Ted’s Talk: My 2023 Week 1 Seahawks projected starting lineup (Pre-Training Camp Edition)

The Seattle Seahawks shocked pretty much everyone outside of the Pacific Northwest in 2022 when they shattered the (understandably) low expectations following the break with offensive and defensive captains Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner by making the playoffs with a 9-8 record. The 2023 version will feature many familiar faces with a young core of players, but there will undoubtedly be ch-ch-ch-chaaanges as Seattle looks to upgrade their talent and continue developing into a championship-caliber squad.

Below are my projected starters on offense, defense, and special teams with a few notes below each section. Since training camp hasn’t started yet, this prediction is done without the knowledge of player’s updated injury timelines and can’t take preseason performance into account. We’ll see how wrong I am in a few short weeks.

In the words of MXC’s Captain Tenneal, let’s…

Offense

QB

Geno Smith

RB

Kenneth Walker III

WR

Tyler Lockett

DK Metcalf

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

TE

Noah Fant

OL

Charles Cross

Damien Lewis

Olusegun Oluwatimi

Phil Haynes

Abraham Lucas

There aren’t many surprises here in my opinion except maybe Big Olu as the starting center. I hitched my wagon to him in an article earlier in the offseason and I have no reason to walk that back now.

The TE position will be interesting because there are three really good players in Noah Fant, Will Dissly, and Colby Parkinson, all of whom have unique strengths. Each of those three should see significant snaps as the Seahawks try to suss out which player (if any) they should commit to long-term.

Defense

DL

Dre’Mont Jones

Cameron Young

Jarran Reed

LB

Uchenna Nwosu

Bobby Wagner

Devin Bush

Boye Mafe

DB

Riq Woolen

Quandre Diggs

Julian Love

Devin Witherspoon

There are two big names missing here in LB Jordyn Brooks and SS Jamal Adams. I’m operating under the assumption that both will be placed on the PUP list and miss at least the first four weeks of the regular season. With Seattle having an early bye in Week 5, the team could potentially use that to their advantage to get an “extra” week to get Adams and/or Brooks ready without missing another game.

And no, I didn’t forget about Bryan Mone, who would presumably be the starter at NT had he not also suffered a season-ending injury last season. I also expect him to begin the season on the PUP list, but with the way that Pete Carroll has talked about his recovery, it seems like he faces a longer road to recovery than Adams and Brooks.

The LB position has the most variance on defense in my eyes. With Brooks out, Devin Bush takes his spot, but he’ll be the first one off the field when the team runs their nickel package. I waffled between Boye Mafe and Derick Hall at OLB opposite Nwosu with Mafe getting the nod because of his experience from last season where he was effective setting the edge. Hall could show out in preseason and take that job which wouldn’t surprise me. Darrell Taylor should get plenty of pass rush opportunities in sub packages.

Special Teams

Jason Myers

Michael Dickson

Chris Stoll

Barring some unforeseen meltdown in preseason, these three should make up the specialist group and round out the starters for your 2023 Seattle Seahawks. According to me. Prior to Preseason.