Seahawks 25 best players, #5 Doug Baldwin
By Dan Viens
The Seattle Seahawks roster is generally regarded as one of the best in the NFL top to bottom, but what about the talent level within the roster? Our co-editor Dan Viens takes a shot at ranking the team’s Top 25 players in order.
(PART 21 OF 25 IN A SERIES)
NFL Network does their Top 100 NFL players list every year, and this off season we’ve seen our share of analysts taking a crack at ranking the best rosters in the league. As we enter into the dog days of the off season, with the start of training camp still over a month away, I wanted to see what it would look like if I tried to rank the best 25 players the Seahawks have.
It was harder than I thought.
The top 10 was pretty easy. I would suspect most would end up with the same 10-12 names in some order or another. After that it gets dicey.
Among the challenges, how do you figure in the rookies and players who have never played a down in Seattle?
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My criteria was wide-ranging. Sometimes I went with pure talent, and other times I gave more weight to the players importance to the team. And in certain cases the players role…….played a role in my ranking. When in doubt, however, I would just ask myself “who’s the better player?”
So here we go……
The 5th Best Player On The Seahawks Roster is….
#5: Doug Baldwin, WR
Baldwin has become the poster child for the Pete Carroll/John Schneider regime, and the ultimate recruiting tool for free agents.
“Feeling overlooked and underrated? Passed over in the draft? Called too short and too slow? Didn’t put up eye-popping number in college but feel like you’re good enough to play in the NFL? Well join us here at the Seattle Seahawks and you too could become a Pro Bowl player! Sign with us and become the next undrafted free agent to earn a $46 million contract!”
That’s exactly what Baldwin has done. Ever since signing here after being passed over in the 2011 draft he’s been on an upward trajectory. From surprise contributor, to consistent producer, to prolific pass-catcher and team leader. He’s being paid among the best WR’s in the business now not just because he caught 14 TD passes last year, but because he embodies all those other qualities the Seahawks value. They saw something in him coming out of college that no other teams saw, and now he’s repaying them with his performance.
Next: Where do the kickers rank in our Top 25?
Remember when the Seahawk WR’s were called “pedestrian” and mediocre? I don’t think you’ll be hearing those terms anymore after what Baldwin and 2nd year wideout Tyler Lockett have done.
Then again, there may be some who will now refer to Baldwin as overpaid. Let them. That chip on his shoulder he carried with him from Stanford is what has driven him to become one of the best in the league at his position.