What’s the weakest unit on the Seahawks roster? ESPN analyst says edge rushers

NFL roster rankings were just released by ESPN’s Mike Clay and Seth Walkder, and the Seattle Seahawks are just outside of the top-10. In fact, it’s pretty fitting that they’re No. 12. Every team has a listed strongest unit, weakest unit, an “X factor” for the upcoming season, and a non-starter to know about.

For the Seahawks, their strongest unit is unsurprisingly wide receiver, heavily based off of the success of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, as well as the inclusion of first-round draft pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Mike Clay said “Seattle’s roster has several elite units” but wide receiver stands out as the best.

As for the weakest unit? Clay insists there is no very bad unit on the roster, and while the answer may not be a total surprise, his reasoning for saying edge rushers does come with optimism in the young talent.

Weakest unit: Edge rusher depth. This was not easy. The Seahawks have no overwhelmingly poor units, and even the edge rusher position has a good player in Uchenna Nwosu. The reason for the concern here is the lack of proven commodities behind Nwosu, though the good news is that there is plenty of pedigree; Darrell Taylor (2020), Derick Hall (2023) and Boye Mafe (2022) were all selected in the second round of recent drafts. — Clay

Interior defensive line and (especially with Jordyn Brooks’ injury and the general lack of depth beyond Brooks and Bobby Wagner) off-ball linebacker are surely a couple of other contenders for weakest unit, but generally there are no glaring liabilities.

To wrap up the assessment of the roster, Seth Walder says Mike Jackson Sr is the one to watch of the nonstarters, working on the assumption that Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon will be the starters at outside cornerback. Darrell Taylor is also his X factor for 2023, which may go a long way towards determining whether or not edge rusher is actually the weakest unit.

Kansas City’s roster ranks No. 1 , followed by the Philadelphia Eagles, and then the top NFC West team is the San Francisco 49ers at No. 7. The Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals are the bottom two rosters.