Ex-Seahawks fullback asks legit question: ‘What type of offense is this?’

Former Seattle Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson was with the team during its Super Bowl run last season and saw the path to success with the team on offense.

Things have changed quite a bit in less than a year.

Robinson now is an analyst for NFL Network, and the Seahawks appear to have gotten a bit away from what they do best offensively during a slightly surprising 3-2 start to the 2014 season.

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And Robinson didn’t hold back on questioning the identity of this year’s Seahawks offense.

“When I look at the Seahawks, what type of offense is this? What is your identity? We kind of went through this in 2011 when we were kind of running some speed ball offense. We had Tarvaris Jackson as quarterback, and we really didn’t know what we wanted to do.

Robinson said the turning point that season was offensive line coach Tom Cable proclaiming that the team would make the run game its bread and butter. That set in motion the team’s physical style that would develop over the next three seasons, helping morph itself — along with tremendous defense and special teams, of course — into a championship outfit.

As things currently stand, Robinson wonders if the team has gotten away from Marshawn Lynch and the power run game in lieu of a cuter approach from offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who does tend to become a bit distracted by shiny objects at times, it would appear.

“Right now, when the Seahawks go on the four-minute offense,” Robinson asked rhetorically, “when they have a lead and they have to secure the lead or they want to impose their will on a team, what do they go to? Do they go to Percy Harvin running the read option and Russell Wilson running for 100 yards? Or do they turn around and hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch?”

And in the two losses, you can’t help but notice that Lynch has been underutilized. Robinson has seen it.

“You look at the losses that the Seahawks have had, none of the losses were big enough to warrant Marshawn getting six carries and 10 carries,” he said.

Are the Seahawks without a true identity offensively then?

“I think this team is kind of in transition,” Robinson said. “I don’t think they have an identity offensively. When you can run the ball and impose your will, it helps your defense out. It keeps those defensive backs in ball hawking mode because the other team has limited times to possess the ball, so they have to throw the ball.

“I think this team wants to get Russell Wilson that MVP award, I really think they do. But is his skillset supposed to be complementary or is it supposed to be the feature of this offense? That’s the question I think the Seahawks have to answer.”

Robinson made a name for himself in his eight NFL seasons, four of them with the Seahawks, as a player who wasn’t afraid to hit hard as a blocking fullback and special-teams ace. It appears he’s also not afraid to pack a punch when it comes to calling out the team he played for as recently as February, either.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm