The Seattle Seahawks are 8-7 and while this record is good enough to currently get in the playoffs, the season has not been that much better than 2022. Many 12s wanted and hoped the team would be much better than last season. The team has been held back some by a few poor offseason signings, such as defensive lineman Dre'Mont Jones not panning as well as general manager John Schneider hoped he would.
Seattle has also had a number of injuries along the offensive line. Losing edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu in Week 7 hurt as well. But most of the Seahawks' issues have been inconsistent play.
All that said, there have been a number of first-year Seahawks who have performed well. This includes a mix of rookies and veterans signed or traded for. The best five newcomers might be the ones that follow.
Best Seattle Seahawks newcomer No. 1 - Cornerback Devon Witherspoon
Some 12s still believe the team should have taken defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Carter has been very good for the Philadelphia Eagles in his rookie year. But Seattle did not make a mistake in choosing Witherspoon. He has been a versatile corner who excels at every facet of the game. While the rookie is graded one spot behind the New York Jets' Sauce Gardner in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus, Witherspoon grades better in every area except coverage compared to Gardner.
Witherspoon is graded as the fourth-best corner in the league this year (Carter, meanwhile, is graded as the sixth-best interior defender) and has been in on 65 tackles, has a 97-yard interception return, 3 sacks, and a Seahawks-leading 16 passes defended. That last number is fourth in the NFL. He also just turned 23 years old so he should be very good for a very long time with Seattle.
Witherspoon is also an excellent and physical tackler. While the Seahawks secondary has had issues in that area this year, that is not due to poor play by Witherspoon. He has also missed the last two games with a hip injury, but he is expected to be back possibly as soon as Week 17.
No. 2 - Defensive lineman Leonard Williams
Since being traded to Seattle ahead of Week 9, Williams has been freakishly good for the Seahawks. He is a free agent after this season and is a must for Seattle to re-sign at this point. In six of eight games for Seattle, Williams has multiple hurries and has 25 total pressures in the eight games. He also has 3 sacks and hasn't missed a tackle attempt since Week 10. He is going to be expensive to re-sign but that is only because he is really good and young enough - Williams is 29 years old - to be productive for several more seasons.
Plus, surely Seattle did not trade for Williams simply thinking he would be a half-season rental. Williams is one of the better defensive lineman in the league. Seattle needs to make him an offer this coming offseason that proves they know that.
No. 3 - Defensive lineman Mario Edwards, Jr.
Edwards might not be back with Seattle in 2024 after he signed a one-year deal this past offseason. But he needs to be. Like Williams, Edwards is also 29 years old, and has bounced around the league a bunch, but uses his veteran experience and veteran know-how to be productive. He was also signed to be a run-stopper but has shown to be a better pass rusher than expected.
In 2023, Edwards has 13 run stuffs plus 22 total pressures. While he has fewer quarterback hits (6) compared to what he had in 2022 with the Tennessee Titans (11), his number of QB hits is about where his career average is. He also has a career second-best of 5 tackles for loss. Edward was not expensive to sign this offseason (less than $2 million) and should be brought back in 2024.
No. 4 - Safety Julian Love
Julian Love has come alive over the last month of the season. Does this correlate to Jamal Adams missing some time? Yes. Is this a coincidence? Unlikely. Adams seemed to be gumming up the defensive works by blitzing when he shouldn't blitz and not having great communication deep in the secondary. Love appears to have fixed those issues as he has gotten more playing time with Adams out.
JULIAN LOVE LAYING THE BOOM pic.twitter.com/HVOakaCg3m
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) December 24, 2023
In fact, Love is graded by PFF as the 18th-best safety in the league this year. The next-closest Seattle safety is Adams at number 82. The Seahawks safeties have been a mess this year except for Love and Love not getting more playing time earlier in the season should be an indictment on defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, not Love. In the last three games, Love has a pass broken up and 3 interceptions and has pounded opposing would-be ball carriers in tackles. Let's just hope Adams stays out for the rest of the year.
No. 5 - Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba
It took the Seahawks' other first-round draft pick a while to start getting more productive. This could be due to JSN suffering a broken wrist in the preseason and taking a few weeks to get better. Or it could be that rookie receivers almost always have issues acclimating to the speed of NFL corners. Seattle has also started using JSN less in the slot and more out wide and that has increased his production as well.
In the first four games of 2023, Smith-Njigba lined up in the slot 81 percent of the time. He has only reached more than 80 percent in one game since and in the last four games has been in the slot only 58.5 percent of the time. JSN has also had his best four-game stretch in that time with 21 catches on 29 targets for 196 yards and a game-winning touchdown catch in Week 15. He is going to be a star beginning in 2024.