Ranking the 15 best Seattle Seahawks rookie seasons ever

Best five Seahawks rookie seasons ever

This top five will feature a QB, RB and three linebackers and includes two current Seahawks. Four of the top five were rookie season Pro Bowlers.

5. Bobby Wagner – Linebacker

Wagner is the only non-Pro Bowl rookie in the top five. This fact alone prevents him from being in the top three in all honesty. As a rookie Wagner exploded onto the scene with 140 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 interceptions.

About to enter his tenth season is Seattle and still one of the premier linebackers in the league, Wagner now has 1,230 tackles, 22.5 sacks and 10 interceptions to his name. What a player he has been to Seattle and surely a future Hall of Famer.

4. Brandon Browner – Linebacker

Browner went undrafted in 2005 but was picked up a UDFA by Denver. However, he fractured his arm in a preseason game and never made an NFL start of the Broncos. He went from Denver to play five years in the CFL, before his rookie NFL campaign in 2011.

So technically not a rookie, but if you record 54 tackles, 6 interceptions and 2 touchdowns in your first NFL season you deserve to be at 4 on this list. His rookie season was his best season in the NFL.

3. Lofa Tatupu – Linebacker

Back to 2005 now and another second round pick that hit the ground running. Tatupu had 104 tackles, 4 sacks and 3 interceptions and a TD in his rookie season and went to the pro bowl as a result.

In six seasons as a Seahawk, he amassed 550 tackles, 10 interceptions and 8.5 sacks and 2 TDs. All of this makes him the best rookie linebacker in Seahawks history.

2. Russell Wilson – Quarterback

A list of Seattle greats that Wilson does not come top. Who has beaten him to number 1 in this list then? In his rookie season, Wilson threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, adding a further 489 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground.

Recording a QBR of 72.7 for the season, rookie Wilson finished third in that category behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Pretty good company for a rookie, and earned him a place at the Pro Bowl.

1. Curt Warner – Running Back

To beat Wilson, you must have had to have a fantastic rookie season. How does 1,774 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns sound? Well, those are Warner’s astonishing numbers as a rookie in 1983. He was the third overall selection on that year’s draft behind two guys called John Elway and Eric Dickerson.

Warner spent a total of seven seasons as a Seahawk, with totals of 8,172 scrimmage yards and 62 touchdowns to his credit during that time. In effect, this was achieved in just six seasons as he tore his ACL and missed 15 games in his second season.

So over to you, class of 2021! Have a great year and see if you can break into the top 15 of next year’s list.