The Seahawks wrapped up the 2024 season with a win over the Rams to finish the year with a 10-7 record, which made Mike Macdonald the winningest first-year coach in franchise history.

But despite that winning record, the Seahawks missed out on the postseason, losing the fifth tiebreaker, strength of victory, to the Rams, who also finished 10-7, so as Macdonald put it in his end-of season press conference, "ultimately, we fell short."

Even so, there is a lot of optimism heading into the offseason based off what the Seahawks were able to get done in Macdonald's first year as head coach, and as he put it, “I’m excited about the foundation what we've been able to lay."

With the 2024 season behind us, now is a good time to open up the mailbag and answer some questions from you, the fans. As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions this week, and apologies if I wasn't able to get to yours this time around. And remember, the mailbag is always open for submissions at Seahawks.com/mailbag.

**@holliwinters57.bsky.social** asks, "Who would you say was the most improved player in 2024?"

A: A good case could be made for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had a breakout second season with 100 catches for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns, with that receptions total tying Tyler Lockett's single-season franchise record. But Smith-Njigba's breakout seemed to be more the result of better health and of him getting more opportunities more than anything else. The 2023 first-round pick looked really good last year as well, but he also battled multiple injuries and just didn't get the volume of targets that he saw this year.

So as impressive as Smith-Njigba's second season was, I'd go with outside linebacker Derick Hall for most improved. Hall, a second-round pick in last year's draft, had a pretty quiet rookie season, starting zero games and playing only 26 percent of Seattle's defensive snaps while recording no sacks, three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits. A strong training camp helped Hall earn a bigger role this season, and he took advantage in a big way, starting 14 games, increasing his playing time to 60 percent of the defensive snaps on his way to 8.0 sacks, the second most on team, 20 quarterback hits, six tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery that he returned 36 yards for a touchdown.

@Chipshot20 asks, "Do you think they will stick with Geno Smith?"

A: This question has come up a lot lately, and I've mostly stayed away from it because Smith still has another year on his deal, but now that the season is over, it's fair to address, first and foremost because the head coach is addressing the topic, and secondly, because, as anyone who follows the NFL knows, the offseason before the final year of a player's contract is often when decisions about the future of that player is made. Teams don't want to lose top players to free agency, and top players often want the security of an extension rather than playing out a contract to the end. Then there of course are also salary cap considerations at play as well.

I've been pretty clear in past mailbags about my feelings on Smith (short version: he's a really good quarterback and could be even better with a little more help around him in terms of the running game and pass protection), but obviously my opinions don't factor into front office decisions (shocking, I know). But you know whose opinion will matter? Mike Macdonald's, and Macdonald has been pretty consistent in his praise for Smith's play this season.

"I want Geno to be here, I think he's a heck of a player," Macdonald said. "The first thing it always comes back to is what's best for the team. I feel like Geno is the best for the team right now. I'll be involved with it, ultimately it's not my decision. It's a Seahawks decision. But Geno knows how we feel about him and we love him as our starting quarterback for sure."

@Ciancr asks, "What's the possibility of the Hawks playing an international game now that we are set to play the Jaguars away? Or possibly Steelers in Ireland?

A: As this question alludes to, the Jaguars are one of Seattle's road opponents in 2025, and they have made London their second home, so any team facing the Jags on the road has a shot of going to London. It probably doesn't hurt the Seahawks' chances that they have a big following in the UK, and that the fan support was really strong for their 2018 game in London. There have also been multiple reports, though nothing official yet, that the Steelers, another Seahawks road opponent will host a game in Ireland. So again, that means, if those reports are true, that there's essentially a one in nine shot the Seahawks would go there. I have zero inside info on if either of these, or some other international game, is on the horizon, but based on the experiences of going to games in London and Munich in recent years, I'd be all for it.

@mattyfbrown asks, "What do you think Mike Macdonald means when he mentions 'complementary football'?"

A: Macdonald used that term when talking about the change at offensive coordinator, saying he wants the offense "to mirror our football team." He went on to say, "we want our offense to be a physical unit and dictate terms to the defense, and play complementary football, and get the ball to our playmakers frequently in space, and let our quarterback play fast."

When coaches talk about complementary football, they usually mean, well, that they want the offense to complement the defense and vice versa, with special terms doing its part. That can mean an offense possessing the ball and getting first downs, keeping the defense off the field, or avoiding turnovers that put the defense in a bad spot. Or it can mean a defense getting stops and takeaways to put the offense in good positions in terms of field position and such. What exactly that looks like to Macdonald will be a great question after we know who the coordinator is, but in general terms, I tend to go back to a mural on the hallway leading to the practice field that Macdonald has reference a few times, one that reads "a style nobody wants to play." (And yes, for those of you who like to be difficult, that means play against, not a style that his own players don't want to play).

Again, we'll have to see who the Seahawks hire and then watch it play out to know what the offense will look like, but I'd imagine that what Macdonald wants is an offense that is physical—that doesn't necessarily have to mean being super run heavy—while also putting strain on a defense with its explosive ability. Macdonald also talks a lot about wanting to have answers for what an opponent is doing, so it would stand to reason that he wants an offensive scheme that, A. has answers for challenges presented by the defense, and B. can pose challenges that are tough for a defense to answer.

@yeroc.bsky.social asks, "What ere some of Leslie Frazier's tangible key contributions to the staff this year?"

A: Tangible is a tough word here, because what Frazier does is hard to measure. He's not a coordinator or play caller or position coach, so you can't pull up a stat sheet and say, "this was his influence." But to hear Macdonald or defensive coordinator Aden Durde talk about Frazier, it's clear he was a huge asset to both of them, and other coaches. For Macdonald, everything was new this year when it comes to being a head coach, so having a resource like Frazier, who has decades of coaching experience in the league, and who has been a head coach, was an important part of this season.

Frazier talked about his role last month when Macdonald was away for the birth of his son, Jack, "For me, it's just been about being here to support Mike as best as I can from my previous experiences, and the same thing with our team, just to be able to identify things and point things out with our coaching staff, with our players, based on my experience," Frazier said when asked about his role. "What direction I can give, and how I can support and serve everybody on our team, from the practice squad guys to our coaching staff? How can I pour into them and help them be the very best that they can possibly be? That's how I envision my role, and that's what I've tried to do every single day I've been in the building."

Leslie from Bellingham asks, "I know everyone's basically gone for the offseason, but I'm worrid about Noah Fant. Did he get hurt on his amazing flip into the end zone? And did Riq Woolen have any broken ribs? Any other injury news?"

A: I like this question, because I feel like way too often, people want to know about injuries just because of how it affect their fantasy football lineup. That's not the case here, and it's nice to see Leslie caring about the humans involved in this violent sport. There were no specific updates on Fant, who indeed had a hard fall to the turf on his touchdown catch, getting upended as he made the catch, causing him to land on his neck and back, but Macdonald did say it didn't appear there were any serious injury concerns heading into the offseason. Macdonald also said Woolen's X-rays were negative, and Woolen told reporters on Monday that he was doing well when he talked to the media in the locker room.