Tournament of THE Champions: Round 2!
Witherspoon takes on Emmanwori in the biggest matchup of the tournament so far!
Who is the most important player on the Seattle Seahawks? Tournament of THE Champions will not only answer that question, but also give Seahawks fans an idea of the top-two, top-four, top-eight, and top-16 players on the depth chart.
As well as the best of the rest. Who is the most important player who we talk the least about?
The tournament started on Monday and every matchup was a first-round knockout. I’ve seen enough. No outcomes could be changed, even if I gave it another two days.
We can immediately move to Round 2.
This round will likely feature a few more knockouts, but also several of the best matchups we’ll have for the entire tournament, not just the first two rounds.
A battle of the left side of the offensive line
A face-off between two huge stars in the secondary
All-Pro worthy players at linebacker
There will be blowouts—Just like in the NCAA tournament, Duke has to play Norfolk State long before they have to face North Carolina—but we could also have our first tie of the Tournament of THE Champions.
That’s entirely up to you.
If you’re not a subscriber, do that now, so you can vote and not miss round three. If you’re a free subscriber, consider signing up for the $5/month or $55/year plan and you’ll be able to comment, read EVERY Seaside Joe article year-round, and vote in our Tournament of SLEEPERS.
Offense: Round 2
(1) Sam Darnold vs (10) Jadarian Price
I realized too late that I left Emanuel Wilson out of the Tournament of Sleepers, arguably the best player on the roster who got zero mention. There’s a non-zero chance that Wilson will start in Week 1. But it’ll be a huge disappointment if it’s not Price getting at least half of the opportunities.
(2) Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs (8) Jalen Sundell
Here’s how good Jalen Sundell was last season: At this time last year, Sundell was alternating with Olu Oluwatimi and even Christian Haynes was in the center competition. Now we talk about him as if he’s been Seattle’s center for the last 25 years.
That being said, we know how this vote will go.
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(3) Charles Cross vs (6) Grey Zabel
Historically, tackles have been rated as more valuable than guards. Both were top-20 picks in the draft. Is the drop-off at guard worse than the drop-off at tackle? There are many variables at play and I’m excited to see how this plays out.
(4) Abe Lucas vs (5) A.J. Barner
Two more players who often line up side-by-side. Fascinating matchup, I’ll say no more.
The Last 4
These four players lost in round 1. It’s impossible to know who did the best or the worst because they didn’t all face the same level of opponent. So who would you vote for as a survivor from the players who didn’t survive?
Anything you want to pitch about these offensive matchups? Put it in the comments:
Defense: Round 2
Can’t wait to see who the final-four will be from the defense.
(1) Leonard Williams vs (9) Josh Jobe
Jobe may be the most slept on player because even the guys like Drake Thomas and Ty Okada get more credit for being undrafted and emerging from the practice squad, but Jobe doesn’t even though he did the same thing. Probably because Jobe started his career in Philadelphia. Seattle’s secondary is just so good that Jobe is the last player we think of sometimes.
(2) Byron Murphy vs (7) Julian Love
In 11 games last season, Love allowed 11 catches on 25 targets in his area, with two interceptions. He wasn’t even a highly sought after free agent in 2023. Murphy probably unlocks both the run defense and pass rush by being such a menace in the middle of the defensive line. Either of them could be an All-Pro.
(3) DeMarcus Lawrence vs (6) Ernest Jones
We have such different ideas in mind of what their assignments are, but at the end of the day they’re both stopping the run at a high level and disrupting the quarterback. Jones had six interceptions, including playoffs, a historic mark for a linebacker. Lawrence was indispensable. Ignore the seeds, I have no idea what will happen.
(4) Devon Witherspoon vs (5) Nick Emmanwori
No comment. Let’s just find out.
Which round 1 loser should survive the loser’s bracket?
Tournament of Sleepers Run-Off
These were the top-two vote-getters from each of the four “sleepers” brackets on Monday. Let’s see how they did head-to-head instead of in groups of five. The Tournament of Sleepers voting is limited to Regular Joes or Super Joes subscribers:
Although the polls are open for three days, the results could be posted sooner if the voting is a blowout again. Subscribe to not miss the results or the round three voting!
Share your comments about the tournament—or anything else—below:
I had to go with Nick because he's a unicorn. Spoon is probably the better player right now, but the combination of Nick having his second year in this system and the league generally just not being ready for guys with his versatility tells me we could see some amazing things from him this year.
SSJ, this whole exercise just reinforces for me how young and talented the Seahawks are. Yes, we have our older Vets, like Leo, D Law, J. Reed, but we have so many young studs with much more upside: JSN, Spoon, Emanwori, D. Hall, Rylie, Horton, Drake, Cross, Zabel, Barner, and we added 3 who will likely be very good players in Price, Clark and Neal. Even some of the other Vets like E.J. IV, Love, Jobe, Shaheed, Lucas, likely have several very good years left. Sam should just be entering his prime now, too!
Plus, we have so many draft picks in next year’s excellent Draft.
Do this exercise with the Rams roster, and which team would you rather be???
The answer is both obvious and compelling!