The Gullies: Vote on the best of the 2020 Seahawks season - Part 1

Over at Bloody Elbow (where I also work as an editor), we have an annual awards poll that recaps the best of MMA from the previous year. This is hardly a unique idea but it’s a popular one for us, and I’m bringing back The Gullies for a second season!

There are eight categories to vote on, split into two posts — part one focuses on the players, part two focuses on the plays (and the game). The staff created the nominees across the board, and any postseason stats or plays are taken into consideration despite the mess that was the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Last thing before you get to voting, we may have had an oversight here and there but we didn’t want a laundry list of options to choose from for the sake of it. If you have a write-in candidate vote for who’s not listed here, click on “other” but state your response in the comments section.

Aaaaaaaaaand the nominees are!

Offensive Player of the Year

Russell Wilson - The Let Russ Cook season began brilliantly and ended with a whimper, but Wilson still set a new Seahawks and personal record with 40 touchdown passes and led three game-winning drives to add to his collection of 4th quarter clutchness. Wilson also ran for 513 yards, finishing only behind Chris Carson.

Tyler Lockett - Lockett set a new career high and franchise record with 100 catches, with his final one of the regular season resulting in the go-ahead touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. He also recorded a 1,000-yard season for the second straight year and he put up a legendary 15/200/3 statline against the Arizona Cardinals in a losing effort.

DK Metcalf - Year two saw a big leap in the statsheet for DK. After an impressive rookie season, Metcalf racked up 83 catches for a team-record 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns. Much like Tyler Lockett, however, both men were plagued by drops. Metcalf’s dropsies problem is not new, whereas Lockett’s is a bit surprising.

Duane Brown - The Seahawks’ veteran left tackle only allowed one sack in the regular season and battled through an ailing knee throughout the year. It’s not often we get to put an offensive lineman here for positive purposes in a post-Walt and post-Hutch world.

Chris Carson - The longshot of the group. He only had 681 yards rushing but that’s because he had just 141 carries. Carson posted a career-best 37 receptions for four receiving touchdowns to go along with his five teeders on the ground. Carson missed four games due to injury and found himself unable to get going in a few games due to a lingering foot issue.

Defensive Player of the Year

Bobby Wagner - Another Pro Bowl, another First-Team All-Pro selection, his inclusion here is self-explanatory and doesn’t need stats.

KJ Wright - It saddens me that this might be the end of the Wagner-Wright partnership in Seattle, because KJ is still playing at a high-level without the same level of recognition that Bobby gets. Once again he played in all 16 games plus the playoffs, got his first sacks since 2016 and had 10 passes defensed, as well as the first home game interception of his career versus the Minnesota Vikings. You damn well better believe that he’s still the screen whisperer, too.

Carlos Dunlap - It’s not often a midseason trade can be a nominee but this is two years in a row where that has happened. Last year we had Quandre Diggs come in and make the Seahawks defense better, and this year Dunlap turned a bad pass rush into a more than respectable one. Five sacks, a couple of them to seal Seahawks wins, 14 QB hits, and six TFLs is just a sampling of what the former Cincinnati Bengal can provide for Seattle’s defense.

Jarran Reed - Truth be told, Reed wouldn’t be on here I believe if not for Dunlap. After a disappointing 2019, once Jarran was paired up with another quality pass rusher he became a menace on the interior once again. Adding in the playoff game, Reed racked up 8.5 sacks and also forced a fumble that led to a short touchdown drive against the Dallas Cowboys.

Poona Ford - It’s well established that Ford has become a terrific run defender and his tireless pursuit of running backs is admirable. What makes him a Seahawks DPOY candidate is his added pass rushing skills, leading to two sacks but nine QB hits, seven knockdowns, and 14 pressures.

Jamal Adams - Imagine playing through a litany of injuries and still producing a team-high 9.5 sacks, setting a new record for most sacks by a DB in an NFL season. While pass coverage was not exactly a major plus in his favor thorughout the year, he was amazing as a rusher and as a run stopper.

Quandre Diggs - The Seahawks only got him for a fifth-round pick! Hahahahaha I wish Matt Patricia was still employed. Diggs led the team with five interceptions and made the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a free safety. He also produced some hard hits reminiscent of the old Legion of Boom.

Rookie of the Year

Jordyn Brooks - This was a controversial pick at first because the Seahawks needed an EDGE and they chose an off-ball linebacker not named Patrick Queen. How dare they?! Well maybe John Schneider and company knew what they were doing, as Brooks notched 57 tackles, two TFLs, and two passes defensed over 14 regular season games. He was key to a couple of goal-line and short-yardage stops throughout the year even though it won’t show up in the statsheet.

Damien Lewis - The Seahawks drafted the former LSU standout in the third-round and he instantly became the starting right guard. Needless to say it has been a major success, with Lewis earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors. Lewis also heroically stepped up to play center against the Arizona Cardinals in place of the injured Ethan Pocic and Kyle Wheeler. Field Gulls staff’s unanimous choice.

DeeJay Dallas - With every running back ahead of him injured, the fourth-rounder from Miami got a couple of regular season starts and scored three touchdowns in those games. His overall stats of 34 carries for 108 yards and 2 TDs is underwhelming, but he showed some value as a receiver with 17 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Alton Robinson - A fifth-rounder out of Syracuse, Robinson fared well as a situational pass rusher as well as in run defense. Alton picked up four sacks, three of them in the fourth quarter, and all of that productivity came with under 30% snaps played in the regular season.

Freddie Swain - The sixth-rounder out of Florida didn’t see a ton of action as the season progressed but he still had 13 catches for 156 yards and a couple of touchdowns on just 21 targets. Good work for someone who’s 4th on the depth chart.

Special Teams Player of the Year

Michael Dickson - The Aussie punt gawd ranked 3rd in punts downed Inside the 20 and 2nd in net punt yards per attempt. It’s a shame he wasn’t an All-Pro selection because he was terrific and a major reason why the Seahawks boasted one of the league’s best special teams units.

Jason Myers - Didn’t miss a field goal and set a new Seahawks franchise record by knocking through a 61-yarder against the Rams. While Myers did miss four PATs his conversion rate was also a career-high at 92.5% since he had more attempts.

Cody Barton - He may not have had great success when playing defense but he has developed into a force on special teams. Barton forced two fumbles on kick/punt returns, including a vicious hit on Dante Pettis that ended his 49ers career (he’s with the Giants now) and helped spring the Seahawks towards a blowout victory.

Nick Bellore - For pretty much the same reason Barton is on here. They hit people and prevent small returns from becoming big returns.

Tyler Ott - We don’t think about long snappers often but anyone who lived through the Boone Stutz disaster of 2007 knows they are super important. Ott made the Pro Bowl by not botching any of his snaps and indeed making the good snaps.

Part two will go live on Friday, January 29th. Voting closes on February 5th at 12:12 PM PT and results will be posted on February 6th, as I am petty and will counterprogram the NFL Honors Ceremony.