When free agency begins, the Seahawks almost certainly will make some significant moves to shore up their offensive line. They’ve been trying to get by with too many project-type players – guys who played defense or tight end in college. And Russell Okung could sign with another team. In their playoff loss at Carolina, the offensive line was overrun at Carolina.

At NFL.com, they tabulate what they call “quarterback hits”. I assume this includes sacks and also plays where the quarterback is hit just after throwing. And when you start playing around with the numbers, the Seahawks last year got their quarterback hit on the highest percentage of plays by any team in the last five years – about one in every five pass plays.

Some of this, of course, can be attributed to Russell Wilson’s tendency to try to buy time by scrambling. With him at quarterback, they’ve been over 20 percent (for QB hits) in three of the last five years. Only one other team in the entire league has gone over 20 percent once in the last five years.

So some is on Wilson. But it’s an area that needs to be improved. The Seahawks have Tom Cable coaching their offensive line, and they’ve long believed he can help turn unheralded youngsters into adequate blockers. But it’s risky banking on Cable to simply develop a line out of thing air. The line needs to help keep Wilson in one piece, and with the number of times he’s been hit, it’s remarkable he hasn’t yet missed any games with injuries.

Other teams that allowed lots of quarterback hits last year include the Bucs, Rams and Vikings.

MOST QUARTERBACK HITS (last five years)
Year TeamSacksHitsPlaysHit%
2015Seattle4611453521%
2014Tampa Bay5212458321%
2011Seattle5011455920%
2013Seattle449446420%
2015Tampa Bay2710956219%
2015St. Louis189549119%
2015Minnesota459649919%
2013Buffalo4810857019%
2011St. Louis5511460419%
2014Jacksonville7111862819%
2014Washington5811360519%
2013NY Jets479852719%
2015Cleveland5312366219%
2014Seattle429149618%
2011Miami529552118%
2015Indianapolis3711865618%
2013Indianapolis3210961418%
2012Philadelphia4811866618%
2014NY Jets479654518%
2015Arizona2710358917%
2015Tennessee5410560517%
2012Indianapolis4111666917%
2012Kansas City408951517%
2011Washington4110863217%
2015Miami4510763317%
2014Minnesota519656817%
2012Washington338047517%
2015Green Bay4710462017%

—Ian Allan