After running roughshod through the NFC (and outlasting the Los Angeles Rams in a thrilling conference title game), Mike Macdonald’s Seattle Seahawks are getting set to face off with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. It will mark the Seahawks’ fourth appearance on the game's biggest stage, and their third in the last 12 seasons. But a good portion of the best players in their history never got to step onto the field in the Big Game.
Here’s the best player at every position in Seattle’s lore, and how they’d be able to help down Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel and the storied Patriots franchise next Sunday.
QB: Russell Wilson (2012-21)
Before Wilson became a much-maligned journeyman, playing for three teams in as many seasons (and angering as many fan bases along the way), he was the Seahawks’ centerpiece. After winning Super Bowl XLVIII (and coming one Marshawn Lynch handoff away from repeating the next year), Wilson became the focal point in Seattle as the Legion of Boom dissipated.
Each year from 2017-21, Wilson was a Pro Bowler — in an era before that honor was a glorified participation trophy. During that stretch, he threw for 165 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. He led the NFL with 34 scores in 2017 and ranked in the top-five of that category in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Would Russell Wilson in his prime be a better option behind center in Super Bowl LX than Sam Darnold? It’s hard to argue against it.
RB: Shaun Alexander (2000-07)
Zach Charbonnet will be watching from the sidelines, you say?
Who better to replace him as part of Seattle’s two-pronged attack than Alexander, the 2005 Associated Press NFL MVP. That season — a 1,880-yard, 27-touchdown effort — was obviously Alexander’s best, but he was a 1,000-yard rusher each of the four campaigns before that.
Cycle Kenneth Walker and Alexander in and out of the same backfield and Vrabel’s defense would be in trouble.
FB: John L. Williams (1986-93)
Williams didn’t fit your typical fullback archetype — you know, the ones who just barrel into a hole to lead the way for the ball carrier.
Williams was a bona fide weapon for Seattle. He also caught passes out of the backfield, recording at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage each season from 1988-91. By contrast, the Seahawks’ current fullback, Robbie Ouzts, hasn’t touched the ball at all this season.
TE: Jimmy Graham (2015-17)
Graham owns the Seahawks’ tight end records for receptions (170), receiving yardage (2,048) and touchdown grabs (18). It only took him three seasons to claim them, by the way.
The 6-foot-7 pass-catcher — a former forward on the Miami (FL) basketball team — was regarded as one of the best of his time at the position. Sam Darnold could always use more weapons, and Graham's ability to create instant mismatches would do wonders for a Seahawks team that loves to use (and throw out of) heavy personnel.
WR: Steve Largent (1976-89)
Largent wasn’t physically imposing. The 5-foot-11 wideout was prolific, though: He led the league in receiving yards twice (1979, 1985) and posted eight 1,000-yard campaigns across his legendary career.
Largent’s time with the team unfortunately came well before the then-new Seahawks were competing for Super Bowls. In many ways, he was a lot like Seattle's current star wideout, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, playing well above his size and making plays at all levels of the field. Slotting the franchise's first Pro Football Hall of Famer in with JSN and Cooper Kupp would certainly keep Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Wiliams up at night.
WR: Tyler Lockett (2015-24)
If not for Largent, Lockett would probably be the Seahawks’ most revered receiver of all time. He had at least eight touchdown grabs each season from 2018-22, and, had he stuck around one more season, would actually be playing in Super Bowl LX.
Darnold has a formidable pair of wideouts already, but Lockett could make an impact as a punt returner, too. He was a first-team Associated Press (AP) All-Pro performer in that role during his rookie season.
LT: Walter Jones (1997-2008)
Jones, who started all 180 games he played for the Seahawks, was a four-time first-team AP All-Pro, giving up just 23 sacks on a career 5,703 passing snaps while helping to pave the way for Alexander during his string of 1,000-yard seasons. A former top-10 pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, he was in many ways the dream left tackle prospect, an outstanding athlete at 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds who could do just about anything asked of him.
Seattle's offensive line has been a pleasant surprise this season. But really, what quarterback wouldn’t want a Pro Football Hall of Famer protecting his blind side?
LG: Edwin Bailey (1981-91)
Bailey wasn’t a household name in his time, but, to be fair, how many guards are?
But he was a stalwart for the Seahawks for a full decade, helping to lead the team to its first four playoff appearances in the 1980s. His importance to Seattle is best illustrated by his Pro Football Reference approximate value (62), which ranks him ahead of well-known stars such as Marshawn Lynch (59) and DK Metcalf (57). Is that enough for you to believe he’d pave some paths for the Seahawks’ tailbacks?
C: Robbie Tobeck (2000-06)
The News Tribune’s Dave Boling once referred to Tobeck as “the conductor of that offensive line symphony” in the early 2000s, leading a group that also included Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Chris Gray and Sean Locklear. He may not have garnered the same attention as the two star tackles on either side of him, but it's no coincidence that his arrival in Seattle as a free agent in 2000 coincided with the team's ascent in the NFC (and culminated in a Super Bowl appearance in 2005).
Tobeck, who started 166 games over his 13-year NFL tour, would definitely be an upgrade over second-year pro Jalen Sundell.
RG: Chris Gray (1998-2007)
Wearing a bar in the middle of his bulky facemask and tape stripped across his nose, Gray looked like just what you’d envision from a late-1990s, early-2000s interior lineman. His toughness was highlighted by his 121 consecutive games played during his Seattle tenure, and he lined up between Tobeck and Hutchinson as part of arguably the best offensive line (and the best rushing attack) in football.
No offense, Anthony Bradford, but step aside.
RT: Steve August (1977-84)
Some of you may have been expecting Hutchinson in this spot, but he only spent the first five seasons of his 12-year NFL career in Seattle. And August, a first-round pick of the Seahawks in 1977, deserves recognition for his service to this franchise. He started 90 games in Seattle, helping the team to its first conference title game appearance in 1983.
Pro Football Reference assigned August an approximate value of 53, which ranks 38th in team history and fourth among Seahawks offensive linemen after Jones, Gray and Bailey. August would give Abraham Lucas a run for his money as starter.
DE: Jacob Green (1980-91)
While Largent was Seattle's first offensive star, Green was the team's first true defensive standout. He's still the Seahawks’ all-time sacks leader (115.5), and also has the third-most starts in franchise history (176). And he's forced (28) and recovered (17) the most fumbles, to boot.
Green had six seasons with at least 10 sacks, including a career-high 16 in 1983. No current Seattle pass rusher had more than seven this season, as Macdonald's defense has been more by committee than reliant on a single game-changer on the edge.
DT: Cortez Kennedy (1990-2000)
Kennedy, the 1992 Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year, frequently had to deal with multiple blockers at once on some poor Seahawks defenses in the 1990s. Still, he garnered three first-team AP All-Pro nods and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 1990s All-Decade team.
The late Pro Football Hall of Famer would wreak havoc up front for a Seahawks defense that’s already pretty impressive. Line him up next to Leonard Williams? Good luck.
DT: Joe Nash (1982-96)
Nobody’s played in more games in a Seahawks uniform than Nash (218), who was light for his position but made up for it with a truly relentless motor. As part of “The Die Hards” defensive line of the 1980s, he was a first-team AP All-Pro just once, but his staying power as an undrafted free agent was obviously something to celebrate.
Byron Murphy totaled 62 tackles and seven sacks in his second regular season as a pro, but Nash probably bumps him out of the starting lineup (or at the very least would represent one heck of a change of pace on passing downs).
DE: Jeff Bryant (1982-93)
Bryant ranks third in Seattle history with 63 sacks, and also closed out his Seahawks tenure in the franchise’s top 10 in tackles, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. He started at all four positions on the defensive line, too, which means he’d definitely find a spot somewhere on this Seattle front.
OLB: Chad Brown (1997-2004)
Brown joined the Seahawks as a splashy free-agent signing in 1996, and repaid the team by leading it in tackles during each of his first three seasons in the Pacific Northwest. He was also a first-team AP All-Pro in 1998 after racking up 149 combined tackles.
He was a burly run-stuffer in a different era, but in his prime, Brown would certainly be tracking down New England ball carriers on first and second down in Santa Clara.
ILB: Bobby Wagner (2012-21, 2023)
A six-time first-team Associated Press All-Pro, Wagner has the second-highest Pro Football Reference approximate value (147) in Seahawks history, behind only the quarterback on this list. While the secondary of the Legion of Boom got most of the love, it was Wagner's range and toughness in the middle that made the whole thing work so well.
Wagner totaled 1,566 stops in his 11 seasons playing under Pete Carroll. Wagner in his prime — and maybe even now — would step in as the best tackler on Seattle’s D.
OLB: Bruce Scholtz (1982-88)
Scholtz was a dependable linebacker in Seattle for seven seasons, playing 96 games for the Seahawks. Pro Football Reference gives him an approximate value of 52, the best of any left outside linebacker in team history.
Scholtz might not have the pull of most others on this list, but it’s hard to think he wouldn’t be able to help the Seahawks’ current defense, and his undersung contributions helped the team be consistent playoff contenders in the mid-1980s.
CB: Richard Sherman (2011-17)
During his days in Seattle, Sherman had a legitimate case for being the best coverman in the league. (He’d let you know about it, too.) He led the league with eight interceptions in 2013, the same year the Seahawks won their first Super Bowl, with outrageous length that allowed him to never be out of a play.
Having Sherman, a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team, and Devon Witherspoon on the boundaries would go a long way in shutting Drake Maye down.
CB: Dave Brown (1976-86)
Brown notched eight interceptions in 1984, helping the Seahawks set a post-merger NFL record with 63 takeaways. He finished his Seattle career as the franchise’s leader in picks (50) and interceptions returned for touchdowns (five).
Josh Jobe has done well, earning himself a starting spot opposite Witherspoon last season after starting a practice squad player. Brown would take that from him, however.
FS: Earl Thomas (2010-18)
Thomas was a cornerstone of the Legion of Boom defense, starting all 125 games he played for the Seahawks and piling up 664 total tackles, 28 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles. He was the archetypal deep safety, playing center field like very few players before or since.
Julian Love is banged up heading into Super Bowl LX. Thomas would do an OK job at filling in, right?
SS: Kam Chancellor (2010-17)
Chancellor was the type of defender whom receivers — or anyone else, for that matter — simply didn’t want to run into. Heck, he once plowed into Calvin Johnson and was no worse for the wear. He racked up 12 interceptions over his outstanding career, forcing nine fumbles and recording 607 tackles as Seattle's enforcer.
With Chancellor on the field, Stefon Diggs, Kayson Boutte and the rest of New England’s receivers would have to keep their head on a swivel.