Seahawks stars get plenty of love from Pro Football Focus

In case you needed more validation that your beloved Seahawks did alright, Pro Football Focus just released their recap of the 2018 season.

The Seahawks had a better season than most observers beyond Seattle and the worldwide 12s expected. Pro Football Focus has just released a tasty little compilation of some key stats for Seattle, both good and less so.

PFF is a pay site, but I highly recommend it if you’re more than a casual fan. Or even if you are a casual fan, and just have a few extra bucks. I can’t say I always agree with their ratings -and we’ll get to one of those soon enough- but they’re far better than just random opinions.

For starters, Pro Football Focus acknowledged the greatness of Bobby Wagner. PFF gave him the highest grade of his career, 91.9. They graded Wagner as the best linebacker in both pass coverage and against the run. That’s a rubber stamp on what every running back and receiver in the league already knew.

They were kind enough to post their summary on Youtube, so you can see it all for yourself without a subscription (but you really should subscribe):

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Seahawks didn’t get exactly the right grades every time

I’ll pick up with the overall grades, 12th in offense, 20th in defense. I’m not saying the Seahawks were world beaters, but they did rank sixth in the league in scoring offense. 17 other teams piled up more yards, but it’s all about the scoreboard. The same rule applies to their defense. The Hawks were in the middle of the pack in yards allowed, but 11th in points allowed. That’s a long way from where Pete Carroll (and the 12s) want the team, but it isn’t 20th, either.

Russell Wilson had a terrific year, and PFF acknowledged that. One quibble, though: Wilson did tie with Matt Ryan for third-most touchdown passes with 35, that’s true. It’s also true that he threw those 35 scores in just 427 attempts. That’s 181 fewer attempts than Ryan’s 608. How about a little context, guys?

My final disagreement is on Tyler Lockett. PFF gave Lockett the highest grade of his career, deservedly so. Their website shows him with a grade of 82.3, while the compilation lists 80.3. I’ll go with the higher number. Even then, Lockett was ranked 14th among all wide receivers. I’m not going to say he’s the best wide receiver in the league, but even PFF acknowledges that the Wilson-to-Lockett connection earned a perfect passer rating of 158.3. How are you the 14th-best wide receiver when the NFL’s most complex passing stat says you were perfect?

Lockett may not be the Saints Michael Thomas, but he isn’t that far off. Thomas caught 85 percent of his targets; Lockett caught just over 81 percent. Thomas had 125 receptions, but he was targeted 147 times. No surprise, considering New Orleans threw the ball 92 times more than Seattle. Lockett scored 10 touchdowns on just 70 targets, while Thomas had nine scores in more than twice the opportunities. Sorry, PFF, that grade on Lockett is too low.

That’s not a knock on Pro Football Focus. They did right by Chris Carson and Poona Ford, and rightly said that the secondary still needs work. I just think they were a bit off on a couple of their assessments. You know, I once wrote that Eddie Lacy was a nice pick-up for the Seahawks. If you want a real laugh, read that prognostication, full of Lacy, Rawls, and Prosise, and no Carson. Listen, nobody’s perfect.