Why Sanjay Lal's Return May Be Seahawks' Most Important Coaching Addition

Overhauling the defensive coaching staff has understandably drawn the biggest headlines, but after having a profound impact on Seattle's passing attack two seasons ago, Lal's return to the Pacific Northwest should be a welcomed one.

RENTON, WA - While Russell Wilson cooked under center during the first half of the 2020 season, the star quarterback understandably received the majority of the acclaim as he lit up opponents with 28 touchdown passes in the first eight games.

But behind the scenes, while receiving minimal recognition for his efforts, senior offensive assistant Sanjay Lal played a crucial role in the success of Seattle's aerial attack. Tasked with coaching up receivers and helping develop offensive game plans, he helped bring out the best in superstars DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett as well as rookie Freddie Swain to give Wilson one of the NFL's most potent receiving corps at his disposal.

In those first eight games, under the tutelage of Lal, Metcalf posted 788 yards and eight touchdowns and Locked produced 615 yards and seven touchdowns, putting both receivers on pace to surpass 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. If that pace would have continued through 16 games, they would have become the first pair of teammates to accomplish such a feat in the same season.

Despite setting a franchise record for points scored in a season, however, coach Pete Carroll decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer after a disappointing 30-20 wild card round loss to the Rams put an ugly exclamation point on an otherwise excellent season. With Shane Waldron coming onboard as a replacement, Lal bolted out of town with Schottenheimer to take an assistant coaching job with the Jaguars under Urban Meyer.

Fast forwarding a year later, after Seattle's passing game took a major step backward in a 7-10 campaign and Jacksonville endured a train wreck with Meyer at the controls on the way to another No. 1 overall pick, Lal couldn't be more relieved to find his way back to the Pacific Northwest for the 2022 season.

“Very privileged to come back, really," Lal told reporters after the Seahawks final open OTA session last Tuesday. "I thank coach Pete [Carroll] for the opportunity, especially after leaving. And then the first time I was here, there were a lot of connections made and it felt like home to come back. So it was a no-brainer if Pete was on the same page.”

In an offseason defined by transformation for the Seahawks, including the departure of Wilson in a blockbuster trade to the Broncos, the elevation of Clint Hurtt to defensive coordinator, and the hiring of defensive assistants Sean Desai and Karl Scott, Lal's return has hovered under the radar. But given the current state of the team and his obvious impact two years ago, bringing him back may be the most important coaching move made by Carroll this spring.

While Wilson and the Seahawks cooled off substantially in the second half of the 2020 season due to a myriad of factors, including schematic adjustments by opposing defenses towards more two-deep safety looks, Lal's receivers continued to play at a high level down the stretch. Metcalf broke Steve Largent's single-season record for receiving yardage, while Lockett became the first receiver in franchise history to hit 100 receptions in a season and Swain put together a solid rookie season as a sixth-round pick.

With Lal relocating to Florida last fall, Metcalf and Lockett remained productive as expected, with the former scoring 12 touchdowns and the latter eclipsing 1,100 yards. But the effects of his departure could be seen on the field as opponents kept dialing up Cover 2, Cover 4, and other two-deep safety schemes.

Although he couldn't tell reporters just yet what his defined roles will be as pass game coordinator in his second stint in Seattle, he expects to be involved in game planning once again. Understanding how important it will be for skill players to be able to work themselves open against two-deep coverages - which he said have become "more prevalent in the league" over the past two years to erase star receivers on the outside - he hopes he will work with running backs and tight ends as well as receivers to ensure they all are running crisp routes, especially with either Drew Lock or Geno Smith under center.

Aiding Lal's efforts, the Seahawks started to transition towards running more two-high looks last season and that trend should continue with Hurtt and Desai at the controls as former pupils of defensive guru Vic Fangio. As a result, he will be able to test his players on the field by requiring them to regularly identify such coverages several steps into their route, which should bode well for improvements against these looks on game day.

“Receivers have to be really good. Our defense holds their disguise really well. It's not even at the line of scrimmage," Lal explained. "It's three steps into the route. We do a lot of reading the triangle, the backer, the corner, and the safety and they have to get really adept at doing that on the run. A lot of conversions on routes, a lot of understanding of how the defense is trying to take a certain guy away, and then what that does to the other side of the field too.”

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If there's another reason for optimism on this front, Lal already has an excellent working relationship with Metcalf, Lockett, and Swain from their lone season together in 2020.

In particular, Lal gave Metcalf the ultimate compliment, calling him the "best receiver I've ever been around that took techniques from practice into the game." Elaborating, he revisited two of the former All-Pro's top plays from that record-setting season pitted against two Hall of Fame-caliber cornerbacks in Patrick Peterson and Stephon Gilmore, which our own Matty F. Brown broke down.

"If we ran a stutter-hinge versus Patrick Peterson, how it looked and walked through, how it looked in an individual period, how it looked in team is exactly how it looked against Arizona. You can look at the tape. I've actually made cut-ups of, here's how he did it here, and here's how it looked in the game," Lal explained. "The Stephon Gilmore ‘V’ route, pylon route that he caught, we've got walkthrough reps of him running it exactly like that. He had to get a yard inside the hash. He had to get his eyes back for a count, otherwise Stephon would not undercut him. It's very rare for a receiver under duress, under the lights to go do that in a game and he did it perfectly.

"You watch the clip, as soon as he touches the hash, his eyes come back inside, Steph goes underneath, and he puts his foot in the ground and goes over the top. Had it been one yard off that play wouldn't have worked. Even with all that precision, it was still a bang, bang play downfield. So he's the best I've seen at that.”

Possessing rare physical skills at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, Metcalf already has proven himself to be a quick study and diligent worker, leading Lal to call him a "sponge" with no limits on his ceiling. Assuming he receives a new contract and doesn't hold out to begin training camp, he should continue to grow and develop as a route runner, especially against two-deep coverages that have caused major problems for the Seahawks in recent seasons.

An All-Pro in his own right and one of the most productive receivers in the NFL for the past half decade, Lal also has the benefit of coaching the ever-so-crafty Lockett, who is coming off three consecutive 1,000-plus yard seasons. While he works himself open in different ways than Metcalf and has a contrasting skill set in many regards, he also wins with technique and understanding what opposing defenses are trying to do to him and his receiving mates each play.

Though Lal acknowledged many receivers can't be given the freedom to freelance their routes, Lockett stands out as one of the few examples of a player he trusts enough to do so due to his understanding of timing and spatial awareness.

“Tyler's extremely unique in that he's such a savvy player. He's a thinker. He knows the defenses inside and out. He knows the guy he's playing against. He knows all the nuances of how he's going to cover him," Lal remarked. "Tyler, within the framework of a concept, can come up with this sneaky way to get himself open. It's amazing to watch. I've coached one other guy like that. T.Y. [Hilton] was very much the same way where you're like, "How did he do that? How do you think of that on the run?" It's beyond coaching. It's just this innate ability that these players have.”

For the Seahawks to exceed expectations in the first season of the post-Wilson era and get over the hump beating middle of field open coverages, however, they will need other players to step up behind Metcalf and Lockett. Last season, with Lal stuck onboard a sinking, stinking ship captained by the incompetent Meyer, Swain was the only other wideout on the roster to catch more than 15 passes and produce more than 100 receiving yards.

Likewise to Metcalf and Lockett, Lal praised Swain for his smarts and route running precision. After doubling his numbers across the board in his sophomore campaign, he could be a candidate to breakout in his third season seeing snaps both on the outside and in the slot.

"He understands the premise of the concept, the ‘why’ of why I have to run this route this way because I may not get open, but I might be a placeholder to hold a defense if something else happens. Freddie's very savvy in that regard," Lal said.

Away from Swain, Lal will have a chance to work his magic on several younger receivers who weren't with the team two years ago. First and foremost, the Seahawks remain high on the athletically-gifted Eskridge, who hopes to rebound from a challenging rookie year marred by a severe concussion and play a vital role on offense as well as special teams.

Despite missing mandatory minicamp with a nagging hamstring issue, Lal has been excited by what he's seen from Eskridge in limited action this spring. Indicating the Jaguars had him high on their draft board before the Seahawks took him in the second round out of Western Michigan, he's looking forward to the opportunity to take him under his wing and see if he can unlock his immense potential out of the slot.

“Dee's really twitchy and explosive, he wants it. He's a dog," Lal stated. "I've seen the blocking film from last year. The last place I was, we wanted to draft him. We were really high on him. So I've been very impressed.”

In addition, Lal will be counting on seventh-round picks Bo Melton and Dareke Young to bounce back from hamstring injuries that sidelined them for most of the offseason program. The two speedy wideouts left a solid first impression on him and proved to be coachable, setting the stage for them to be factors in the battle for playing time right away if healthy when camp reports next month.

“They were really on the come until they got dinged up. So I can speak for the two that are hurt, Dareke (Young) and Bo (Melton), very intelligent. They have the right mindset, physically really gifted. Bo's a 4.3 something guy and Dareke's 4.4 at 220 something pounds, and really, really coachable and they really adopted the technique. I was excited to see where they could go. There's been a pause right now, obviously, but they'll pick it up when they come back."

With most experts not expecting the Seahawks to be competitive, the team will need a number of breaks to roll their way to contend without Wilson or Bobby Wagner. A quality quarterback will have to emerge who can orchestrate the offense without turning the ball over often, a promising rookie class will have to grow up rapidly, and star players such as Jamal Adams will have to stay healthy, among other things.

But if there's a reason to believe Seattle will fare better than projected in the win/loss column, the talent at the skill positions, particularly receiver, stands out as a clear and obvious strength to build around. If the highly-respected Lal can make the same impact coaching the group he did two years ago and a few youngsters step up behind Metcalf and Lockett, even with a significant downgrade in talent under center, the aerial attack may surprisingly be the answer to staying competitive in the NFC West.