The 2023 season has looked a lot like the 2022 version for the Seattle Seahawks. This might be OK, though. The team made the playoffs last year.
Seattle still has two games left to make the postseason push, but no matter if the team wins or loses, 12s are still fans, right? Next year at this same time we will be watching closely what Seattle is doing. Likely the year after that and the year after that and so on.
But what has Seattle given 12s this year? Stress, joy, sadness, exhaustion, of course. Everything that comes with being a fan. Plus, the following three gifts.
Gift No. 1 - Drafting Devon Witherspoon
I realize Devon Witherspoon has been injured recently, but over the course of the season, he has proven that Seattle taking him at pick number 5 in the 2023 NFL Draft is going to be a brilliant move. He adds the kind of versatility few teams have in a cornerback. Witherspoon excels in nearly every stage of the game from tackling, to coverage, to knowing how to attack opposing quarterbacks on blitzes.
Through Week 15, a week after Witherspoon hurt his ribs against the San Francisco 49ers, Witherspoon was the fifth-highest-graded cornerback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He was second in terms of pass rush and 10th in terms of run defense. This is partly because Witherspoon had 9 total pressures, including 3 sacks, as well as lining up in the slot on half his snaps because Seattle knows he can crunch the opponent's offensive line even on runs.
The great thing is Witherspoon could only get better. Rookies sometimes take a little bit of time to acclimate to the NFL, though admittedly it may have taken Witherspoon all of a week. Seattle should find even more inventive ways to use him in 2024 and beyond. Because he was a first-round choice, Seattle will have a fifth-year option on the corner in 2027. 12s should get used to Witherspoon being a Seahawk for the foreseeable future and that is a very good thing.
Gift No. 2 - Bringing back Bobby Wagner
Let's be real. In 2022 when Bobby Wagner was released by the the Seahawks, the organization did him wrong. He found out he had been released from a message, not from the team. At least general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll eventually admitted to their mess up. But Wagner was a future Hall of Famer before he initially left Seattle to sign with the Rams, and he is still playing like a Hall of Famer after the Seahawks re-signed him in 2023.
Does Bobby Wagner have issues in coverage? Sure. He always has had. But his deficiencies in that area might partly be to blame on the scheme as well. The reason I say that is that Wagner isn't the only linebacker with coverage concerns; they all do. Maybe the coaching telling Wagner to go back 8 yards and just stand there until the ball is thrown is the problem because that is what looks like happening with Wagner and fellow linebacker Jordyn Brooks.
But I digress. While Wagner might be iffy in coverage, he excels at everything else. Wagner is the second-highest-graded linebacker in terms of run defense this year, per PFF. He has missed only 4 of his 79 tackle attempts on runs. He also has a 10.6 percent stuff rate on runs, among the best in the league.
Who knows how much longer Bobby Wagner will be playing? While he is still performing at a high level, he is in his 12th year in the league. He is also signed through only this season with Seattle. Surely, the Seahawks would not let him leave again and play elsewhere. The hope is that he re-signs in Seattle for 2024 and eventually finishes his career in a Seahawks uniform.
Gift No. 3 - Drafting Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Like Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was taken in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Smith-Njigba got off to a bit of a slower start than Witherspoon, however. This might have been due to him breaking his wrist in a preseason game, missing some time, and not being fully recovered when he did return. Plus, rookie receivers almost always have a tough time getting used to the speed of the NFL.
JSN also seemed a bit ill-used early in the season. The team seemed to think he was some kind of second coming of receiver Dee Eskridge and that would not be good for anyone. Smith-Njigba was used on shorter passes and while the team sent DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett into the middle-deep, JSN was more of a check down receiver.
But as the season has grown on we have seen JSN get more used to the design of the offense and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron call his number at important moments. This was extremely true in Week 15 when Seattle absolutely had to have a touchdown to keep its season alive and when quarterback Drew Lock saw JSN in single-coverage to Lock's right, that was where the ball was going. The result was a game-winning touchdown.
Smith-Njigba's statistics aren't insane this year. He catches most everything thrown his way as his catch rate is 67.1 percent. By 2024, JSN might be the number 2 option for whoever Seattle's quarterback is, however. He should get close to 1,000 yards next year, if healthy, and like Witherspoon, Seattle will have a fifth-year option on JSN for 2027.