Your Top 12 Seahawks for 2014?

[McGruff]

The only name so far the shocks me is Greg Scruggs. That's a hell of a projection right there.

 

[Anthony!]

If Russell Wilson quite after the superbowl, you're screwed. How often does a championship level QB come available? Brees in '06 and Peyton in '12. That's about it for the past 10 years.

I don't understand what this means at all. Your telling me that those two are the only championship QBs to arrive in the last decade? I assume you also mean Denver picking up Peyton and not when he actually entered. Rodgers?

But if that's the case, then you just proved my point more that the QB isn't as valuable as you assume.

Eli
Big Ben

Two titles each. You gonna tell me that there aren't at least ten other QBs that could have been on those teams and won?

You could only name one other FS that could fill ETs void, and I agree with that.

I can name 12 QBs who could fill RWs void and still win the title on this team. Please understand I'm not advocating who is better of the 12, or that any certain one is better then RW, but that they could have been on the 2013 team and won it all.

Sherman and browner. Sherman and maxwell. All great. All of them highly benifit from ET more then ET benefits from them. They all help each other out, but ET is the unanimous most important cog in that machine.

I know this all comes down to subjectiveness. But when I look at all the close games we won this season, the defense was more of the factor (in most games) then the offense.

Totally disagree, there are problay only 2-3 QBs in the league that could have done what RW did, with as little as he had. Besides not having any real #1 wr, and his oline being dead last in pass blocking, you are also forgetting that Rw made up over 30% of our rushing offense, without his and adding the avg for staring QBs we are 20th. I also agree ET is very important, and I would put RW and ET 1 and 1a. But the reality is on you can stay away form ET when your on offense, Rw touches the ball every single play when we are on offense. This is pretty simple if I cannot have 1 and 1a I go with Rw, then ET.

 

[Anthony!]

Withoutlooking at any lists and missing some one undoubtably:

Thomas
Sherman
Lynch
Kam
Wilson
Bennett
Percy
Okung
Unger
Mebane
Avril
Baldwin
Maxwell
Wagner

That's 14 and I can't trim any of the last three

its a list but it is horrible and wrong on so many levels.

 

[kearly]

It's really hard to gauge Thomas' value because he's the kind of player like Harvin who's value is easiest to measure when absent, and so far Thomas hasn't missed a game. Regarding Wilson, he's an easy choice for #1 in my opinion, saying "top 12 Seahawks" does not preclude adding positional value, and in full honesty I've always found player rankings that ignore positional impact to be really dumb anyway.

My rankings are based on how much a players absence would be felt:

1. Russell Wilson- what is much more amazing than Wilson's historic start to his career is that he's doing it despite abysmal pass protection and the league's most exploitable OC.

2. Earl Thomas- the centerpiece of a historically good defense, he enables the LoB to be great.

3. Percy Harvin- like Thomas, Harvin is an enabler but on offense. His presence loosens up defenses for other receivers and makes DCs leery of being aggressive enough to exploit Bevell's tendencies.

4. The 12th man- in a league where home/road splits are essentially even for everybody, the Seahawks' ridiculous and tangible advantage is the shining exception. If you could choose between one player and Seattle's home crowd (vs. an 'average' home crowd), how many players would you pick over that advantage?

5. Richard Sherman- would be #1 for a great number of teams

6. Michael Bennett- fringe elite pass rusher with versatility, a guy who seems to make his teammates play better.

7. Russell Okung- a top five tackle, shame he keeps getting hurt.

8. Pre-2013 Max Unger- in 2011 and 2012 Unger was the most instrumental player in Seattle's dramatic change of fortunes in the run game.

9. Marshawn Lynch- would be a little higher if not for my confidence in Wilson to carry the offense and the future stardom of Christine Michael.

10. Kam Chancellor- When he's at his best, he looks like a HoFer, but I'd like to see him be a little more consistent. He pulled the DB equivalent of an Eli/Flacco in the 2013 playoffs. Major props for that.

11. Cliff Avril- Another sub-elite pass rusher that we really depend on a ton. With our lack of proven depth at Leo his absence would sting quite a bit.

12. Tie: Tony McDaniel and Brandon Mebane- last season I thought McDaniel was the better and more versatile player, but Mebane has the advantage of always staying healthy whereas McDaniel has battled injuries before coming to Seattle.

 

[Seahwkgal]

1. Richard Sherman
2. Earl Thomas
3. Russell Wilson
4. Marshawn Lynch
5. Percy Harvin
6. Kam Chancellor
7. Bobby Wagner
8. Michael Bennett
9. Cliff Avril
10. Russell Okung
11. Brandon Mebane
12. KJ Wright

That's pretty much my list 'cept I would have Wilson and Sherman switched.

 

[Steve2222]

Wilson
ET
Sherman
Kam
Bennett
Beast
Okung
Wagner
Percy
Mebane
Avril
Doug

 

[dontbelikethat]

I think positional value has to count for something in a list like this...

1. Wilson
2. Thomas
3. Sherman
4. Harvin
5. Lynch
6. Bennett
7. Okung
8. Chancellor
9. Avril
10. Unger
11. Mebane
12. Wagner

 

[SonicHawk]

I almost 100% agree with kearly.

12. 12th Man - Incredible home-field advantage. Seriously, not to pat ourselves on the back but we legitimately make a difference in games.

11. Lynch - I was a Lynch hater when we signed him and didn't believe in him until his Monday night performance against the Eagles. He's aging, his incredible workload and his not necessarily good hands keep him from being higher on the list.

10. Wagner

9. Avril.

8. Okung

7. Unger (Hopefully)

6. Chancellor

5. Bennett - What an important piece we signed. Don't know if we would have been as good if he leaves.

4. Sherman - He's so good that whoever you put opposite him suddenly turns amazing as well.

3. Harvin - Play maker that opens up holes in defenses and has amazing skills after the catch.

2. ET3 - Unbelievable stud. This guy is the best safety of the past 10 years at least.

1. Wilson - This was a toss up for me with RW and ET3. Have to give the edge to the QB of the offense.

 

[kobebryant]

1. Thomas
2. Wilson
3. Sherman
4. Harvin
5. Bennett
6. Lynch
7. Chancellor
8. Mebane
9. Okung
10. Wagner
11. Baldwin
12. Avril

 

[dbmack]

1. Wilson
2. Thomas
3. Sherman
4. Harvin
5. Bennett
6. Avril
7. Chancellor
8. Lynch
9. Okung
10. Baldwin
11. Mebane
12. Wagner

 

[BlueBlood]

Thats just a stupid countdown anyway. Blount sucks!

 

[Ozzy]

1. Wilson: easiest pick of the list.
2. Thomas: The defense is predicated by what he can do.
3. Harvin: The Thomas of the offense this year.
4. Sherman
5. Okung
6. Bennett
7. Chancellor
8. Unger
9. Avril
10. Wagner
11. Mebane
12. Lynch: Hate putting him this low but I think Michael is more than capable and Lynch's work load has to come down. If he went down I'm confident the offense would be fine.

 

[skater18000]

1. Wilson: easiest pick of the list.
2. Thomas: The defense is predicated by what he can do.
3. Harvin: The Thomas of the offense this year.
4. Sherman
5. Okung
6. Bennett
7. Chancellor
8. Unger
9. Avril
10. Wagner
11. Mebane
12. Lynch: Hate putting him this low but I think Michael is more than capable and Lynch's work load has to come down. If he went down I'm confident the offense would be fine.

I'd swap Beast and Unger.

 

[Ozzy]

Thats fair. The last 4 or so on the list I could move around depending on my mood at the moment. Seahawks are in a good position when the 8-12th guys are that talented.

 

[Evil_Shenanigans]

1. Russell Wilson
2. Earl Thomas
3. Marshawn Lynch
4. Richard Sherman
5. Brandon Mebane
6. Cam Chancellor
7. Percy Harvin
8. Russell Okung
9. Michael Bennett
10. Steven Hauschka
11. Doug Baldwin
12.Cliff Avril

 

[liftingaddict]

12.Willson
11.Mebane
10.Baldwin
9.Avril
8.Bennett
7.Lynch
6.Wagner
5.Chancellor
4.Harvin
3.Sherman
2.ET
1.Wilson

 

[Sac]

12.Willson
11.Mebane
10.Baldwin
9.Avril
8.Bennett
7.Lynch
6.Wagner
5.Chancellor
4.Harvin
3.Sherman
2.ET
1.Wilson

It's a list

 

[McGruff]

Withoutlooking at any lists and missing some one undoubtably:

Thomas
Sherman
Lynch
Kam
Wilson
Bennett
Percy
Okung
Unger
Mebane
Avril
Baldwin
Maxwell
Wagner

That's 14 and I can't trim any of the last three

its a list but it is horrible and wrong on so many levels.

Curious why, out of all the lists provided, mine is the only one horrible enough to warrant your rebuke?

 

[twisted_steel2]

1. RW
2. ET
3. Marshawn
4. Sherman
5. Bennett
6. Kam
7. Percy
8. Okung
9. Avril
10. Mebane
11. Wagner
12. Baldwin

 

[VivaEfrenHerrera]

I'm just going to go off the top of my head without reading what others have said and in no particular order... let's see. Well, you've got the entire LOB eating up 4 slots. Then you've got RW, Beast and Percy bringing us up to 7. Probably should throw Okung into the mix, that's 8. Hmmm, just four more then... KJ and Bennett bring us up to 10. How 'bout ADB for No. 11? And then maybe Unger to finish it off?

Not a bad list, but that leaves Avril and Wagner out of the equation. Ah well, there's only room for 12 in a dozen!

Edit: Looking back at everyone else's picks, it looks like .net is pretty high on Mebane. Hard to argue that; subbing him in for Maxwell on my list makes sense, but I just dig everybody in the Legion. I saw Hauschka on one list, and felt embarrassed for not even thinking of him. Seahawks' style really, really wants a super-reliable PK and Hausch Money fits that bill pretty exactly. Plus, shouldn't there be one special-teamer in the big dozen? Hausch in for Unger on my list!