Every team needs guys who don’t always get the glory but still might be the glue to a successful season. The Seattle Seahawks have three guys just like that.
The great thing about the three players that follow is that a lot of their production is not noticed but if they were to miss time their absences would definitely be felt.
The Seahawks do still have superstars in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and others (though they will not have Russell Wilson or Bobby Wagner in 2022) but there aren’t really supporting roles in the NFL. A player either does his job well or something bad will happen. The three players on this list do their jobs well.
These three Seahawks need more respect
Seahawks safety Ryan Neal
Neal isn’t a starter on defense. That is, he isn’t expected to be one. That said, in each of the last two years, he has stepped in for an injured Jamal Adams and finished seasons as a starter. And let’s be real, there wasn’t much of a dropoff between Adams and Neal.
In 2021, Neal started five games, had 3 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback hits (3 more than Adams had) and a sack (1 more than Adams). In 2020, Neal started four games and a QBR-against of 72.1 (which is good).
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Neal have to fill in as a starter again at times in 2022 and he will be good if he does start. He needs to be extended next offseason for a few years. Neal is just 26 years old.
Seahawks special teams captain Nick Bellore
I think Nick Bellore could probably do whatever the Seahawks ask him to do and do it well. Need a fullback who plays sparingly but then comes in and destroys a defensive player? Done. Need him to be a linebacker in the preseason to see if he can actually play the position? Not only can Bellore do it but he can come close to leading the team in tackles while covering tons of ground.
But Bellore specializes in two things that don’t really get much attention. Yet, both are extremely important and part of the glue that makes a mediocre team a playoff-caliber one.
The first is Bellore is a special teams beast. In fact, he made the Pro Bowl in 2020 for special teams. He can eat up blocks that free other players. Or if he gets free, he can provide bone-crushing tackles. Bellore was in on 14 tackles in 2020. He made 15 in 2021 and forced a fumble.
I mean, what other NFL player goes from playing 692 snaps – 67 percent of the defensive snaps – for the 49ers in 2016 to 118 offensive snaps for the Lions in 2018 as a fullback to making the Pro Bowl in 2020 as a special teamer for the Seahawks? Bellore is a jack of all trades and a master of many of them.
The second thing Bellore specializes in is being a leader of the team. He was a special teams captain last year, and likely will be again in 2022. And he is really good at keeping other players laughing. If you haven’t seen his “Between Two Bellores” series on Seahawks.com, you definitely should.
Seahawks middle of the defense: Poona Ford
Who is talking about Poona? And I mean this outside of Seattle or 12s who live elsewhere. And yeah, sure. The Seahawks respect Ford because they are paying him a lot of money. But is Ford going to Pro Bowls? No. Is he getting All-Pro votes? No.
And why? Because most followers of the NFL, and even people who write about the NFL, care about raw statistics, like sacks. Ford isn’t going to put up a lot of sacks and tackles for loss. But he does the job assigned to him exceptionally well on most plays and every once in a while adds a boost to the pass rush.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ford was the 19th-highest-graded interior defender in 2022. Ford was 15th-best against the run and in the mid-20s against the pass. It isn’t like Ford can only do one thing: Stop the run. And Ford has been consistently good since he came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
At Texas, Ford was the Big-12 Defensive Lineman of the Year his senior year. He was great but he was too short for NFL teams’ liking. But teams overlooked the fact that Ford doesn’t get hurt (he has started every game the last two years) and can bull rush his way with great strength. His low center of gravity only helps him.
While Ford has only had 2 sacks in each of the past two years, he did have 9 quarterback hits in 2020 and 6 in 2021 so he can get pressure. But what Ford needs also is to get the due respect from the league that he is one of the best noseguards in the NFL.