Seahawks’ Bobby Wagner Ranked 8th-Best ILB In the Game by NFL.com

Bobby Wagner may finally be getting himself some accolades, after being skipped over for Rookie of the Year and then being left off the all-star ballot in year 2.

Wags recorded a total of 120 tackles in 2013 to go along with 5 sacks, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery, which are definitely All-Pro type numbers. As good as they are and for being the leading tackler on the Super Bowl winning, best defense in the league, I guess it’s not good enough for better than eighth on the list of Bucky Brooks‘ best LB’s.

"Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks: The “Legion of Boom” secondary casts a large shadow over the rest of the Seahawks‘ defense, but astute observers recognize Wagner’s key contributions to the NFL’s No. 1 defense. The 24-year-old is a destructive force in the middle, wreaking havoc on opponents with his speed, quickness and explosiveness. Wagner is a tackling machine with exceptional rush skills and underrated coverage ability. He can play a myriad of roles in the Seahawks‘ aggressive scheme, allowing him to be a true stat-stuffer (120 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions in 2013)."

Once again Bucky says all of the right things, but I cannot believe how low he ends up listing Wagner anyhow, despite his “astute” observations. Sometimes I wonder if he (Mr. Brooks) puts Seahawks lower on his list so as not to appear “homer-ish”, remember he used to be a Seahawks scout.

At any rate, whether Wagner is a top-five candidate is up for serious debate (and let the debate rage on here), but Paul Posluszny, Jerod Mayo, Derrick Johnson and Karlos Dansby all see higher rankings than Wagner, before the obvious trio of NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechly round out the top-three.

That’s a little fishy to me, but then again I get to see Wagner play at an elite level every week while the rest of the country is under the impression that the Legion is the reason all the rest of the Hawks get their numbers defensively.

I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway, on the field at least, only one of those players has a ring and he makes play after play for the defending champs.