Could Seahawks Kick Off 2022 Season Passing More Than Usual?

Senior Bowl director and former Seahawks scout Jim Nagy wouldn’t be surprised if the Seahawks passed more than anticipated to begin this upcoming season, playing to the strengths of young offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas.

Under their current regime, the Seahawks have consistently drafted standout players from the Senior Bowl. So who better to ask for thoughts on the franchises's 2022 draft class than Senior Bowl executive director—and former Seahawks scout—Jim Nagy? 

Nagy joined the Locked On Seahawks Podcast recently and had some interesting thoughts on the direction the Seahawks' offense could take in 2022 to maximize the talents of two of their early draft picks.

While Nagy didn’t have first-round pick Charles Cross, who entered the draft following his redshirt-sophomore season, at the Senior Bowl this winter, he did watch Cross for draft preparation. Although he believes that Cross is a “really, really good player," Nagy does think he’ll take some time acclimating to the NFL. 

“I think it will be a little bit of an adjustment just putting his hand in the dirt and coming off the ball with pad level and getting into people and sustaining blocks," Nagy claimed.

Nagy had a similar evaluation of third-round pick Abraham Lucas. 

"Abe’s thing is just going to be—like a lot of those guys coming out of that system—is just the run game stuff. I went back and watched a lot of the Senior Bowl stuff of him in the run game. It got better every day, which means I’d be really interested to see what August looks like once they put on pads.”

"That system” Nagy is referring to is Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense, which both Cross and Lucas were part of in college. Leach was Lucas’ head coach at Washington State from 2017-2019 before heading to Mississippi State where he coached Cross in 2020 and 2021. In Leach’s offense, passing the ball is paramount; the offensive tackles block out of a two-point stance instead of having one hand on the ground and spend the majority of their time pass-blocking.

It’s not that Cross and Lucas can’t run-block—they just haven’t had as many reps to prove it on a consistent basis. Cross finished 2021 with an excellent 87.2 run blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus, albeit with limited reps. Lucas’ 2021 run blocking grade from PFF comes in at a less exciting 68.3, but he does show a physicality and nastiness that can be an asset in the run game.

Both tackles may have an adjustment when it comes to run blocking in the NFL, but Nagy doesn’t anticipate any problems at all in pass protection. 

“You talk about NFL-ready from a pass pro standpoint, I think he [Cross] and Abe both," Nagy continued. "I think you’ll be able to drop back and throw the football and feel good about your edges with both of those guys in there.”

How much will the Seahawks throw the football in 2022? Maybe more than some assume.

“I think early in the year, I might see them coming out of the chutes throwing the ball more,” predicts Nagy. “I think we all know that Pete [Carroll] wants to be more of a run-heavy football team, but it would not surprise me if they were a little more pass-heavy early until they got those young guys up to speed in the run game. I think that would make sense.”

As unconventional as that may sound considering longtime Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is now throwing passes for the Broncos, there is merit to that approach. One of the biggest beliefs of Carroll’s coaching philosophy is to accentuate the strengths of his players. 

Cross allowed only 2.0 sacks and 16 pressures in over 700 pass blocking snaps during the 2021 season. That’s extremely impressive considering the level of talent he was facing in the SEC. Lucas, for his part, led all Pac-12 tackles with a 2021 PFF pass blocking grade of 91.0 and allowed zero sacks with only 9 pressures. The level of competition may not be as high in the Pac-12 as it is in the SEC, but utter domination like that is hard to overlook.

Nagy believes the Seahawks drafted their “two starting tackles of the future.” Cross is a virtual lock to start at left tackle, but Lucas will be competing for the right tackle position with second-year men Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe. If both rookies end up in the starting lineup early in the season, it does make sense to play to their strengths by allowing them to pass protect.

That doesn’t mean the Seahawks need to recreate the Air Raid and sling the ball all over the yard this season. Their offense will still be balanced and heavily feature the run game. Still, why not mix in a few more passes than anticipated to allow your future bookend tackles to build up their confidence by doing what they do best—protecting the quarterback.