Three reasons to be hopeful about the Seahawks in 2019

The Seahawks may have lost in the Wild Card round of the 2018 playoffs. But there is hope for next year. Here are three quick reasons why.

An unexpectedly successful Seahawks season may have come to an early exit in the playoffs, but let’s be honest, 12s: Most of us didn’t think Seattle would win 10 games. They did, though. And they could again in 2019. Seattle has a young and talented team and is still learning how good they can be.

So, yeah, maybe Seattle lost to Dallas in which they didn’t play their best. The Seahawks probably were not going to make the Super Bowl even with a win. But what about next season and what about the year after that. Seattle showed they should be in the conversation.

As far as 2019, though, there are a bunch of reasons for 12s to be excited. here are three reasons why Seattle might be even better next year.

The defense will have a lot less question marks heading into the season

Prior to the 2018 season, Seattle wasn’t really sure Jarran Reed would be as good as he became this year. And cornerback was a question because whomever was playing opposite Shaquill Griffin was really unknown. K.J. Wright was injured. Earl Thomas was causing locker room issues. Plus, we weren’t really sure how good Frank Clark was going to be.

I am assuming the Seahawks do the right thing and extend Clark. If so, Seattle’s front line will mostly be set with Clark, beastly defensive tackle Reed and probably Poona Ford. Now if Seattle could find another good end, that would be nice.

Plus, the secondary is set for the next few years and should only get better. And linebacker will have Bobby Wagner still and Seattle will probably choose to re-sign either Wright or Mychal Kendricks. With all that, Seattle’s defense is going to be better next year and beyond.

Poona Ford is going to be an anchor for five years

Seattle took the big guy with a funny name in hopes that he could translate his run-stopping game in college to the pros. While earning more snaps as the season progressed, Ford showed he could help slow the run plus also get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Ford will never lead the NFL in sacks, but between he and Reed Seattle should supply enough interior pressure to help their defensive ends. And according to Pro Football Focus, Ford was the top run-stopping rookie in the last five weeks of the season. Ford is going to be a good player for a long time in Seattle so just get used to him.

Seattle’s last two drafts are full of players that are going to be good

The Seahawks went through about three drafts where they didn’t choose too many players who were going to help them long-term. This changed in 2017. The 2017 draft class includes Chris Carson, Tedric Thompson, Delano Hill and Shaquill Griffin. Plus, David Moore might end up being a decent receiver and Nazair Jones might be a good defensive tackle.

In 2018, Seattle took Will Dissly, Rashaad Penny, Tre Flowers and Michael Dickson. Dickson is already a Pro Bowler at punter. Flowers might turn out to be Seattle’s best corner. And Penny and Dissly might be two stars of the offense in 2019.

That is at least eight players in the last two drafts classes who should be good players for the Seahawks for several seasons. So 2018 was not an accident. Most likely, this year is only a springboard for better seasons to come. And maybe another Super Bowl win.