The Seattle Seahawks have gotten younger and more talented over the last couple of seasons. It's kind of easy to forget just how recently Seattle had an aging roster with veterans who seemed to be losing faith in the overall philosophy of the team. Head coach Pete Carroll has always been great with young players and the last two versions of the team, 2023 included, should be able to learn and grow from what Carroll teaches.
Carroll led a team in 2022 that was really a restart but national pundits thought as much before the season. The team would be awful, some thought. Without Russell Wilson, the team might only win 5 games, some said.
Instead, the Seahawks won 9 games, made the postseason, and have a lot of momentum heading into 2023 because of 2022. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson struggled and his new team, the Denver Broncos, struggled even more. The Seahawks partly benefitted from this and should be better this season because Seattle traded Wilson away. But some veterans, like the three that follow, might lose their jobs because of the young talent Seattle has acquired.
No. 1: Seattle Seahawks center Evan Brown
OK, cheated just a bit with this one. But before there is too much arguing about Brown not being a "Seahawks" veteran, I will say he is an experienced center and was signed this offseason to help Seattle fix a problem they have had at center for a few years now. Brown probably thought he could leave the Detroit Lions and come to Seattle on a one-year deal, make his mark, and be a long-term starter.
He might be worthy of being a long-term starter somewhere, but there is also a real chance he never starts a game for the Seahawks. Seattle stole Olu Oluwatimi in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft. Oluwatimi was a highly-decorated center in college and has the size and smarts to be a very good NFL center. In fact, he could start right away, and this makes Brown very expendable.
No. 2: Seattle Seahawks right guard Phil Haynes
Haynes is in the same boat as Evan Brown. Seattle has simply drafted so extremely well that veterans should fear for their jobs. The question is should Seattle start two rookies along their offensive line while pairing them with two second-year guys? Why not? If the players are good enough to start then they should start and form the nucleus of the offensive line for the next 4-5 years.
Haynes' issue wasn't that he wasn't decent in 2022 because he was, but the Seahawks chose Anthony Bradford in the fourth round of 2023 and Bradford, like Olu Oluwatimi, has the size and ability to play straight off. Bradford could be one starting guard while fellow LSU alum Damien Lewis holds down the left guard spot. Both Lewis and Bradford seem tenacious and take offense to any defender trying to get past them.
Haynes was promising coming out of college in 2019 but he couldn't stay healthy through his first three seasons so the Seahawks have a right to wonder if Haynes could actually stay healthy moving forward if he were given the chance to start beginning in 2023. Haynes is big enough and strong enough to start, but if he can't stay healthy then a young offensive line trying to build cohesion might break down. Bradford might be the safer choice for Seattle, even if Bradford is only a rookie.
Hopefully, the Seahawks will not rotate the right guard spot this coming season. They did that in 2022 and worked OK because Haynes and his fellow right guard, Gabe Jackson, were both experienced. That type of rotation might not work as well with Haynes and a rookie. So, whoever wins the battle between Haynes and Bradford in training camp and preseason is likely going to be the long-term starter in Seattle.
No. 3: Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Darrell Taylor
On paper, Darrell Taylor only started a handful of games for the Seahawks in 2022, but we all know that Taylor was supposed to be one of Seattle's two main edge rushers along with Uchenna Nwosu. Nwosu was very good and more consistent than Taylor last year. Both Nwosu and Taylor had 9.5 sacks, but Taylor had 6.5 of his sacks from Week 13 on. Before that, he was not overly productive.
Taylor isn't a bad player at all. He does produce numbers overall, but one has to do more of a deep dive into when the sacks and quarterback hits come than look at the raw yearly number. In weeks 1 through 5 of his rookie season, Taylor had 4 sacks. This means in 11 games of his two seasons played (the last six of 2022 and the first five of 2021), Taylor has 10.5 sacks. In his other 21 games, Taylor has just 5.5 sacks.
In 2022, Seattle chose edge rusher Boye Mafe. Mafe did OK in his rookie year but didn't really state his case for being an impact starter moving forward. It's easy to forget Mafe was picked one spot ahead of running back Ken Walker in the second round. Walker was great but Mafe just decent.
But in 2023, the Seahawks took Derick Hall at pick 37 in the second round. Hall had a first-round grade on many draft boards. And it isn't Mafe that Taylor needs to outplay in training camp, but Hall. Hall is bigger than Taylor and might be just as fast and if he can show he can be even more productive, Hall might just replace Taylor in Seattle's pass rush rotation.