3 overhyped Seattle Seahawks players fans need to pump the brakes on in 2023

The Seattle Seahawks will hopefully take another jump forward in 2023 from being mediocre to getting closer to being a Super Bowl-contending team. If that happens, it's because many of the players we expected to be good heading into the season were good. And some players likely exceeded expectations.

But just like the Seahawks baseball brethren in Seattle, the Mariners, we can see how a fairly young roster doesn't meet high expectations based on the previous season's success. Young guys sometimes have trouble duplicating what they did in a previous year because opposing teams are adjusting to them.

Of course, let's hope that doesn't happen with the Seahawks in 2023, but we also shouldn't assume they are going to be better this year. We also shouldn't assume the players we think are good will be productive. The three that follow I hope are great, but each comes with some reasons to press the breaks on high expectations.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba - Seahawks wide receiver

I think that Smith-Njigba is going to be an excellent receiver for the Seahawks, but I am just not sure if that happens right away. It is difficult for rookie receivers to come into the NFL and be high-level impactful. While Smith-Njigba has great hands and excellent quickness, it likely will still take him some time to adjust to simply how fast and how physical NFL cornerbacks are, even ones who cover slot receivers.

Smith-Njigba does have several things going for him, of course. He won't be expected to be the alpha in Seattle for quite some time, if ever. He is clearly WR3 currently and he will see a bunch of one on one coverage and this should allow him to shake free often enough. But expecting him to come in year one and get 800 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns might be a bit too high.

His targets will be more limited because he plays with Metcalf and Lockett. He's having to learn a completely new offensive system, of course, and once real games start he will see a jump in energy from his competition as they won't be wearing a Seahawks jersey, like in training camp. Heck, even preseason isn't a true barometer for how physical an opposing CB will be once the real games start. Smith-Njigba is going to fix Seattle's WR3 issue, but it just might not happen right away.