I'm on vacation, but while I'm out, here is a position-by-position list on where the Seattle Seahawks stand at each spot and what they may need heading into 2015.
Today it's special teams:
Kicker -- No worries here with Steven Hauschka, who is one of the better field goal kickers in the league and is entering the second year of a three-year contract. Hauschka was a perfect 22 of 22 last season (including the playoffs) inside the 40. But he did have a brief rough-patch on longer kicks, ending the year 11 of 17 on FG attempts outside the 40. Hauschka also executed a perfect-bounce onside kick that helped win the NFC Championship Game against Green Bay.
Punter -- The Seahawks are in good hands (or foot) here, as well, with veteran Jon Ryan. He turns 34 next season, but he's in great shape and built like a linebacker. Ryan doesn't have the longest punts in the league (averaging 44.1 yards per boot), but he gets great hang time and only 17 of 61 punts were returned. He also had 28 punts inside the 20. And he's also 3 for 3 in his career as a passer, including the 19-yard TD throw to Garry Gilliam on the fake field goal in the NFC Championship.
Deep Snapper -- The Seahawks have one of the best in the league in Clint Gresham, but he's an unrestricted free agent who may get some offers elsewhere. No doubt the Seahawks want to keep him, but at what price? He made $750,000 in 2014 and it make take $1 million to keep him. As a precaution, the Seahawks signed free-agent long snapper Luke Ingram, who played for the University of Hawaii.
Returners -- Nothing to boast about here last season for the Seahawks. Both kick and punt returning was just OK at best. Bryan Walters didn't make any mistakes on punt returns, but wasn't a threat to break one, either. Rookie receiver Paul Richardson didn't show much returning kickoffs and neither did Doug Baldwin in the playoffs after Richardson got hurt.
Coverage teams -- The Seahawks have some guys who can get downfield in a hurry and make tackles, but Ricardo Lockette and Jeremy Lane also were overaggressive at times and caused penalties.
Draft -- If the Seahawks are looking for a wide receiver early in the draft, finding one who can returns kicks would be beneficial. The team must improve on punt returns and kickoff returns. They really missed Golden Tate's punt-returning ability last season, and the one area where they missed Percy Harvin after he was traded was the fact teams feared him on kickoff returns.
