These three Seahawks will have the biggest impact on a Week 1 win

Seahawks edge rusher Darrell Taylor

The Seahawks know what Russell Wilson can do. And can’t do. That doesn’t mean that Seattle has the talent to exploit Wilson’s weaknesses, however. Denver has a new coaching staff that is offensive-minded and should be able to put Wilson in positions to succeed. The Broncos also have good receivers capable of beating even the best defensive backs.

But the most obvious way of beating a good quarterback who holds on to the ball a bit too long is to make him pay for that mistake. Lots of other teams over the past few seasons have done that to Wilson when he was the QB of the Seahawks and Seattle needs to do that against Wilson in Week 1. Darrell Taylor is a huge key to Seattle’s pass rush.

It’s weird to think Taylor is entering what is really just his second season but he is. He was drafted in 2020 but missed the year. This means 2021 was for all intents and purposes his rookie year and Taylor hopefully learned a lot. He was very productive early in the season with 4 sacks in his first five games. After that, however? Just 2.5 sacks in 11 games.

Taylor has loads of talent and enough to be a 10-sack player. He could get there in 2022. Boye Mafe is capable of being good too but he is a rookie. Uchenna Nwosu has been a solid edge rusher in the NFL for four years but not spectacular. For the next two years, at least, the Seahawks are going to rely on Taylor to be the key to the pass rush. If he can be great against the Broncos in Week 1, Seattle has a very good chance to win the game.