The Seattle Seahawks will be kicking off their new season on Sunday at home against the Los Angeles Rams. While anything can happen once the games begin, Seattle fans have every right to feel excited about this coming campaign. Last year the team out-paced nearly every analyst’s predictions, producing a winning record and a wild card berth despite some serious handicaps on defense.
During the offseason the Seahawks added some special new talents at critical positions and found ways to plug their most-pressing roster needs. That’s why we’re ready to predict an 11-6 record for Seattle during the season and a trip to the NFC Championship Game in the playoffs.
Buy Seahawks TicketsHere are seven more of our boldest takes for this team going into the new season.
1
Geno Smith throws 35+ touchdowns, 4,500+ yards
Last season Geno Smith won the Comeback Player of the Year award, and he earned it by putting together his best year by far since he entered the NFL back in 2013 with the Jets. In the end, Smith put up a franchise-record 4,282 passing yards to go with 30 touchdown passes and a league-best 69.8% completion rate. Thanks to some personnel upgrades, Smith should expect to post even better numbers this coming season. We’re predicting Geno will total between 35-39 passing touchdowns and somewhere between 4,500 and 5,000 passing yards.
2
Three 1,000 yard receivers
The Seahawks have finally found Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf that elusive third Musketeer to complete the look at wide receiver. Many rookies struggle in their first year in the NFL, but we’d be surprised if Jaxon Smith-Njigba doesn’t hit the ground running – even as he continues to recover from a broken wrist a couple weeks ago. JSN was arguably the best receiver in the 2023 draft class and he fits exactly what Seattle’s offense was missing like a glove. We’re expecting JSN’s presence to be a force multiplier, allowing Metcalf and Lockett to continue producing their usual numbers while accomodating a huge year from the rookie. We predict that all three will reach over 1,000 receiving yards.
3
1,500 scrimmage yards, 12 touchdowns for Ken Walker
Those gains in the passing game should also open things up for Seattle’s rushing attack. That’s good news for second-year running back Ken Walker, who started 11 games last year and still managed over 1,000 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Combine Walker’s added experience with a more robust offense overall and he should be a great fantasy producer in 2023. We’re expecting ovwr 1,500 total yards from scrimmage and at least 12 touchdowns for Walker this season.
4
Two new Pro Bowl offensive tackles
Earlier this week we shared a list of six potential first time Pro Bowlers for the Seahawks this year. The two that we’re most excited about in that group are left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abe Lucas, who are both entering their second year in the league. Both performed very well for rookie linemen last year, and if they both take that critical sophomore leap then they’ll have a good chance to land on the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster.
5
A (marginally) improved run defense
If not for a brief flicker of hope in the middle of the season when they shut down Saquon Barkley, the Seahawks might well have had the worst run defense in the league last year. Only the Bears and Texans allowed more rushing yards per game and only five teams allowed more rushing touchdowns. Jarran Reed has guaranteed this team won’t finish 30th against the run again, and he’s probably right about that – but it’s mostly thanks to the return of Bobby Wagner. With Wagner officially being named a defensive captain once again, we can bet that Seattle’s issues with gap discipline and communication will dramatically improve. There’s more to it than that, but Wagner’s presence guarantees this unit will be better against the run. We’re expecting they won’t allow more than 125 rushing yards per game – which would be 25 fewer than in 2022.
6
10+ sacks for Boye Mafe
How Seattle’s edge rush rotation performs as a whole is yet to be seen, but we saw several promising OLBs flash during the preseason. One of them was Boye Mafe, who has surpassed Darrell Taylor on the depth chart and will be starting opposite Uchenna Nwosu. Mafe only posted three sacks as a rookie, but keep in mind he was only on the field for 37% of the team’s defensive snaps. With that number rising, Mafe’s production will as well. We’re going out on a limb and predicting he will get 10+ sacks.
7
Seahawks lead NFL in interceptions
Last season the 49ers and the Steelers tied for the league lead in interceptions with 20 apiece. This year we are expecting Seattle to take that title. From top to bottom, the back end of this defense is loaded with ballhawks – with the lone exception of Jamal Adams. In 2022 Riq Woolen and Quandre Diggs combined for 10 interceptions. Now with Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love joining the group, opposing quarterbacks will have to be wary of ballskills – almost no matter who they wind up targeting. We’re betting the Seahawks will finish with more picks than any other team in 2023.
8
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