The Super Bowl matchup is set, with the Seattle Seahawks facing the New England Patriots in a game that I doubt many people guessed would be the Super Bowl before the season began. Part of that is that both teams had questions at the most important position: quarterback. Sam Darnold had to prove he wasn't a one-hit wonder, while Drake Maye had to prove he could make a leap in his second season.
Mission accomplished, but which quarterback would you rather have under center in the Super Bowl? And while we're at it, which running back would you rather have? Which wide receivers? Which...well, I could go on and on here, listing every position, but instead let's just get to it. Here are the best players at each starting position for Super Bowl LX.
Quarterback: Drake Maye
The Sam Darnold story is a great one. He's blossomed into one of the NFL's better quarterbacks over the past two seasons and had a chance to cap it off with a Super Bowl victory. It's been great to see Darnold's success.
With that said, how can Drake Maye not be the pick here? The second-year quarterback is an MVP finalist and is almost certainly going to finish first or second in the voting after leading the NFL in completion percentage and tossing 31 touchdowns. Yes, Darnold has been the better quarterback in the postseason, but the terrible weather in Denver this week played a major role in that. If I had to pick one of the two to lead my team at this point, I'm taking Maye.
Running Back: Kenneth Walker III
New England's TreVeyon Henderson had a strong rookie season, but Kenneth Walker III just edges past him in this conversation. Still, it's close, and the numbers might even look like they veer in Henderson's favor.
Carries | Rushing Yards | Rushing Touchdowns | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Receiving Touchdowns | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TreVeyon Henderson | 180 | 911 | 9 | 35 | 221 | 1 |
Kenneth Walker III | 221 | 1,027 | 5 | 31 | 282 | 0 |
Ultimately, though, it comes down to which running back I'd rather have out there with a title on the line. Walker has more experience and while Henderson may have performed better on a per-play basis, I trust the overall consistency of Walker more in a spot like this.
But whew, this is a good running back battle! With both quarterbacks lacking big-game experience, both teams have strong fallback plans if the jitters get to Maye or Darnold.
Wide Receivers: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Stefon Diggs and Cooper Kupp
The first two picks here should come as no surprise. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had his breakout moment this season, catching 119 passes for an NFL-best 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. He's not only the best wide receiver in this game, but you could make a strong argument that he's in contention for the title of best wide receiver in the entire league.
On the other side, you have Stefon Diggs. Maybe Diggs has lost a step, but the 11-year veteran still managed to finish 2025 with over 1,000 receiving yards for the seventh time in his NFL career. He hasn't been great in this postseason, but Diggs remains a high-tier NFL wideout.
But what about our third receiver? You can see above that I went with Cooper Kupp, but it wasn't as simple as you might think. Kupp's 37.1 receiving yards per game were the fewest of his career, as were his two touchdowns. It's pretty clear he's not the same guy he was in Los Angeles.
However, the alternative is either Mack Hollins or Kayshon Boutte, and that's where I have to stop and say that I'd take even a down year from Kupp before I'd take those guys at this stage. If this were 2027, maybe we'd be at a point where Boutte was the clear pick over Kupp, but I think we have to operate as if Kupp is still decently capable of producing in a spot as big as the Super Bowl.
Tight End: Hunter Henry
The tight end battle in this game is really underrated. No, neither of these guys is a star, but both are crucial weapons for their team.
Receptions | Receiving Yards | Touchdowns | |
|---|---|---|---|
Hunter Henry | 60 | 768 | 7 |
A.J. Barner | 52 | 519 | 6 |
If I have to choose — and, you know, I do have to choose — then I'm going with Hunter Henry. The veteran tight end has the potential to do more damage on a per-play basis than A.J. Barner does, and he's capable of occasionally taking over a game in a way that Barner has yet to show that he can do. In fact, it wouldn't shock me at all if Henry winds up being the hero of this Super Bowl.
Tackles: Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas
Seattle has the advantage at both offensive tackle spots. That's not to say that New England has issues there, but the duo of Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas is very underrated.
In fact, if you go by PFF grades, Cross and Lucas both rank in the top 25 for overall grades among tackles, making Seattle one of only six teams that that's a true statement for. New England's starting duo of Morgan Moses and Will Campbell rank 24th and 36th, respectively. Not bad by any means, but if I need some offensive tackles to help set the edge in this game, I'm taking both Seattle players.
Guards: Mike Onwenu and Grey Zabel
We do have a split here at guard, however, as Seattle's Grey Zabel is the pick at left guard while New England's Mike Onwenu gets the nod at right guard.
Zabel has done a solid job as a rookie, committing just five penalties in the regular season. He only grades out as PFF's No. 44 guard by overall grade, but Zabel has gotten consistently better as the year has gone on and is going to be a fixture on this Seahawks offensive line for a long time.
Onwenu, meanwhile, has quietly been New England's best offensive lineman. While the left side of the line has been an issue — arguably New England's biggest one — the combination of Onwenu and Moses has given Maye strong protection. The former sixth-round pick has only committed one hold and one false start all year.
Center: Jalen Sundell
Finally on the offensive side, we land on Seattle center Jalen Sundell. Yes, the offensive line is a distinct advantage for Seattle, something that could be crucial during the Super Bowl. Seattle is inarguably better at four of the five spots on the o-line.
Sundell is PFF's 19th-best rated center, while New England center Garrett Bradbury is 27th. Sundell, a second-year center ot of North Dakota State, committed just three penalties this season and emerged as a potential long-term option in Seattle after not starting a game as a rookie. Bradbury has more experience, but Sundell was better in 2025 and the gap is large enough that the experience edge doesn't really matter.
Defensive End: DeMarcus Lawrence and Milton Williams
DeMarcus Lawrence spent 11 seasons with the Cowboys and never even sniffed the Super Bowl because, well...he played for the Dallas Cowboys. But it just took one season after being freed from Dallas for Lawrence to find himself on the brink of winning a championship.
Lawrence is coming off one of his best seasons in the NFL, scoring a pair of fumble return touchdowns while recording six sacks, his most since 2022. Maybe he isn't hitting double-digit sacks like he did earlier in his NFL career, but he's been a destructive defender for the Seahawks.
Milton Williams spent four seasons with the Eagles, but his move to New England for the 2025 season appears to be the thing that really unlocked his career. While he missed five games, he still managed to finish with 3.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. Williams gave New England a strong interior pass rush option this season.
Defensive Tackle: Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II
Leonard Williams has taken a long, winding road to this point. Drafted No. 6 overall in 2015, Williams spent time with both the Jets and Giants before being traded to Seattle during the 2023 season. That move paid dividends for Williams' NFL career as he made the Pro Bowl in 2024 and 2025.
This past season, Williams recorded seven sacks and nine tackles for loss. His 22 quarterback hits were the fourth-most of his 11-year career, and Pro Football Reference assigned him an Approximate Value of 17, the highest mark of Williams' career
Williams is joined on the defensive line by his teammate, Byron Murphy II. Seattle's 2024 first-round pick took a major leap in his second NFL season, going from 0.5 sacks as a rookie to seven sacks last season. He also jumped from one quarterback hit to 13. Murphy's growth is part of a pattern that helps show why Seattle suddenly became such a good team this season.
Linebackers: Robert Spillane, Harold Landry III, and Drake Thomas
Robert Spillane has bounced around a bit in the NFL, with New England being his fourth stop so far. He may have found a home, though, after a season in which he picked off a pair of passes and recorded five pass defenses. Spillane is a good coverage linebacker, but there is one key concern here: Spillane suffered an ankle injury in the AFC Championship Game or, rather, he appeared to resuffer an injury that's been bugging him for awhile.
Harold Landry III is also dealing with a lingering knee issue, but that seems less likely to impact his upcoming availability. The former second-round pick arrived in New England after seven seasons with the Titans. His overall tackle numbers dipped because of a change in role, but Landry recorded 8.5 sacks and 19 quarterback hits for the Pats.
Drake Thomas is the only Seahawk to get the nod at linebacker. the third-year pro largely played as a rotational piece over his first two seasons with the team, but he emerged as a key starter this season. Thomas recorded 3.5 sacks to go along with an interception and eight pass defenses. He had 96 tackles, including 47 solo tackles and 10 tackles for loss.
Cornerback: Christian Gonzalez and Devon Witherspoon
Christian Gonzalez didn't record an interception this season and had just 10 pass defenses, so how did he make the Pro Bowl? Well, a big part of it was that he allowed a completion percentage of 53.6 when targeted while allowing only two touchdowns all season. The third-year corner has lived up to his pre-draft hype and is well on his way to becoming one of the NFL's premier players at the position. He'll have a very tough task in the Super Bowl as he tries to slow down this Seattle passing attack, but if anyone is up for that task, it's Gonzalez.
Devon Witherspoon, meanwhile, is now 3-for-3 when it comes to being named a Pro Bowler. That happened in 2025 despite Witherspoon missing five games. His completion percentage when targeted was 69.5, which is a bit higher than Gonzalez's number, but he was also only targeted 59 times as opposing quarterbacks looked to avoid throwing the ball his direction.
The fact that both teams have a shutdown corner is going to make for an interesting Super Bowl, as both quarterbacks have to figure out how to account for that.
Safety: Julian Love and Jaylinn Hawkins
Julian Love was limited to eight games this season, but he made the most of those eight games, recording an interception, a sack and seven pass defenses. The 2023 Pro Bowler allowed only nine completions this season on 19 targets, giving him the lowest completion percentage when targeted of his NFL career. He's been targeted twice in the playoffs and has not allowed a catch.
Jaylinn Hawkins has enjoyed a breakout season for the Patriots, picking off a career-best four passes and tying his career high for pass defenses with six. He also forced a fumble and recorded 1.5 sacks. His previous career high for quarterback hits was one; Hawkins has five of them this year.
The safeties in this game may not be as high profile as the corners, but both sides have one really talented guy back there. There's a good shot that the strength of both teams' pass defenses leads to a low-scoring Super Bowl battle.