4 Seahawks players who could be nice surprises in 2024

The Seattle Seahawks have made monumental changes this offseason. The team has nearly completely changed their coaching staff, and the roster will look very different too. Whether a change needed to be made or not, not seeing head coach Pete Carroll on the sidelines will be weird.

But the change will hopefully be for the good. NFC West rivals will not be so used to Seattle's tendencies that they can assume what the team will do next in any given situation. Seattle's defense should look much different as well so that teams cannot simply dump a pass over the middle for an easy first down.

The Seahawks also, of course, have coordinator changes. The offense will be run by Ryan Grubb. The defense will mostly belong to head coach Mike Macdonald. Due to these changes, some players might turn out career years. Four of those possibilities follow.

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrel Dodson could be a great surprise

While Dodson was graded as the best linebacker in the NFL in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), this does not mean he can repeat his excellent performance again in 2024 and with a new team. For example, Ryan Neal was the highest-graded safety a couple of years ago when he was with Seattle but Neal was terrible with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past season, including allowing a passer rating when targeted of 158.3.

Still, Dodson might have been as good as he was for the Buffalo Bills last season because he finally got a chance to show what he was capable of. Prior to 2023, Dodson had only started five games total, but due to injuries to other Bills linebackers, Dodson started 10 in 2023. He was versatile in that he could pressure opposing quarterbacks, was excellent against the run, and missed just 8.6 percent of his tackle attempts.

He could be even better under Mike Macdonald who knows how to create linebackers who excel in coverage and get his players in the best situations to succeed. Dodson will also be trusted with being the green dot on the Seahawks' defense which means he will be the person Macdonald communicates the defensive play calls. He could be a Pro Bowler next season.