ESPN insider: Why Seahawks’ roster is in ‘interesting spot’
Jul 20, 2024, 5:14 PM | Updated: 5:25 pm
Devon Witherspoon (left) and Julian Love of the Seattle Seahawks in a 2023 game. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seattle Seahawks don’t have a lot of elite talent on their roster. At least, not according to ESPN’s top-10 position rankings survey.
Rost: Ranking Seahawks players who are under the most pressure
ESPN recently released a ranking of the top 10 players in the NFL at each offensive and defensive position, as determined by a survey of league executives, coaches and scouts.
The Seahawks had only one player ranked among the top 10 at their position: Second-year pro Devon Witherspoon, who checked in at No. 9 among cornerbacks.
The San Francisco 49ers – Seattle’s biggest rival – had a league-high nine players ranked in the top 10 at their respective positions. The Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens each had seven players. The Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans had six apiece and the Green Bay Packers had five.
Yet as ESPN senior NFL insider Jeremy Fowler explained, that doesn’t mean the Seahawks lack quality players. Fowler, who spearheaded the annual survey, joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Wednesday.
“Seattle is in an interesting spot there, because it’s not like they don’t have talent,” Fowler said. “… They drafted well post-Russell Wilson. (They have) a lot of good pieces in place. They just don’t have a lot of premier guys, top-10-type players.”
To Fowler’s point, the Seahawks have 10 projected starters who finished in the top 40% of their positions in Pro Football Focus’ grading last season: Witherspoon, safety Julian Love, defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, edge rusher Boye Mafe, linebacker Tyrel Dodson, wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, running back Kenneth Walker III and quarterback Geno Smith.
Seven of those potential starters finished in the top 25% of their positions in PFF grading. Six finished in the top 20%.
“It’s an interesting team,” Fowler said. “It’s kind of an exercise in how you can build a roster in different ways. They’re not going for those big names that you have to pay $25 million a year, necessarily. They’re going for value, draft picks and then pick their spots with a Leonard Williams (in a trade) or a Dre’Mont Jones (in free agency).”
Fowler’s expectation for the Seahawks
Like most prognosticators, Fowler expects new head coach Mike Macdonald to significantly improve a Seattle defense that finished 24th in points allowed last season.
The 36-year-old Macdonald is coming off a success-filled two-year run as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, where he unleashed a cutting-edge scheme that wreaked havoc on opposing offenses. Last year, his Ravens defense became the first in NFL history to lead the league in points allowed, sacks and takeaways in the same season.
“Just based on what Mike Macdonald did in two years in Baltimore, you know the defense is going to be stout,” Fowler said. “And he’s got a lot of pieces to play with. They might not have those necessarily top-10 names, but they have a lot of athletic pieces to kind of move around. In Baltimore, Macdonald had Kyle Hamilton at safety. He was sort of a do-it-all player, so I’m curious how he uses his chess pieces like that to make it work. So I expect them to be very competitive and in the playoff mix just based on that, and the fact that you know on offense what you’re getting.”
Fowler likes the Seahawks’ offensive skill-position talent – headlined by Smith at quarterback, the receiving trio of Metcalf, Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the backfield duo of Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
“Tyler Lockett can still play,” Fowler said. “DK Metcalf wasn’t a big presence in my ratings this year compared to years past, … but you still know that he’s a force of nature that can take it 80 yards in any play. (There’s) running backs galore. … We know Geno Smith can play, and I was surprised he didn’t get any votes.
“Some questions about the offensive line,” he added, “but I think pound for pound there’s enough there where I expect them to be back in the mix for the playoffs and at least for a wild card.”
Listen to the full conversation with Jeremy Fowler at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Bump: Who needs to be Seahawks’ own comeback player of the year
• Seahawks place seven on PUP list prior to training camp
• What NFL insiders say about three big Seahawks questions
• What are the Seahawks getting in latest wide receiver addition?
• The best thing about the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie class
