With the Seahawks’ training camp set to begin Wednesday at 1 p.m., our annual pre-camp ranking of the team’s roster concludes as we count down the top 10 players.
Unsurprisingly, these are the players on whom the success or failure of the Seahawks’ 2024 season – the first for coach Mike Macdonald – most depends.
Let’s go.
10. Running back Kenneth Walker III
Potential role in 2024: Start running backwards.
Why it is ranked here: Granted, Walker saw his stats drop in 2023 compared to 2022, including 4.1 yards per carry compared to 4.6 as a rookie. That mostly seems to be the result of a battered and shifting offensive line. He wasn’t quite the big-play machine he was the year before, which impacted his stats. His longest run in 2023 was 45 yards after having three of 60 or more in 2022. He’s entering his third season and doesn’t turn 24 until October. If he gets adequate help up front, there’s no reason to think Walker can’t have the best season of his career — and raise the question of what to do with his contract.
9. Left tackle Charles Cross
Potential role in 2024: Starting left tackle.
Why it is ranked here: Cross is on our list in the same spot he was drafted in 2022. This is the year the Seahawks hope he truly lives up to the lofty expectations that came with that draft spot. There is a perception that Cross didn’t play as well last season, perhaps because he simply wasn’t on the field as often, missing three games and most of another with a foot injury. Based on Pro Football Focus’s ratings, Cross was a better prospect in 2023 than he was in 2022, ranked No. 38th on 81 tackles against 54th 81 in 2022, and with a better pass-blocking grade. After a tough game in Baltimore where he gave up two sacks, he has only given up three in the last nine games. The Seahawks need him to take the next step this year.
8. Defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones
Potential role in 2024: Starting defensive end.
Why it is ranked here: Jones hasn’t had the season many expected when he signed a three-year, $51 million-plus contract as a free agent in March 2023 — the largest the Seahawks have ever given to an outside free agent. After playing more on the outside last year following Uchenna Nwosu’s season-ending injury, he could be used more on the edge this year as the Seahawks hope he can improve on his 2023 sack total of 4.5. Jones has no guaranteed money on his contract in 2025 and a salary cap hit that’s rising from $10.7 million to $25.6 million. So this could be a make-or-break season for Jones in Seattle.
7. Security Julian Love
Potential role in 2024: Free start in complete safety.
Why it is ranked here: The decisions to release Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs not only saved the Seahawks a ton of money, but also showed their confidence in Love’s ability to lead the defensive secondary. Love showed a knack for big plays with a team-best four interceptions and 10 pass deflections, more than Diggs (five) and Adams (two) combined.
6. Outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu
Potential role in 2024: Starting OLB/edge rusher.
Why it is ranked here: Nwosu had six hits and four tackles for loss before being ruled out for the season in the sixth game of the season with a pectoral injury — each of which would have given him the team lead if he had played all season. He looks healthy now, which is one of the main reasons to be optimistic that the Seahawks defense could be better this year.
5. Wide receiver Tyler Lockett
Potential role in 2024: Start receiver.
Why it is ranked here: Lockett will be 32 in September and his NFL future is a year-to-year situation at this point in his career. Be sure to enjoy him as much as you can this year as he adds to what is a certain Ring of Honor career resume. Lockett’s 612 receptions are second in team history and 92nd in NFL history. One of offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s jobs is to put Lockett in better spots to make big plays. Lockett had a 37-yard gain last year, and he’s had at least one play of 40 yards or more in every other season of his career.
4. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon
Potential role in 2024: Left corner back starting in base defense, nickel starting in nickel/dime defense.
Why it is ranked here: As good as he was last year, he could be much better this season now that he has had a healthy offseason (he was limited for much of the 2023 offseason due to a hamstring issue) and a season under his belt. Hopefully, he can avoid the few nagging injuries he had last season. His playmaking ability was evident in his 16 pass defenses, five more than anyone else on the team.
3. Defensive lineman Leonard Williams
Potential role in 2024: End of start/tackle.
Why it is ranked here: In just 10 games in Seattle after arriving in a trade with the Giants in October, Williams had 11 quarterback hits, fourth on the team (Boye Mafe led the team with 16). The Seahawks surely decided at the time of the trade that they would do whatever it took to re-sign him. His play only reinforced the team’s desire to keep him, which ultimately came to fruition with a three-year contract worth a maximum of $64.5 million, the highest annual average ever for a defensive player in team history. Williams, who turned 30 in June, also has a long history of durability.
2. DK Metcalf Receiver
Potential role in 2024: Start receiver.
Why it is ranked here: Last year, Metcalf became the third receiver in NFL history to record 50 or more receptions, 900 or more yards and five or more TD receptions in each of his first five years in the NFL, the others being Hall of Famer Randy Moss and AJ Green. All this while missing just one game. There still seems to be a perception that Metcalf could put up even bigger numbers. Maybe Grubb’s offense can do that. Metcalf won’t be short on motivation, with the 2025 season marking the final year of his contract and the likelihood that he could earn an extension after the 2024 season — or perhaps become a free agent in 2026.
1. Quarterback Geno Smith
Potential role in 2024: Starting quarterback.
Why it is ranked here: Last year’s playoff run only reinforced the value of quarterbacks in the NFL. While Smith is the first to admit there are things he could have done better in his first two seasons as a starter, he did plenty to show why the team remains committed to him. To name one, his 1.8 percent interception percentage as a Seahawk would rank fifth all-time — along with Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick — if he had enough attempts to qualify. Now he can work with Grubb to hopefully maximize his strengths and further smooth out the rough spots. Smith’s age (he turns 34 in October) and contract situation (his deal runs through 2025 and carries no guaranteed money beyond that year) mean the Seahawks’ QB situation is also best viewed as a year-to-year proposition at this point. For 2024, Smith is the unquestioned leader of the offense, if not the entire team. It’s hard to imagine the season being a success without a big year from Smith.