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It wasn’t solely because of their pass-rush that the Seahawks were a bottom-third defense by most measures. They missed too many tackles, struggled against the run and got suspect play out of some of their defensive backs.
Then again, more heat on the opposing quarterback would have made life a lot easier for that group. The Seahawks had the third-lowest rate of pressure on opponents’ dropbacks, at 22.9%, per ESPN charting. They were 16th, at 42.8%, in ESPN’s Pass Rush Win Rate. That was with Clowney finishing fifth in individual PRWR, at 24.8%.
Clowney was the only part of the Seahawks’ plan to replace Frank Clark that worked. They hardly got anything from Ezekiel Ansah (another pending free agent) and even less from L.J. Collier, whom they drafted with the extra first-round pick they acquired in the Clark trade.
The Seahawks can’t tag Clowney and thus can’t keep him from reaching the open market, where his price could skyrocket, as he is one of the best available players at one of the most sought-after positions. It won’t be impossible to re-sign him, but it’ll be difficult.
After pulling off a blockbuster trade to acquire Clowney last summer, Schneider might have to do something equally creative and drastic to replace him. Even if the Seahawks are able to keep Clowney, 2019 made it all too clear that they’ll need more around him.
Here’s what else you need to know about Seattle’s offseason:
The rest of the free agents
Former sixth-round pick Joey Hunt replaced an injured Jusitn Britt at center and is a restricted free agent. Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire
The order for the top 28 picks of the 2020 NFL draft is set, with the Cincinnati Bengals, who had the league’s worst record at 2-14, picking No. 1. Could they choose top quarterback prospect Joe Burrow?
The Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins, meanwhile, each have multiple first-round picks.
The 2020 NFL draft begins with Round 1 on April 23 from Las Vegas and continues with Rounds 2 and 3 on April 24 and Rounds 4 to 7 on April 25. The draft will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, the ESPN app and NFL Network.
Check out the final 1-28 order below, with projections from the ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) for picks 29 to 32. Efficiency rankings for each team are updated through the end of the regular season.
Draft rankings: McShay | Kiper
McShay Mock 1.0 | 30 questions
Needs for every team in top 10
The last time the Bengals picked first overall was in 2003, when they took Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer. He spent seven seasons in Cincinnati and made the Pro Bowl twice.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 30th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 25th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 16th
Overall ranking: 31st
Washington locked up the No. 2 pick with a loss at Dallas on Sunday. The last time the Redskins picked second overall? It was in 2012, when they also took a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback — Robert Griffin III. This will be the fourth time Washington has had the second pick.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 32nd
Defensive efficiency ranking: 27th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 4th
Overall ranking: 32nd
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The last time the Lions picked third overall was in 2002, when they took quarterback Joey Harrington. He went 18-37 as a starter in his four seasons with Detroit.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 19th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 29th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 1st
Overall ranking: 25th
The last time the Giants picked fourth overall was in 2004, when they took quarterback Philip Rivers. They then traded him and their 2005 first-round pick to the Chargers for first overall pick Eli Manning.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 25th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 28th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 17th
Overall ranking: 29th
Of the Dolphins’ past eight first-round picks, only three are still on the roster. Two others, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, were traded away and made the Pro Bowl this season for their new teams. Ryan Tannehill, a 2012 first-round pick who was traded to Tennessee last offseason, could make it three former Dolphins on the AFC roster, should he be added.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 24th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 30th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 22nd
Overall ranking: 30th
This marks only the third time since 2004 that the Chargers have picked in the top 10. The other two picks netted defensive end Joey Bosa (No. 3 overall) and wide receiver Mike Williams (No. 7).
Offensive efficiency ranking: 16th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 23rd
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 21st
Overall ranking: 20th
With the Panthers past three top-10 picks, they selected running back Christian McCaffrey (No. 8), linebacker Luke Kuechly (No. 9) and quarterback Cam Newton (No. 1). Carolina lost eight straight games to end the season.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 28th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 20th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 23rd
Overall ranking: 27th
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Help for 2019 No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray probably will be the order of the day for the Cardinals. Eight wide receivers rank among ESPN NFL draft expert Todd McShay’s top 32 prospects.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 13th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 31st
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 14th
Overall ranking: 26th
The Jaguars’ pick will be their 18th in the top 10 since the franchise came into existence in 1995, the most of any team. The Cardinals, who will be making their 15th top-10 pick since 1995, are second.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 26th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 26th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 6th
Overall ranking: 28th
The Browns must protect quarterback Baker Mayfield better than they did in 2019. They haven’t taken an offensive tackle in the first round since selecting Joe Thomas third overall in 2007.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 22nd
Defensive efficiency ranking: 22nd
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 9th
Overall ranking: 23rd
The Jets haven’t spent a first-round pick on an offensive player who wasn’t a quarterback since selecting tight end Dustin Keller (No. 30) in 2008. This would be a good spot to grab their first first-round offensive tackle since three-time Pro Bowler D’Brickashaw Ferguson in 2006.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 29th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 15th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 15th
Overall ranking: 24th
The Raiders don’t have a second-round pick, but they have two first-rounders and three third-rounders. They’ll look to improve the league’s worst defense, by FPI’s efficiency metric.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 6th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 32nd
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 28th
Overall ranking: 22nd
Another prime spot for one of the talented members of the wide receiver class? Colts wideouts struggled mightily to stay healthy in 2019.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 18th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 12th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 32nd
Overall ranking: 19th
It isn’t considered a deep draft for offensive linemen, which is the Bucs’ primary need. This pick could instead provide help for one of the NFL’s most improved defenses.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 20th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 8th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 31st
Overall ranking: 15th
The Broncos have unearthed some solid offensive prospects in the past two drafts in wide receiver Courtland Sutton, running back Royce Freeman, tight end Noah Fant and offensive tackle Dalton Risner. They could opt for another playmaker or look for a replacement at cornerback for Chris Harris Jr., who is a free agent in 2020.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 23rd
Defensive efficiency ranking: 16th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 5th
Overall ranking: 18th
The Falcons have used their past three first-round picks, including two in last April’s draft, on offense. They had one of the NFL’s worst defenses in 2019, so they could address cornerback or the defensive line here.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 12th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 24th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 29th
Overall ranking: 21st
The Cowboys might need to address wide receiver, with no contract yet for Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb also slated for free agency. The secondary also is an area that could be hit hard by free-agent departures.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 3rd
Defensive efficiency ranking: 18th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 30th
Overall ranking: 8th
The second of Miami’s three first-round picks — acquired in the trade with the Steelers for Minkah Fitzpatrick — could address the team’s many needs. The Dolphins haven’t had multiple first-round picks since the 1992 draft.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 24th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 30th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 22nd
Overall ranking: 30th
General manager Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden have several options with their capital on days 1 and 2 of the draft, which include trading up to pick a player they like.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 6th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 32nd
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 28th
Overall ranking: 22nd
The Jaguars acquired this pick in the Jalen Ramsey trade. It is possible they could turn it around and use it on a cornerback. Wide receiver and linebacker also seem like strong possibilities.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 26th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 26th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 6th
Overall ranking: 28th
It is a good thing for the Eagles that there is a deep and talented receiver class. They’re definitely in the market given their lack of production at the position in 2019: They didn’t have a wideout reach 500 receiving yards for the first time since 1966.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 11th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 19th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 26th
Overall ranking: 14th
The Bills fit the bill of yet another team looking to put playmakers around a young quarterback. Yes, the wide receiver class is that deep. And the past three times that the Bills took one in the first round, he delivered at least one 1,000-yard season.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 21st
Defensive efficiency ranking: 5th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 3rd
Overall ranking: 10th
The Patriots’ offensive line has struggled this season. Could they take another lineman here? They don’t have a second-round pick but could have as many as three third-rounders with compensatory selections.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 17th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 1st
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 9th
Overall ranking: 4th
The Saints don’t have a second-round pick, so this one will be of the utmost importance. After Michael Thomas, their receiving depth chart is barren.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 4th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 11th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 2nd
Overall ranking: 5th
The Vikings figure to need a cornerback, with free agency looming for Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander. And they like drafting CBs: They’ve taken four in the first or second round since 2013.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 5th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 10th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 25th
Overall ranking: 7th
If the Dolphins use all three of their first-round picks, it would be just the 13th time in league history that a team has taken at least three players in the first round (the Jets took four in 2000). This pick comes from the Texans dealing for Laremy Tunsil.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 24th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 30th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 22nd
Overall ranking: 30th
Free agency is expected to hit hard in the trenches in Seattle. The Seahawks could look for help along the D-line, where multiple starters could depart. They used the No. 29 pick on pass-rusher L.J. Collier in 2019, but he did not have a sack as a rookie.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 14th
Defensive efficiency ranking: 17th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 11th
Overall ranking: 13th
The Ravens haven’t generated much of a pass rush in 2019, ranking in the bottom half of the league. They haven’t drafted an edge rusher in Round 1 since Terrell Suggs in 2003.
Offensive efficiency ranking: 2nd
Defensive efficiency ranking: 4th
Special-teams efficiency ranking: 12th
Overall ranking: 1st
Projections for picks 29-32, from ESPN’s Football Power Index
29. Green Bay Packers (13-3)
30. Tennessee Titans (9-7)
31. Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
32. San Francisco 49ers (13-3)
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Nov. 22, 2019.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Matt LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan represent everything that is young and hip about the NFL. From their half-shaven look to their messed-up-on-purpose hair and perfectly sculpted eyebrows to their inventive offenses, they — along with their slightly blonder comrade Sean McVay — are the league’s next iteration of head coaches.
Don’t let their looks fool you.
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There’s an old soul in each of them.
His name is Mike Shanahan, and to hear LaFleur tell it, he’s one of the biggest badasses they’ve ever met.
“He’s just an old-school guy in terms of just being all ball,” LaFleur said in a recent interview. “He was one of the most intimidating guys I’d ever been around.”
The elder Shanahan, father of Kyle and winner of 170 NFL games and two Super Bowls, obviously paved the way for his son, the And you better believe that a game like Sunday’s between the 49ers and Packers is enough to get Mike Shanahan away from his retirement paradise in San José del Cabo, Mexico. “It is very hard to get him out of Cabo,” Kyle said this week. A game between his son and one of his son’s best friends, whose teams are a combined 17-3 and have the best combined winning percentage in a game between the 49ers (9-1) and the Packers (8-2), will do it. When it comes to talking about Mike Shanahan, LaFleur’s mind rewinds to an OTA practice in 2012, shortly after the Redskins picked quarterbacks Simulate your own scenarios and check the latest playoff picture. Playoff Machine » Shanahan stood in the middle of the field to watch both. With his back turned to Griffin, Shanahan watched a play at the other end of the field just as Griffin launched a deep ball. “Mike was right in the middle of the field and he had his back turned and I’ll never forget this: The defensive back and the receiver went full bore and just plowed into Mike,” LaFleur said. “I was the first one there to see him. “Did you ever play [the video game] Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!? He looked like he was ‘Glass Joe.’ I thought he was going to be severely hurt, like I thought something was really wrong. I didn’t know if he was still alive, to be honest with you, because he was out.” Shanahan verified the story, although, understandably, his memory of it was fuzzy. “Thankfully not too many people cheered, but I did take a pretty good shot,” he said. “I don’t really remember it, to be honest, I was that dazed. But you try to get up and act like it’s no big deal. All the players got a kick out of it, saying, ‘Man, we thought you were dead.’ I said, ‘You guys aren’t that lucky.'” It was bad enough that the Redskins’ doctors immediately ordered Shanahan to go to the hospital. But not for long. “I’ll be damned, he was right back at work,” LaFleur said. “This was a guy that was the most focused person I’ve ever been around. The hours he would put in …” It was at that moment when LaFleur knew the kind of toughness and work ethic it took be an NFL head coach. “He was the most focused person I’ve ever been around,” LaFleur said. “He could sit there and watch tape for hours without getting up, without getting water or coffee or a piss break. His focus was just second to none that I’ve been around. “It opened up my eyes to how it needs to be done. Granted, we didn’t have the success that we would have liked to [in Washington], but there’s no doubt in my mind why he was such a successful coach.” Mike Shanahan didn’t know LaFleur when he got the Redskins job in 2010. But he trusted Kyle, who trusted Robert Saleh. It was Saleh, now Kyle’s defensive coordinator with the 49ers, who got LaFleur into the NFL. Saleh and LaFleur worked together as graduate assistants at Central Michigan, where they shared an apartment with a kitchen table but no chairs and once had to shovel head coach Brian Kelly’s driveway and park cars at a party they mistakenly thought they were invited to. NFL Nation reporters went down memory lane with each of the league’s 32 head coaches, with recollections (and old pictures) from each coach’s first football coaching job. Among them: Kyle Shanahan served as offensive coordinator for one season (2014) with the
Packers offensive line coach Adam Stenavich spent the past two seasons as Kyle’s assistant offensive line coach with the 49ers. Said Stenavich: “They’re both extremely intelligent guys who see this game the same way.” LaFleur’s brother, Mike, serves as Kyle’s passing game coordinator with the 49ers. In fact, LaFleur tried to hire his brother, but Kyle wouldn’t let him go to Green Bay. Matt and Kyle still talk, but as Matt said earlier this week: “There will not be a lot of talking this week. The time I talk to him the most is usually if I’m FaceTiming my brother and he’s in his office.” Mike Shanahan was 36 years old when he became a first-time head coach with the Raiders in 1988. Kyle was 37 when the 49ers hired him in 2017. McVay was only 30 when the Rams hired him the same offseason. LaFleur was 39 when he Packers hired him in January. “Sean, Matt and Kyle were all very young when they got their first opportunity,” Mike Shanahan said. “But they were ready. They really were. Not only offensively but defensively was well. To be at the point where they’re at so early in their careers and gotten these opportunities, not only did they have to know their jobs but other people’s jobs as well to get comfortable in this position, and I know all three of those guys definitely do.” All three do it in a similar fashion. They run offenses based on pre-snap motion, play-action and a strong running game that stresses the outside zone scheme. “It really started in Washington,” Kyle said in an interview earlier this year. “It all goes back to my dad. You’re a product of your environment, and when you get your opportunities it becomes your own.”‘I didn’t know if he was still alive’
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‘It all goes back to my dad’
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- Covered Eagles for USA Today
- Covered the Ravens for Baltimore Times
- Played college football at Cheyney University
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans faced the ultimate test when they took on the Baltimore Ravens’ high-powered offense led by MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson in the divisional round of the playoffs Saturday. They did what few other teams could: They passed.
It wouldn’t be right to say the Titans stopped Jackson, because he accounted for 508 yards of total offense. The significant accomplishment was minimizing the explosive plays that Jackson has made a habit of creating that lead to touchdowns.
“They weren’t doing anything spectacular out there — nothing we’ve never seen before,” Jackson said.
How did Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees frustrate the Ravens’ offense and help punch the Titans’ ticket to the AFC Championship Game?
Force Jackson to move laterally
The Titans wanted to make Jackson run from sideline to sideline rather than get upfield and pick up chunks of yards. They collapsed the interior and rushed with discipline on the outside to minimize escape lanes for Jackson.
“We saw when he [Jackson] gained yards he was getting them between the hashes and the numbers. We defended from number to number and made him go laterally. There weren’t big plays,” coach Mike Vrabel said after the game.
Safety
“They forced us out of our comfort zone a little bit,” Ravens receiver Miles Boykin said. “We really haven’t played a lot from behind. We got down by two touchdowns, and it was kind of hard for us to fight back into the game and stick to our play.” Roman used the rushing attack to generate explosive plays on the ground and in the air via play-action passes during the regular season. The Ravens ran the ball only 29 times on Saturday with some coming from Jackson scrambling. That’s a far cry from the Baltimore attack that averaged 206 rushing yards per game and 37.1 attempts, both league highs. The early lead made Roman’s playcalling one dimensional and allowed Pees to focus on stopping the pass by using packages that featured more defensive backs. A critical moment came early in the game, when Byard intercepted a Jackson pass that bounced off the hands of Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, which set up Jonnu Smith’s fantastic one-handed touchdown reception to give Tennessee a 7-0 lead. The Titans forced three turnovers, including an interception by Vaccaro and a sack-strip by Casey. “It was beautiful,” Casey said. “They made a check on the front line, and I kind of knew a pass was coming. I had been beating these guys all day. Coach said, ‘We need a turnover,’ to make sure we kept the lead, and I was able to execute.” The Titans dominated the trenches throughout the game, especially on fourth down. Baltimore finished the regular season as the NFL’s No. 1 fourth-down offense, having converted 17 of their 24 attempts (70.8%) — including 8-for-8 on fourth-and-1 attempts. On Saturday, the Ravens went 0-for-4 converting fourth downs, including two fourth-and-1 plays. “They like, submarined and kind of took our legs out, and we could not get any movement on the line of scrimmage,” guard
The Titans go from facing the likely 2019 MVP in Jackson to preparing for the 2018 MVP in Mahomes of the
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Next up: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes