Salk: The 5 most irreplaceable players for the Seattle Seahawks
May 24, 2023, 12:38 PM
When looking at the Seattle Seahawks’ current roster, who are the most irreplaceable players they have?
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That’s a question Mike Salk tackled during Wednesday’s Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports.
And in classic Salk form, it was answered with a top-five list.
This is the worst list I have ever made. But the Seahawks roster is unique and it made choosing their most IRREPLACEABLE players harder than you'd think. Here's my top 5. Who would you have? My top name has never played a down for them!
1. (video)
2. Cross
3. Nwosu
4. Geno
5. DK pic.twitter.com/LKo9tq14iG— Mike Salk, Seattle Sports (@TheMikeSalk) May 24, 2023
Here’s a breakdown of Salk’s list:
No. 5: WR DK Metcalf
The Seahawks enter the season with a top receiver tandem in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and they used a first-round pick on Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Salk explained that he thinks Metcalf is harder to replace than Lockett.
Geno ➡️ DK = CLUTCH 🤑
(via @Seahawks)pic.twitter.com/UusFL0OSpP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 5, 2022
“DK I have as No. 5. Yes, Lockett would probably be an honorable mention. But, I mean, I think Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to be able to do a lot of the same things that (Lockett) can do,” Salk said.
No. 4: QB Geno Smith
The Seahawks had a Pro Bowl quarterback last year in Geno Smith, and he’s back on a three-year contract.
Pretty hard to replace, right?
Well, Smith made Salk’s list, but he’s lower than many would think.
“Geno was fourth. And yeah, I mean, Geno would be hard to replace. But they kind of like (backup QB) Drew Lock and I kind of would be intrigued by what that looks like,” Salk said.
Geno finding DK in the back. We're on the board!
📺 #NYGvsSEA on FOX pic.twitter.com/K9tSf0jJ4e
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 30, 2022
No. 3: Edge Uchenna Nwosu
Pass rush has been an issue off and on for the Seahawks in recent years, but they appear to have found a pretty good rusher in Uchenna Nwosu, who had 9.5 sacks for Seattle in 2022 after signing in free agency.
UCHENNA NWOSU. 🇳🇬@UchennaN_42 x @Seahawks #SackCity #Naija pic.twitter.com/FoJYX3jcMp
— NFL Africa (@NFLAfrica) October 16, 2022
“Even though they do have other guys at outside linebacker, he’s like the one veteran I actually trust at a very important position,” Salk said.
Darrell Taylor, a 2020 second-round pick, had 9.5 sacks at that position last year, and the Hawks used second-round picks at edge rusher each of the last two years in Boye Mafe in 2022 and Derick Hall in 2023.
No. 2: LT Charles Cross
One of the most important positions in football is left tackle because it protects the blind side for a right-handed quarterback, and the Seahawks have a young player there in 2022 first-round pick Charles Cross, who started every game last year.
“It’d be really hard to replace Cross,” Salk said.
No. 1: DL Dre Jones
At No. 1 is a player who has not played a single snap for the Seahawks.
No, it’s not a rookie, but Seattle’s big free-agent signing. That’s defensive lineman Dre Jones, who comes to Seattle from Denver on a lucrative three-year deal.
SACK, @TheOfficial_80 😤
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/lHu6vTLqxo
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 18, 2022
So why does Salk think Jones is the most irreplaceable player on the Seahawks?
“They don’t have anybody else,” he exclaimed. “There’s no one else there. If Dre Jones goes down, what is your defensive line? I’m not telling you Dre Jones is the best player in the Seahawks. In fact, I’ve never really seen him play. But based on the amount of money they gave him in the offseason and what they say he is and based on what else they have, he to me right now is the most irreplaceable player on the Seahawks.”
Salk’s Seattle Seahawks Takeaways
After going through his top-five list, Salk shared how he views the Seahawks’ roster top to bottom.
“One, they don’t have a lot of stars. They don’t have a lot of guys they can’t live without,” Salk said. “Two, they’ve got some pretty good depth. And they’ve got a lot of redundancies on this roster. Outside of defensive line, there’s a fair amount of depth at every other position.”
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