The Seattle Seahawks seek to repeat as Super Bowl champions as the 2026 NFL Offseason rolls on, and with training camps ramping up across the league, Seattle is closing in on the official beginning of their title defense.
One thing that stems from a team being so good is the player recognition. While certain players not being named a Pro Bowler or All-Pro is far from the end of the world, it's certainly a good feeling for the player and the fans when someone does get that sort of recognition.
The Seahawks have won 24 regular season games over the past two seasons and were tied for the best record in the league this past season. If this keeps up, there will surely be some new faces emerging, perhaps even making the Pro Bowl for the first time.
4 Seattle Seahawks players primed to make their first Pro Bowl in 2026
AJ Barner
Pro Football Focus (subscription required) was very high on tight end AJ Barner in 2025, as he came in as their 11th-best tight end with an overall grade of 74.4. A whopping 37 tight ends were qualified for PFF's grade.
According to Pro Football Reference, Barner had a 114.8 passer rating when targeted, hauling in 52 receptions for 529 yards and six touchdowns, blowing away his rookie season production.
Only recently turning 24 years old, the former fourth-round pick is honestly right on track in his development. It typically takes tight ends a few years to fully develop, as they typically need to develop as blockers and receivers to hit their ceiling. Not only is Barner a good blocker, but his receiving production really took off in 2025.
Now in year three, the momentum is absolutely carrying into the 2026 season. Barner is trending in the right direction for a year three breakout and could make himself more of a household name at the position, especially if his receiving production continues to tick up, as, if you look across the NFL, tight ends with notable receiving production tend to get more attention than the true blockers.
Barner can do both and could make his first Pro Bowl in 2026.
Grey Zabel
Back when ESPN rolled out their top-10 position rankings, Grey Zabel made an appearance as an 'Honorable Mention' for guards: Grey Zabel, G, Seattle Seahawks: "He played his a**off as a rookie. He's going to be a Pro Bowler for [the Seahawks]. Excellent." -- NFC executive.
I mean, can you get any more blunt than that? Zabel is far from a finished product, but any time a rookie comes in and starts all 17 games and holds their own, the future is typically bright. There is also a natural progression that tends to occur for many players. The Seahawks are clearly well-coached and don't have anything that would get in the way of Zabel not breaking out further.
He's entrenched as a starter and now has 20 NFL games under his belt to build in for year two.
Charles Cross
Charles Cross came in at No. 16 in PFF's tackle rankings just recently. Cross has been quite steady for his entire career and is quite the pass blocker. At some point, this consistency should get him recognized, right?
Much of this would also hinge on whether the offensive line takes a step forward, and with the starting five trending in the direction of all retaining their starting spots, year two of this Super Bowl window could lead to Cross playing the best season of his career.
The one thing that works against offensive linemen, though, is that they aren't stats players - they don't fill up the stat sheet with gaudy numbers, so it's sometimes hard for them to garner national attention.
With that said, Cross has done his job at a high level for years, so 2026 could simply be the year where his name carries more weight.
Ernest Jones IV
Ernest Jones IV was a second-team All-Pro in 2025 and finished with five interceptions, 126 total tackles, a half-sack, and four tackles for loss. Jones was simply excellent and is right in the heart of Mike Macdonald's defense.
He also played quite well for the Seahawks in his 10 games with the team back in 2024, so perhaps 2026 is another year of high-end production. Jones is surely the most comfortable he's been in the defense now that he's in year three, and with Seattle having many of the same key players around him, Jones could continue to post stellar campaigns.
The second-team All-Pro was a great start, as that at least gets his name on the map some. There also isn't anything to prevent Jones from having another stellar season. Seattle definitely embraced a 'run it back' mentality on both sides of the ball, clearly displaying confidence that their guys will again be able to get the job done.
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