Seahawks 25 best players, #2 Michael Bennett
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 24 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 2nd Best Player On The Seahawks Roster is….
#2: Michael Bennett, DE/DT
It’s not often that a defensive lineman becomes one of the most vocal leaders on a football team, but that’s just what Bennett has done. His dynamic personality is almost big enough to match his impact as a player. He’s the teams most sought-after interview, and he’s become a big-time team leader.
Never was that more evident than in how he’s handled his contract “dispute” the last two off seasons. Clearly underpaid at his position (21st highest paid DE in average annual salary, one spot behind teammate Cliff Avril) Bennett hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasure. Yet, unlike Kam Chancellor, Bennett showed up to training camp last year and had his best season on the field. Once again this off season he’s been vocal about his current deal, but with two years still remaining on it he knows the team isn’t about to rip it up and write him a new one. It’s not how they do things. So he’s attended off season workouts and has said on the record you can expect to see him on the field next month.
Now 30 years old, these are Bennett’s prime years, and in fact he registered a career-high 10 sacks in 2015. Still, any re-structuring or raise he may get after 2016 will likely only be in the short term. He’s one of the most versatile defensive linemen in the league, capable of creating havoc from the tackle position of the outside. The Seahawks added quality depth to the D-line this year in both the draft and free agency. This should allow defensive coordinator Kris Richard even more leeway in how creative he can get with Bennett.
Next: With Baldwin signed, who's next?
And if he turns in another season like his last one, you can bet he’ll be telling us alllllll about it.