Seahawks most underrated player per PFF is ironically not surprising

What constitutes a player being underrated? Does the player outperform his contract and is not given the financial respect he deserves? Or is it more a matter of the player continually producing but no one talks about him? If so, who would be the Seattle Seahawks' most underrated player? Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has an idea.

One could argue that besides who PFF mentions the most underrated Seahawk is punter Michael Dickson. He seems to be near the top of his position group every year and keeps the other team pinned inside the 20-yard line. It's not Dickson's fault that the defense has not been able to keep opponents from marching down the field.

Pro Football Focus believes Seattle's most underrated player is edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, though. That is fair. The defense clearly was not the same after Nwosu was injured in Week 7 of the 2023 season. Seattle's pass rush was inconsistent even with Nwosu, but their run defense struggled immensely.

Pro Football Focus believes Uchenna Nwosu is Seahawks most underrated player

Nwosu knows how to set a hard edge against the run. After he was lost for the season due to a torn pec, many of his snaps went to Darrell Taylor. Taylor is either incapable or unwilling to set an edge against the run. From Week 7 on, Seattle's defense ranked last in the league in yards allowed per game. Maybe the team was not great against the run with Nwosu, but they certainly were not as bad with him as the defense was without him.

Nwosu also has the kind of well-rounded game that new head coach Mike Macdonald is going to be able to get the most from. The edge rusher was good, if not spectacular, under former head coach Pete Carroll and former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, but Macdonald is going to find ways to put Nwosu in the best situations to succeed. Nwosu might be able to set several career highs in 2024.

The weird part is that Nwosu did have 9.5 sacks in 2022, his first season in Seattle, as well as 26 quarterback hits. His loss early in 2023 was not talked enough about by many Seahawks fans. He was on pace for 6 sacks last year plus 11 tackles for loss. He also was on pace for a ridiculous 6 forced fumbles. Seattle had no way to replace that kind of production.

Nwosu could get to 12 sacks, 40 quarterback hits, and 18 tackles for loss in 2024. That might not be good enough to get him into the Pro Bowl, but that is enough to get him talked about a bit more. Maybe then, he won't be underrated anymore.

Read more from 12th Man Rising