Paul Moyer: Seahawks have done well addressing depth this offseason

Mar 27, 2020, 1:43 PM | Updated: 1:59 pm

Seahawks CB Tre Flowers will fight with Quinton Dunbar to start in 2020. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seattle Sports

The Seahawks have made eight additions to their roster this offseason, and have also re-signed players like defensive tackle Jarran Reed and tight end Luke Willson, but to some, the offseason has been a disappointment as Seattle hasn’t addressed its pass rush aside from signing Bruce Irvin and has instead signed four offensive linemen, a receiver, a tight end and traded for a cornerback.

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But a former Seahawks player and coach thinks that the offseason has gone incredibly well for Seattle so far. That former coach and player is Paul Moyer, who played safety for the Seahawks in the ’80s and coached Seattle’s secondary for five seasons and is part of the Seahawks’ pre-game and post-game shows on 710 ESPN Seattle during the season.

One of the key storylines last season for the Seahawks was injuries, and that played a big role in the team struggling towards the end of the year.

“We’re 10-2 (after a Week 13 win over Minnesota) and then the injury bug hit us and it hit us hard,” Moyer told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore.

Every team deals with injuries throughout the season, but Seattle lost its starting center and tight end for the season early in the year, lost its three top running backs in the final four weeks of the season and had key defensive starters like safety Quandre Diggs, cornerback Shaquill Griffin and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney who missed games or played injured late in the season. The problem, Moyer said, was the team’s depth wasn’t very good.

“I didn’t think we had great backups and I thought it got exposed, particularly when we played the 49ers in the last game of the year,” Moyer said. “You’re down to just (fourth-string) running backs, your backup tight ends and a backup left tackle.”

While the Seahawks haven’t made many big moves this offseason, Moyer thinks the team has built a lot more depth than they had last year, especially in the secondary after acquiring cornerback Quinton Dunbar for a fifth-round pick from the Washington Redskins.

“To me, we didn’t have a true corner that was a backup,” Moyer said. “When (Shaquill) Griffin went out … and we were playing (Akeem) King out there (for weeks 15 and 16), it just didn’t feel the same. Look, you can’t have enough good corners in this league and they’ve created some competition and I think (Tre) Flowers is certainly good enough that he can push to still start, but this will be good for (Flowers, Dunbar and Griffin)”

Flowers was the subject of criticism among Seahawks fans because his play faltered a bit towards the end of the season and he had a few big penalties in the playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Moyer has said on Bob, Dave and Moore before that improving the team’s struggling pass rush would help Flowers a lot, but he thinks Dunbar is coming in to start.

“They didn’t bring Quinton Dunbar in to just sit on the sidelines. (Those two) are going to be competing (to start),” Moyer said,

Jim Moore wrote a story for 710Sports.com this week ranking Seattle’s eight offseason acquisitions. Both he and co-host Bob Stelton said Dunbar was the best move, while Dave Wyman, Moyer’s former Seahawks teammate, said Irvin ranks at the top for him. Moyer sided with Stelton and Moore.

“It’s the one thing we are missing,” he said. “We’re missing guys who are playmakers that can create turnovers, and that, to me, is huge. So I’m going to go with Dunbar in this one, but Irvin can prove me wrong. I still think he has plenty in the tank.”

You can listen to Moyer’s full conversation with Bob, Dave and Moore, which includes a closer look at the Seahawks’ defensive struggles in 2019 as well as his memories of the Kingdome by clicking this link or using the player below.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore on Twitter.