starts, averaging just 7.2 first-half points in its five losses.

With the Seahawks in the midst of their bye week, one topic of discussion on Seattle Sports airwaves this week has been the the team’s heavy use of shotgun formations. According to TruMedia via an article from The Athletic, Seattle has operated out of shotgun on 80.4% of its snaps this season, which is the fourth-highest rate in the league.

That likely stems from new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who ran a shotgun-heavy dropback passing attack as the UW Huskies’ offensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023.

Here are some various perspectives from former NFL players on the differences between snapping out of shotgun and snapping under center.

The linebacker effect

NFL on FOX analyst Mark Schlereth, a former two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion, was asked about the topic on Tuesday during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob.

Schlereth argued that play-action is more effective when snapping the ball under center, because the quarterback briefly turns his back to the defense. That can make it challenging for linebackers to decipher who has the ball.

“Linebackers, they can see the backfield much cleaner (on shotgun snaps) than when you’re under center,” Schlereth said. “When you’re under center, you turn your back to the defense when you’re running a play-action. Shotgun, you don’t. So the ball never truly gets hidden.”

As a former NFL linebacker, co-host Dave Wyman vouched for that.

“Totally agree with you on the under center thing,” Wyman said. “From a linebacker’s perspective, it doesn’t give you near as much time to react.”

Former NFL offensive lineman Ray Roberts echoed a similar sentiment Monday on Wyman and Bob. He explained that linebackers have more time to react to a play-action run out of the shotgun, due to the running back lining up farther back.

“(The running back) is 4 or 5 yards off the ball, so (the linebacker) can be a little bit late going like, ‘Uhhh, yeah, he’s running.’ And then you can attack the line of scrimmage,” Roberts said. “But when you’re under center and the quarterback turns his back to the defense and you’re not real sure where the ball is – and then if you hesitate and the running back has the ball coming downhill at the gap – then you’re gonna be a little bit behind trying to react to that.”

Schlereth also explained how lining up under center can draw in the linebackers, which then can open up opportunities in the passing game.

“In shotgun, defenses tend to play high to low, meaning they get deeper drops and take away intermediate routes,” Schlereth said. “When you play it under center, linebackers tend to play about a yard closer to the ball. And then when you flag that ball and you turn your back to the defense, they can’t help but step up. Same with safeties.

“And so it creates easier throwing windows and quicker throws, which in turn helps us (offensive linemen) up front.”

The quarterbacks’ view

On Wednesday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, co-host Brock Huard and guest host Damon Huard provided a quarterback’s perspective. The Huard brothers both starred at quarterback for the UW Huskies and went on to play in the NFL.

Brock Huard said he rarely played out of the shotgun until his senior year at UW in 1998, when Scott Linehan took over as offensive coordinator. When he started operating out of the shotgun, he immediately realized how it benefited quarterbacks.

“I remember being like, ‘Woah, this is amazing. I’m already 5, 6 yards back. I don’t have to drop back. I’m already here. This is crazy,'” Brock Huard said.

However, Huard said the downside of shotgun is that it can limit an offense’s options in the run game and put added stress on the offensive tackles in pass protection.

In particular, Huard pointed to a pivotal moment of Seattle’s loss to the Rams last Sunday. Facing a third-and-1 in the red zone on the opening series of overtime, the Seahawks lined up in the shotgun and handed the ball to running back Kenneth Walker III. Walker was stuffed for no gain.

“Probably the most frustrating call to me on Sunday was their third-and-1 call where they just lined up in the gun,” Brock Huard said. “Back is offset, you know which way he’s running and (Grubb must have) just thought, ‘Well, we can get a foot.’ Not in the NFL, man.

“Maybe against WSU and Arizona and Arizona State and Stanford and Cal, you could just line up and assume we can move them a foot. Not in the NFL.”

Damon Huard, who started 27 games at quarterback from 1999 to 2008 over an NFL career with three teams, had a slightly different view.

“There’s no doubt there are some true benefits to being under center, … but I love the shotgun,” Damon Huard said. “I think it’s so much easier on a quarterback. But you’re right, those tackles are put on an island. The run game, you only can do so much.

“But I do disagree (on the play-action idea). I do think there is some play-action where the quarterback does turn his back to the defense out of the shotgun. There is, especially out of the pistol.”

Listen to the full Wyman and Bob conversation with NFL on FOX analyst Mark Schlereth in the podcast at this link or in the audio player near the top of this post. Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with Ray Roberts in the podcast at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this post. Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation between the Huard brothers in the podcast at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this post.