Personnel Files: Seahawks at the Quarter Mark

One of the items I looked at during the preseason was how the Seahawks used their personnel. I thought this was a good tool to project how the 53-man roster would be shaped, and planned on taking a periodic look at the Seahawks’ personnel usage during the regular season. Below is a review of how the Seahawks used their personnel through the season’s first four games

OFFENSE

Personnel Groupings

To get started, here are the personnel groupings used in the Seahawks’ West Coast Offense, along with their names.   

RB-WR-TE	Name
1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE	Zebra
2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE	Regular
2 RB, 3 WR	E
1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE	Tiger
2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE	U
1 RB, 4 WR	Eagle
2 RB, 3 TE	Y

Seahawks Offensive Pass/Run Ratio by Personnel Grouping

Name	Pass	Run	Total	Pass %	Run %
Zebra (1-3-1)	45	22	67	67.2%	32.8%
Regular (2-2-1)	40	38	78	51.3%	48.7%
E (2-3-0)	24	36	60	40.0%	60.0%
Tiger (1-2-2)	13	12	25	52.0%	48.0%
U (2-1-2)	2	8	10	25.0%	80.0%
Eagle (1-4-0)	9	4	13	0.0%	0.0%
Y (2-0-3)	0	3	3	0.0%	100.0%
Total	133	123	256	52.0%	48.0%

Seahawks Skill-Position Players Snaps by Personnel Groupings

Below is a list of how many times each skill-position player (RB, WR, TE) has been used by personnel grouping. For spatial reasons, this has been divided into three segments.

Player	Regular	Zebra	E
20-M.Morris	5	4	8
22-J.Jones	52	42	46
35-O.Schmitt	9	0	5
42-T.Duckett	18	2	4
43-L.Weaver	72	18	57
13-K.Colbert	32	16	16
15-S.Wallace	0	0	0
16-M.Bumpus	2	35	29
17-B.McMullen	55	42	42
18-K.Robinson	0	0	0
19-L.Payne	4	25	15
81-N.Burleson	6	17	14
82-J.Kent	8	7	5
83-D.Branch	5	4	10
84-B.Engram	2	8	14
86-C.Taylor	42	47	35
75-S.Locklear	0	0	0
85-W.Heller	13	0	0
88-J.Putzier	0	11	0
89-J.Carlson	65	56	0

Skill Position Count Cont’d

Player	Tiger	U
20-M.Morris	0	0
22-J.Jones	22	3
35-O.Schmitt	0	2
42-T.Duckett	1	7
43-L.Weaver	2	8
13-K.Colbert	5	5
15-S.Wallace	0	0
16-M.Bumpus	1	0
17-B.McMullen	17	2
18-K.Robinson	0	0
19-L.Payne	0	0
81-N.Burleson	4	0
82-J.Kent	4	0
83-D.Branch	2	0
84-B.Engram	1	0
86-C.Taylor	16	3
75-S.Locklear	0	0
85-W.Heller	22	10
88-J.Putzier	4	2
89-J.Carlson	24	8

Skill Position Count Cont’d

Player	Eagle	Y	Total
20-M.Morris	2	0	19
22-J.Jones	6	0	171
35-O.Schmitt	0	0	16
42-T.Duckett	1	3	36
43-L.Weaver	4	3	164
13-K.Colbert	8	0	82
15-S.Wallace	1	0	1
16-M.Bumpus	4	0	71
17-B.McMullen	9	0	167
18-K.Robinson	0	0	0
19-L.Payne	5	0	49
81-N.Burleson	3	0	44
82-J.Kent	4	0	28
83-D.Branch	5	0	26
84-B.Engram	8	0	33
86-C.Taylor	5	0	148
75-S.Locklear	0	3	3
85-W.Heller	0	3	48
88-J.Putzier	0	0	17
89-J.Carlson	0	3	156

Notes: Sean Locklear was used as a tight end in the “Y” grouping (2 RBs, 0 WRs, 3 TEs) against the St. Louis Rams in Week 3.

Seahawks Offensive Player-by-Player Snaps and Snap %

Through four games, the Seahawks have run 256 offensive plays. Here’s a look at how many snaps each player has logged on offense, as well as the percentage of overall offensive plays they’ve been involved in.  

Player	Snaps	Total Plays	Snap %
5-C.Frye	0	256	0.0%
8-M.Hasselbeck	241	256	94.1%
13-K.Colbert	82	256	32.0%
15-S.Wallace	16	256	6.3%
16-M.Bumpus	71	256	27.7%
17-B.McMullen	167	256	65.2%
18-K.Robinson	0	256	0.0%
19-L.Payne	49	256	19.1%
20-M.Morris	19	256	7.4%
22-J.Jones	171	256	66.8%
35-O.Schmitt	16	256	6.3%
42-T.Duckett	36	256	14.1%
43-L.Weaver	164	256	64.1%
65-C.Spencer	256	256	100.0%
66-M.Wrotto	0	256	0.0%
67-R.Sims	67	256	26.2%
68-M.Wahle	256	256	100.0%
69-S.Vallos	7	256	2.7%
71-W.Jones	253	256	98.8%
74-R.Willis	211	256	82.4%
75-S.Locklear	57	256	22.3%
77-F.Womack	176	256	68.8%
81-N.Burleson	44	256	17.2%
82-J.Kent	28	256	10.9%
83-D.Branch	26	256	10.2%
84-B.Engram	33	256	12.9%
85-W.Heller	48	256	18.8%
86-C.Taylor	148	256	57.8%
88-J.Putzier	17	256	6.6%
89-J.Carlson	156	256	60.9%

 In the Slot

16 different Seahawks have lined up as a wide receiver. Below is a look at the total number of plays each receiver has lined up in the slot as a wide receiver.

Player	Slot	Total	%
15-S.Wallace	1	1	100.0%
16-M.Bumpus	68	71	95.8%
84-B.Engram	31	33	93.9%
19-L.Payne	39	49	79.6%
89-J.Carlson	7	13	53.8%
88-J.Putzier	2	4	50.0%
81-N.Burleson	13	44	29.5%
22-J.Jones	1	8	12.5%
13-K.Colbert	9	82	11.0%
86-C.Taylor	10	148	6.8%
82-J.Kent	2	39	5.1%
17-B.McMullen	7	167	4.2%
20-M.Morris	0	3	0.0%
43-L.Weaver	0	3	0.0%
83-D.Branch	0	26	0.0%
85-W.Heller	0	2	0.0%

Notes: For the tight ends, I counted them as a wide receiver when they’ve lined up closer to the numbers than to the offensive line. Seattle does use bunch formations where the tight end is in a two point stance and appears to be a wide receiver. In these cases, due to how closely he is lined up to the tackle, I still counted him as a tight end.

  DEFENSE

Seahawks Defensive Pass/Run Ratio by Formation

Package	Run	Pass	Total	Run%	Pass%
Base (4-3)	91	61	152	59.9%	40.1%
Nickel (4-2-5)	13	44	57	22.8%	77.2%
Dime (4-1-6)	1	12	13	7.7%	92.3%
3*1*7	0	2	2	0.0%	100.0%
3*2*6	1	4	5	20.0%	80.0%
3*3*5	1	7	8	12.5%	87.5%
5*3*3	5	0	5	100.0%	0.0%
Total	112	130	243	46.1%	53.5%

Notes: I’m sure you’ve noticed that 112 and 130 do not add up to 243. That’s because one defensive play was the fake field goal by the Buffalo Bills in Week One.

Seahawks Defensive Player-by-Player Snaps and Snap %

Player	Snaps	Total Plays	Snap %
21-K.Jennings	143	243	58.8%
23-M.Trufant	240	243	98.8%
24-D.Grant	242	243	99.6%
25-B.Russell	243	243	100.0%
26-J.Wilson	147	243	60.5%
27-J.Babineaux	51	243	21.0%
32-K.Hobbs	6	243	2.5%
39-C.Wallace	0	243	0.0%
50-L.Laury	0	243	0.0%
51-L.Tatupu	239	243	98.4%
52-J.Babin	15	243	6.2%
55-D.Tapp	86	243	35.4%
56-L.Hill	221	243	90.9%
58-D.Lewis	5	243	2.1%
59-D.Hawthorne	0	243	0.0%
79-R.Bryant	18	243	7.4%
91-B.Atkins	0	243	0.0%
92-B.Mebane	109	243	44.9%
93-C.Terrill	116	243	47.7%
94-H.Green	66	243	27.2%
95-L.Jackson	175	243	72.0%
97-P.Kerney	195	243	80.2%
98-J.Peterson	239	243	98.4%
99-R.Bernard	110	243	45.3%

Blitz Data

One other item I’ve been tracking this season was how often Seattle’s defense has blitzed, and how often Seattle’s offense has been blitzed upon. To qualify as a blitz, I’m looking specifically at the number of times 4+ rushers are employed.

Offense

Seattle’s offense has attempted 133 passes. Opponents have blitzed on 47 of those 133 plays. Here’s a game-by-game breakdown:

Opp.	Pass Plays	> 4 rushers	Blitz %
at Buffalo	46	18	39.1%
vs. SF	37	10	27.0%
vs. STL	21	9	42.9%
at NYG	29	10	34.5%
Total	133	47	35.3%

When the opponent blitzes, Seahawks quarterbacks have been sacked 5 times for a loss of 31 yards. When not sacked, Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace are 18-42 for 181 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, for a passer rating of 43.8.

Defense

Not counting the fake field goal in Buffalo, Seahawks opponents have attempted 129 passes. Seattle’s defense has blitzed on 34 of those 129 attempts. Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of that data:

Opp	Pass Plays	>4 rushers	Blitz %
at Buffalo	31	4	12.9%
vs. SF	40	15	37.5%
vs. STL	31	4	12.9%
at NYG	27	11	40.7%
Total	129	34	26.4%

The Seahawks have sacked opposing quarterbacks 5 times for a loss of 31 yards. When they haven’t gotten home, opposing quarterbacks are 21-29 for 326 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, for a passer rating of 109.2.

Brian McIntyre lives in the Boston area. In addition to writing for Seahawks.Net, Brian maintains his own blog (www.macsfootballblog.com) and charts games for Football Outsiders. If you’d like to e-mail Brian, you may do so here.