The Seattle Seahawks signed wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling this past offseason in hopes he would add the explosive element the team lost when DK Metcalf was traded. To be sure, MVS was not supposed to replace Metcalf's total production, but simply scare opposing defenses as a deep threat.
Seattle should have known what it was getting. Valdes-Scantling had never played for the Seahawks before, but he did play under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak with the New Orleans Saints last year. Kubiak is now the OC for Seattle.
Kubiak should have known Valdes-Scantling's strengths and weaknesses, and one of his biggest inefficiencies was something that made his fit in Kubiak's scheme bad. MVS is fast, but not physical, and Seattle needs physical receivers who aren't afraid to block and can do so well.
Seattle Seahawks' John Schneider points out Marquez Valdes-Scantling's huge weakness
Seahawks general manager John Schneider said as much during his post-roster cut talk with the media on Wednesday.
When asked about Valdes-Scantling, Schneider said, "Receiving corps is really strong. We really like it, especially the physicality of it. There's a really nice combination of receivers...There's a cool physicality with (Jake) Bobo, Dareke (Young), and Cody (White). Really important in this scheme, you have to be able to block."
In other words, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who is now an eight-year veteran in the NFL, either couldn't or refused to do anything but catch passes that were usually ineffective. He can go deep, and he can do so well, but he can't help the revamped Seattle offense where it matters most: Blocking for the run.
The Seahawks are absolutely going to run the ball more this season, and Klint Kubiak is likely to use two tight end sets quite a bit. A fullback will be used as well. This means more personnel when only two wide receivers are on the field. If the receiver can't block well, it makes the offense less versatile.
Maybe Valdes-Scantling would have played on more obvious passing downs, but that isn't worth keeping a wide receiver on the roster if the rest of the wideouts are more versatile. As John Schneider pointed out, Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, and Cody White are.
MVS has since signed with the San Francisco 49ers, one of Seattle's fiercest rivals in the NFC West. The odd part is that the 49ers run the same kind of offense that the Seattle Seahawks do. They might soon find out Valdes-Scantling is a liability in their scheme as well. We will know in Week 1 when the Seahawks and 49ers play each other.