Professional Pundits Think Highly Of The Seahawks Starting Lineup

The Seahawks were punched in at third place out of thirty-two teams. Only Los Angeles and Philadelphia were higher. It’s a pretty respectable ranking, given the team lost two and a half starters this offseason and didn’t replace any externally unless you count Rashid Shaheed. I’m not sure the Eagles have us beat, but they might, so it seems fair.

Looking at their actual projected lineup, the thing that stands out to me the most is their decision to put Zach Charbonnet as the starting running back over Jadarian Price. Between the injury and the skillsets of the two players, I believe Price will end up being the guy. I think their other picks (Okada over Clark, Jobe over Neal, Reed over Mills, etc) are correct.

Strength And Weakness

Clay puts the strongest point of the team at interior defensive line. This strikes me as pretty clearly correct given how good the defense, especially the run defense, was last season. Williams and Murphy are among the best players in the league at the position, and Reed remains highly qualified as a rotational tackle. No objection here.

The weakness is also a common sense choice. Running back is highlighted by Clay , with Ken Walker gone and Zach Charbonnet coming back from a torn ACL that will cost him at least a month of the season. Price is correctly identified as an unknown, and the George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, and Emanuel Wilson group as a random hodgepodge. Fair.

X Factor And Nonstarter To Know

I really like Walder’s X factor pick, which was discussed by Michael Hanich in this space yesterday. Rashid Shaheed is identified, after a low-impact half season at wide receiver for the team in 2025. An offseason of work with Sam Darnold should make him significantly more dangerous, and in an offense with less running back talent to work with, that’s big.

Schatz picked Derick Hall as the ‘nonstarter’ to watch, which is also fair given how the Seahawks are leaning on a tight rotation of edge rushers rather than having a superstar at the position. Price would have been another fair pick if Charbonnet is considered the starter, but Hall is being depended on to increase his sack total from 2025 after his extension.

Overall

I’m on board with pretty much everything here. Their one miss in my mind (having Charbonnet over Price at running back) wouldn’t really change anything. Ultimately, it’s a lot of respect for what the Seahawks have built. And when you keep in mind the fact that the Seahawks are a team that prioritizes depth and special teams, it bodes well for the season.