The Seahawks had a lot of good additions to the team this off-season. Even though there were a few big hits to the team, such as the loss of Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar. These key losses were crucial to the Seahawks troubled defense as both were starting players in the Hawks secondary. The Seahawks front office did help their defense by having 6 out of their 8 free agents signed this offseason were on the defensive side of the ball. The defense has been the main factor holding this team back from dominating the league. 

A big Seahawks fan, junior Spencer Hawk, expresses his low expectations of the defense saying the defense was not the greatest last year: “The defensive line has been bringing pressure but our secondary does not look promising, especially when going against high powered offenses.” The defense did see some improvement during free agency. The Seahawks got a big addition with signing free agent Cornerback Akhello Witherspoon, a great defensive back who excelled on the 49ers before becoming a free agent. 

The Seahawks defense was also helped out with extending their contract with Carlos Dunlap. This was a huge success as he is a very good pass rusher for the Seahawks. A well liked and elite player on the defense is safety Jamaal Adams.  Adams was traded to the Seahawks before the 2020 season for Seahawks Safety Bradley Mcdougald, two first round picks, and a third round pick for Jamaal Adams, and a fourth round pick. 

Sophomore Dallyn Ho believes Adams was worth the first round picks as he is a very talented player. He says he is not the greatest at coverage but his run stop ability is top tier which makes him an elite player. Especially with the Seahawks tendency to mess up with their first round draft picks he did not feel like it was a bad trade for the hawks considering how much Adams has helped the defense so far.

On the other side of the ball, the offense is well put together, with star quarterback  Russell Wilson in control of the offense. The team looks promising for many Hawks fans. Senior Max Goldberg is a huge Seahawks fan and has very high expectations for Russell Wilson. He believes: “Wilson should be a top three quarterback and should be a candidate for the NFL MVP award.” Wilson has been a tremendous player for the Seahawks as he’s led the Seahawks to two straight Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014. Wilson has taken many troubled Seahawks teams into the playoffs. He does have some help in his elite wide receiving core with stars DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. 

They are both very good wide receivers in the league today. Metcalf is a well liked player in the League and is favorited by many Hawks fans, Ho says“ Metcalf is my favorite player on the Seahawks because he trains harder than most others and is a very physical Football player.” The Seahawks also added to their receiving core with 56th overall pick Dwayne Eskride. This decision has some fans having bitter sweet feelings with the pick. Hawk says he would rather have seen the Seahawks draft a position more needed such as an offensive lineman or defensive back. Goldberg said he likes the pick although he is an older guy, and would expect him to be in the offense soon. 

A very overlooked running back for the Seahawks is Chris Carson freshman, Micah Seiffart’s favorite player. Micah Seiffert says “the Seahawks offense is by far the reason for their success and almost every year since the Legion of Boom era. (the well known name for the incredible Seahawks secondary that was the reason the Seahawks made two straight Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014) have made the playoffs.”

Not only do their fans have high expectations for the Seahawks, but sport analysts do, too. When going over the Seahawks schedule this season the average prediction is for a 10-7 season. This is definitely a very achievable record and many of the students from Issaquah had predictions of the season very similar. Goldberg thought the best case scenario would be 14-3 while Spencer thought 13-4. They both believe the worst scenario of 10-7. The Seahawks team has also made some changes in the coaching staff with a couple promising new hires. The big deal of a new offensive coordinator working with Russell Wilson makes for a season to watch especially for an offensive coordinator working with the type of weapons the Seahawks have, seems like a recipe for a high powered offense. 

The Seahawks will have some competition in their division. NFC West is stacked with amazing players on amazing teams. The Rams look very promising this year with their amazing defense, and now with the addition of star quarterback Matthew Stafford, the team is looking for a big run on the season. The Cardinals also are looking good with Kyler Murray leading the charge with great weapons and a solid defense, and not to mention the 49ers are never to be counted out especially only two years after their Super Bowl appearance. The whole division has a chance at the playoffs and with every team playing each other twice makes for amazing games coming up.