Seahawks shockingly fall in ESPN's power rankings after offseason upgrades

Forget what you think you know, 12s. The Seattle Seahawks are not better in 2024 than they were in 2023, at least according to ESPN. In fact, Seattle is worse. While Seattle got so close to making the playoffs once again in 2023, they will be further away this coming season. Again, if one believes ESPN.

Obviously, what Seattle did in the draft did not greatly impress the four-letter network either. In a pre-draft power ranking, Seattle ranked 20. After the draft, they fell. Of course, ESPN does not really give a reason for the Seahawks' fall, and in their small write-up about the team in the latest power ranking, ESPN is relatively praising Seattle.

If Seattle is correct, Seattle will finish third again in the NFC West as well. The San Francisco 49ers are ranked second and the Los Angeles Rams are 14. The Arizona Cardinals are 29.

Seattle Seahawks get a dose of disrespect from ESPN

The issue with what ESPN has put together is that Seattle should have a better defense this year since they hired Mike Macdonald (plus drafting Byron Murphy II in the first round), and the offensive skill positions, which were already good, remained the same. Plus, new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will probably move the ball around a bit more and get the most out of underused players such as Noah Fant and Kenneth Walker III.

There are a number of questionable decisions by ESPN as well. One is why would the Atlanta Falcons be ranked higher than Seattle at this point? Sure, the Falcons added Kirk Cousins at quarterback and have a decent number of offensive weapons, but they have collectively proven to do nothing. Atlanta should not be considered better than Seattle simply on a hunch.

The Chicago Bears drafted a quarterback, Caleb Williams, and a wide receiver, Washington's Rome Odunze, in the first ten picks of the draft, and even though they will be rookies and rookies many times struggle in the first season, especially for the Bears, ESPN has Chicago ranked higher than Seattle as well. The Bears are 16. What?

The good part is that the Seahawks will have a chance to prove how good they really are beginning in September. They also get a chance to play the Bears so the Seahawks can settle the debate of who is better in a real game as well. Mostly, though, Seattle can use the disrespect from ESPN as even more inspiration to show they are better.

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