SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

No team stands to lose more this season from the Los Angeles Rams’ acquisition of Matthew Stafford than the Seattle Seahawks, who claimed the NFC West title last year thanks to Jared Goff’s struggles only to be exited in the Wild Card round of the playoffs by those same Rams and Goff, who (frankly) had one of his best games of the year with a broken thumb.

There was plenty of drama early in the offfseason for Seattle as All-Universe quarterback Russell Wilson and his team floated the idea that he might want to be traded instead of taking another beating behind their patchwork offensive line. Unlike what’s happened in Houston and in Green Bay, the Seahawks and Wilson seemed to have buried the hatchet, even though they did little to upgrade their offensive front.

Seattle is a team, like all the others with franchise QBs, that will be a contender as long as Wilson is healthy. For squads like the Seahawks, the playoffs are an afterthought. They want to get through them and claim another ring.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Last season: 12-4, 1^st place, NFC West

2021 odds: over 9.5 wins -155, under 9.5 wins +125

2021 NFL Draft: D’Wayne Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan – Round 2, Tre Brown, CB, Oklahoma – Round 4, Stone Forsythe, OT, Florida – Round 6

UDFAs: Aashari Crosswell, Safety – Arizona State, Jake Curhan, OT – California, Greg Eiland, OT – Mississippi State, B.J. Emmons, RB – Florida Atlantic, Jarrod Hewitt, DT – Virginia Tech, Jared Hocker, OG – Texas A&M, Cade Johnson, WR – South Dakota State, Josh Johnson, RB – Louisiana-Monroe, Pier-Olivier Lestage, OG – Montreal, Bryan Mills, CB – North Carolina Central, Jon Rhattigan, LB – Army, Tamorrion Terry, WR – Florida State, Connor Wedington, WR – Stanford

Acquisitions: Al Woods, DL – Free Agent, Gabe Jackson, RG – Free Agent, Aldon Smith, Edge – Free Agent, Gerald Everett, TE – Free Agent, Kerry Hyder, Edge – Free Agent, Ahkello Withersppon, CB – Free Agent, Salvion Smith, CB – Free Agent

Key Losses: Jarran Reed – DL, K.J. Wright – LB, Greg Olsen – TE, Bruce Irvin – LB, Quinton Dunbar – CB, Jacob Hollister – TE, Carols Hyde – RB, Mike Iupati – LG, Luke Wilson – TE, Branden Jackson – Edge, Phillip Dorsett – WR, Chance Warmack – LG, Jonathan Bullard – DL, Damontre Moore – Edge, David Moore – WR, Shaquill Griffin – CB, Chad Wheeler – RT, Lineden Stephens – CB, Stephen Sullivan – TE

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Russell Wilson

RB: Chris Carson

WR: D.K. Metcalf

WR: Tyler Lockett

WR: Freddie Swain

TE: Gerald Everett

FB: Nick Bellore

LT: Duane Brown

LG: Damien Lewis

C: Ethan Pocic

RG: Gabe Jackson

RT: Brandon Shell

LDE: Carlos Dunlap II

LDT: Poona Ford

RDT: Bryan Mone

RDE: Kerry Hyder Jr.

OLB: Jordyn Brooks

MLB: Bobby Wagner

OLB: Ben Burr-Kirven

CB: Ahkello Witherspoon

CB: D.J. Reed

SS: Jamal Adams

FS: Quandre Diggs

K: Jason Myers

P: Michael Dickson

FORECAST

While the Seahawks did very little in the offseason to improve, their NFC West counterparts have all worked trades, free agency and the draft to get much better. The fact that the San Francisco 49ers could open the season healthy alone is a huge problem for a Seattle team that has match up issues with every one of its divisional counterparts.

The schedule is tough, with a 17^th game draw of the Tennessee Titans to make it worse in the season’s second week. There’s a good chance the Seahawks could ride with a sub .500 record until the middle/second half of the season when they get a nice series of cupcakes to boost their postseason push.

Final Record Prediction: 11-6, NFC Wild Card

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