Until training camp kicks off (rookies report July 17 for the Seahawks) there’s not much to talk about outside of comparisons, which means rankings season has finally hit its peak. After sharing our own rankings of players and units around the league, we’ve been looking for how other outlets rank those same guys. Unsurprisingly, the “experts” are not as high on Seattle this year as we are. Let’s see how far apart we are. Today we’ll be taking a look at where Pro Football Focus ranks the Seahawks players who matter most at their respective positions.
First, a word about who didn’t make the list. You’ll notice that there are only 11 players listed here – that’s because half of Seattle’s projected starters do not rank in the top 32 at their respective positions according to PFF. While that comes as no great surprise for some players, it is revealing about some parts of this roster.
Most of all having only one offensive lineman ranked here stands out. Only second-year center Olu Oluwatimi placed among PFF’s top 32 at his position, leaving left tackle Charles Cross, left guard Laken Tomlinson, whoever their right guard is and right tackle Abe Lucas out of the picture. If that contention turns out to be accurate then this is going to be another frustrating season offensively, no matter how good of a playcaller Ryan Grubb is. The Seahawks desperately need Scott Huff to make the sum greater than the individual parts of this group or a ton of talent at the skill positions will go to waste.
On the other side of the ball, defensive lineman Leonard Williams is the only player up front who made PFF’s top 32. That leaves out Seattle’s starting edge combo of Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe, as well as nose tackle Jarran Reed, rookie Byron Murphy II and DE/OLB Dre’Mont Jones. While we like this unit more, boosting it with some of the cap space they saved by restructuring Jones’ contract is a good idea.
