Analysis: 5 Personnel Changes That Could Spark Turnaround For Struggling Seahawks

As the Seahawks look to right the ship this week, reporter Ty Dane Gonzalez poses five potential personnel changes that could help push them in the right direction.

After dropping back-to-back games to the Titans and Vikings, the Seahawks are 1-2 and in desperate need of a spark. But with a pair of intra-divisional matchups coming up that are just four days removed from one another, a turnaround will need to be quick. Otherwise, Seattle could find itself 1-4 by next Friday morning. 

While the team's issues may be more based in philosophy and scheme than in personnel, getting healthier and shaking up the starting lineup—and the roster as a whole—might help them correct course. Here's how:

Dee Eskridge (concussion) returns

The timing of this is ultimately out of Seattle's control, but the offense has clearly missed the presence of its top draft choice. In the two games Eskridge has missed, there's been a noticeable shift in play-caller Shane Waldron's approach. The usage of pre-snap motion has been infrequent and Freddie Swain—while productive in Eskridge's absence—doesn't offer the dynamism his rookie counterpart does. It's possible Eskridge could return to practice as soon as today. If so, his return should get Waldron's offense back on mission. 

Let pass rushers do what their job title entails

This is more of a schematic thing, but what it generally boils down to is a misuse of talent. As part of their bear fronts, the Seahawks occasionally drop their edge pieces into coverage and rush three on the interior. This was the case on the Vikings' first touchdown in Sunday's game. The problem is: Seattle doesn't have the interior pass rushing talent to win in that fashion. These instances only happen a handful of times per game, but it's still too often. Alton Robinson getting nine coverage snaps in Minnesota shouldn't happen. Let your pass rushers do what they do best and get to the quarterback instead of relying on Poona Ford (2.5 career sacks), Al Woods (6.5), Robert Nkemdiche (4.5) and others to get home in crucial situations. 

Sign Geno Atkins

Speaking of the interior, here's a way the Seahawks could potentially add more pass rush and bulk up a run defense that's allowing the third-most yards per game (155.0). Now, of course, it's hard to ignore the fact that the 33-year old Atkins, coming off shoulder surgery, has yet to sign with any team at this point. There may be more than meets the eye here, but with a defensive line that's been dominated in the trenches the past two weeks, taking a shot on the three-time All-Pro—on a non-guaranteed contract, no less—has to sound at least mildly appealing.

Replace Tre Flowers with Sidney Jones at right cornerback

It's been three weeks now and Flowers has yet to show any signs of improvement. In fact, one could argue he's taken a further step back this year than anything. The amount of space he affords opposing receivers before the snap is a massive issue. He's essentially giving teams free yardage and quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins are taking full advantage of it. While he's not getting beat by the deep ball as a result, good-to-elite route runners are eating him alive underneath. At this point, the Seahawks cannot justify moving forward with him anymore. And though Jones is a fairly unproven commodity who still hasn't been able to crack the lineup after a month in Seattle, it's hard not to feel like he can't be much worse than what the team has gotten from Flowers. 

Activate Tre Brown (knee) off injured reserved

If Jones can't fix the Seahawks' problems at cornerback, perhaps Brown eventually can. Now that three weeks have passed, the fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma is eligible to be activated off injured reserve. Of course, it will understandably take him a few weeks to get back in the swing of things before he's ready to play significant snaps. While Brown didn't put forth a preseason that will necessarily inspire confidence in his abilities, he arguably has the highest ceiling of any corner on this roster and plays with an aggressive style Seattle is generally lacking right now. Again; how much worse could he be?