Seattle Seahawks news: PFF and ESPN power rank the 2023 roster

Power rankings are basically meaningless for NFL teams in May, right? Yet here I am writing about where the Seattle Seahawks sit currently among all NFL teams. Seattle exceeded expectations in 2022 and made the playoffs, and the team should be even better in 2023. 14 teams in the NFL make the playoffs, so as long as Seattle is in the top 14 all should be well, one would think.

Well, we are lucky to be 12s then. According to both the ESPN and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) power rankings, Seattle is the 11th-best team in the NFL currently. This should mean on paper the team is good enough to make the postseason again in 2023. Of course, games are played on paper because if they were that would just be weird.

PFF still has concerns about Geno Smith, however, and implies Smith might be a big reason for failing to make the playoffs this coming season. This is based on Smith’s second-half performance of last season where he fumbled a bit more and threw more interceptions. PFF says it might be a “challenge” for Smith to “outlier-level” performance with deep passes from last year.

Seattle Seahawks in good shape for 2023 season

Here’s the thing, though. We don’t know that Smith can’t not only repeat his play of last season, but he could also be even better. Smith was finally given a chance to be QB1 – at least for the first time in eight seasons – and while he was very smooth running the offense, he could be smoother with a year of full-time experience in Shane Waldron’s system.

ESPN is more positive than PFF, even though both sites have the Seahawks at number 11. ESPN thinks a big reason Seattle will be good this season is because of the defense, especially the additions in the secondary. Julian Love will be better than Ryan Neal, per ESPN, and Devon Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen could be a special tandem at cornerback.

Either way, 2023 is shaping up to be a season of hope 12s. The Seahawks should at least be good enough to make a run at the playoffs. There is also a possibility Seattle is good enough to make a deep run once in the postseason.