Mina Kimes & Peter Schrager gush over the Seahawks' incredible depth

The hype is real around the Seattle Seahawks this season, and for good reasons. The Seahawks dominated the Washington Commanders in Week 9’s Sunday Night Football with a 38-14 score.

This was a statement win in the biggest stage of the week as Seattle showed how dominant they are on offense, defense, and special teams. Quarterback Sam Darnold was perfect in the first half and had one of his best performances of the season. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his fourth consecutive 100-yard performance. Finally, the defensive line, role players, and former backups had big moments.

The Seahawks have one of the best overall rosters in the league, from their star players and starters to their backups and role players. The team has been hit hard by injuries this season, especially in the secondary and the wide receiver corps, but that hasn't seemed to bother them.

Star cornerback Devon Witherspoon only played his third game of the season due to a knee injury. Safety Julian Love is now on IR after an injury setback. Instead of falling back and panicking, several players like rookie Nick Emmanwori and safety Ty Okada have stepped up to be key players within the last few games.

Not many experts and national media analysts gave the Seahawks a lot of attention and respect after the moves made by general manager John Schneider during the offseason. The Seahawks made the decision to release longtime wide receiver Tyler Lockett in March. Then they traded wide receiver D.K. Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. Afterwards, they signed quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year deal.

Many thought the Seahawks wouldn’t be able to compete without Metcalf and would possibly be last in the NFC West Division. Instead, Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald kept their eyes on developing their own team, focused on wanting to not only win, but to dominate.

ESPN NFL analyst Peter Schrager talked about the roster building that Schneider and the front office have done to make this team compete for an NFC West title without Metcalf or Lockett.

"They said goodbye to DK Metcalf. They said goodbye to Tyler Lockett, and they rely on all 70 on this team."@PSchrags and @minakimes give credit to Seattle GM John Schneider for how he built the Seahawks pic.twitter.com/P8GvrWm1UG

"I will also give John Schneider a lot of credit here, the general manager of the Seahawks. They said goodbye to D.K. Metcalf and goodbye to Tyler Lockett and they relied on all 70 on this team. We're talking about Ty Okada having a huge interception in a big moment. Tyrese McKnight having a huge play, (Elijah) Arrayo, a position they didn't necessarily need, they drafted him at tight end, he was awesome yesterday. We know about the (Mike) Macdonald hire has been praised. We know about how Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been fantastic. This team goes 70 deep and I think Schneider found a way to rebuild this team without them really missing a beat in a really different brand of personnel."

Analyst Mina Kimes talked about one young star rising after his two-touchdown performance against the Commanders.

"Along those lines, Tory Horton is a really good player. When you have a quarterback like Sam who's bombing it downfield, it's almost like (Jordan) Addison's role with the Minnesota Vikings, complementing Jaxon Smith-Njigba; he's somebody to be worried about.”

The Seahawks are 6-2 after their dominating performance in Week 9. They were two plays away from potentially being 8-0, but those losses are fueling the Seahawks. It feels like the team is better with addition by subtraction without Metcalf, as JSN has become the league’s top wide receiver this season. This eight-game stretch could only be the beginning for the Seahawks.