The NFL offseason is nearing its end, and to say the least, it has been very eventful for the Seattle Seahawks. The franchise will be moving forward without the likes of Russel Wilson or Bobby Wagner, which is something that has not been said since 2012 when Wilson was drafted.
Nonetheless, Seattle has spent much of the offseason preparing for life without Wilson. Ironically, one of the ways they have done that is finally addressing the offensive line. They also made a coaching change, firing Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and subsequently promoting Clint Hurtt, which will inject some much-needed youthfulness into the coaching staff.
With all of these changes, where do the Seahawks go? What does the future hold? None of us really know, but what we can do is speculate. With speculation though, comes the chance of being utterly and completely wrong.
3 bold predictions for the Seahawks 2022 season
Next season is honestly anyone’s guess. It could go so many different ways, and as we saw last year, even with a quarterback as good as Russel Wilson, we can still have a pitiful season. So, with a quarterback that isn’t even close to the caliber of Wilson, how is everything going to unfold?
So, looking ahead to the 2022-23 season, I thought it would be fun to make some very bold predictions of things that may end up being storylines during the year. To preface, I know that I’m most likely going to be way off with my predictions, but I’m ready to accept that fact considering the possibility that I will look like an NFL genius.
Drew Lock will start all 17 games
Quarterback Drew Lock was definitely nothing special during his time in Denver, but it is also a fact that he had nowhere near the quality of weapons that he will have when he steps on the field for the week 1 battle against his former team, the Denver Broncos.
DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are talents capable of making any quarterback look good, and they proved that in Seattle’s battle at home against the Jaguars last year when Geno Smith put up a stat line of 20-24, 195 yards and 2 TDs in a 31-7 win. In that game, while he didn’t look like Russell Wilson, he still looked more than serviceable. And honestly, he looked better than Wilson when he returned the following game against Green Bay.
My theory is if Geno can look that good, why can’t Drew? Lock is mostly a question mark going into the 2022-23 season, but I think he has the potential to be better than most people expect, and so do Carroll and Schneider. Lock is younger and still has plenty of potential, and he gives this team the highest possible ceiling.
So, the prediction is that Lock starts the entire 2022-23 season barring injuries.
Seahawks make DK Metcalf one of the highest-paid receivers of all-time
This is one that I really believe will happen, as well as really hope, will happen. DK is in my opinion, a generational talent at the wide receiver position. His size, speed and athleticism from the receiver position is no doubt one of the greatest combinations of skill that has ever been seen in the NFL.
I know that the Calvin Johnson comparisons have been somewhat overused as well as heavily disputed, but there aren’t many like-for-like comparisons for DK aside from Johnson. Johnson is one of the only receivers who have possessed a similar size and athleticism that Metcalf possesses.
Obviously, Metcalf has a long way to go in his route running and catching ability to be able to get to the same level as Calvin Johnson, but the point is that he has the potential to get there and to be even better than Johnson.
A player with this type of potential should be coveted as much as a treasure chest full of diamonds would be. Seattle could most definitely deal Metcalf for a massive haul, but in reality, why would they? Metcalf is precisely what a team would be hoping to get in return if they are trying to rebuild, so it makes no sense for the Seahawks to offload him.
With that being said, I predict that Seattle will give Metcalf a massive extension to ensure his future with the team, anywhere in the realm of 4 years, $90-120 Million, with at least $60 million guaranteed.
Seahawks win 9 games, and therefore go 9-8 and make the playoffs
This may sound crazy, but hear me out.
This team has the pieces to make the playoffs. Will they? probably not. According to WynnBet, they have Seattle with +10000 odds (tied for 25th in the NFL) of winning the Super Bowl this coming season. Which, I guess objectively, is a fair bet. But, no one really knows what to expect from Drew Lock, and with the weapons that I mentioned earlier, he may be serviceable enough to make me look like a genius.
The real question is, are there 9 winnable games on our schedule? I believe there is. I think there are 6 non-conference games that are more than winnable (Falcons at home, Lions away, Saints away, Giants at home, Panthers at home, Jets at home). I think no matter what our roster looks like, in the crazy NFC West, it is never a crazy assumption to think that we can split our conference games 3-3.
Now I obviously know that the likelihood of us winning all of the 6 non-conference games that I mentioned is low, but It could also be safe to assume that we won’t lose all 5 of the non-conference games that I didn’t mention.
So, although it is an incredibly low chance, and even if we get to 9-8 there is a strong possibility it wouldn’t be enough to make the playoffs, I think this team has the potential to get it done.