The Seattle Seahawks don't necessarily need to upgrade at many positions, especially coming off a dominating Super Bowl performance against the Denver Broncos just a couple short months ago. While they will lose key contributors like Golden Tate, they will be able to replace most of them with solid in-house personnel (see Jermaine Kearse).
In any event, here is Seattle's starting offense with just over two weeks remaining until the 2014 NFL draft.
New Starter: Jermaine Kearse
Okay, so Kearse isn't necessarily going to be starting. He will likely move to the outside when Seattle runs 11-personnel with Percy Harvin moving into the slot. In any event, Kearse is an underrated receiver who provides Russell Wilson with a consistent down-field threat. He caught 22 passes for nearly 350 yards and four touchdowns last season. Kearse's 15.7 yards per reception ranked first on the team.
Look for even more production in 2014 as Kearse takes on a larger role in a Seahawks offense that will likely go three-wide more often than we saw in Wilson's first two seasons.
Areas of Improvement
As the defending Super Bowl champions, there isn't necessarily a lot of room for improvement. One area that John Schneider and Co. will have to focus on in the draft will be the offensive line. From my estimation, the Seahawks have about three replaceable commodities along the offensive line.
Michael Bowie simply isn't a starter-caliber offensive tackle in the NFL. James Carpenter has struggled when playing outside, but will be tasked with playing the all-important left guard position. Is he above-average at that position? Meanwhile, J.R. Sweezy has the talent, but remains a tad raw. In reality, the Seahawks might want to double down on the offensive line in the draft. They could very look to improve this unit with their top-two picks.
Morgan Moses (offensive tackle, Virginia) and Gabe Jackson (guard, Mississippi State) are two players Seattle could very well target. In a vacuum, either would upgrade this unit big time.
Potential Breakout Star
Russell Wilson is one of the quarterbacks I expect to take a step forward from a statistical standpoint in 2014. It's hard to indicate he's going to be a breakout star when he's earned two Pro Bowl nods and is coming off a Super Bowl, but that's exactly what I plan on doing here.
Remember, Wilson attempted the fewest passes per game of any regular NFL starter last season. In total, he's averaging just 25 pass attempts per game in 32 career starts with the Seahawks. That has led some to believe he's pretty much going to be what he is now...a good quarterback.
I disagree with that notion entirely.
Just because Wilson hasn't been asked to do a whole lot through two seasons, it doesn't mean that he can't. If you look at Wilson's performance with North Carolina State and Wisconsin in college, he has no problem upping the play of his offense with the ball in his hands. That's not going to be an issue. Rather, it's all about Pete Carroll and Co. enabling him to do his thing. Entering his third season, Wilson should be given the keys to Seattle's offense. If so, we can expect a statistical explosion in 2014.
On His Way Out
Zach Miller took a paycut in order to remain with the Seahawks, but his stint with this team may be coming to an end in the not-so-distant future. While still raw in the grand scheme of things, Luke Willson is a physical freak at tight end and played pretty well in limited time last season. Speaking of freaks, Anthony McCoy returns after missing the entire 2013 season with an achilles injury. If McCoy ever puts it all together, he could very well turn into a surprise pass-catching threat for Wilson.
As indicated by Seattle's flirtation with Jermichael Finley in free agency, it isn't exactly terribly impressed by what Miller brings to the table. If Schneider and Carroll decide to go tight end early in the draft, a strong possibility, Miller could actually find himself out of a job before the regular season gets going. Jace Amaro is a solid option in the first round, while Troy Niklas would make an amazing threat for Wilson in the second round.