The 2026 NFL Season is nearly here. Until then, it still remains rankings season. A fun one that recently came out is from Bleacher Report (B/R), who ranked the top 1,000 players in the league. This is an interesting ranking since most rankings only go up to 100. With a significantly larger number, there naturally will be more Seahawks on the list to react to. With that being said, let’s see which Seattle players made the list (as well as which categories BR put them in).
Backup, developmental
- #946: cornerback, Noah Igbinoghene (CB111)
- #937: fullback, Brady Russell (FB7)
- #890: running back, Emanuel Wilson (RB64)
Some
players on the bottom of the list were eye opening. It is interesting that Igbinoghene made the list over another Seattle corner, Nehemiah Pritchett. Could he potentially be getting a former first round pick bump? Russell getting ranked is also fascinating, especially since BR’s reasoning had nothing to do with his special teams’ ability. Could the recent Robbie Ouzts injury open an opportunity for Russell to play more offensive snaps? Wilson being ranked is another fun one. It will be fun to see how he plays into the running back snap count this season.
Replacement Level
- #864: kicker, Jason Myers (K10)
- #835: wide receiver, Tory Horton (WR116)
- #786: running back, Zach Charbonnet (RB50)
- #770: tight end, Elijah Arroyo (TE63)
- #752: right guard, Anthony Bradford (RG22)
The biggest gripe with this group is the fact that Jason Myers is considered “replacement level.” The fact that he is ranked the 10th best kicker in the league is asinine. That being said, it is nice to see Horton getting some love despite an injury plagued second half of 2025. However, after watching his rookie campaign, it feels like he should be ranked higher than Arroyo. It will be interesting to see how much Charbonnet contributes after he returns from injury. I personally believe if he was given the opportunity to be a sole starting RB (rather than in a committee), he would be ranked much higher on many lists. Arroyo being this high is also eye opening considering his low stats from 2025. Although, word out of training camp is that he is in for an impressive 2026 campaign. Of the five starting offensive lineman for Seattle, Bradford is ranked the lowest. That isn’t too surprising. Being the 22nd ranked right guard in the league feels about right as well.
Functional Performer
- #600: center, Jalen Sundell (C17)
- #556: defensive lineman, Jarran Reed (DL52)
- #526: edge, Dante Fowler Jr. (Edge56)
- #514: safety, Ty Okada (S55)
- #494: punter, Michael Dickson (P1)
- #488: edge, Uchenna Nwosu (Edge50)
If you were to list the five Seahawks starting lineman, putting Sundell at fourth seems right. Although it could be argued he should be ranked higher than the 17th best center, it is nice to see an outside source giving him some love. Reed and Fowler on this list next to each other is fascinating, as well. Between the two, many Seahawk fans would likely prefer Reed. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Fowler have another breakout season under Mike Macdonald. Okada nearly making the top 500 is fun to see, although there could be gripes that he deserves to be ranked higher than the 55th best safety. Speaking of top 500, Dickson is the highest ranked punter and one of only three specialists inside the top 500. Nwosu gets some love as well after a healthy 2025 season.
Reliable Contributor
- #481: fullback, Robbie Ouzts (FB4)
- #457: cornerback, Josh Jobe (CB67)
- #423: linebacker, Drake Thomas (LB41)
- #398: edge, Derick Hall (Edge39)
- #320: wide receiver, Cooper Kupp (WR43)
- #306: right tackle, Abraham Lucas (RT10)
- #296: edge, Demarcus Lawrence (Edge26)
Seattle’s other fullback makes an appearance in the top 500. Hopefully Ouzts can get healthy so he can get himself higher on the list next season. Jobe makes an appearance, although it feels too early, especially considering that BR ranks Riq Woolen at 198 and as the 28th best cornerback. Thomas coming in as the 41st best linebacker also seems too low. 2026 should have him vaulting up this list. The newly paid Hall makes an appearance as edge 39, while Lawrence comes in as edge 26. The fact that Mike Macdonald deploys a defense where no one edge defender accumulates a significant amount of sacks is perhaps hurting Seattle’s edges in this ranking. Kupp coming in as the 43rd best receiver would place him as a WR3 on a team. However, the word out of training camp is that he is in for a potentially big 2026. Lucas coming in at RT10 and as the third best lineman for the Seahawks is fascinating. Although Zabel had an impressive rookie campaign, there could be an argument that he has not surpassed Lucas just yet.
Critical Roster Piece
- #271: wide receiver, Rashid Shaheed (WR36)
- #263: left guard, Grey Zabel (LG8)
- #233: left tackle, Charles Cross (LT11)
- #231: tight end, AJ Barner (TE19)
- #217: linebacker, Ernest Jones IV (LB13)
Shaheed is a tough one to rank considering his 2025 campaign was full of splashy plays mostly on special teams. That being said, he should be in for a better offensive campaign in 2026 now that he has a full offseason with Sam Darnold. As mentioned above, Zabel had an impressive rookie campaign. It will be fun to see how high his ceiling really is. Cross coming in as LT11 is right in line with how the league has viewed him so far; a “critical roster piece” but one just outside the Pro-Bowl level (whatever that means now). The Seahawks being regularly underrated in rankings comes up a lot. However, it stands out especially here with Barner being the 19th best tight end and Jones being the 13th best linebacker. Both are criminally under ranked here.
High-quality starter
- #140: cornerback, Nick Emmanwori (CB18)
- #120: defensive lineman, Byron Murphy II (DL10)
- #111: quarterback, Sam Darnold (QB15)
- #94: safety, Julian Love (S11)
- #85: defensive lineman, Leonard Williams (DL7)
- Jalen Carter (78), Cameron Heyward (73), Dexter Lawrence (59), Jeffery Simmons (56), Vita Vea (51), Quinnen Williams (48)
This is where we enter the “big dogs” of the league. Emmanwori being ranked as a corner is fun to see, especially considering how much he lined up as the big nickel. B/R ranked cornerbacks in an overall sense but also ranked them as boundaries or nickels. For Emmanwori they ranked him as the 6th best nickelback in the league, which seems too low for my liking. Murphy will surely catapult up this list as he seems to be on the precipice of a breakout 2026 campaign. Ranking quarterbacks is always a dangerous task to do. There have been offseason rankings showing Darnold all over the place. Placing him as the 15th best quarterback seems like a safe way out for B/R. Despite an injury ridden 2025, Love is still feeling the “Love.” It will be interesting to see how he fares with a (hopefully) healthy 2026 season. Speaking of criminally underrated, here comes Leonard Williams. The players listed underneath him were all ranked ahead of “Big Cat.” Not sure I would take any of those guys before Williams.
Pro Bowl Caliber
- #43: cornerback, Devon Witherspoon (CB6)
- Denzel Ward (41), Christian Gonzalez (37), Derek Stingley (30), Derwin James (18), Patrick Surtain (10)
Despite being ranked as the sixth best cornerback, Witherspoon will very likely be resetting the cornerback market once he is paid. Witherspoon’s game doesn’t have the big stats that lots of lay-viewers look for. But anyone who watched Seattle’s defense can easily tell you how much of an impact he has – physically, mentally, and emotionally. He is a force multiplier whose absence is quickly felt (just look at the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season).
All-Pro Ability
- #17: wide receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR3)
- Justin Jefferson (11), Ja’Marr Chase (3)
To nobody’s surprise, JSN comes in as the highest ranked Seahawk on BR’s list. JSN’s 2025 campaign not only won him the offensive player of the year award, but it also set some franchise records. After putting up 1,793 yards and 119 receptions, JSN was the fastest Seahawk receiver to 1,000 yards (in just nine games), was the receiver with the most 100-yard games in a season in franchise history (nine), broke the single-season receiving yard record (by nearly 500 yards), and broke his own record for most receptions in a season. The craziest thing about all of that is that it won’t be surprising to see him break all of those again in 2026. The Emerald City truly has a walking hall-of-famer in JSN.
Franchise Cornerstones
- N/A
The Standard
- N/A (only Myles Garrett)
Some final thoughts. Ranking 1000 NFL players is an impossible task to do. Tons of credit goes out to the B/R staff for completing this project. I wanted to note that Seahawk legend, Bobby Wagner also made the list at #106 (LB7) and is the highest ranked current free agent. It will be fascinating to see this list next year to see if some omissions from this list make it (Rylie Mills, Brandon Pili, Tyrice Knight, Nehemiah Pritchett, or any of Seattle’s rookies).
