Seattle Seahawks: 15 best wide receivers in franchise history

4. Brian Blades

Brian Blades had the misfortune of playing for the Seahawks during one of the franchise’s worst extended periods. Blades played between 1988 and 1998 and his teams only made the playoffs once and that was in his rookie year. Seattle had winning records just twice – both seasons were 9-7 – and this happened in Blades’ first and third seasons. He deserved better.

But none of Seattle’s lack of overall success should be blamed on Blades. Chosen in the second round out of the University of Miami. Blades was immediately impactful with 8 touchdown catches in his first year. In 1988, he became the first receiver to lead Seattle in receiving yards not named Steve Largent. Four times Blades eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in a season.

He made one Pro Bowl (1989) when he had 77 catches for 1,063 yards. Blades had back-to-back 1,000-plus receiving seasons in 1994 and 1995 and had 80 or more receptions in back-to-back years in 1993 and 1994.

The problem for Blades, even though he led the team in receiving yards five times, was that he played mostly with not-good quarterbacks. For instance, in 1992 the quarterback who led Seattle in passing yards was someone named Stan Gelbaugh and Gelbaugh threw for only 1,307 yards that year. If Blades had played with Russell Wilson, he would have likely made multiple Pro Bowls.

Blades is currently second in Seattle history with 7,620 yards receiving and second in passes caught with 581.