Seahawks fourth best player in 2018 is Doug Baldwin, thankfully

The Seahawks may have lost some outspoken players this offseason. But Doug Baldwin speaks his mind too and that is a great thing for Seattle.

I am not ranking Doug Baldwin as the fourth best member of the Seahawks in 2018 because he is smart and outspoken off the field. I wish I could, but then I would be ranking Baldwin personally and not as a football player. Baldwin has made himself into one of the best players in Seattle through hard work, though. This is one reason he is number four.

Oh, and he has the hands of a receiving god. Some of the catches Baldwin has made over the last several seasons are simply ridiculous. I couldn’t have made them. And if you are honest with yourself, you wouldn’t have made them either.

Doug Baldwin went undrafted out of Stanford in 2011. This is now well-known news and part of the Baldwin mystique, but kind of still shocking, no? Baldwin, a two-time Pro Bowler who actually led the NFL in touchdown receptions in a year he didn’t make the Pro Bowl (2015 with 14 touchdown catches), wasn’t worth choosing by any team.

And this why we love Angry Doug. He isn’t really wildly emotional; He just plays with the proverbial chip on his shoulder. Wouldn’t you? If you knew how much talent you had but no team thought you worth choosing in a seven-round draft, wouldn’t you play with that disrespect the rest of your career? You should. And Baldwin has.

And thank goodness for it, if you are a Seahawks fan. Baldwin has led Seattle in receiving yards the last four years. 2018 should be no different. Russell Wilson still trusts Baldwin the most when things are needing to be trusted.

And the city of Seattle is a liberal place. While football is of course different from politics, most citizens in Seattle probably identify with most of the thoughts of Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett. They are now gone. Doug Baldwin speaks well about the politics he believes in. And most Seattle 12s probably agree with him. I think it is good to still have at least one member of the NFL team that represents the city of Seattle to be in alignment and be outspoken about his beliefs that the majority of the city would agree with.

Next: Who is the Seahawks fifth best player?

Because Seattle is a special place. And to 12s, the Seahawks are a special team. Doug Baldwin is a special person and a special player. If he were on the New Orleans Saints he would probably have had a 1,500 yard receiving season. But he plays in a different system in Seattle and the Seahawks are much better because he is on the team.