ESPN's future power rankings has the Seahawks stuck in sadness

How good will the Seattle Seahawks be in three seasons? That is fairly impossible to say, right? ESPN believes it has a great idea of where Seattle will be in three years and if the four-letter network is correct then Seattle will stay right where they were in 2023.

To be fair, ESPN does not think that Seattle will be bad. In a recent future power rankings article, they have Seattle at 16. That is right in the middle of the league. The problem is that the San Francisco 49ers (7) and Los Angeles Rams (12) are ranked higher. This would mean Seattle keeps finishing third in the NFC West, just as the team did in 2023.

At least the Seahawks aren't the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona is 28. Ouch.

Seattle Seahawks might be stuck according to ESPN's future power rakings

There are reasons for hope for 12s, though. The rankings are based on four criteria. One is each team's overall roster minus the quarterback, next is the quarterback situation, then the coaching staff, followed by the front office. With Seattle, the coaching staff is almost entirely new so maybe Mike Macdonald and his friends turn out to be really good.

If so, Seattle would easily exceed national expectations. 12s are going to have higher hopes for Macdonald.

ESPN also doesn't trash Seattle's quarterback situation, though maybe the site could have. Geno Smith gets some credit for being an "effective starting quarterback" because he has been. The issue is that Smith likely won't be the quarterback in three seasons because he will be 36 years old in 2026. Seattle will probably have found a younger quarterback by then.

ESPN is most concerned about the unknown of Mike Macdonald being a head coach and Ryan Grubb being new to the NFL. Fair enough about Macdonald. He should help the defense improve quickly as Seattle has talent on that side of the ball and the head coach will get the most out of almost every player. He has proven he can do as a defensive coordinator.

Grubb should be less of a concern and his scheme should translate well to the NFL. He ran a pro-set at the University of Washington. Xs and Os are not overly different from one level to the next unless a coach is running the T-wing offense or something. Grubb will have to tweak a few things, sure, but every coach has to do that.

The Seahawks can easily prove ESPN wrong. At least the four-letter network did not trash the team. Being ranked 16 isn't bad except that the NFC West has a couple of other really good franchises.

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